Rating: NN
Anoushka Shankar carries her father, Ravi’s tradition of sitar-based music on to a new generation, updating it almost enough to be out from under his shadow.
But she never quite makes it. It’s as if she didn’t want to piss off the old man and tamed her record down from the Bollywood banger it flirts with becoming on occasion.
Her co-conspirator, Karsh Kale, provides feather-light electronic set pieces and over-processed tabla rhythms. And if that weren’t safe enough, Sting e-mails in a vocal part on Sea Dreamer.
You have to credit the duo for pushing some new boundaries, like the techno-infused PD7. However when Dad shows up toward the end, dropping sitar science on Oceanic, it feels like damage control for the Shankar brand.
