TRANS-GLOBAL UNDERGROUND
Yes Boss Food Corner (Mondo Melodia)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

So many flavors and nothing clashes. It's spectacular. How can a dancehall rap that sounds straight out of Jamaica climb the stairs of a scale that appears to ascend from the markets of Bombay without running afoul of the river of electronica flowing beneath it all? If that sounds like slop to you... well, you're reading the wrong magazine, for starters, and you're certainly reading the wrong review. Trans-Global Underground will stand your hair on end and send you scampering for the security of something much less challenging. But I challenge you to embrace this, especially all you aspiring musicians. There's no melting pot argument to be had here because nothing's melting. All the ingredients are crisp. In any given moment you may hear a drum & bass electronica bed cradling a manic sitar or a mournful African instrument that I'm too ignorant to identify offering counterpoint to an unusual hip-hop beat. You never can predict TGU, and you don't really want to anyway. Fans who've wondered if TGU could still be TGU after the departure of vocalist Natacha Atlas should be relieved after hearing this. If anything, they've become more creative and diverse. If that's even possible. Trans-Global Underground's CDs still sit in the World Music sections at CD stores. Y'know what'd be fun? To do a survey of all the stores and see how many different countries they're being filed under. Store managers, take note: avoid confusion and show your honesty by adding a one-card section for Trans-Global Underground that simply says "The World."

© 2001 - DJ Johnson