A British band that formed in 1991. Their music is a fusion of Indian music/indie rock/EDM/alternative/etc., so I wasn't quite sure where to put my review. Ultimately I went with "art pop", but it would fit at least as well in "electronic" or "world" or "alternative". I'm really not super comfortable choosing any category for this, but I had to put it somewhere.

tek's rating: ½

When I Was Born for the 7th Time
AllMusic; Amazon; Apple Music; Discogs; Spotify; Wikipedia

This is the band's third album, released in 1997.

1. "Sleep on the Left Side": This has a fun sound, but the lyrics seem totally random.

2. Brimful of Asha: This is the band's biggest hit, and the main reason I bought the album. I think it's mostly about enjoying music. And this music is pretty enjoyable. The lyrics still sound random, but it's a very sunny, poppy sound. (There's a remix that I guess is pretty popular, but I prefer the original.)

3. "Butter the Soul": This is a bunch of record-scratching for the first minute (sounds like some kind of mellow 1960s music), then it goes into some raga rock, and back to the scratching. It's kind of neat, but not something I'd want to listen to a lot.

4. "Chocolat": This is a short bit of electronica.

5. "We're In Yr Corner": This is mostly in some Indian language, and has a very Indian sound. I guess you could call it raga rock, but it sounds more fully Indian and more traditional than that. It's cool.

6. "Funky Days Are Back Again": I'm not sure if this is meant to be kind of funk or what. I feel like the lyrics are happier than the actual sound. It's okay, but definitely not one of my favorite tracks.

7. "What Is Happening?": I actually don't know what is happening here.

8. "When the Light Appears Boy": This features Allen Ginsberg reading his poetry, with some background music that I can't really describe. It's a bit chaotic.

9. "Coming Up": This is a short bit of Indian electronica.

10. "Good Shit": This is more music that sounds random to me. Probably the track that sounds most like Britpop, to me, but not completely. I dunno. It's some good shit, though.

11. "Good to Be on the Road Back Home": This includes guest vocals by Paula Frazer, who has a country sound. The whole song has at least a partly melancholic sound, which makes the title seem ironic to me, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's about leaving troubles behind. I dunno. Maybe some of it sounds more upbeat.

12. "It's Indian Tobacco My Friend": This is some fuzzy sort of electronica, with no lyrics. It's hazy, and I get the impression it's not exactly tobacco they're smoking.

13. "Candyman": This includes some rapping by Justin Warfield, which I think is the best part. The whole song sounds funky, but mostly the parts that aren't rap.

14. "State Troopers (Part I)": Does the U.K. even have state troopers? I don't know, but this is instrumental. Sounds like electronic hip-hop. It's kinda neat.

15. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)": This is of course a cover of the Beatles song, but in an Indian language. And like the original, it's raga rock. It's pretty cool.