TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND FEAT. NATACHA ATLAS (EN)

It’s the early 1990s. Every music genre is parcelled up, labelled up, and kept in it’s own yard as far as possible from any other. This compilation celebrates a rebellion against the musical divisions of those days, tells the story of how it happened and what happened next.

It started with a bunch of disgruntled musicians, singers, DJs, writers and sampler geeks hanging round the cramped offices of London label Nation Records. Primitive computers were stretched to their full possibilities, mashed up cassettes and turntables serviced a concoction of club grooves, dub, bhangra, rock, digital hardcore and oriental melody stirred at random, relying on inspiration and a massive belief in the need to create something new.

Transglobal Underground came out of this, an ever-shifting line-up that at first created confusion and astonishment and then a lot of attention and success, much of it due to the focal point of Natacha Atlas as chief vocalist. As her electronica/oriental mix went platinum across Europe, TGU moved into the background on the production of her music while continuing their own path.

But the team continued to collaborate on film projects, oriental dance shows and regular live reunions with either Natacha guesting with TGU or vice versa…and, to this day they still do, keeping alive a shared vision that’s had a big influence on a range of creative musical fusions that have followed on, even over 20 years onwards.