Transglobal Underground

Transglobal Underground were formed in London by Tim Whelan, disguised as Alex Kasiek, and Hamilton Lee, disguised as Hamid Mantu, already the founders of Brit-pop band Furniture in the 1980s, with Nick Page.

The genre’s manifestos were their debut single, Temple Head (1991), and the album Dream Of 100 Nations (Nation, 1993). By remixing elements of world music, ambient, dub, hip hop, and techno, and recycling ideas from new age music, the ensemble put ethnic sounds onto the dancefloor at house tempo. The exotic melisma of Natacha Atlas (born in Brussels to a family of Arab and Jewish origins) added a sensual touch to the mix. The musicians (Alex Kasiek on keyboards, Hamid Mantu on percussion, Nick “Count Dubulah” Page on bass) accompanied her with a detached tone; their merit lay in not taking themselves (yet) too seriously, but their flaw was a lack of mastery over the thousand tricks they employed—like puzzle masters unable to recognize the forms they must reassemble, endlessly scrambling the mosaic pieces. Slowfinger is the classic track. The least visible of the five, Mantu, was actually the author of much of the material.

International Times (Nation, 1994 – Epic, 1995) preserves that casual, playful spirit. More or less the same ingredients appear in the mix. In the catalog of “transglobal” novelties, the group delivers especially the “Arabic” rap of Lookee Here, which serves as a reference model for half of the sixteen tracks. There isn’t much more, really: just the swampy riff and the unbridled tribalism of Jatayu, the powerful percussiveness of Dustbowl. To animate tracks that are otherwise quite repetitive and monotonous, the group resorts to local attractions, such as the orchestral overture and Gypsy violin of Taal Zaman, the hypnotic sampling of Tromba Marina, and the festive collective-ceremony chorus of Temple Head. While many of these tracks are little more than childish mishaps in the field of Western dance music with ethnic overtones, Transglobal Underground are nevertheless among those writing the soundtrack for the global village that sociologists preach about.

Natacha Atlas started her solo career in 1995.

By largely replacing samples with human musicians, Psychic Karaoke (MCA, 1996) boasts a crisper ethnic sound. The Arabic-African-Indian stew is warmer and smoother than ever. In Chariots, while the rhythm evokes caravans of the desert and her male counterpart raps like a Jamaican toaster surrounded by a choir of children, Atlas croons ancient wails that mix Jewish, Arab and Spanish traditions. The problem is that there is nothing new in tracks like Ancient Dreams Of The Sky, that merely stir ethnic instruments, electronic beats and Atlas' chants, no matter how calibrated is the fusion of elements.
The combo does a good job of reinventing reggae (Lexicona), dub (Eyeway Souljah), and drum'n'bass (Bullet Train) with elegance and nonchalance. Bullet Train is wrapped in kosmische electronics, Atlas' chanting, Velvet Underground-ish drones.
The album is certainly not about innovation, but rather evolution and refinement of a successful idea. However, Mouth Wedding is a propulsive piece that relies on Jewish harp, driving Indian rhythm, heavy-metal guitar and sampled voices, and marks a slight departure from their usual mix. Boss Tabla is equally disorienting, thanks to an industrial harshness, macabre church bells, spaghetti-western guitar and a recurring music-box theme, all overlaid to a frantic gallop. Psycho Karaoke lays down a super-busy afro-caribbean soundscape and then carves it with spy-thriller themes for xylophone and symphonic orchestra. The album comes to a close with the alien/robotic trance/dance of International Times that seems to roam alien wastelands. the album in a claustrophobic atmosphere
Ultimately, Transglobal Underground is about reinventing rhythm itself. Their "world beat" is solidly rooted in ethnic traditions from around the world, but is no longer any of them.

Dispensing with Count Dubulah (who joined rivals Loop Guru) and downplaying Atlas' Middle-eastern vocals, Rejoice Rejoice (MCA, 1998), which also features gypsy musicians, ends up sounding like trivial producer-driven "ethno-techno". Except for the closing Sky Giant and Shining Iron Face, the tracks are the least inventive of their career. Thousand Year Heat, Rude Buddah, Ali Mullah and A Nice Little Fish Business And Making Money are entertaining but ultimately an insult to what Transglobal Underground used to stand for.

Yes Boss Food Corner (2001) features Zulu vocalist Thobekile Doreen Webster, sitar played Sheema Mukherjee and percussionist Gurjit Sihra.

Natacha Atlas's solo albums were easily better than the contemporary Transglobal Underground albums,

Nick Page formed Dub Colossus with Ethiopian and English musicians. Their In A Town Called Addis (2008) fused Afro-pop, jazz, blues and reggae, followed by Dub Will Tear Us Apart (2010), Addis Through The Looking Glass (2011), Dub Me Tender (2012), Addis to Omega (2014), A Spy in the House of Dub (2018), Dr Strangedub (2019), Dub Will Keep Us Together (2026).

Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee regrouped Transglobal Underground for Impossible Broadcasting (2005), Moonshout (2007), which featured again Natacha Atlas, and the soundtrack to Nabil Ayouch's film Whatever Lola Wants (2007). Then they assembled A Gathering of Strangers (2010), credited to U.N.I.T.E., with vocalists from all over Europe.

Transglobal Underground returned with The Stone Turntable (2011) and Kabatronics (2013), a collaboration with Albanian brass band Fanfara Tirana. After a long hiatus, Transglobal Underground released Walls Have Ears (2020) and Sitar Monday (2021).