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*** State of Bengal

VISUAL AUDIO

(Six Degrees)

The 1997 Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground collection, compiled by British tabla ’n’ bass maestro Talvin Singh, introduced the world to the subgenre of Anglo-Indian electronica, a music created by Londoners who grew up in the shadow of Bollywood epics, Bhangra beats, and Goldie 12-inches. Although the buzz surrounding the scene has died down quite a bit since, the music remains active in London’s ever-expanding dance universe, stoked by a group of record labels, club nights, and DJs. A highlight of the Anokha disc was “Flight 1C 408,” a lightly treading jungle track by the DJ/producer Sam Zaman — who records under the name State of Bengal — that tossed out metallic percussion sizzles, slippery funk riffs, and subsonic bass bombs in its international ight path. State of Bengal’s debut full-length, Visual Audio, leads off with the buzzing groove of “Flight 1C 408” and continues with 11 cuts of loping downtempo trips (“Elephant Ride”), syrupy string-laced breakbeats (“Taki Naki”), and junglized dub (“Red Earth”). Although all of Visual Audio is enjoyable, Zaman’s conception of drum ’n’ bass beat science sounds a little outdated — it’s stuck in 1996 LTJ Bukem mode — and the album is marred by a thin, metallic-sounding mix. All of which makes Visual Audio seem more like a cross-cultural curio than an electronica phenomenon.

— Michael Endelman