Elephant Sounds

Transcend Your Booty
by: peter naldrett

The Eastern dance rhythms and cool-as-you-like sirtar funk that the Ropeman hammers out in his debut album generate sounds that most dancefloor artists could only hope to match in their wildest, weirdest dreams. Elephant Sound has no elephants in it, but it does have plenty of corking tracks, and kicks the backside of anything else around at the moment.

Here, we've got 11 instrumental themes that get stronger and stronger until reaching a cosmic climax with Mission To The Moog, a hip-hop bone shaker which features samples from mission control and Neil Armstrong on his famous Apollo 11 journey. If that's not enough for you, try driving along to the sublime but ultimately gorgeous Dog In The Piano, with hilarious lyrics and more than a hint of bad language. Other highlights are Chairman Of The Board and Your Own Enemy, which also bring new material to a musical genre that has been lacking so much in recent months. New single 66 Metres features the far-out vocals of Shahin Badar, last heard on "Smack My Bitch Up," and Sunshine Of Your Life is another of the squadron of greats that Elephant Sound will become famous for.

Brighton-based Sanj Sen is the man behind all this fun and frollicking, and he's managed to produce an album that compiles the best aspects of The Prodigy and Fatboy in a gloriously successful debut. It's time to dig those Elephant Sound, because it looks like it's going to be an Indian summer.

Producer Sen, a lad whose knowledge of samplers, synths and sequencers is equated by a mastery of strings, stylophones and sitars, makes Elephant Sound the of sound Skint after hours. Eleven tracks of atmospheric beat delight from the self-proclaimed chairman of the board. A heady Bombay mix that takes in Brighton and the Bronx and moves through a sonic journey around the globe.

On the gig front, Indian Ropeman's four piece tuskforce have really been doing the business. With Sanj at the helm, the IRM live experience includes a drummer, bass guitarist and a scratch decknician. After rocking the massive Skint In February tour, they were invited by Fun Lovin' Criminals to support on European manouvres last month.