By now it's pretty clear that
Midival Punditz see themselves as a Delhi extension to London's ethnic Asian Underground, and as an electronic band with roots in Indian cultural sound extensively explored for more than a decade by the likes of
Karsh Kale,
Talvin Singh, and
Nitin Sawhney. While their first studio album was a search for a personal sound,
Midival Times is a declaration of the same. The first studio album touched upon Indian sound for insights,
Midival Times is completely drenched with it. Beyond stamping Indian classical on this album, two other important things happened in the transition from their first studio album to this one. Firstly, they have become much more downtempo, proclaiming a desire to strictly align with the U.K. Asian Underground, and they've moved from dancefloor to your headphones, and even your bedroom, for eloquent, laid-back listening. "136" and "Enemy" are slight outliers here, still reminiscent of the midtempo drum'n'bass atmospherics of their first album. Secondly, there is extensive use of vocals in this album with hordes of Indian classical heavyweights sprinkled throughout, including
Ustad Sultan Khan,
Abida Parveen,
Anoushka Shankar, and
Kailash Kher, which makes one wonder whether this submissive devotion to Indian ethnic sound is the result of the presence of these greats, or a willful eclectic commitment to the sound. Either ways,
Midival Times is a mature album with the duo exercising tremendous control over the composition and not falling for chaotic over-expression that the U.K. underground is often disparaged for. ~ Bhasker Gupta