Consumer Guide Album

Sheila Chandra: The Zen Kiss [RealWorld, 1994]
The mysterious young beauty who once fronted U.K. Indipop hitmakers Monsoon has long since become a woman, and a drone-backed or a cappella mélange of cross-cultural vocalisms is how she expresses the universality accruing to that exalted state. Although I hope her tabla impressions get sampled and guess that her so-called ragas are as Zen as any, she's a paternalist's dream, slaking RealWorld's endless thirst for dark-skinned people willing to exoticize progressive opinions. Nothing too vulgar or entertaining, please--we must mind our manners. C+