Back in 1995 (September 29th to be exact) I attended a concert (with Jim Rose of all people) featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and remembered thinking how cool it would be to add electronically created sound effects, hi-fidelity drum loops and various other goodies to accompany his wonderful voice.

This was actually done, to some extent, that same year when he and Eddie Vedder (who actually got me and Jim into the concert....okay that's enough) appeared together on a track produced for the film Dead Man Walking.

Now, here I am three years later (as of 1998) listening to Bill Laswell do the very thing I was thinking about that night back in the Moore Theatre, Seattle. The only difference is that the unique tones produced by Mr. Khan are nowhere to be heard, instead replaced by a slightly less intense or expressive vocal style, but getting the point across all the same.

Yet this isn't by any means what the album is all about, with much more of a "western" feel introduced by the second track, due in part to the straight fours drum track throughout. Again the distinctive singing style is present, but it's complimented by a Cairo lounge style melody line.

From there Nagual Site goes in any direction it feels compelled to go in, but remains somehow balanced throughout. Even the dreamy jazz stylings of Derive are countered by the strangely compelling frenetic shuffle of Upbeat, making this the most well rounded and the most recent offering from the ever popular Bill Laswell and Sacred System.

Rating - 814,502 (out of a possible 1,000,000)

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