The Stone Turntable

Transglobal Underground were there at the start, shaking up the London club scene with their beats-driven fusion and proudly hippy leftfield vibe. Their 1994 debut Dream of 100 Nations spearheaded an ethno-techno movement that spawned innumerable imitators. Despite a star-studded line-up that has featured everyone from singers Natacha Atlas and the late Doreen Thobekile to bassist Count Dubulah and percussionist Neil Sparkes (who together went on to form Temple of Sound), TGU have always been greater than the sum of their parts. Neither age nor record company collapse have wearied them; armed with their own label, Mule, and a line-up rejuvenated by a flurry of festival and club appearances, TGU remain relevant and innovative, award-winning (there was that 2008 BBC Award for World Music) and vital.

So what if the opener of this latest effort, with its monotonal drone and soporific ‘be as one’ refrain, sends the kill-a-hippy brigade running screaming. The tracks that follow – the bleeping, 70s electro-funky ‘Don't let Me Skip a Beat’, the melodic, Bollywood-tastic ‘Deolali Jungle’, the dubby, Balkanesque anthem that is ‘We Come To Tear Your Wall Down’ – are as varied and intriguing as the TGU line-up itself. The stalwarts are still here, of course: sitarist Sheema Mukherjee continues her increasingly central role, while Hamid Man Tu's drums and deft programming skills feel more tangible, too. As ever, an array of special guests – most notably, Afro-jazzer Kevin Haynes – add their flourishes. Stand-outs include the beats-driven title-track, with its spacey club vibe and Babylon-themed lyrics. Yet another superb effort from a national treasure.