The name Armand Van Helden is most often associated with slinky vocal house. However, anyone approaching ‘Gandhi Khan’ expecting that sound might be in for a shock - ‘Gandhi Khan’ is hard to categorise, but can be described as experimental, eastern-influenced, breaksy, techy, house. The album definitely covers some new ground, with the middle eastern influence very apparent in the title track, as well as in the many short interludes between tracks. Fortunately this theme is not overused to the point that it becomes tacky, as often happens when dance music appropriates more traditional sounds. In fact, you get the feeling that a lot of the album is pretty firmly tongue-in-cheek, especially with the ‘wacky’ interludes. Although some of the humour falls flat, it’s nice to know that Van Helden doesn’t take himself too seriously all the time.

As you would expect with such an experimental album, some of the tracks don’t work so well, others shine, and some are just plain weird. A prime example is the bizarre Robots Are Cumming, a strange track with a lot of very short loops (no, the CD isn’t stuck). Despite not sounding like many other tunes it is actually kind of catchy. One of the highlights, and my personal favourite, is Kentucky Fried Flow, a smooth blend of filtered guitar loops and growling vocals. Throughout the album Van Helden’s background in house is still apparent, as many tracks have a basic house feel underneath all the weirdness, and some tracks wouldn’t sound out of place at all in clubs. The most traditional house track is (Girl) You Got Me marries a bouncy bassline and 4/4 beats with angst-ridden heavily filtered vocals.

All things considered, this album is definitely interesting enough to deserve a few listens. A few tracks won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the good stuff on here far outweighs the bad (or the strange).

Tim Fischer

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