The Chain: Dharmatma
80/100
Milwaukee based The Chain are a bit of a mystery – the psychedelic instrumentalists fly completely under the radar (until very recently they didn’t have so much as a MySpace page) but have steadily gained a following throughout the upper Midwest via their raucous dance-a-thon live shows. Their music dips from as various influences as Bollywood soundtracks, West African Jazz guitar, and Anatolian funk, but the string that ties it together is that it is all very rhythmic and eminently danceable. While the live show is the highest recommended form of checking these guys out, if that isn’t available to you they also have one EP out (though I am not sure how you could get it other than by asking the band to mail it you). Check out “Dharmatma” though – an interpretation of the theme song of the Bollywood film of the same name (Hip Hop heads may also recognize the tune from the J Dilla/Madlib collaboration “Champion Sound,” where it was prominently sampled). If that doesn’t sound good to you – let the awesomeness of the source material convince you.
