I was attracted to this album for a quid at a boot fair, as it was released on Peter Gabriel's Real World label, which is generally a sign that something will at least be an interesting listen. Joi were a pair of British Bangladeshi brothers, one of whom, Haroon Shamsher, died shortly before this album was released.
It consists mostly of dance beat pieces, overlain with traditional instruments, including tabla, lute and flute. And while throughout it's a pleasant enough listen, and even gets the toes tapping at times, there's nothing memorable or particularly exciting. It might get an occasional outing, but I'm not sure I'll be rushing back to this particular piece of Anglo-Bengali fusion, very much rooted in turn of the century dance.
2* - listenable but uninspiring
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