''Psychic Karaoke'' is an album by the British world music group Transglobal Underground, released in 1996. It was released in the United States the following year, via

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. The album peaked at No. 62 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Production

The group used fewer samples on ''Psychic Karaoke'', while also working on the songs in a live setting before recording them. The album was produced by Transglobal Underground.

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' wrote that "in this frequently exhilarating brand of danceable exotica, guitar-like ouds glide atop hip-hop loops, tablas underpin sweeping strings and the incantations of Moroccan singer Natacha Atlas send it all spiraling heavenward." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' thought that the group "may be misusing Indo-Arabic music, but such tracks as 'Chariots' and 'Lexicona' prove that the music can take the transglobal exploitation." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called the album "unique, gilded dance pop—strange, resonant and utterly enchanting."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote that "things start to bog down a bit by the end, and as you approach the 78th minute of this generous album, you might be forgiven for checking to make sure you didn't accidentally hit the 'repeat' button on your CD player."

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

thought that "there were echoes of dub reggae, film scores and even European art rockers such as Can in places." '' MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' opined that Natacha Atlas's "soaring vocals often carry the disc, as she is probably the one element essential to Transglobal Underground's diverse pastiche of sound."

Track listing

References

{{reflist 1996 albums MCA Records albums Nation Records albums World music albums by English artists