Pyramid in Your Backyard

To some electronica enthusiasts, it might seem like a contraction to describe Praful as a saxophonist who has some relevance to electronica. If electronica is all about synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, samplers, and the like, how can a saxman possibly have any relevance to electronica? Isn't "saxophone electronica" sort of like kosher pork or vegetarian sausage? But electronica doesn't have to be 100 percent electronic — it can involve a combination of electronic programming and real instruments (and often does). Besides, Praful never claimed to be an electronica purist — actually, it is difficult to say exactly how Pyramid in Your Backyard should be categorized. It's probably best to describe this 2005 release as a hybrid mixture of electronic club/dance grooves (including trip-hop, chillout, and ambient), pop-jazz, and world music. Of course, world music is a very broad, far-reaching term — and on Pyramid in Your Backyard, it means everything from Indian, Arabic, and Middle Eastern music to Brazilian samba. This is a largely instrumental CD, but if Praful (who plays guitar, keyboards, and the Indian bansuri flute in addition to his tenor and soprano sax) is essentially an instrumentalist, he is an instrumentalist who isn't afraid to feature the occasional vocalist when it is appropriate — including himself. Praful does much more playing than singing, but he does sing lead on the moody "Naked." Pyramid in Your Backyard is not a perfect CD; some of the tunes are more successful than others. But the disc has more ups than downs — and the fact that Praful is hard to pigeonhole is a definite plus.