Temple of Sound

Temple of Sound Live at WOMAD performing "Chica Bonita"



Temple of Sound Live at WOMAD performing "Gold of the Sun"



Temple of Sound are: Neil Sparkes - vocalist, percussionist, programmer, poet and painter; and Count Dubulah , guitarist , bass player, programmer and editor.

"Temple of Sound’s music perfectly captures 21st Century London, that unique cultural mix where the basslines from a basement dub session mingle with the Latin American drum class next door; the cassette playing in the Middle Eastern cafe across the road and the Hip-Hop booming from a bedroom round the corner" (fROOTS MAGAZINE), while travelling the globe to create collaborations and innovations at the forefront of Global fusion, dance, dub and world music.

Temple of Sound "GlobalHead" features 12 tracks written and produced by Neil Sparkes and Count Dubulah aka Temple of Sound(ex-Transglobal Underground) featuring guest appearances by some of the best World Music artists including :

Natacha Atlas, Rizwan- Muazzam Qawwali, Abdullah Chhadeh, Ben Baddoo,Junior Delgado, Jah Wobble, Dr Hukwe Zawose, Charles Zawose, Jo Legwabe, Adrian Sherwood, Getatchew Mekurya, Teremag Weretow, Nara and Jimi Papazanateas.



Temple of Sound's production work for a hitlist of World, Dance and Dub artists continues to push the barriers of World music forward .

These include Natacha Atlas (Beggars Banquet), nominated for Best Album in World Music Awards 2007; and Los De Abajo (Real World).



Temple of Sounds album "First Edition" was released by Wagram Music . "First Edition" contains twelve tracks written and produced by Sparkes and Dubulah,featuring guests Natacha Atlas, Raiz (AlmaMegretta), Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jean Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers) and Jah Wobble.



Temple of Sound have made the album "Peoples Colony No.1" for Peter Gabriel's label Real World, with Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali (nephews of the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) in 2001 and "Shout At The Devil", an album co-written and produced with Jah Wobble for 30 Hertz Records in 2002.

Together Sparkes and Dubulah helped create the style of Global Groove and World Music that has become a world wide genre, from the early days of Transglobal Underground -"Dream of 100 Nations", "International Times" (Sony) and "Psychic Karaoke" (MCA)- embracing and developing World Music from their own culture in the UK to much in demand work as musical collaborators, performers and producers:



The album "Peoples Colony No.1" (Real World/EMI) Temple of Sounds collaboration with Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali (Nephews of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) from Pakistan. The album was performed live around the world at festivals including Roskilde, Denmark; WOMAD Reading, Athens, Palermo, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand; Dour festival in Belgium.



Temple of Sound produced the album "LDA v The Lunatics" (Real World/EMI)by Los De Abajo, the Chilango, CyberTropic, Ska Band of the moment from Mexico. Sparkes and Dubulah spent six weeks recording and producing in Mexico City. The group appeared on the Jools Holland Later show and the album received wide press coverage.



Natacha Atlas, collaborator from their TransGlobal Underground days; Temple of Sound produced and performed the cover of "Man's World" on Natacha's "Something Dangerous" album and co-wrote and produced for her highly acclaimed album "MishMaoul" (Nominated for 2007 World Music Award)



In 2006 Temple of Sound Recorded and Mixed George Palamiotis and his unique Africa meets Athena project Eleusis "Tales of the Holy" album based on Orphic and Homeric Hymns from Ancient Greek Literature released by Track 7 Records. Neil Sparkes plays congas and percussion throughout the album alongside Ben Baddoo (BouGaRaBou) on the track "Apollo".

"Sparkes and Dubulah are an unstoppable force at the cutting edge of Global culture!" Global Rhythm Magazine, USA

Neil Sparkes and Count Dubulah first combined their talents as Transglobal Underground, ground breaking global dance outfit that released five successful albums under the label wings of Nation, Sony, BMG and MCA. Founder member Count Dublah from the group's creation in 1990; Neil Sparkes made his TGU debut alongside Natacha Atlas on her first recording with the group "I, Voyager" in 1992.



After Transglobal Underground, Neil and Count Dubulah formed Temple Of Sound and established themselves in a production capacity.

They have since produced for, and collaborated with, the likes of Los de Abajo (Realworld), Natacha Atlas ( Beggars Banquet) , Jah Wobble (30 Hertz Records) and Peter Gabriel ( Realworld).



Neil Sparkes is co-writer with Peter Gabriel on his single "Burn You Up,Burn You Down" on the massive selling Best Of album "Hit". Neil first worked with Peter Gabriel in 1991 at the inaugral Real World Recording Week, held at Gabriel's recording studio's in Wiltshire, UK.



"There is a palpable sense of excitement about Temple of Sound. They are buzzing with ideas and a sheer creativity that they are translating into great and innovative sounds. Temple of Sound feels less like a band than an unstoppable force at the cutting edge of global culture." - Global Rhythm USA



REVIEWS:

"The very excellent first album a fabulous mixture of beats and world" -

Music Week Playlist

"Taking the best elements from Transglobal's unique stew of sonic big beat globalism, Temple of Sound have absorbed latinized percussion, huge guitar riffs and most notably Neil Sparkes' involved, rapped, mantric vocals." - Straight No Chaser

"Some tracks just scream to be used in adverts. Take the opener here, Chica Bonita which starts with a slamming Colombian cumbia hit. Be prepared to love this the first 10,000 times you hear it."

- Mojo

"Debut album heavy on dub bass and percussion with global imfluences. Contains a strong run of booming dance tracks, but the slower numbers such as the atmospheric Gold of The Sun show them in equally good form"

- Q Magazine

"Globe trotting dance party. An addictively moreish high water mark for world music/electronic dance mash-ups." - Muzik

"Latin, Dub, Afro-Cuban, House, North African and Hip Hop are all here, blended into one seamless but dazzling global soundscape, featuring a fine selection of vocalists" - Songlines



TOURS:

From 2002 to 2005 Temple of Sound played live on stages across Europe from Berlin's PopDEurope to the Faroe Islands !G Festival. WOMAD Festivals and tours in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.

Many of the concerts were broadcast live on tv and radio.

September 2004 saw the group embark on a Far Eastern tour; returning to Singapore for two fever pitch concerts at WOMAD, Fort Canning.; and a Heineken Music sponsored series of shows in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. The tour culminated in a slammin' sell out performance at Taipei Ministry of Sound, Taiwan. The group played to crowds of thousands and 2005 saw them make a triumphant return to the Jazz World Stage at Glastonbury Festival.

TEMPLE OF SOUND's Live Album: Gold Of The Sun (Diesel Motor Records) features their powerful and contemporary juxtapositioning of global, popular and dance beats and sounds translated here onto stages across the globe from tours in 2003 through Australia and New Zealand; Latin America and Europe wide.

Much of this live album was recorded at Womad festival and you really do get a superb feel of their excellent live show. And to add to the enjoyment there are 4 video tracks on this enhanced CD which also come from the Womad show.

Features :- JJ Burnel, Natacha Atlas, Wai, Mykaell S Riley and Jo Legwabe amongst other special guests.



MUSIC LICENSES, TV & FILMS:

Music written and produced by Temple Of Sound has been used

in feature films Stander ( Title Music "iZulu Li YA Duma " )



Les Gaous and Dillo Con Parole Mie ( "Chica Bonita " ) ,

and by TV channels BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Sports.



Neil Sparkes and Count Dubulah have contributed towards many feature film soundtracks and are developing work on original soundtracks and have composed and produced incidental music for features on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky Sports; as well as numerous licences around the globe.

Temple of Sounds music has been used by fashion designer Ferragamo for their summer collections and Valentino in their catwalk shows and by advertisers such as Pilot Pens and Adobe.



REMIXES:

Temple of Sound have remixed:

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Enzo Avitabile & Bottari, Medieval Baebes, Bollywood Brass Band, El Noi, Banco De Gaia, Jah Wobble, Claude Challe, The FatBack Band, Fun Da Mental and Cheb i Sabah.

"TELL THIS TO EVERYBODY, WHEREVER THEY ARE - KEEP WATCHING!!!!"