The Rajasthan Express
Junun is a 2015 album by the Israeli musician Shye Ben Tzur, the English musician Jonny Greenwood and the Indian ensemble the Rajasthan Express. It was produced by Greenwood and engineered and mixed by Nigel Godrich, the longtime producer for Greenwood's band Radiohead.
Greenwood first performed with Ben Tzur and his band in 2014. For Junun, they set up a recording studio in Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan, India, and hired only local musicians. The Rajasthan Express incorporated Qawwali and Muslim Roma musicians and a brass section who had played in weddings and parades.
Ben Tzur wrote the songs, with Greenwood contributing guitar, bass, keyboards, ondes Martenot and programming. He wanted to use chords sparingly, and instead write using North Indian ragas. Greenwood and Godrich hoped to capture the "roughness" of music in India, rather than pursue the high fidelity of many world music recordings. The recording was the subject of a documentary by Paul Thomas Anderson, released in October 2015.
Junun received generally positive reviews. The group supported Radiohead's 2018 Moon Shaped Pool tour, performing under the name Junun.
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