b. 1973, London, England. Raman juxtaposes the music of southern India with sounds from her Western upbringing. Her beguiling and sophisticated debut, 2001's Salt Rain, featured a paean to the elephant-headed deity Ganesh (written by eighteenth-century composer Dikshitar), a song lifted from the soundtrack to Disney's The Jungle Book, and a track half-jokingly described by its creator as "Armenian ska". Raman's music has been described as "hybrid, trans-cultural world pop with jazz and folk influences", but for the artist the hope is for her music to be "without category". Born in England but relocating to Australia at the age of four, Raman grew up singing the southern Indian classical music cherished by her parents but admits to having been seduced by the Western pop song. After performing in non-Carnatic bands in her adopted home, Raman left for India to study with Shruti Sadolika, reportedly tracking the Hindustani vocalist down via International Directory Inquiries after hearing her music in Bernardo Bertolucci's film, Little Buddha.

Listen to Susheela Raman at Finetune.

• (2005)  Music For Crocodiles
• (2004)  Love Trap

• Love Trap
• Sharavanna
• Blue Lily Red Lotus
• Half Shiva Half Shakti
• L'Ame Volatile

• Sheila Chandra
• Ali Farka Toure
• Enya
• Yungchen Lhamo
• Dead Can Dance
• Deva Premal
• Aerosmith
• Bjork
• Baaba Maal
• Afro Celt Sound System
• Lhasa
• Salif Keita
• Krishna Das
• Phoenix
• This Mortal Coil
• Enigma
• Pink Floyd
• Fela Kuti
• Souad Massi
• Thievery Corporation

• connielopez
• hroach