S&D: Bollywood sndtrks/comps.

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A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 9 September 2002 01:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Doob Doob O'Rama Vol. 2 is the one I listen to most. There are some pretty good Asha Bhosle comps out there, Luaka Bop's Vijay Anand comp is pretty good (and not too hard to find), and there's a Rough Guide Bollywood comp that should be pretty easy to find and cheap. Avoid the Bombay the Hard Way comps.

James Blount, Monday, 9 September 2002 04:08 (twenty-three years ago)

search: world's greatest bollywood songs
destroy: bollywood breaks

minna (minna), Monday, 9 September 2002 06:40 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm still trying to write an article about this!

I've not found a wholly bad one yet though I've avoided Bollywood Breaks. The World's Greatest... series seem to have excellent range. Lata, the Lata Mangeshkar best-of Nascente put out, is only one singer but goes back a lot further than a lot of the comps do - mostly they concentrate on filmi music with recognisably Western 'rock' and 'dance' influences.

Tom (Groke), Monday, 9 September 2002 11:07 (twenty-three years ago)

i've been thinking of asking a question about this... for those who are getting interested in bollywood music these days, how did this happen and what are you responding to in the music? as an indian(-american), i've been pretty immersed in the stuff since i was a kid, and it's interesting (and a bit odd, actually) to see it get a wider audience now. also, is it a uk phenomenon or is it spreading in the states too (other than truth hurts)? are you starting to watch the films too? how westernised are the songs you're digging?

dave k, Monday, 9 September 2002 12:32 (twenty-three years ago)

also, i'd be remiss if i didn't plug any comp you can find of kishore kumar's music, since he's (distantly) related to me, great-uncle once removed or somesuch.

dave k, Monday, 9 September 2002 12:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I think in the UK most people have got used to the 'sound' of Indian film music (and Bhangra too), whether Westernised or not, though exposure via curry houses/Asian-owned businesses/taxi drivers - certainly when I started listening to it it didn't seem 'exotic' particularly. So a small marketing push (growing this Summer to a quite big marketing push) was all that was needed to get people (eg me) listening to it on its own.

What am I getting out of it? The rhythms, definitely. The instrumentation; the superb voices; the catchiness.

Tom (Groke), Monday, 9 September 2002 12:37 (twenty-three years ago)

i guess asking "what you get out of [x]" is a bit vague; i suppose i'm more interested in the flavor of the stuff you're enjoying... e.g. the stuff i swoon for is pretty old, since that's the stuff my mom likes, and has a more classical flavor...but when i listen to music from other countries, i gravitate towards all hybridized mongrel r&b, so i was curious if that's what was catching on (this is all theoretical for me since none of my friends in cambridge are into this, and i suspect it might be a localized london phenomenon)... it used to bug me a bit seeing some of the comps in america play up the kitsch factor (which does exist), since i think a lot of the stuff is quite subtle and lovely.

dave k, Monday, 9 September 2002 13:03 (twenty-three years ago)

It depends on what comp you buy I think. The kitsch-factor tunes have on the one hand a lower replay-value than the more classical stuff or the dance-influenced (I assume) recent stuff but on the other hand it seems to me that sometimes the kitsch-factor tunes have the most fruitful and radical collisions of styles and instrumentation going on.

Tom (Groke), Monday, 9 September 2002 13:14 (twenty-three years ago)

actually, i wasn't talking about the songs themselves so much as the packaging/writing i've seen, and even this doesn't really bother me anymore since i haven't really met anyone who dismisses the music on that ground. i definitely agree that the kitschy stuff is a wonderful cross-breeding ground for styles (if you haven't, check out the awesome 'jewel thief' soundtrack) and, like i said, when i culture-hop, that's often where i end up also. have you tried following up on any of the films?

dave k, Monday, 9 September 2002 13:33 (twenty-three years ago)

No not yet. There are a handful in our video shop but they always seem to be out on loan. In my new house I'm really near Tooting which has a huge number of Asian-owned video shops (and no doubt do a good line in cassettes too) but haven't got round to the planned exploration expedition.

Tom (Groke), Monday, 9 September 2002 13:36 (twenty-three years ago)

will be curious about what you think; i'm not as partial to the movies - as before, i've been weaned on the older stuff and there's been a much bigger change in film style over the years. i will say, though, that there's a definite boost in seeing them in proper theaters with a friendly crowd.

dave k, Monday, 9 September 2002 14:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I definitely think that musically the time has never been more ripe for a surge in interest in bolywood - the sort of cross-cultural "international language of rhythm-pop" that's developed between hip hop & r&b in America, uk garage in England and dancehall in Jamaica has provided a number of entry-methods that can be "grafted onto" bollywood (an acceptance of cheese's positive values, an appreciation of a bangin' syncopated rhythm, a love of exotic cultural signifiers). And when you get infected by a love for the exotic, India is the natural response to "where next?" after Jamaica. And that's all disregarding the explicit bhangra/bollywood references appearing in external pop.

But at the same time I think the flood of successful Indian films and tv shows cannot be under-estimated in terms of raising the general Western consciousness of subcontinental culture.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 9 September 2002 14:20 (twenty-three years ago)

are you lot making this 'world's greatest' stuff up ?
well amazon doesn't have it for a start.

piscesboy, Monday, 9 September 2002 20:30 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...
Revive!

Because I just spent an hour in an Indian music shop amidst 100s of cassette soundtracks and compilations and as always felt a bit lost.

I don't want to hear about those hipster Bollywood compilations anymore. I want to know what movies have the best tunes! So far my favorite is Waris which among other things has a weird Peggy Lee pastiche. Generally though I go in for the lovely ballads and ghazals not the kitschy stuff. Like "Sawan Ka Mahina" by Lata and Mukesh, from Milan.

Today I bought a tape of '40s hits and when I popped it in the stereo, to my initial horror there were contemporary synth overdubs. But actually they're fairly well-done and unobtrusive, except in the transitions between songs. Not the best way to hear this stuff I'm sure but I'm not really complaining.

...Also the same store has a ton of Hindi films on DVD so please recommend some to me and please tell me why you're recommending them!

Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:09 (twenty-two years ago)

whatchamean no kitschy stuff? its Bollywood, everything is kitschy! seriously, i grew up watching bollywood movies and everything musically and filmwise is kitsch & melange so I don't know what you're looking for. If you don't want contemporary stuff there are tons of different compilations of stuff from 60s-70s. Nothing that stands out so just check Amazon or similar for those comps and go by the general recommendations.

films - will start a separate thread to pick out some for ya

H (Heruy), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

man, just last week i ran into the lucky find of someone who sold back a bunch of original Indian pressing Bollywood records. i swooped up all of them that i could. they're all from the 80s but sound like their from the 70s with the production and instrumentation.

i picked up:
Zameen Aasman (heh, assman). Music by RD Burman from 83.
Teri Kasam (music also by Burman, from 82)
Yudh (music by Kalyanji Anandji from 84)
Janbaaz (music also by Kalyanji Anandji from 86)

Zameen Aasman has a track that sounds like it could easily be on a David Axelrod album. distand reverbed flutes, harpsichord, rhodes keyboard, Dr Who analog synth noises, plucked bass, stereolab "doo doo bada bada"s, and Lata's wonderful voice. get this. there's an electric guitar that's trying to sound like a sitar. east copying west trying to copy east. weird. all of the songs on the album are briefly interupted by an old analog drum machine turned up to 400bpm just making noise.

Yudh has a song that completely steals the chord progression and riff from Yaz's "Don't Go".

Most of the albums that i like are mixtures of eastern and western. but it goes way beyond appropriating sounds and styles, it's the way the songs are arranged. they're like a mike patton or john zorn project. so many styles lumped on top of each other. they also kind of remind me of all the old great lounge arrangers like Esquivel, Denny and Lyman

the only cd i bought of this stuff is the Luaka Bop Vijaya Anand "Dance Raja Dance" album. wacky stuff, but get's a little too cheesy 80s for me.

About watching the movies: i used to watch this saturday morning program where they'd just show the musical sections. it was so fun, but either i'm not awake in time to see it anymore or it's not on. the only full movie i've seen is Kutch Kutch Hota Hai. pretty modern i think and pretty popular. pretty silly movie.

JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
more!

mullygrubber (gaz), Monday, 7 June 2004 03:20 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...
REVIVE FOR 2005

Bose, the Forgotten Hero and Kisna are pretty great this year, A.R. Rahman might be god

Any more? Priti?

The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Monday, 28 March 2005 03:31 (twenty years ago)

i haven't heard any 2005 ones yet!

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 28 March 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

Bose is about the OTHER big name in the Indian independence movement, the dude who did NOT reject violence; no songs of undying love or flirty sexy dancing, a lot of stirring patriotic stuff and instrumentals like "Hitler's Theme" (Bose apparently tried to get help for the cause there, ended up not going that way.) I would absolutely LOVE to see that movie.

Hell, I'd settle for seeing Lagaan again.

The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Monday, 28 March 2005 03:53 (twenty years ago)

i saw bride and prejudice, who cast that guy as william darcy?

keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 28 March 2005 03:57 (twenty years ago)

i'm listening to last years Raincoat as a result of thread. No flirty sexy dancing here either. Music by Debojyoti Mishra. Pretty. Some poetry even.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 28 March 2005 04:07 (twenty years ago)

dull in other words.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 28 March 2005 04:08 (twenty years ago)

Has Seattle's DJ Anshul released a mix CD yet? My god, he HAS to.. the best Bollywood dance/boom Dj evah!

donut debonair (donut), Monday, 28 March 2005 04:13 (twenty years ago)

So far this year I haven't heard anything that really impressed me, other than Kisna and portions of Bose. I enjoyed the couple Punjabi songs from Bride and Prejudice (the other songs, with American lyrics, are awful though. and i totally agree on the miscasting of Darcy in that film, they couldn't possibly have picked someone with less charisma)...Lucky is a new film, with music by Adnan Sami (a pretty big figure in hindi music), and the songs I've heard from that seem pretty good.

If you have recently started exploring hindi film music, can I just go ahead and rattle off the names of a few of my favorite soundtracks?

- Devdas (I refer to the newer film version here, not the black-and-white original, though that is good too....layered songs with classical influences and younger singers who lack that reedy vocal style that some people dislike in hindi music)
- Dilwale Dulhania Laajange (a classic from 1995...this has the great lata mangeshkar though, so expect reedy thin vocals)
- hum dil de chuke sanam (two great standouts, the rhythmic garba-style "dholi taro dhol bhaje" and "nimbooda")
- umrao jaan (from the 70s, asha bhosle sings, sparse and poetic)
- pyaasa (from the 1950s, but fantastic! my favorite movie and soundtrack ever....mohammed rafi and geeta dutt sing)
- khabhi kushi kabhie gham (traditional bollywood stuff but done very well, lata sings)
- recent good ones: kal ho naa ho, chalte chalte, veer zaara; monsoon wedding has a few good classic songs on there

by the way, most of these i think you can listen to on www.raaga.com - go to their movie index

i don't know anything at all about compilations, though, and i'm not as well informed about non-"filmi" hindi music

Priti Batta (priti), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

Sorry about the typing errors there...I have some issues with capital letters.

And I wholeheartedly admit that my Bollywood tastes, as represented above, seem rather mainstream if you know Hindi film. Would love if someone could recommend older stuff, or things that are more obscure

Priti Batta (priti), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

i just found this today. Bollywood for the Skeptical. a bunch of mp3s to download!

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

anyone wants my "the year disco broke: india on the dancefloor 78-84" mp3 cdr culled from about 500 scratchy bollywood lps should gimme a yell.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

HHHHEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! GAAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYYYY!!! THAT SOUNDS RAD!

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:35 (twenty years ago)

so far the best Bollywood stuff i have on vinyl at home is from the 80s. they're a few years behind, so all the stuff sounds like it should be from the 60s or 70s. (which is why your comp sounds so good)

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:36 (twenty years ago)

ok i will mail you. its near finished. i think. i am exhausted by it now. but yeah i just found a killer 78 track with kozmi flute, waay funky break and some weird screams

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 00:44 (twenty years ago)

"i just found this today. Bollywood for the Skeptical. a bunch of mp3s to download!"

this site has some really good songs but i can't get the mp3s to download

(btw, how does one italicize on ILM?!)

Priti Batta (priti), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 02:24 (twenty years ago)

< i > text < / i > except without the spaces inbetween

The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 02:25 (twenty years ago)

check the alt.binaries.mp3.indian newsgroup orwhatever it's called. there is regularly (or was) piles of things worth investigating in there. bappi lahiri is a bollywood legend. if anyone has a copy of the pyar ke kabil soundtrack they're willing to copy for me

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 06:38 (twenty years ago)

quite possibly fb. i'll check.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 08:24 (twenty years ago)

wahey. it has the fantastic 'red light, no green light' which has an outrageous dance sequence to accompany it.

frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 10:54 (twenty years ago)

"i just found this today. Bollywood for the Skeptical. a bunch of mp3s to download!"

this site has some really good songs but i can't get the mp3s to download

no worries. i skipped past more than half the songs. i guess it's a good overview, and maybe if you speak hindi or know the movies, these songs would mean more to you, but i wasn't feeling them. they were all very vanilla. the bollywood stuff i like is the stuff that apes american music from the 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s. i love it when they get all Zorn & Esquivel on us and paste tons of genres onto each other and each bar is a different style or tempo or lead instrument. of those 19 songs, i probably liked about 5.

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)

oh, and i'm not really into current production on most of the bollywood stuff. it's got like smooth keyboard vamps and everything is just way too produced and sweet.

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

fuck i don't have it fb - and i have like 20 or more bappi discs. now i need it!

here's bappi in dubbed out electro mode from 1983's wanted s/track. asha bhosle sings.

http://s35.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=27Z6FP88KALQJ2RH8CIO978ZCT

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

ha, jason our bollywood tastes are pretty different. i don't especially like the older, more americanized stuff that tends to be weirder and kitschier (though i can definitely see the appeal). i like the more melodic stuff that's popular now in films, as well as some of the older, more lyrical songs from the 50s (before the big american influence). but i think it's because i was raised on that sort of music. funny you only liked five of those tracks, most of those songs are very popular in india

Priti Batta (priti), Thursday, 31 March 2005 01:41 (twenty years ago)

The Bombay Beats comp is good!

Poundstretcher (nordicskilla), Thursday, 31 March 2005 01:43 (twenty years ago)

i just realized i posted nearly the same things i've been posting this week almost exactly 2yrs ago. doh!

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Thursday, 31 March 2005 01:57 (twenty years ago)

fuck, what have i been doing here for 2 years wasting away my life?!

The JaXoN 5 (JasonD), Thursday, 31 March 2005 01:58 (twenty years ago)

welcome to ilm. check your personal growth at the login.

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Thursday, 31 March 2005 02:02 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

The "Radio India: Eternal Dream of Sound" album on Sublime Frequencies is awesome; full of classics from the Bollywood of yore.

Especially recommend the collage entitled: "Deep Disco Drama Diva" where a (no doubt moustachioed) Indiam lothario cum DJ whispers "Kabhi Kabhi" in his best Barry White over (what sounds like a dub/house revamp of) the song "Kabhi Kabhi"

Been listening to it all day

Tannenbaum Schmidt, Thursday, 2 July 2009 16:18 (sixteen years ago)

one month passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLddIH7U6eE

everybody else: get this song going through your head too, ok?

ETERNAL WAR AGAINST THE DICKS IS ALL WE CAN RESPECT (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 4 August 2009 16:49 (sixteen years ago)

one month passes...

i wouldnt recommend the beginners guide to bollywood comps (theres 2 volumes) on nascente. you can get them v cheap and they do have some good songs but theyre compiled by john lewis from time out who only seems to like/choose the stuff that sounds like western pop the most (and puts them only into categories of western genres like disco, rock n roll etc). this ones better imo - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Guide-Bollywood-Various-Artists/dp/B000MR9DLS/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1252928231&sr=1-32

titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 14 September 2009 11:38 (sixteen years ago)

i met a nice indian girl last nye and wound up borrowing her ipod and ripping her bollywood playlists off of it. so here's 3 top 10 playlists of what one hip london girl of indian descent was listening to as of nye 2008/9:

fast stuff:

Move Your Body - Johnny Gaddar
Lucky Boy - Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008)
Aahista Aahista - Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008)
Sexy Lady (Khwab Dekhe)
Maari Teetri - De Taali
Bakhuda Tumhi Ho - Atif Aslam & Alka Yagnik (Kismat Konnection)
Dil Dance Maare - Vishal - Sekhar
Chhaliya - Vishal - Sekhar
Milo Na Milo Main Milane - Shaan (Love Story 2050)
Sach Kehna - Kunal Ganjawala (Love Story 2050)

slow stuff:

Khuda Jaane - Bachna Ae Haseeno
Kabhi Kabhi - jaane tu ya jaane na (A R Rahman)
Jogi Mahi - Sukhvinder Singh, Shekhar Ravjiani & Himani Kapoor
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na- Nazrein Milaana Nazrein Churaana
Kahin To Hogi Ho - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008)
Tere Bina - AR Rahman, Chinmayee (from the love guru?!?!?)
Zara Gungunale Chalo
Yeh Rishta
Ya Rabba
Yeh Honsla

oldies:

Lata Mangeshkar & Moha Rafi - Aadmi musafir hai aata hai jata hai
Chana Jor Garam
Chalte Chalte
Baharo Phool Barsao
Chalo Dildar Chalo - Lata Mangeshkar with Mohd. Rafi - Lata Mangeshkar (Pakeezah)
Bachpan Ki Mohabbat - Lata ji (Lata Mangeshkar Live)
Bagon Mein Bahar Hai - Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammad Rafi (Hit Duets of)
Aye-Dil-E-Nadan - Lata Mangeshkar (Pakeezah / Razia Sultan)
Babuji Dheere Chalna - Geeta Dutt ? (Aar Paar)
AWAARA HOON - Mukesh

i don't know if this is really what you guys are after (i suspect it's no more or less than a representation of the most popular mainstream bollywood stuff circa 2008) but it's all pretty listenable actually.

messiahwannabe, Monday, 14 September 2009 16:00 (sixteen years ago)

actually it's better than just listenable - i'm playing this stuff for a first time in a while and it's really not bad at all. obvious western influences on the new stuff, and it's clearly quite MOR in a tecnho-influenced kind of way, but a lot of these cats have REALLY nice voices

messiahwannabe, Monday, 14 September 2009 16:07 (sixteen years ago)

Fave soundtrack of the year: Dev.D, probably shortlisted for my favorite album of 2009 -- amazing genre-confusion, B-wood with techno and rock squiggles, hardest metal sequence ever in "Emotional Attachyar"'s rock version (the other one is brass band version and it's hot too). Other good ones from this year: Billu Barber, Chandni Chowk to China, Kambakkht Ishq, Dilli 6. There are a few more that are supposed to be amazing but I haven't heard them yet.

The Om Shanti Om soundtrack was my favorite album of 2007. Beautiful and audacious, amazing singing and chart work, banjo solos mixed over surf rock and big band jazz, recurring motifs, remixes, everything you'd ever need from a record.

mojitos (a cocktail) (Cave17Matt), Monday, 14 September 2009 18:42 (sixteen years ago)

one month passes...

i just saw the movie (om shanti om)... first time i've seen a bollywood film in ages, and quite watchable. i like how many bollywood films are comdies, romances, tragedies, and musicals all rolled into one. the dvd i watched translated the lyrics as well as the dialogue, and some of them were hilarious, ie. dard-e-disco (= "the sorrow of disco", an upbeat disco number sung and danced by a blind, deaf, handless, wheelchaired character in a fictitious bollywood movie [in his mind!])

messiahwannabe, Saturday, 17 October 2009 09:52 (sixteen years ago)

three months pass...

First posted on the Global World 2010 thread:

Anybody know anything about the below? I forget whether there's a separate Bollywood/bhangra etc thread.

Fox Searchlight Pictures (Slumdog Millionaire) presents MY NAME IS KHAN, the biggest and most anticipated new Indian motion picture of 2010, an epic romantic drama with universal appeal.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's musical score for the film reflects the myriad hues of the film. Music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are India's must renowned and accomplished artists, and the trio has been responsible for some of the biggest hit soundtracks of the last decade. The album has Sufi inspired sounds and features amazing vocalists from the sub-continent - Rahat Fateh Khan, Shafqat Amanat Ali and Adnan Sami. The music is earthy and features very prominently in the film. Over 20 minutes of the film is set solely to music.

― curmudgeon, Monday, January 25, 2010 5:13 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
It's being released February 16th

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 January 2010 22:08 (fifteen years ago)

my wife's favorite Bollywood comp: http://www.answers.com/topic/i-love-bollywood

The Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 22:12 (fifteen years ago)

speaking of slumdog millionaire, the soundtrack brought to my attention the tame a r rahman (the guy who did the soundtrack) which lead to my checking out a recent comp "the best of a r rahman (composer of the music for slumdog millionaire)" which rocked, and further lead to downloading some huge 3 gb collection of his contributions to about 80 other soundtracks, pretty much all of which are GREAT. i believe he's quite well known in india, if not to say ubiquitous, so maybe it's kinda like saying "gosh, the beatles sure are great" or something. but i gotta say the dude can produce the hell out of a soundtrack. he seems to thrown in at least one really cool, original idea per song, usually more like 5 or 6, he chucks in a lot of interesting chord changes as well (which i find overall is not bollywood's strong point, it's not part of the musical culture and i suspect it's hard to pull off and still sound "indian" but this skill seems to be one of mr. rahmans many selling points)

btw, i really find him quite listenable as well - the cheese factor seems to run pretty strong in a lot of mumbai's musical exports, but not so with this guy - really his stuff seems very very easy on the ears, i've got a constantly updated playlist i'm drawing from his collected works and i keep getting drawn back to it....

messiahwannabe, Wednesday, 27 January 2010 14:52 (fifteen years ago)

om shanti om has one knockout song - the first one thats sung when theyre in the cinema. the later ones are all pretty forgettable.

titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Wednesday, 27 January 2010 14:55 (fifteen years ago)

maybe it's kinda like saying "gosh, the beatles sure are great"

A.R. Rahman is pretty much one of the biggest musical names in India so yeah, this is about right

The Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 January 2010 16:37 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

revive!!

"the year disco broke: india on the dancefloor 78-84" mp3 cdr mentioned upthread, six years ago or so? does anyone still have it?

geeta, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:15 (fourteen years ago)

CTRL+F "Burning Train" = no results, WTF?

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:20 (fourteen years ago)

Ah, fuck it, I'm going to post some of my favourite youtubes on this thread.

Burning Train - Title Music (R.D. Burman)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmS-G7RI7Z0

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:23 (fourteen years ago)

The Burning Train - Meri Nazar Hai Tujh Pe (R.D. Burman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCemp_hR2_Q

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:26 (fourteen years ago)

Rocky - Aa Dekhen Zara (R.D. Burman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJglcQFTITo

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:29 (fourteen years ago)

Disco Dancer - unsure of the song name, but it's a Bappi Lahiri tune sung by Usha Uthup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMk_xBMzGLw

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:35 (fourteen years ago)

The last two have *very subtle* Western influences. ^__^

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:36 (fourteen years ago)

a fb friend of mine put out that Charanjit Singh "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" record (the one that combined 808 & 303 before acid house, etc) and told me about another comp he's working on called "Agni Natchatram (Fire Star)". it's damn near amazing. kinda like indian boogie and early hip hop. he describes it as "80s weirdo synth-pop+funk from tamilnadu."

this first song is on there and it's damn near the best thing i've ever heard
http://cartilage-records.bandcamp.com/album/play-that-beat-mr-raja-1

jaxon, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:38 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMISxMZJ7Q

xp Disco Dancer's a great film. Janbaaz, not so much.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:41 (fourteen years ago)

omg jaxon if there's a store nearby that has that lp i'm biking there in five minutes

AWeAreVEV0 (Spectrist), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:43 (fourteen years ago)

!!! that is great

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:46 (fourteen years ago)

Yeah, just listening now and it is bloody awesome.

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:47 (fourteen years ago)

please enjoy this Bappi Lahiri track from Gentleman (1989) with me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijs0hs7NaYU

AWeAreVEV0 (Spectrist), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:50 (fourteen years ago)

emil.y: that bappi lahiri song is 'koi yahan nache nache' - have you ever seen the full 'disco dancer' movie? i have it, it is ridiculous and great, i bought a bootleg of it for $2 at a cell phone store in brooklyn

jaxon: edo from bombay connection? what a great label, glad they exist

i wrote a lot about that '10 Ragas to a Disco Beat' record -- here's Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

i have to check this new comp out! do you know anything more about it?

geeta, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:55 (fourteen years ago)

No, I haven't seen it - I only discovered that while researching great Bollywood steals in the vein of Burman's War of the Worlds rip. Would like to, though, that clip is so exuberant.

I'm also very much enjoying the song about Coca Cola on this comp.

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:56 (fourteen years ago)

please enjoy this Bappi Lahiri track from Gentleman (1989) with me

This is pretty nuts. Which makes it great, in my book.

emil.y, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 20:59 (fourteen years ago)

did India invent house music

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:05 (fourteen years ago)

very Moroder feel to this track, one of Bollywood's many 'I feel Love' ripoffs/homages

i have this soundtrack (Shaan, 1980) on vinyl, bought it for $10, it made me so happy to find it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt1R0_oWovM

geeta, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:07 (fourteen years ago)

emil.y, on the ultratrashy Bappi Lahiri side of things I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy Rock Dancer as well (with Samantha Fox!), featuring the classic You Are My Chicken Fry and my favourite song ever about traffic jams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiXFkecxGLE

Samantha Mumbahton (seandalai), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:09 (fourteen years ago)

I was bummed I couldn't even figure out where to look for vinyl when I was in India

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:09 (fourteen years ago)

xp I've been meaning to see Shaan for ages. The song's great.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:11 (fourteen years ago)

apparently my family in india has some giant trove of vinyl stashed somewhere

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:18 (fourteen years ago)

hate to be one of those kids who wants to go back to the motherland to pillage collections of relatives I don't know but in this case

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:19 (fourteen years ago)

I pillaged my wife's grandmother's vinyl collection and unearthed a completely amazing Hungarian psych rock record from '67. I highly recommend it.

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:22 (fourteen years ago)

Coca Cola song is super! ty jaxon

rob, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:31 (fourteen years ago)

jaxon: edo from bombay connection? what a great label, glad they exist

right label, wrong guy. actually his name is julien.

he said he wasn't sure when the comp was coming out. some delays as of now. but that vikram song looks like it was released on another comp recently (that link i posted is for Play That Beat Mr. Raja #1). i can't vouch for the rest of it, but the Fire Star comp is all amazing.

jaxon, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:32 (fourteen years ago)

xpost to Jaxon- Illaiyaraaja (dude from yr link) just got a fairly extensive comp done recently via finders keepers. It's pretty great

Deverly (Bangelo), Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:34 (fourteen years ago)

I was bummed I couldn't even figure out where to look for vinyl when I was in India

more luck finding cassettes, CDs, CD-Rs, etc...vinyl is considered antiquated by their standards. i have my best luck finding bollywood vinyl in the 'soundtracks' or 'world' sections of rock/jazz record stores that don't have a clue, and i also find lots of vintage bollywood vinyl in my parents' basement that they don't want anymore (it helps to have indian parents)

the pressings i have from Polydor India, circa 1979/1980 or whatever, sound really good, and the covers are beautiful too--the pressing plant was in Bombay & the covers were printed there too, super-luxe

on ebay, discogs, etc you won't find many discounts--it's priced up, way way up, for DJs/avid collectors--some of the records i've picked up for $5 are worth $100 according to these sites

i wrote a guide to some of the best convenience stores, cell phone stores, etc to buy Indian music on the cheap in manhattan & brooklyn (queens is its own beast, will handle that in a separate piece at some point) - will look for the link

geeta, Tuesday, 12 July 2011 21:36 (fourteen years ago)

The beginning of that 'Burning Train' title theme music (R.D. Burman, circa 1980) is techno-tastic

here's an edit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iF89qIqJiI

has anyone written an article about trains in the history of electronic music? there's a whole lineage you could write about there. you could talk about musique-concrete and train sounds, go up to kraftwerk and 'trans-europe express', take a detour through bollywood, etc...

geeta, Wednesday, 13 July 2011 05:56 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbxK8BigyFQ

I grew up listening to nothing but indian music I hated it, but I still like this song

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 13 July 2011 06:21 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fhhdfWJ_Fc

Sunidhi Chauhan's kind of wonderful. Aa Tayar Hoja's from Asoka, which wasn't an enormous success but ranks as one of my ten favourite films ever.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Wednesday, 13 July 2011 07:34 (fourteen years ago)

my heart is with the older Bollywood movies from the '70s/'80s--esp. the ones with disco/funk/weird electronic soundtracks--and some from the '60s

newer Bollywood flicks tend to leave me cold. also, the women tend to look slightly healthier in the older movies--that 'Aa Tayar Hoja' video above, from Asoka (2001), looks like an advertisement for an ab workout machine...it's about as sexy as a Gaga video (which is to say, not at all)

here's one of my favorite Bollywood songs of all time--the best 'I Feel Love' homage of them all, from Star (1982)--Nazia Hassan on vocals, transcendent Summer/Moroder-style epicness

here's the scene from the movie--too bad you see the actress and not Nazia--Nazia was one of the most beautiful women on planet Earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ead-K_q5QNs

geeta, Wednesday, 13 July 2011 17:26 (fourteen years ago)

geeta - yeah I was in Mumbai (twice), Goa (twice), Delhi, Bangalore and I checked out every music store I could find but yeah all CDs/cassettes. the couple of random vinyl records I did find were from a street vendor in Mumbai, but they were nothing special. in general my inquiries about where to find records were met with predictable puzzlement.

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 13 July 2011 17:32 (fourteen years ago)

i have that Sitar Beat edit 12" u posted above geeta. has one of my fave bollywood tracks on it, Disco 82. i had my good friend translate it into english. funny lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI7WAxhWabk

(they don't exactly make sense-they kind of have a nonsensical
rolling on e quality about em.)

I am disco-You are disco
The entire world in a disco
Disco 82 la la la la (etc)
do re me (the 7 sounds)
rama rama rama (also part of the do re me sounds-but also, rama-is a
god)
My laughter and dreams are alive here.
Don't show me a cage, I am not a domesticated bird.
Let me say it - Let me say it
Disco 82 (etc)
This soma is in the form of liquor-it is not poison-if I drink it,
and get tipsy-will you be mad?
Let me live - Let me live-I swear by you!
disco 82 etc.
You to me, me to you-we keep saying something to one another.
There is still night left-there is still much left to say-but we
flounder.
Let me fly, Let me fly-I swear by you.
Disco 82 etc

jaxon, Wednesday, 13 July 2011 17:41 (fourteen years ago)

ha, 'disco 82'! i know that one

that's exactly it though, the '82' -- india caught on to disco later than the western world did. their 1982/1983 was our 1977/1978. and that's what makes it so interesting to me: these popular culture movements didn't happen simultaneously

when i was in new delhi in 1992, i turned on the TV and the announcer said something like "here's a new song by kate bush called 'running up that hill'"

imagine being told, in '92, that 'running up that hill', from 1985, was a brand new song, hot off the presses: what happens then? all my notions about music melted right then and there

geeta, Wednesday, 13 July 2011 17:56 (fourteen years ago)

Enjoying the videos and stuff folks. Thanks

curmudgeon, Thursday, 14 July 2011 13:24 (fourteen years ago)

my heart is with the older Bollywood movies from the '70s/'80s--esp. the ones with disco/funk/weird electronic soundtracks--and some from the '60s

Yeah, this is pretty much it for me too (though purely from a musical perspective - as I've said before, I don't really know the films themselves). But then I err towards the aesthetic from the same era in UK/US/European music, too, so it's not that surprising.

emil.y, Thursday, 14 July 2011 15:56 (fourteen years ago)

I love all eras of Bollywood, but if we're talking strictly music yeah the disco/funk/weird electronics of the 70s/80s is the best

my wife and I have been searching FOREVER, to no avail, for this 70s Bollywood film called "Goonghat" that we caught on TV while we were there. maybe if I spoke/read Hindi I could find it but alas

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:01 (fourteen years ago)

my wife and I have been searching FOREVER, to no avail, for this 70s Bollywood film called "Goonghat" that we caught on TV while we were there.

do you mean 'Ghunghat', circa 1960? someone has posted the entire movie on youtube in 20 parts

geeta, Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:09 (fourteen years ago)

O RLY

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:16 (fourteen years ago)

it was definitely older, I was only guessing about the year

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:17 (fourteen years ago)

hmm no that isn't it. this was in color. featured the semi-common practice of casting midget/dwarf as a child

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:18 (fourteen years ago)

much more into romantic 60s Bollywood, so pretty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFr6G5zveS8

zappi, Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:31 (fourteen years ago)

That's gorgeous. Appreciate the sports jacket too.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:47 (fourteen years ago)

the actors are are almost white in bollywood movies nowadays

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:45 (fourteen years ago)

like all of them

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:45 (fourteen years ago)

? can't say I've noticed that trend

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:47 (fourteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Shah_Rukh_Khan_%28Berlin_Film_Festival_2008%29_4.1.jpg/220px-Shah_Rukh_Khan_%28Berlin_Film_Festival_2008%29_4.1.jpg

this guy looks white to you?

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:48 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2hSEu4X1WA

really appreciate the effort here

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:50 (fourteen years ago)

shakey he's like a big actor holdover, but whenever I visit my parents they're watching some bullshit two bit new movie with actors with a lot of anglo facial features

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:51 (fourteen years ago)

also, you shoulda posted a picture of rajinikanth

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:51 (fourteen years ago)

Pale = beautiful is clearly a huge issue and one that goes far beyond the film industry. It's an exaggeration to say that the majority of stars are 'almost white' but there's no doubt the actors are not reflective of the country's diversity.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:55 (fourteen years ago)

well yeah there's no arguing with that

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 18:56 (fourteen years ago)

just saying that when I'm out eating chaat somewhere and watching vids looped on dvd on the big flatscreen in the corner more people in the newer vids have a homogenized look but then again I don't really pay close attention to these movies on a historical basis, and actively dislike most of them

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:00 (fourteen years ago)

whenever I listen to that sun city girls track, after it's over, I think to myself "good hustle guys"

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:01 (fourteen years ago)

uh oh i'm having a fantasy otm. one of the things i love about sharukh khan is how indo his features are--sort of amazed he still gets cast.

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:07 (fourteen years ago)

but not really because he's awesome.

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:08 (fourteen years ago)

Bit depressing to see him in skin-lightening cream adverts but he's completely amazing otherwise.

модный хипстер (ShariVari), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:14 (fourteen years ago)

did you guys see the whole Aishwarya Rai skin-lightening controversy? it wasn't her; it was a fashion magazine that apparently lightened her in Photoshop for the cover

http://jezebel.com/5719938/lawsuit-rumors-for-elle-india-skin+lightening-controversy

geeta, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:08 (fourteen years ago)

:( i hadn't read that

last time i was in india, my sister and i were joking about using the skin-lightening creams we saw freaking everywhere and my male cousin, very seriously, was like, i can get you guys some if you want it! it turned out his sister had a gigantic stash.

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:09 (fourteen years ago)

yeah :(

Aishwarya Rai is teh hotness

i hate it when rats eat my bushels (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:10 (fourteen years ago)

i'm sure i have no idea what i'm talking about, but my sister's in india for the summer working and she and i were talking about how what indians need is an analogue to the Black Arts/Black Power movement. obviously it's a different situation and would look different and it's pretty ridiculous of me to be opining about what a subcontinent full of people should be doing but.

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:14 (fourteen years ago)

that's pretty far off-topic i guess

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:14 (fourteen years ago)

i've never used these creams, and i object to the principle. (i bet they're not safe either.) but i'm a bit sensitive about the issue, because i actually got made fun of in the opposite way when I was a kid--I'm paler than a lot of Indian people (my family hails from the mountainous North) and my hair is more brown than black. when i was a kid, other indian kids would tell me i didn't look 'indian' enough, or that i must be half-Indian, or whatever, but no--my parents are both Indian

it was really odd

the funny thing is, when i was 14 years old, i actually hated Bollywood movies--at the time I wore all black and listened to Coil (why did I have so many Coil records? I don't remember now) but i distrusted Bollywood and its big, colorful, over-the-topness: it signified the mainstream to me, which i hated at the time

now, many years later, in my 30s, i adore Bollywood movies, and i appreciate them: also, things get more interesting when you add some time to them

geeta, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:26 (fourteen years ago)

yeah i didn't mean to suggest there's only one "indo" look. (my family hails from the mountainous north, too!)

horseshoe, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:28 (fourteen years ago)

one month passes...

Disco circa 1985, from the movie Saaheb, music by Bappi Lahiri:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDzOSqkWfCY

geeta, Monday, 22 August 2011 23:13 (fourteen years ago)

you can see a lot of michael jackson in those dance moves as well

plot synopsis, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Anil Kapoor plays Saaheb, the youngest son of the family. He is focused on football, his passion. Due to this, everyone in the family constantly tells him he is no good. However when circumstances demand, he gives up his kidney to fund his sister's marriage, at the cost of his football career.

geeta, Monday, 22 August 2011 23:17 (fourteen years ago)

it's no "aao na" but it's cool

bamcquern, Monday, 22 August 2011 23:22 (fourteen years ago)

Don't really know much about Bollywood but some Kollywood soundtracks I've enjoyed

Kadhal Rojave
Kadhalan
Paruthiveeran
Kannathil Muthamittal
Ghilli
Anniyan
Chandramukhi

The Sunspots In Your Eyes Are Actually Cataracts, Mr. Rudich (AWALL), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 02:35 (fourteen years ago)

tell me more! tamil cinema is not something i know that much about

geeta, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 23:04 (fourteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

more Bollywood 'I Feel Love' action (Bappi Lahiri, in case you were wondering)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Cg-eFUWho

(starting at around 2:30)

geeta, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 09:46 (fourteen years ago)

Me on some Bollywood disco gems, over at Wired's Beyond the Beyond:

http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/09/musica-globalista-geeta-dayal-on-disco-part-1/

geeta, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 21:35 (fourteen years ago)

this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBu_TBNmmkc

geeta, Wednesday, 21 September 2011 16:09 (fourteen years ago)

one month passes...

Babla's Disco Sensation isn't a Bollywood OST per se but still really good, "Old film hits with a new disco touch"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMxl-wLNOB4

The Sunspots In Your Eyes Are Actually Cataracts, Mr. Rudich (AWALL), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 05:06 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

http://bodegapop.blogspot.com/2013/06/get-this-two-dozen-track-revelation-here.html

I gave myself a task: Using only CDs I'd purchased in Jackson Heights, Queens, over the last decade or so, create the Single Most Kick Ass 1970s-80s Bollywood Freak Out Mix of All Time without resorting to any track included on any previous Western Consumer-targeted Bollywood Funk/Disco/Dance or other compilation.

curmudgeon, Friday, 14 June 2013 14:16 (twelve years ago)

I really really love the 1930s/40s stuff on the History Of Indian Film Music box set from a few years ago. I'm having a hard time finding other CDs of that period however. Any recommendaions? I do have wonderful comps of Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar that are comprised of 40s-60s stuff, i believe.

brimstead, Saturday, 15 June 2013 02:16 (twelve years ago)

That Bodega Pop link doesn't seem to work for me. Bah.

emil.y, Saturday, 15 June 2013 13:47 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

Any decent overviews of more recent Bollywood stuff (Yo Yo Honey Singh, "Badtameez Dil", etc)?

etc, Sunday, 15 March 2015 07:59 (ten years ago)

Isn't there a new thread kinda covering this now...forget what its called

curmudgeon, Monday, 16 March 2015 14:26 (ten years ago)

Ah, sorry, I'd missed Rolling Punjab, Hindi/Bollywood, etc. jams from Central Asia... - though I can't see anything in that thread due to YT being blocked in China, and a rolling thread might not be the right place to ask about 90s/00s/etc overview comps.

etc, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:25 (ten years ago)

four months pass...

Feels like the '90s are old enough for this thread. So, what about '90s Bollywood?

I'm hoping in vain that it'll all be like "My Adorable Darling"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4tmeg9me9E&t=4s

(Purists would argue they should've bought fewer guitars and more amps.)

Allegedly Anu Malik's songs did resemble lots of other songs, but not Bollywood ones.

flyingtrain (sbahnhof), Thursday, 30 July 2015 21:50 (ten years ago)

one year passes...

Gurudev (1992)
R D Burman
Asha Bhosle,Shailendra Singh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=dpCrRj0CRKE

Noel Emits, Sunday, 9 July 2017 16:34 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

he he digging this list: https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWYRTlrhMB12D?si=wIekccu4R2-aoJKNIB7t3w

niels, Friday, 3 August 2018 13:06 (seven years ago)


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