charanjit singh “synthesizing • ten ragas to a disco beat” double long playing record set

• raga bhairav
  
• raga lalit
  
• raga bhupali
  
  
• raga megh malhar
  
• raga yaman
  
• raga kalavati
  
  
• raga madhuvanti
  
• raga todi
  
  
• raga malkauns
  
• raga bairagi

march 2010 release ; gorgeous, european double-lp gatefold reissue of this oft whispered-about side :: ... purportedly recorded in india in 1982, the 10 morning-to-night ragas here were programmed, step-time style, into the era’s flagship xox boxes - the (then) maligned tb-303 “bass line” and tr-808 “rhythm composer”, then embellished with stray jupiter-8 flourish ... the results are mind-bottling ; mr. singh’s insanely prescient stylings (as mentioned elsewhere ad infinitum, predating phuture’s trax-label debut by a good 5 years) owe much to italo-germanic-disco’s production conceits, sure, but his frankly, awesome keyboard-solo abilities are up there with east-leaning minimalists like terry riley et.al & the levels of sheer looping repetition bring this much closer to mesmerizing pulse of the “private” synth / library-music universe’s era recordings than anything from the moogsploitation camp ... ultra-deluxe gatefold presents the album in chronological / conceptual order, with the first lp offering 6 tracks (3 per side) @ 33.3~, then the second the remaining 4 (2 per side) @ 45 (presumably for club / venue / outdoor p.a. applications) ... note to world ; i want to hear this music being played in every idiotic cafe, trend-jumping fashion boutique, between sets at every “ironic” williamsburg venue-dump, every pbr-stocked “rent party”, etc ... all summer, everywhere, non-stop (after which we can all take a short break) ... highly recommended !!!

bombay connection press release...

synthesizing – ten ragas to a disco beat by charanjit singh (india, 1982) until recently it wasn’t much more than some rumours on the web: a 1982 released lp called ten ragas to a disco beat containing kraftwerk-like acid house music, years before the genre was invented. so it turns out, the record was no rumour. only a few hundred copies of the lp were ever pressed, and only a handful seem to have survived. moreover, the lp outdoes all expectations. performed on the synths that would later define acid house, the roland tb-303 and tr-808, the album sounds light years ahead of its time with its repetitive beats and hypnotic electronic melodies. its maker, bollywood session musician charanjit singh, set out to translate ancient indian classical ragas to the modern synthesizer and in doing so seems to have invented house music along the way. the 10 tracks make a consistent listen from a to z. its restrained minimalism and lack of cheesiness makes it incredibly contemporary, sounding animated, fluid and unabashedly alive.

charanjit singh “synthesizing • ten ragas to a disco beat” compact disc

• raga bhairav (5:00)
  
• raga lalit (4:56)
  
• raga bhupali (4:54)
  
• raga todi (4:53)
  
• raga madhuvanti (4:59)
  
• raga megh malhar (5:02)
  
• raga yaman (5:07)
  
• raga kalavati (5:08)
  
• raga malkauns (5:03)
  
• raga bairagi (5:08)

march 2010 release ; cd reissue of this oft whispered-about side :: ... purportedly recorded in india in 1982, the 10 morning-to-night ragas here were programmed, step-time style, into the era’s flagship xox boxes - the (then) maligned tb-303 “bass line” and tr-808 “rhythm composer”, then embellished with stray jupiter-8 flourish ... the results are mind-bottling ; mr. singh’s insanely prescient stylings (as mentioned elsewhere ad infinitum, predating phuture’s trax-label debut by a good 5 years) owe much to italo-germanic-disco’s production conceits, sure, but his frankly, awesome keyboard-solo abilities are up there with east-leaning minimalists like terry riley et.al & the levels of sheer looping repetition bring this much closer to mesmerizing pulse of the “private” synth / library-music universe’s era recordings than anything from the moogsploitation camp ... lovely 6-panel digipack presents the album in chronological / conceptual order ... note to world ; i want to hear this music being played in every idiotic cafe, trend-jumping fashion boutique, between sets at every “ironic” williamsburg venue-dump, every pbr-stocked “rent party”, etc ... all summer, everywhere, non-stop (after which we can all take a short break) ... highly recommended !!!

bombay connection press release...

synthesizing – ten ragas to a disco beat by charanjit singh (india, 1982) until recently it wasn’t much more than some rumours on the web: a 1982 released lp called ten ragas to a disco beat containing kraftwerk-like acid house music, years before the genre was invented. so it turns out, the record was no rumour. only a few hundred copies of the lp were ever pressed, and only a handful seem to have survived. moreover, the lp outdoes all expectations. performed on the synths that would later define acid house, the roland tb-303 and tr-808, the album sounds light years ahead of its time with its repetitive beats and hypnotic electronic melodies. its maker, bollywood session musician charanjit singh, set out to translate ancient indian classical ragas to the modern synthesizer and in doing so seems to have invented house music along the way. the 10 tracks make a consistent listen from a to z. its restrained minimalism and lack of cheesiness makes it incredibly contemporary, sounding animated, fluid and unabashedly alive.