Apna Desh

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Spent last week in Rome. Unfortunately I didn't find any Italian library records and I don't have any Italian music to post. So, that means more Bollywood. I'm ending my little Bollywood thread with an entire album by R.D. Burman. This record was in that very first stash of Bollywood records I picked up in Berkeley. Apparantly this one is pretty well known and seems to sell for fair prices alhtough my copy has a hole that's too big so I won't be doing any skratching with it. It's not necessarily funky, but has got some great freaky/mod moments especially on "Rona Kabhi Nahin" and "Aaja O Mere Raja". I'm also going to include a few tracks from the Bollywood remix project "Bombay the Hardway" that started me on this whole kick. And, you should also check out this clip from a Bollywood film that I found on WFMU's Beware of the Blog

1.Kajra Laga Ke
2.Lelo Lelo Babu Peelo Narial Pani
3.Suno Champa
4.Rona Kabhi Nahin
5.Aaja O Mere Raja
6.Duniya Men



Satchidananda by Kalyanji, Anandji from Bombay the Hard Way
Theme from Don by Kalyanji, Anandji from Bombay the Hard Way

More Bollywood!!!

My last post was kind of long so I'll try to keep this one short. Today, I bring to you two tracks from two albums by the same artist, Bappi Lahiri. The first track is "Superstar" from the movie "Film Hi Film" which is pictured to the side and below. Once again we've got this weird disco style with chugging guitar work, real drums, and synths. This song makes me dance in my living room. I also tend to sing along with the "Hey! Hey!" part and punctuate it by putting my fist in the air. Hoping for the same reaction from others, I've played this song out at a few parties, but the only response I've seen so far is bewilderment.

The next song, "Jeet", is taken from the album "Josh". I picked this one up sealed on my second visit to my spot in Berkeley. I actually saw it the first time I was there, but passed on it because the front cover makes it look like a stand up comedy album. After searching on the internets, I saw that the album had some sort of demand so I picked it up. For some reason, this track reminds me of Mr. Bungle. I guess it could be for a couple of reasons including the sudden changes, the multiple influences, the keyboard sounds, the guitar, and the plain old wackiness of that synth line followed by the disco strings and breakdown. You must listen to this song all the way through, because it seems to stop, then comes roaring back as a sort of dance reprise with a chorus yelling "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey...." Geez, I hope someone is enjoying this stuff besides me.


Superstar by Bappi Lahiri from Film Hi Film
Jeet by Bappi Lahiri from Josh

Bollywood!

I suppose my first real contact with Bollywood music was through the remix project Bombay the Hard Way by Dan the Automator and Josh Davis (DJ S****w). I started searching for records by the duo Kalyanji and Anandji who were featured in that album. Besides comps, I could only find their music on Ebay for hefty prices. Then, one day, while in Berkeley, I decided to walk into one of the Indian import shops on University and asked if they had any records. Once it was clear that I meant the big round vinyl thing, the nice Indian gentleman walked me towards a dusty old box of Bollywood records. For 6 bucks each I picked up 8 records that still smell like curry. None of the albums were completely mindblowing and I'm pretty sure the steady diet of Bollywood music for weeks straight drove my significant other berzerker.

My search for Bollywood records went to another level when I started to call Indian import stores throughout the Bay Area. Most of the calls started with me struggling to explain what I was searching for and ending with laughter once it was clear I wanted records. My phone calls eventually led me back to Berkeley where I found a store selling sealed Bollywood records for eleven bucks each. I started to have delusions of quitting my day job and selling sealed Bollywood albums to record nerds, producers, and djs for astronomical prices.
After a little bit of research using Ebay's completed items and Popsike.com I headed back to the store to find out that the store owner had seen the same requests multiple times from record stores in Chicago and New York. My plans to quit working for the man had been thwarted, but I still came up with a few nice Bollywood records.

So, today I bring to you three tracks from the movie Haadsaa an Incident composed by the same two guys, Kalyanji and Anandji featured in Bombay the Hard Way. The front and back of the cover are the top two images of my post. This is by far my favorite of all of my Bollywood records.
Not often do you find three fairly good tracks on one Bollywood record. Most of the albums that I've kept are usually one trackers. Lots of sound effects and moogs on this one. The highlight of this album for me is the disco song about YOGA. There's something about programmed synth lines and real drums that I really like.

I'm also including one track from a movie called Jaago. I do not know the name of the track because all text is in Hindi (I believe that's the right term; correct me if I'm wrong). I picked this one up because it had a dude holding some sort of ax on the front cover. This one starts of with some great moog and goes into nice funky guitar punctuated by horns. Like most Bollywood music it switches all over the place thorughout the song.


Bombay Sheher by Kalyanji Anandji from Haadsaa an Incident
Disco Cammata by Kalyanji Anandji from Haadsaa an Incident
Y.O.G.A. by Kalyanji Anandji from Haadsaa an Incident
Bollywood Music by Jaigovind from Jaago

Amid Ranchera

The following tracks are all taken from Latin records that are full of cowboy hat wearing ranchera tunes. First off, is a track called "Frijole con Puerco" or as they shout out at the beginning, "Pork and Beans." I picked this record up at the same Goodwill I mentioned in my previous posts. With the name "Los Socios Del Ritmos" and a Perez Prado cover I had to pick it up and was totally blown away when this song came up. Once again the keyboards kick ass, but the horns and guitar almost give the song a reggae feel.

Next is a track taken from the album pictured above. I've noticed that a lot of these records will have one huge track with a medley of songs. So, after two or three fast paced polka type tunes punctuated by "gritas" Orquesta Casino decided to throw in a wicked fast cover of War's "Cisco Kid". I left a little bit of the next song so you can hear the transition.


Thirdly, is a track by Little Joe and the Latinaires from Texas. I believe Little Joe is a legend in TexMex music and even plays today. I totally picked this record up on the strength of the album cover. Once again, amid plenty of very latin type tunes we are given a nice version of the Shocking Blue's "Venus". Interestingly, they cite the writing credits as "unknown". I suppose they did that for copyright reasons. Wait, are the Shocking Blue even the writers of the track?

My final track is a 45 that I found on top of a garbage can on Bryant and 24th street here in San Francisco. There were a bunch of Latin tunes and some oldies records but this is the only thing I ended up keeping. The 45 looked like it had never been played. The song is called "Abuelita Rock" and is credited to the group Andalucia. I have no information on them except for they rock and sound like a bunch of kids.


Frijol Con Puerco by Los Socios Del Ritmo from Chilito piquin Vamos A Platicar
Cisco Kid by Orquesta Casino from Sabor!
Venus by Little Joe and the Latinaires from Mas Arriba
Abuelita Rock by Andalucia from 45 single