Ten ragas to a disco beat

[Space ghost]

Sure there must be fans of squelchy analog goodness nestling on this board.

thought I'd draw your attention to this record.

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=288726

*SERIOUS FIND HERE - 1982 PROTO-TECHNO MADE IN INDIA - AN ABSOLUTE TREASURE TROVE OF EARLY ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC THAT SOUNDS LIKE APHEX'S ANALORD TRANSPORTED TO EARLY 80'S MUMBAI - DO NOT MISS!* Charanjit Singh's 'Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat' is quite easily one of the maddest records we've ever had in stock. It was originally made in 1982 by a Bollywood soundtrack composer, intending to capitalise on the disco phenomenon with a combination of centuries-old classical Indian Ragas set to a disco backing. To achieve this Charanjit used a prototypical acid set-up of Roland TB303 bass melody sequencer and TR808 drum computer together with a Jupiter-8 keyboard. He basically created a sound which mirrored, and more importantly, pre-dated the first acid house record - Phuture's 'Acid Track' by five years, and even preceded Chip E's 'Jack Trax' in 1985. It's no throw-away novelty record either, instead capturing the hypnotic potential of acid music in the most ornate and scarily prescient fashion, making explicit the similarities of infinitely arpeggiated bass sequences and pure electronic pulses that would soundtrack dancefloors for the next 30 odd years. The more cynical among you will probably be thinking this is Ceephax or Aphex Twin delivering one of the most elaborate in-jokes of their career, but with the gatefold sleeve depicting the original sleeve and some in-depth liner notes from the label and Charanjit, our cynicism is waning in favour of absolute shock and awe. 'Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat' is vintage futurism of the highest calibre, and made all the more amazing by the fact it came from India, a place hardly renowned for its electronic output! This is a remarkable record and comes with our highest recommendation - AN ABSOLUTE FIND.

[Serge]

Bizarrely, this is the second time today that I've had this record bought to my attention. Well, possibly not that bizarre seeing as I work in a record shop, but still. Although it was Andrew Weatherall who came into the shop and asked us if we had it! Blank looks all around from us, as no bugger had sold it into us, so I'm frantically trying to find out who's distributing it so we can get it in. Sounds good, though.

[Space ghost]

It's been reissued on a Dutch label called Bombay connection and the artists name is Charanjit Singh.

I'm still not totally convinced it's not some hipster wheeze by analord/aphex twin, it's so far ahead of its time.


Raga Bhairav - 1982 - SYNTHESIZING: TEN RAGAS TO A DISCO BEAT - Charanjit Singh

[Jaffit]

I'm still not totally convinced it's not some hipster wheeze by analord/aphex twin, it's so far ahead of its time.

There was a piece in the Guardian which confirms its real and gives some background on Singh.


It is a pretty amazing find if true, although all the tracks are pretty similar. The only person who shouldnt really enjoy it is Phuture as it pretty much destroys their most famous claim to fame.

[Funcrusher]

The novelty of this wore off about halfway through a first listen for me. It's an interesting historical curio, but ultimately a bit dull. It's no 'Acid Tracks'. I've got pretty cynical about rediscovered 'lost classics' that get hyped up like this, as they're invariably a bit underwhelming. With all the ardent crate diggers out there, I don't think there's anything really amazing in the archives still to be uncovered. I wasn't much fussed about Black Devil Disco either.

[Guy]

It is a pretty amazing find if true, although all the tracks are pretty similar. The only person who shouldnt really enjoy it is Phuture as it pretty much destroys their most famous claim to fame.

Well not really, unless their claim to fame is 'used a 303 in a song'. I haven't heard this whole album but it seems he's just used the 303 to make basslines in the intended way. The difference with its usage in acid is the extended hypnotic spaz-outs, using the filter and envelope. From what I've heard that hasn't been done here.

There are some nice synth bits on this though, the bit that comes in near the end of the track posted above instantly made me think of the twiddly Jupiter bit in Remind by Orbital.

[Lord Mandrake]

That is pretty insane for 1982.

[Serge]

Now I've heard it, I quite like it, but its tracks would work best coming up on random on the Ipod for me - they all sound pretty similar, and all start exactly the same way! Sounds good, though.

[Lord Mandrake]

I beleive he is adhering to the fundamental rules of Raga within an electronic context.