Track Of The Day - The Bombay Royale

TRACK OF THE DAY - Shanker Ganesh

Shankar Jaikishan & Rais Khan (1968) -Raga Jazz Style

Artist: Shankar Jaikishan & Rais Khan
Album: Raga Jazz Style
Release Date: 1968
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Size: 262 MB

Shankar Jaikishan are probably the most versatile duos that hailed the music of Bollywood during the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, the 40s, 50s and 60s. The golden era of Indian film music can be associated with the musical giants of different capabilities and specialisations.
They had composed music in almost 200 films in a tenure of around 22 years.2 So great was the impact of their creative genius that it had a lasting impact on the music of the Hindi films. Shankar-Jaikishan understood the taste of the masses, were able to cater to them, as well as moulded their tastes. No wonder then that during their tenure as music directors, they were exceedingly popular and 75 per cent of the films for which their scores were everlasting hits – many have celebrated silver jubilees.
The team of Shankar Jaikishan consisted of Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal. Shankar (October 15, 1922 – 1987) was born in Punjab and trained under the famous Husnlal Bhagatram. He later settled down in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Jaikishan (1929 – 1971) hails from Panchal, Gujarat, India.
They were honored with the maximum number (nine) of Filmfare awards in the Indian film industry. In 1968, Shankar Jaikishan released an album, “Raga Jazz Style : Shankar Jaikishan with Rais Khan.”

Various Artists (2006) -The Bombay Connection Vol.1 & Vol.2

Artist: various
Albums: The Bombay Connection Vol. 1 & 2
Released: 2006
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 123 / 125 MB

”…Cast a long shadow, and the rest of the civilized world will get caught in at least part of it. Bombay Connection’s eight-volume series of music culled from Indian cinema follows a number of compilations that emphasized the exotic qualities of Bollywood filmi. The tack taken on these inaugural releases, however, hasn’t yet been fully realized by their predecessors, in that they glamorize those elements that descend directly from Western ephemera, in an examination of how they can be meshed with Indian musical traditions. These compilations seem to have been made by – and for – beat miners, record collectors, B-movie enthusiasts, dimestore novel devours, and all those who wish to get hip deep in the pulp. Incredible selections, and exhaustive, intriguing liner notes omit the last part of the story: you, and your involvement with the material therein. Here, the discs identify how Indian cinema found its own private grindhouse, peopled by jewel thieves, hippie burnouts, floozie starlets, grizzled flatfoots and lecherous scum, qualities that may have passed as a fad but still project the clarion call to margin dwellers all over the world. They shuttle us to a world too ridiculous for us to live in, and we soak it all up…” ~ by Doug Mosurock, DUSTED REVIEWS

TRACK OF THE DAY -Shankar Jaikishan & Rais Khan

Sagram (1972) -Pop Explosion Sitar Style

Artist: Sagram
Album: Pop Explosion Sitar Style
Released: 1972
Quality: mp3 CBR 256
Size: 84 MB

As a member of Magic Carpet and Magic Carpet II, and on his solo recordings, British sitarist Alford has explored the fusion of Indian music with folk, jazz, and rock. Although he initially studied bagpipes, Alford began playing the sitar in the mid-'60s, inspired by Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar. He went to India in 1968 to study classical sitar with Pandit Sachindranath Saha, and in 1969 recorded an album with guitarist Jim Moyes and tabla player Keshav Sathe for Windmill. Unfortunately, this was issued under the name Sagram, although the actual name of the band was Sargam. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

Various Artists (2011) - Sa-Re-Ga! (Psychedelic Funk Music In India 1970-1983)

Artist: various
Album: Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! (Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions Of Psychedelic Funk Music In India 1970-1983
Released: 2011
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 165 MB

By the end of the 2000s, compilations of non-Western psychedelic music were becoming a dime-a-dozen propositions, while Bollywood compilations were getting even cheaper yet. Psych-Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Seminar outdoes the low expectations of both, stretching the boundaries of Bollywood exploitation music, and also featuring a set of '60s/'70s Indian pop at its finest, courtesy of producers extraordinary R.D. Burman and the brothers team known as Kalyanji Anandji (with multiple tracks each). Unlike most discs of this sort, the compilers at World Psychedelic Funk Classics are experts, well used to digging deep into the dustbins of history throughout Southeast Asia. Aptly, this collection is structured more like a film soundtrack than a run of singles, beginning with two scene-setting instrumentals (including a surfsploitation gem by a group called X'Lents) before splashing in with five tracks from the producers above in all their frenetic, chaotic multi-layered glory. True playback singers aren't common here (just Asha Bhosle on several tracks), but that serves the disc well; digging as deep as this, and providing a seminar on Bollywood soundtracks and the psychedelic scene around India during the '70s makes for a much more distinctive compilation. Highlights will vary from listener to listener based on whether your tastes lie in traditional Bollywood, psych-funk curios, or '60s exploitation (here courtesy of some remarkably garagey instrumentals), but shining above the pack are discoveries like Burman's "Freak Out Music" (which is exactly that), and Bappi Lahari's "Everybody Dance with Me" (reminiscent of "In A-Gadda-Da-Vida" gone Indian). ~ John BushSpin