Various Artists
Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga!
World Psychedelic Funk Classics
Dec 07, 2010
Various Artists
World Psychedelic Funk Classics put out its first release in 2009 under the title Psych Funk 101. An introductory study of the “golden years” of psychedelic funk music, the compilation brought together essential tracks of the genre from around the globe. Their third course in fuzz guitars and funk rhythm (following their Brazilian fuzz guitar comp) focuses on India, summarized by the subtitle of the record: Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music in India 1970-1983.
The 20 tracks here are presented chronologically starting with two instrumentals from Simla Cigarette’s battle-of-the-bands competition that sent the winners off to record a song or two for the Simla Beat compilations. The Black Beats’ “The Mod Trade” and X’Lents’ “Psychedelia” are both simple, barebones songs owing a huge debt to American surf rock. A western influence is felt heavily throughout the comp, whether on Bappi Lahari’s “Ina Gadda Da Vida” riff-swiping “Everybody Dance With Me” or Atomic Forest’s cover of Deep Purple’s “Mary Long.”
Sa-Re-Ga! pulls a lot of material from the Bollywood film industry, notably the work of Kalyanji Anandji (brothers Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah), R.D. Burman (well known for scoring over 300 films), and Ahsha Bhosle’s ubiquitous vocals. Kalyanji Anandji’s “Bairaag Dance Music” is a synthesizer and fuzz guitar-led number with horn blasts and percussion rhythms that recall a frenzied mambo. Burman’s “Freak Out Music,” an incidental piece from the film Heera Panna, is brilliant Ennio Morricone, well… freak out.
While WPFC does a terrific job of tying all of these songs together through extensive liner notes and historical annotations, the compilation drags on with only a handful of choice tracks in its second half. Sa-Re-Ga! is still definitely worth a listen for those interested in psychedelic music, western musical influence in South Asia, or Bollywood’s hold on Indian popular music. (www.stonesthrow.com / www.nowagainrecords.com)
Author rating: 6/10
Average reader rating: 7/10
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January 24th 2011
11:45pm
This album is more a 10 out of 10. Awesome, funky, unique music with soul and beautiful Indian voices, great guitar, melodies, and drum beats…One of my new favorites.
April 16th 2012
4:01am
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