Sitar Beat! Indian Style Heavy Funk Vol.1 & 2

The Sitar Beat series was built with the DJ in mind - collecting some of the wildest, heaviest and most psychedelic Indian Funk recorded and presenting it loud on wax, ready for the turntable. Now, due to popular demand, we’re collecting the heaviest cuts from this vinyl series and presenting them on a limited edition CD. The first four volumes were lessons in just how ahead of their time India’s Bollywood composers were in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. They dug into Indian deep funk and psycho-psychedelic masterpieces recorded for the Bollywood film industry. Alongside full length killers like the funkiest track from the rare “Qurbani” soundtrack, there were Bollywood funk fiestas by acclaimed composers such as Kalanji Ananji and R.D. Burman, with extended breakbeats and re-edits that upped the funk to the boiling point. Together with Ravi’s nephew Ananda Shankhar’s instrumental Sitar freak outs were diva Asha Boshle’s soulful wailings. Culling its music from rare vinyl and utilizing tasteful restoration and remastering, Sitar Beat was the first time that many of these songs are heard by the record-buying public - at least in this form. Edits remove any bobbing and weaving, leaving funk that only flies straight ahead!

Tracklist Vol.1

1. Klaus Doldinger: Sitar Beat
2. Klaus Doldinger: Sitar (Bonus) Beats
3. Kalyanji Anandji:
4. Sapan Jagmohan: Meri Aakhon Mein (Edit)
5. Asha Boshle w/ R.D. Burman:
6. Serge Gainsbourg: New Delire
7. Serge Gainsbourg w/ Michel Colombier:
8. Ananda Shankar: Dancing Drums
9. R.D. Burman: Rocky Bonus Beats
10. R.D. Burman w/ Asha Boshle & Kishore Kumore:
11. Raghunath Seth: Orchestral Music (Edit)
12. Kalyanji Anandji: Somebody To Love (Edit)
13. Kalyanji Anandji: Bairaag Dance Music (Edit)
14. Kalyanji Anandji: Banarasi Babu Beats
15. Usha Khanna: Hotel Incidental Music (Edit)
16. Kalyanji Anandji: Theme From Don
17. Annu Malik w/ Asha Bhosle & Chorus:
18. R.D Burman: The Burning Train (Kou’s Edit)
19. Biddu: Qurbani Bonus Beats
20. Biddu w/ Manhar & Anand:
21. Ananda Shankar: Sa Re Ga (Edit)

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Following the success of the first Sitar Beat compilation CD, a collection of Indian and Indian-inspried European funky selections from the 60s and 70s, the crew knew they had to come deep for the sequel. So for Volume 2, they go straight to heart of India with some of the rarest, and best tracks recorded between the years of 1970 and 1984. Nearly all of these tracks are appearing on CD for the first time. Sixteen tracks of rare and funky Indian flavor, blending heavy beats with the sounds of the sitar and the inimitable vocal sounds of beloved Indian singers such as the ubiquitous Asha Bhosle and producers/songwriters like Kalyanji Ananji and R. D. Burman. Most of the tracks are culled from Bollywood sound tracks from the 70s and early 80s. Enormously popular, often wild and packed with action and romance, these films put the intense music of star composers like Burman and Kalyanji & Anandji at the forefront. The strange, psychedelic sounds possess their own cultural mish-mash of flavors combining traditional Indian instrumentation and melodies with film music s intensity, and incorporating styles from American/Western music from about 5 years or so behind the trend. All this to say expect funk, psychedelic rock, disco and proto-electro to jump out from the grooves of Sitar Beat Volume 2 and hit you harder than a mouth full of spicy masala. This is soul from the Sub-continent at it s best!

Tracklist Vol.2

1. The Witness (Babla & his Orchestra)
2. Awara Sadiyon Se (Kalyanji Anandji)
3. Everybody Dance With Me (S.D. Narang)
4. Wada Karle Sajna (Kalyanji Anandji)
5. Nigahon Ka Adaon Ka (K. Anandji)
6. Freak Out Music (R.D. Burman)
7. Dushmun Title Music (L. Pyarelal)
8. Pyar Zindagi Hai (Kalyanji Anandji)
9. Tera Jasia Pyara Koi Nahin (Khanna)
10. Phir Teri Yaad (Hemant Bhosle)
11. Main Akeli Raat Jawan (Ajit Singh)
12. Bekaraar Bekaraar Bekaraar Kiya
13. Aaj Mera Dil (R.D. Burman)
14. Dard-E-Dil (Laxmikant Pyarelal)
15. Butterfly (Keith Kanga, PT 2)
16. Laila O Laila (Kalyanji Anandji)

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