Naya Beat continues to champion South Asian musical heritage with the aptly titled Bhangra House Xtc EP featuring music from the late great Manjeet Kondal with remixes from Mr. Scruff and new tracks from label heads Filip Nikolic and Raghav Mani aka Turbotito & Ragz. It celebrates the overlooked influence of late 80s dance and dub music on Bhangra and comes complete with over-the-top artwork, an ode to Bhangra sleeves from the era.

This EP pays homage to a special and relatively untold time when Asian and Western producers collaborated to bridge musical cultures on the dance floor and when British Asian youths were finding their own space at daytime raves. It is in part a tribute to Bhangra innovator Manjeet Kondal, who passed away late last year, and part a tribute to the forgotten yet scintillating confluence of acid house and dub music with late 80s and early 90s Bhangra, now highly sought after as long out of print 12”s.
Kondal, a founding member and percussionist of the legendary band Alaap, left to pursue his solo career as a vocalist. He helped broaden the Bhangra sound by incorporating elements of dub and house into Punjabi folk and traditional instrumentation. His first album, Holle Holle became a household hit, and it is from there that the originals for this package are taken.

The famously deep digging and eclectic selector that is Manchester's Ninja Tune regular Mr. Scruff remixes Kondal’s proto-house banger Ishkaan De Mamle. He first became a fan of Turbotito & Ragz after their label’s superb Naya Beat Volume 1 release and doesn’t disappoint here with a sublime acid house-inspired take with the most infectious and bounciest of basslines. He also serves up an Instrumental Dub and Vocal Strip Down that twists the original into subtly different moods.

Next up, Turbotito & Ragz deliver a dub tribute that works with Kondal’s vocal stems from an assortment of tracks from his album ‘Holle Holle’. It's a compelling and vibrant sound with exotic instrumentals and dubbed-out low ends, all held together by hooky Punjabi vocals. It also comes as a Lovey Dubby Dub version.
With dance music now coming full circle and South Asian DJs increasingly regular faces on the mainstream festival, club, and underground circuit, this release is a fitting and timely modern tribute to the pioneers that came before.

A1 - Ishkaan De Mamle (Mr. Scruff Remix)
A2 - Pyaar
B1 - Ishkaan De Mamle (Mr. Scruff Instrumental Dub)
B2 - Pyaar (Lovey Dubby Dub) More

Bollywood rarities handpicked and remastered on a double LP release with laminate gatefold and multi-layered flower petal foldout. Featuring rare, overlooked or not-previously-on-vinyl music from Bappi Lahiri, R. D. Burman, Ilaiyaraaja, Kalyanji-Anandji, Anand Milind, Raamlaxman and Kirti Anuraag released between 1982 and 1986. Mastered for and cut to vinyl by multi Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt at his mastering studio The Carvery.

Naya Beat is incredibly proud to present the first in our series of ‘Awaaz’ (‘sound’ in Hindi) archival projects focused on uncovering the sounds of 1980s Bollywood Original Soundtrack Recordings (OSTs). Series 1 focuses exclusively on the musical output of CBS Gramophone Records & Tapes (India) Ltd. Active during India’s peak disco era – a time when synthesisers and drum machines became a mainstay in Indian popular music – CBS India became a home for established composers to be experimental, up-and-coming composers to get their start, B-movie soundtracks, and straight-to-VHS releases.

Expertly curated by Naya Beat co-founders Turbotito and Ragz, who were given unprecedented access to the original label archives, this compilation is not just a collection of four-to-the-floor Bollywood disco (although there are plenty of those). ‘Awaaz’ is designed to take listeners on a musical journey that includes everything from leftfield electronic and mood music to outrageous proto house.

Be it classic and hard to find cuts like Ilaiyaraaja's "Aye Zindagi Gale Lagaa Le" and “Mere Jaisi Mehbooba” (Bappi Lahiri’s Hindi remake of Herbie Hancock's “Rockit”), or the instrumental mood music of Kirti Anuraag’s VHS movie soundtracks, to the proto house of Raamlaxman’s “Dil Gadbad Jhala” and Kalyanji-Anandji’s “Aage Bhi Dushman,” or the synth and guitar drenched breakdance madness of R. D. Burman’s “Dekho Idhar Jano Jigar,” the music on this compilation captures the output of a label that was unique as it was unconventional.

An homage to the genre, every detail in this stunning release has been lovingly crafted. From the laminate cover to the absolutely incredible foldout, to the cut-out and collage design, to the font type and layout, there are countless authentic details and nods to classic Bollywood releases of the era. As much of the album has been made in India as is possible. The sleeves have been handmade in New Delhi. The liner notes have been compiled by music archivist Nishant Mittal (aka Digging In India).

A1 - Bappi Lahiri & Asha Bhosle - Deewana Dil Sangeet Ka
A2 - Amit Kumar - Hero
A3 - Zingadi to Zingadi Hai (Outro)
A4 - Asha Bhosle - Meri Ankhon Mein Zara Jhanko To
B1 - Urban Flesh Market (Instrumental)
B2 - Amit Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Chorus - Becho Becho
B3 - Birth Of Shiva (Music)
B4 - Kishore Kumar - Dekho Idhar Jano Jigar
C1 - Suresh Wadkar - Aye Zindagi Gale Lagaa Le
C2 - Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle - Baahon Me Leke Mujhe
C3 - Rural Flesh market (Instrumental)
C4 - Sharon Prabhakar & Bappi Lahiri - Mere Jaisi Mehbooba
D1 - Suresh Wadkar & Sadhana Sargam - Aage Bhi Dushman
D2 - Asha Bhosle & Chorus - Prem Ashram
D3 - Asha Bhosle, Behrose Chatterjee, Vinod Sehgal - Dil Gadbad Jhala
D4 - Instrumental Music More

Cult South Asian New Wave! Naya Beat is proud to announce its second release, Tere Liye, the highly
sought after and impossible to find New Wave album by the unsung pioneers of the British Asian music
scene, Pinky Ann Rihal. Remastered for vinyl by multi Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt at The Carvery
and available for the first time since its limited 1985 release, the album is as fresh and relevant today as it
was 37 years ago.
South Asian New Wave. Four words that you will rarely see together. Pinky Ann Rihal were the brainchild of
two London-based Punjabi immigrants and progressive rock musicians – Harry Rihal and Jati Sodhi – at a time
in the U.K. when progressive rock musicians were almost exclusively white and Punjabi musicians were almost
exclusively making Bhangra. Encouraged by their friend and disco pioneer Biddu (yes, that Biddu!), they
cut ‘Tere Liye’ – a one-off Hindi-language New Wave album with producer John Hamilton and vocalists Pinky
Rihal (married to Harry) and Anne Barrett (married to John). It is an album that exemplifies the cultural
collaboration and musical synthesis of the time. Complementing the rich, cosmic and layered synths and
drum programming of Hamilton and the distorted guitars of Rihal and Sodhi are the Hindi lyrics of vocalists
Pinky and Anne. The result is an amazing one-of-a-kind South Asian New Wave album. Nothing like it has
come out before or since.
Stymied on its original release by bungled distribution, poor marketing and plenty of bad luck, this incredible
album seemed destined to be lost to history. With Asian electronic music in the U.K. seeing a rebirth and
capturing imaginations around the world,‘Tere Liye’ can finally take its rightful place as one of the
pioneering albums of the Asian underground.
This is Naya Beat’s second release in a series of reissues, reworks and remixes, and compilations dedicated
to uncovering electronic and dance music from the overlooked ‘80s and ‘90s South Asian music
scene. Their first release Naya Beat Volume 1: South Asian Dance and Electronic Music 1983-1992 was
named by the Vinyl Factory as the Number 1 reissue of 2021.

Tracklist:

A1 - Tere Liye
A2 - The Indian Dance
A3 - Teri Yaad
A4 - Jabse Dekha Hai
B1 - Jagee Raat
B2 - Party Tonight
B3 - Meri Bahon
B4 - Tu Aaja
More

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