Charanjit Singh’s Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat is one of the most acclaimed ‘forgotten’ LP releases of the last decade or so. He brings his Bollywood acid sound to Glasgow on Saturday 3rd November.
Brian D’Souza (or Auntie Flo as he’s otherwise known) runs the Highlife club night that has seen some outstanding parties in Glasgow in the last couple of years featuring the likes of JD Twitch, Raoul K, Alejandro Paz, Matias Aguayo, Rebolledo, Capracara, Awesome Tapes From Africa and many more producers and DJs aligning themselves with the electronic and, often, peripheral musical output of far flung destinations, as oppose to the safety of the western world’s contemporary and classic clubbing soundtracks.
The next Highlife night looks to be one of the most exciting to date with Charanjit Singh performing his compositions from the pioneering Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (released in 2010 on Bombay Connection) LP. Using the original equipment he recorded the album with back in the early 80s – Roland TB-303 bass synth, TR-808 drum machine and a Jupiter-8 keyboard synthesiser – we’re promised 90 minutes of Eastern acid house. It’s a remarkably ahead of it’s time and integral album and this should be a very special evening, especially given that Singh is now 76 years old.
As well as La Cheetah in Glasgow, Charanjit Singh also plays gigs in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Malmo, Brussels and Antwerp as part of the tour. Find a gig near you and go, if you can. You probably won’t get another chance.
Tickets for the Glasgow leg are £7 and available in advance from Resident Advisor. Hopefully there’ll be some left on the door too.
Full details on Facebook here and you can buy a copy of the LP on the Bombay Connection website.
Thanks to Rana Ghose on Vimeo for this short documentary about the producer as well.
Brian D’Souza also featured alongside Esa Williams in Issue 1 of the So & So fanzine, copies of which are still available here. Issue 2 coming in 2013. Sorry for the wait.