Update: Re-upped as requested on March 16, 2011
Ananda Shankar, nephew of world-famous sitar player, Ravi Shankar, never quite matched the success of his uncle, but made a significant impact in the '70s psychedelic underground scene by combining Western electronics and Indian music to create instrumental jams and moody soundtracks.The son of famous classical dancers caught the show-biz bug in the late '60s and traveled to Los Angeles, where he played with rock musicians (including Jimi Hendrix) at the pinnacle of the psychedelic movement. At age 27, he signed a deal with Reprise Records who released this debut self-titled album; a fusion cult classic that combined Hindustani music with psychedelic.
The opener, the sitar- and Moog-soaked take on "Jumpin' Jack Flash," is performed perfectly, with every choice accent milked for maximum drama. Once the novelty of sitar-dosed covers of your favorite songs wears off, you really begin to notice how excellent the performances are on this record. Ananda Shankar manages to bridge the gap between kitsch and fine art on these tracks, from the opener all the way to the cover of "Light My Fire." One minute he is playing simple notes like it was taking the place of a guitar, at other times utilizing the full reign of the sitar's sound possibilities. The originals on the album follow an equally impressive path. The dreamy, hazy bliss of tracks like "Snow Flower" and "Mamata" is both meditative and slinky -- light melodies with twisted atmospherics and tweaked Moogs. The drum breaks in the gurgling "Metamorphosis" are worth the price of the album alone. For the most part, the album rarely strays from the East-meets-West formula, with the Eastern rhythms getting the short shrift and the focus relying on Western funk and pop styles getting an Eastern makeover. This specific track guides the listener through a space/water odyssey over the course of 13 minutes. It's a slow build that gains momentum as the music progresses and flashes of acoustic guitar help the rhythm along. The final track is a great mixture of folk guitars that takes the focus away from the sitar for once, instead incorporating vocals and a chorus that manages to lock into a repeated chant that is the unexpected highlight of the album. - Allmusic
Year of Release: 1970
Label: Reprise
Genre: Psychedelic, World Fusion
Bitrate: 320kbps
Track List:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash
2. Snow Flower
3. Light My Fire
4. Mamata (Affection)
5. Metamorphosis
6. Sagar (The Ocean)
7. Dance Indra
8. Raghupati
The opener, the sitar- and Moog-soaked take on "Jumpin' Jack Flash," is performed perfectly, with every choice accent milked for maximum drama. Once the novelty of sitar-dosed covers of your favorite songs wears off, you really begin to notice how excellent the performances are on this record. Ananda Shankar manages to bridge the gap between kitsch and fine art on these tracks, from the opener all the way to the cover of "Light My Fire." One minute he is playing simple notes like it was taking the place of a guitar, at other times utilizing the full reign of the sitar's sound possibilities. The originals on the album follow an equally impressive path. The dreamy, hazy bliss of tracks like "Snow Flower" and "Mamata" is both meditative and slinky -- light melodies with twisted atmospherics and tweaked Moogs. The drum breaks in the gurgling "Metamorphosis" are worth the price of the album alone. For the most part, the album rarely strays from the East-meets-West formula, with the Eastern rhythms getting the short shrift and the focus relying on Western funk and pop styles getting an Eastern makeover. This specific track guides the listener through a space/water odyssey over the course of 13 minutes. It's a slow build that gains momentum as the music progresses and flashes of acoustic guitar help the rhythm along. The final track is a great mixture of folk guitars that takes the focus away from the sitar for once, instead incorporating vocals and a chorus that manages to lock into a repeated chant that is the unexpected highlight of the album. - Allmusic
Year of Release: 1970
Label: Reprise
Genre: Psychedelic, World Fusion
Bitrate: 320kbps
Track List:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash
2. Snow Flower
3. Light My Fire
4. Mamata (Affection)
5. Metamorphosis
6. Sagar (The Ocean)
7. Dance Indra
8. Raghupati
amazing album, thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete"Invalid or Deleted File "
ReplyDeleteWow.. I don't believe I've ever had a file removed so fast, especially on Mediafire, where my files have been safe from deletion up till this point. Hopefully I don't have another obsessive individual lurking on the blog and reporting files. I'm in the process of uploading this to another host. I should be able to post another link within the hour.
ReplyDeleteHello. I'm not sure if these comments are current or old. The present link to this file is on ifile.it.
ReplyDeleteI've signed up, verified my account, requested a 'Download Ticket', clicked 'Download', told Windows to allow the download, and then--nothing. No joy with this service, so far.
I'm very curious to hear this. Can you help?
BTW, I discovered your blog thru 'Holy Warbles'.
Thanks!
@Barron: I'm sorry to hear that you are having difficulties with ifile.it You'll be glad to know that I personally stopped using it a long time ago. I'll let the others know that some of our users are having difficulties with the service, and ask them to use a different host. I am in the process of reuploading the album to Mediafire right now. As soon as it is finished uploading I will replace the download link. I'm also going to bump the post to the top of the blog, which should make it easy for you to know when the download link has been replaced.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS!
ReplyDeleteTeresa
hey it's great to find other fans of Ananda, i've been listening to his music for years and just cant get enough! seriously this guy is a genius! found out some great news that they're bringing out an album of previously unreleased tracks and i managed to find a preview on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbqoGgzN5OE
ReplyDeleteThis Track 'Payal' is pretty awesome, seriously cant wait for the release of the entire album!! check it out, you wont regret it!