Bombay the Hard Way

So, tonight I am going to get me a little culture.

My friend (of the past 15+ years) Saira, who posesses THE BEST LAUGH/CACKLE in the known universe, is getting married tomorrow night. Tonight, in the Indian tradition, she is celebrating her mehndi, the girls-only henna painting fest. My white-girl self can barely contain the excitement at the exotic prospects.

Now, for all I know this may be a rather serious occasion, but if I were the DJ tonight, we would be listening to Bombay The Hard Way. Aside from having the best name of any CD ever recorded (I was meant to write about this from the moment a friend first slipped “Ganges A GoGo” onto a driving mix CD for me), it is fun fun music with a colorful edge.

It sounds like a rather bizzare concept: DJ Shadow and Dan The Automator (of Handsome Boy Modeling School fame) decided to take selections from early ’70s Indian/”Bollywood” b-movie crime thrillers, intersperse them with random dialogue from the films, dub in some updated trip-hop beats, additional sitars, and come up with something altogether fresh and –if I do say so myself– party ready. The new titles assigned to the songs (originally written and orchestrated by noted soundtrack composers Anandji and Kalyanji Shah) are a riot.

There’s a warning that easily angered purists should steer clear, but I am obviously not one of those so for me this is just grand. Take a listen and you might be surprised how much fun those Bollywood folks are having.

Ganges A GoGo (surprisingly retro-surf sound)

Punjabis, Pimps, and Players (low-key atmospheric music)

Inspector Jay from Delhi (oh, just quirky enough to be cool)

Buy the CD on Amazon
(there’s also a Volume II with even better song titles like “Sexy Mother Fakir”)

I’m ready to be painted!