Browse by Artist: SHANKAR, ANANDA

Artist:	SHANKAR, ANANDA
Title:	A Musical Discovery of India
Label:	CLOUD FOREST (WORLD'S LEADING TERRORIST STATE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	CFR 403CD

"OK, so everyone knows that the oft-reissued Ananda Shankar & his Music has been considered legendary since the inclusion of 'Streets of Calcutta' and 'Dancing Drums' on a Blue Note break-beat compilation. But what most people don't know is that there is plenty more material of the same caliber. Later, rarer albums like the two included on this single CD yield equally impressive music with plenty of tracks waiting to be discovered by adventurous DJs! The seven tracks on A Musical Discovery of India were included on a 45 RPM 12" made for India Tourism Development Corp., released by EMI Gramophone India in 1978. 'Kaziranga Beat' is a terrific long jam highlighting the tabla, and other tracks like 'Namaskar,' 'The Hill Train,' 'Akbar's Jewels,' and 'Brindavan Revel' all have their champions. Then came Sa-Re-Ga Machan, a funky, strange, and exotic madhouse ('Jungle King' even reprises 'Streets of Calcutta') from 1981, which may be the true masterpiece among Ananda Shankar's albums. His rarest record, it is filled to the brim with hard driving funk and trippy exotica. The material ranges from dreamy swirling instrumentals with electronics and sitar, to deep exotica with organs, flutes, tablas & string sections that will devastate you with their beauty. To most people, 'India's greatest musician' means Ravi Shankar; but it was Ravi's nephew Ananda Shankar who became the voice of modern India in all its contrasting elements. In ways never previously imagined -- much less executed by other master musicians -- he alone merged Indian and Western, classical and rock traditions; he alone merged the lyrical and the funky, the exotic and the commercial, the traditional and the progressive."

Artist:	SHANKAR, ANANDA
Title:	Ananda Shankar
Label:	REPRISE RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	RS 6398HLP

Exact LP repro, 180 gram vinyl. Originally released in 1970. "The covers of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' and 'Light My Fire' (the latter of which itself had borrowed liberally from Eastern motifs in its original hit version) were the most obvious attempts to reach out to the rock audience. It could even be said that hints of Tommy James's massive late-'60s hit 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' could be heard rattling around one of the Shankar-Lewinson collaborations, 'Mamata,' and the bittersweet 'Snow Flower' was perhaps the most psychedelically-inclined of the originals, overlaid with buzzing and fluttering electronics. Yet arguably the best performances on Ananda Shankar were those that emphasized the Indian side of the equation, like the blissed-out 'Metamorphosis' (which managed to fit in some funky drum breaks before accelerating into a mini-raveup) and the 13-minute 'Sagar' -- the latter, according to Shankar's notes, the only selection on the LP played in the Indian classical style." --Richie Unterberger

Artist:	SHANKAR, ANANDA
Title:	A Life and Music
Label:	TIMES SQUARE RECORDS
Format:	2CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 9052CD

"Nephew of Ravi Shankar...Sitar teacher of Jimi Hendrix...a resident of '60s California when the words 'flower power' really meant something...is it any wonder that the work Ananda Shankar created is unique, vital and exciting?Ananda Shankar, in the words of a critic, 'was an original musician of the world before the term world music was invented.' Trained in Indian classical music and subsequently exposed to western trends, he pioneered a distinctive sound, decades ahead of its time: vibrant new age music, capable of breaking barriers between races, cultures and generations. Ananda, unfortunately, passed away in 1999, at the peak of his career. However, Ananda's creative efforts retain their originality and appeal even today. His music has inspired the 'Asian Underground' movement. His original vinyl recordings have always been in demand, and DJs/fans have paid ridiculous amounts of money to acquire them through specialist record outlets. Long unavailable, and too often bootlegged, the recordings on this specially-priced 2CD-set were originally released by the then EMI-owned Gramophone Company of India, and now known as Saregama India Ltd."

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