New Bombay
* Habari: Giraffe Trapping Music (5.0 mb)
* Bombay 405 Miles: Na Na Na Yeh Kya Karne Lage Ho (6.0 mb)
* The Burning Train: Title Music (5.0 mb)
From The Bombay Collection Vol. 1 : Bombay Collection Records : BC001
Well, obviously there’s some new changes afoot at The Of Mirror Eye central. There’s a brand new look that, well, looks different from before. I think it actually looks pretty nice and is easier on the eyes than the stark black and white of the last version.
And to go along with the new look, I’ve decided to change focus and only post songs from my massive collection of Bollywood soundtracks. Actually, I only wish that I had a collection of Bollywood soundtracks. Instead, the fine folks at the Bombay Connection Records have opened up their vaults to the general public.
For those who don’t know, Bollywood is India’s answer to Hollywood. The Bollywood industry is one of the largest out there and makes tons of movies every year. While I wouldn’t qualify myself as an aficionado, I have seen a couple two, three, ten Bollywood movies. Many have similar plots that don’t really make sense partly because they’re a mish-mash of pretty much every genre out there without too much discernable plot, and partly because I don’t understand Hindi. But what they do have is some great songs and incidental music, which is where the songs on this compilation come from. The compiler tells a story of how he first stumbled onto these fantastic sounds.
Some 10 years ago, while rummaging through a second hand vinyl shop in Amsterdam, I stumbled across the soundtrack of an Indian film called HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA. I put the recond on a turntable in the shop, and dropped the needle on a track called simply “Dance Music”. I couldn’t believe my ears. At top speed every imaginable sound passed by: fast tabla breaks, screaming horror horns, vintage synthesizer sounds, bongos, organs, harps, dreamy flutes and even the rhythmic breaking of glass! Every 20 seconds the track transformedinto an entirely new one: another change of rhythm, a crazy new riff, a different theme. I was instantly blown away. (from the liner notes)
And that pretty much sums up how I first felt when I listened to these tracks. There are some incredibly funky, wild sounds on this album. There’s a part of me that wants to actually see how these tracks were made, but a part of me wants to keep the mystery. Although I probably wouldn’t understand it even if I saw the entire process.
So, super kudos are due to the compilers of this album. This is a totally deluxe compilation with copious liner notes, synopses of the films and as much historical info as they could find.
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Pelle said,
February 1, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
Yes yes yes. If the damn thing wasn’t so expensive I would buy it.
montegue blister said,
February 9, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Fantastic - absolutely brilliant music. Please post some more. I especially like The Burning Train music - which sounds like a cross between Indian music, 70s funk and Kraftwerk. The film itself sounds fascinating:
Plot Summary of The Burning Train
Vinod Verma is an employee of the Indian Railways, who always had a dream of making the perfect and fastest train in India. After years of dedication the Railway Board approves his prototype of the Super Express. But these years had had their toll on his personal life, as his wife, Sheetal and son, are more like strangers to him. He hopes to make it up to them after the train makes it inaugural run from Delhi to Bombay in a record 14 hours. Showing him support are his friends, Ashok and Rakesh. But an embittered fellow-employee named Randhir, the son of the Chair of the Railway Board, has other plans for Vinod and the Super Express - plans that may derail Vinod’s delicate personal balance, and make the Super Express’ inaugural journey also the final one.
Thank you
Montegue Blister
http://strange-games.blogspot.com/
cb said,
February 12, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
Glad y’all are digging the comp. The second volume is equally as great. Unfortunately, they are a bit on the expensive side, but for the amount of digging and info searching they had to do, I imagine they’re not making too many $$ on the project as a whole.
-cb
Kilian said,
February 14, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
Your new site design is snappy.
My wife and I used to watch bollywood videos on channel 23 every weekend morning (when the tv was closer to our bedroom - we’d still do it if that was the case).
Bollywood music is like the movies, a complete mishmash of styles while still remaining totally unique to Bollywood. An Indian friend gave me a comp of Bollywood Dance Music that is really good, Bollywood Dancebuster. The compilers seem to have a sense of humor about american misunderstandings of Indian culture because the info on the file properties is weird - the genre is Alternative Musik and when you drop the music to pc it gets filed under “Indiens.” The song “kajra re” by Bnuty aur Babli could be put up to Newsom’s Ys for epic maturity.
Hey I’m gonna write about your site on nonalignmentpact.com if it’s alright with you =)
Thanks for the years of music and good writing.
cb said,
February 18, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
hey kilian.
thanks for the kind words. that’d totally be cool to write about my site anywhere you want. as for bollywood movies, I feel like I’m way more into them in theory than in actual practice. But maybe if I watched more of them and could kind of understand them, than I might like them. who knows??
-cb