Thursday, 2 April 2026

Charanjit Singh – "Synthesizing - Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat" (His Master's Voice – ECSD. 2912) 1982


Groan!.Here we go again......Who's invented Acid House this time?
Ay Up, its a bloke from India of course,who in the process of modernising the instrumentation of some classical Indian Raga's, and bunging a TR 808 and an Acid in a box TB303 in there amongst his tinkling fingers, he accidently came up with something that sounded a bit like........yep......Acid House?
He had as little idea about Acid House as Frankie Knuckles had about Indian Raga's. But Acid disco leaked out of every infected sphincter, a sound that is very difficult to avoid as soon as you switch a 303 on. Charanjit doesn't actually do much,if any, of the famed Knob-Twiddling stuff,the very thing that distinguished yer Acid House from yer actual House and yer actual Disco in the first place. As it says on the tin,it is very much Synthesizing Ten Raga's to a Disco Beat,which to western ears sounds like the electronic Disco music that started to emerge in 1985 in a Chicago-ized parallel universe. 
So, when a crate digging Dutch D.J. found a copy of this and played it,he obviously concluded instantly that he'd found the missing link of  House music, which is basically the "Disco" that Charanjit Singh did actually know about.
It sounds more like a speeded up version of Gottshing's E2-E4 to these tired ears.
And there's no knob twiddling,so it ain't Acid is it?
It sold fuck all copies in India, and now goes for as much as US$11,000 to some tiny minded idiots who are probably mentally ill.
The same price,incidentally as a 2026 World Cup Final Ticket!...yes that stupid!?
They can give me Eleven Grand if they want for the digital download,or for watching the cup final on TV, but for normal people out there,this daft two plus Two equals 5 logic is pushing things a tad too far.On here everything is FREE.

Tracklist:

A1 Raga: Bhairavi
A2 Raga: Lalit
A3 Raga: Bhupali
A4 Raga: Todi
A5 Raga: Madhuvanti
B1 Raga: Meghmalhar
B2 Raga: Yaman
B3 Raga: Kalavati
B4 Raga: Malkauns
B5 Raga: Bairagi

8 comments:

  1. Pairs well with "A Fifth of Beethoven," does it not?

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  2. My mistake, thought P Orridge invented acid house along with the wheel.

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    Replies
    1. I thought that too, but I googled it and apparently Donald Trump got there first with the Wheel. That guy is a genius.

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    2. In Belgium they erected a statue for Wiel den Draaier who was the first Belgian to invent the wheel.

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  3. This rules. This guy wanted to put out a goofy disco-fusion album not that far removed from "The Ethel Merman Disco Album" and he accidentally invented acid house

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  4. Trippy technoish trance synth Instrumentals here. ❤️

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  5. Ethel Merman didn't invent the wheel, but she was there when it happened...

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