Weirdly enough Indian music is something I have rather too much of. Mind you, I do live in the second largest Indian diaspora outside of London.
If you can find the 'Indian Summer' compelation put out by Channel4 it's a great intro to current Indian music. 'Sajanna' by Badmarsh & Shri is worth the entire album by itself and is well worth tracking down. Coupled with tracks by Talvin Singh, Sheila Chandra, AR Rahman and Nitin Sawney it has a good selection of styles.
The soundtrack to AR Rahman's 'Bombay Dreams' musical is brilliant and a good primer for Bollywood (seeing as most of the songs are rewritten Bollywood tunes) and is very accessible (and sing-alongable going to work). Otherwise anything by Sheila Chandra is probably a good bet as she's in my collection right next to Natacha Atlas! 'OK' by Talvin Singh is one of those albums that isn't to everyone's taste but 'Traveller' and 'Butterfly' are stunning.
For something odd but fun The Bollywood Brass Band are a London Indian Wedding band who do interpretations of Bollywood classics with only a six piece brass section and some drummers but it's hugely enjoyable. Their Rahmania album is an absolute gem.
I'm not sure about new French groups but I do love the Orchestre National du Barbes.
no subject
If you can find the 'Indian Summer' compelation put out by Channel4 it's a great intro to current Indian music. 'Sajanna' by Badmarsh & Shri is worth the entire album by itself and is well worth tracking down. Coupled with tracks by Talvin Singh, Sheila Chandra, AR Rahman and Nitin Sawney it has a good selection of styles.
The soundtrack to AR Rahman's 'Bombay Dreams' musical is brilliant and a good primer for Bollywood (seeing as most of the songs are rewritten Bollywood tunes) and is very accessible (and sing-alongable going to work). Otherwise anything by Sheila Chandra is probably a good bet as she's in my collection right next to Natacha Atlas! 'OK' by Talvin Singh is one of those albums that isn't to everyone's taste but 'Traveller' and 'Butterfly' are stunning.
For something odd but fun The Bollywood Brass Band are a London Indian Wedding band who do interpretations of Bollywood classics with only a six piece brass section and some drummers but it's hugely enjoyable. Their Rahmania album is an absolute gem.
I'm not sure about new French groups but I do love the Orchestre National du Barbes.