Take Five: Mundian To Bach Ke

Mundian To Bach Ke by Punjabi MC is probably the world's most famous bhangra song as it was a hit in various countries. I have lost count of the amount of people from different cultures who have asked me if I know it and if I can translate the lyrics into English. Here are different remakes, remixes and cover versions of the famous song. They range from the wonderful to the weird and downright odd!

Пиво вдвоём - The Russian Balalaika Version 

Performed by a group whose name translates as "Beer for Two", this version incorporates Russian rap, a few Russian songs and a traditional Russian Balalaika. The guests seem to be enjoying it even if some of the Punjabi pronunciation is a bit odd. Beer for Two have made this their own.

S-Endz - Your Body's Callin'

S-Endz, whose shows with Swami were sometimes so rowdy that promoters asked to see their insurance papers, has released his next song from his EP Chapter 0: REINKARNAL. The song is a remake of R. Kelly's Your Body's Callin'.

This cover is a first for S-Endz. He said on his website "About six months ago, I realized that aside from a live jam of Prince’s “Controversy” during a Maida Vale session with my band Swami, I’ve never performed or released a cover. I set out to remedy this, chose this classic r&b joint from 1994, put my own twist on it…..and voila!"

Your Body's Callin' is the slowest track released from Chapter 0: REINKARNAL so far. The song has a mellow feel to it with a few hints of sunshine and has a very different vibe to the previous three tracks S-Endz has released. Even though it is a remake of an old song, S-Endz has successfully made it his own.

After releasing all of the songs on the EP separately in two week intervals, S-Endz plans to release the complete EP as one package through iTunes and other music websites. However, this song will not be on it due to sample clearance issues so this is the only chance to get your hands on it. This is also the reason why the song lacks a chapter number like the other singles.

You can download Your Body's Callin' here for free. But S-Endz says on his website if can afford to pay for it, please do - you can pay any amount you choose to.

Cornershop - Milkin' It Video

Cornershop have released the video for their single Milkin' It, which will be released on 9th April. The video is directed and filmed by Astrid Edwards. Milkin' It is full of colours, snapshots of people and some great dancing by Turf Feinz. The video is full of contrasts and is brilliantly shot. I first blogged about the song when it was released on soundcloud and I still love the laid back funky vibe that runs through it.

The video is set in Oakland, California and has a story to tell. The area is known for its community sit-ins, ovoverpriced housing, corrupt landlords and a lack of opportunities. The video documents the community fending for itself and highlights how the youth are using street hip hop to help their community rather than using violence to create tension.

Astrid Edwards used turf dancers in the video. She explains why she shot them: "Turf dancing is a complex homemade brew of breakdancing, ballet and tutting and is usually done in response to a friend dying - an RIP dance. I wanted to show the vibrancy in a community that is so slammed with the label of 'broken'. I wanted to show real people doing something for themselves. Expression by any means necessary. That is the essence of hip hop and something that I hope comes across in this film." 

Agent Vinod Review

Agent Vinod, which stars sweethearts Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, will be released this weekend. The soundtrack has been heavily promoted. I can’t walk into an Asian shop without hearing Dil Mera Muft Ka or seeing posters for the film. The album consists of eleven tracks, but there are really only four songs, an instrumental and remixes. In my opinion remixes are a cheap way of filling an album, especially when there are more remixes than original songs.

Based on Rasputin by the German group Boney M, I’ll Do the Talking Tonight is a bass filled party track that is a strange mix of Hindi and English lyrics. There are only a few traces of the original song left, which is perhaps a good thing, but like the original it is all a bit embarrassing. The remix adds a few fancy effects and vocals, but is still quite similar to the first version.

Dil Mera Muft Ka seems to have split opinion. It’s the song that has been promoted the most as a modern mujra number. It starts traditional, the opening notes remind me of Parda Hai Parda from Amar Akhbar Antony, then the guitars kick in. This may be blasphemy, but I don’t think Saroj Khan choreographed it very well and could be why people don‘t like the song. This is a powerful track but Saroj’s steps were not dramatic enough to keep pace with the song. They remained small and dainty which did not work against the rock background. Away from Kareena’s dance, this song is quite good. The vocals are strong and there is a good mix of guitars and more traditional sounds.

G-ta Remixes Appa

G-ta, who remixed Tigerstyle's Kudi twice, has released a track he made for the Friction Lab on Bobby Friction's Asian Network Show. Appa was originally made by Badmarsh and Shri and featured on the album Signs. G-ta's remix transforms the down tempo sitar tune into a dubstep track with lots of bass yet managed to keep the mellow feel of the original.

G-ta has made the Appa available to download via soundcloud, so get it while you still can.

Culture Shock - Legal Tender 2.5

Edit: Read the album review here.

Culture Shock, which is made up of Sunny Brown, Baba Khan and Lomaticc, have released their mixtape called Legal Tender 2.5 today. It includes Exed Up, which has been played on BBC Radio 1 and Save the World featuring Nindy Kaur which had its premier last week on Bobby Friction's show. A video has been made for Save the World and the teaser is up on youtube. Both the tracks are brilliant and hopefully the other tracks on the album will be just as good.

Legal Tender 2.5 has been released as a free download via their facebook page. As the download is so popular, there have been a few technical problems, so you may have to be patient. To download the mixtape, visit the group's facebook page and it is under the music tab. You need to like the page before you can access it.

Detailed Sari-Clad Speakers review of Legal Tender 2.5 coming soon!

Parichay Gives Away His Music

Parichay, who was featured alongside RDB and Nindy Kaur on the soundtrack of Chaar Din Ke Chandni, is giving away over 35 tracks for free download on facebook. Included is his recent album All New Everything and his version of Chammak Challo and a live promo of Yamla Pagla Deewana. However, the tracks can only be downloaded for the next 24 hours, so get them quick while you still can.

You can download Parichay's tracks here.

Take Five: Women

Every other Tuesday, I bring together five songs that have something in common. As it was International Women's Day on Thursday, today's Take Five is all about the girls. Women are underrepresented this industry and apart from dancing around in bhangra videos there are not that many of them in comparison to the men. Here are five brilliant songs by some talented women.

Lata Mangeshkar - Inhi Logon Ne

Lata Mangeshkar's father died when she was just thirteen years old leaving her as the bread winner in her family. She arrived in Bombay a few years later and has been singing hits ever since. She was once considered the most recorded artist by the Guiness Book of Records until it turned out that her younger sister Asha Bhosle had recorded more songs than her! Inhi Logon Ne is taken from the film Pakeeza and is one of the more light hearted songs from the soundtrack.

S-Endz - She Got It (I Want It)

 

S-Endz, who once hosted and co-produced a BBC 1Xtra documentary about Tupac Shakur, has released the next track from his EP Chapter 0: REINKARNAL. She Got It (I Want It) is described by S-Endz on his website as "a fairly straightforward ode to lust".

This track has a very different feel compared to the first two songs from the EP. Alone was a ballad and Do You Wanna Come? was a frantic dance track. But She Got It (I Want It) is a repetitive electronic track with a touch of bass. I like it, but I think I prefer the first two tracks.

The song was written in 2009 and the drums were inspired by a Prince track. At the time S-Endz had a crush on a female singer and she was the indirect inspiration for the track. Who this singer is remains a mystery as despite me asking S-Endz won't reveal who she is! Whoever she is, she should be thanked for being a part of a nice track.

You can download She Got It (I Want It) here for free. But S-Endz says on his website if can afford to pay for it, please do - you can pay however much or little you want.

Six Tracks by Nucleya to Download

Nucleya, one of the producers who remixed Tigerstyle's single Kudi, has put up six of his tracks on his website for free download. These include a reworking of Choli Ke Peeche, and his version of Nirvana's Teen Spirit.

All six tracks are full on electro anthems with lots of bass. These are not new tracks, as they have been played on radio shows or are on Nucleya's soundcloud page, but some of them have never been available to download until now. If you liked Nucleya's version of Kudi, you will love these tracks.

You can download these tracks from Nucleya's website here.

Shizzio and Desi Boome - In Paris

Shizzio has teamed up with Desi Boome to do their own version of In Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West. Called Pakis in Paris, the video was released yesterday and features the rappers hanging out together in the French capital. It’s ironic that the video of Pakis in Paris was released on the same day that the media was reporting President Sarkozy’s opinion that there are too many foreigners in France.

Shizzio and Desi Boome sound great together and each artist gets an equal exposure. Desi Boome sounds good in both French and Punjabi and switches well between the two languages. I do like the collaboration between Shizzio and Desi Boome, but it would have been nice if they could have done something brand new. They have made this track work, but they are talented artists capable enough to come up with their own material. Hopefully they will work together again on an original track.

Using La Defence in the background of the video was brilliant. It is a great piece of edgy French architecture that was suited to the video. However, using the Eiffel Tower was cliché even if it does instantly remind people that the video is set in Paris. The French capital is not short of iconic bulidings and it would have been nice to see one of these instead of the Eiffel Tower. The video has a spontaneous feel to it and is much more interesting to watch than the video by Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Kudi - The Remixes and the Video

   Tigerstyle - Kudi (Single PROMO) by TigerstyleOnline

 

It seems like Kudi, Tigerstyle’s current single, is being played everywhere. It deservedly peaked at number 2 in the UK itunes World Singles Charts and was play listed on Capital FM reaching out far beyond the typical Asian audience. A nice amount of bass plus traditional vocals meant that I loved it as soon as I heard the preview. But some forget that along with the main single there are three official remixes, an instrumental and a video.

The Nucleya remix is probably the most radical out of them all. This is a psychedelic garba refix with plenty of bass. Choppy electronic beats and distorted vocals take mean it sounds very different to the original. But even with the drastic makeover, it somehow still retains a few traditional sounds and has a rustic feel to it.

Out of all the remixes the Shizzio and Big Narstie one is my least favourite. Rani Randeep’s vocals are removed and replaced with theirs. As a track it sounds ok, but for me Rani’s vocals were an important element of Kudi. It seems strange to have a song called Kudi, without a Kudi singing in it.

G-ta provides the dubstep remix of Kudi. This is dark and grimy with plenty more bass added. He lengthens the song to five and a half minutes. He also removes Rani’s vocals, but the added bass maked up for it. G-ta has also done an extra remix of Kudi. The VIP version keeps Rani’s vocals and makes the track more electronic and less dark and is a good compliment to his original remix.

JoSH - Yeh Zameen

In January, I wrote a blog post highlighting tracks on albums that were underrated and did not receive the promotion they deserved. The post was partly inspired by a tweet by Q from JoSH who lamented the fact that so many great songs on albums don’t get heard because they don’t have a video. One of the songs I wrote about was Yeh Zameen by JoSH, so I am overjoyed that the track now has its own video.

Yeh Zameen is a track by the late R.D. Burman that has had a make over by JoSH and was released on Beyond Kismat. The song is one of my favourites on the album. Despite not being totally original, Yeh Zameen still has that lovely soulful sound that I associate with JoSH. The JoSH version sounds totally different to the R.D. Burman version and the band dedicate the video to him.

The video starts by staring into Amina Sheik’s eyes and watching Rup tie his turban. Rup joins Q for music practise on the roof and notices Amina wafting around in a pink sari and turquoise blue paranda. He informs Q of his new love and together they hatch a plan to get Rup and Amina together. Five of these schemes fail. These seduction attempts range from the inventive (making a love letter into a paper plane) to the downright ridiculous (tying a red ribbon on a bird and trying to get it to fly to Amina). Eventually, Rup showers Amina with hundreds of love notes and wins Amina’s heart.

Cornershop - Milkin' It

Cornershop have shared the first track from their new album on soundcloud. Taken from their forthcoming album Urban Turban, Milkin' It features Light of Aquarius on vocals.


This has a very different feel to their previous album Cornershop and the Double "O" Groove of. The track is full of funky guitar and has a laid back feel. Milkin' It pays tribute to the pioneers of hip hop stating "jiggy jiggy figgy is all I hear, no rhymes no style no original beats. Let's take the quest back to '88 when the style was as fresh as a can of pop". It then goes on to list a number of hip hop artists. I like the retro artwork.


Milkin' It comes out on the 9th April. You can pre-order your copy here.