I’ve been looking for Bombay the Hardway – Guns, Cars & Sitars for years. Lo and behold, I found it at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas during my recent trip there, and in a used CD bin to boot. It’s a collection of “brownsploitation” music from 1970’s Bollywood action and crime films composed (often quickly and with all sorts of studio hiccups) by legendary Bollywood film music brothers Kalyanji and Anandji Shah and edited by Dan the Automator, who convinced Anandji to release these tracks from his vault. The result is a stunning, ultra-cool mix of funky jams, lounge music, and make-out tracks you need to hear.
“Bombay 405 Miles” opens the album with a nice sitar gliss and then turns into intense music suitable for a stakeout or sneaking into a palace to commit a jewel heist. “The Good, the Bad and the Chutney” brings in, no surprise, spaghetti western guitar touches to up the intrigue. “My Guru” has a lovely sitar groove throughout it, and the flute loop is icing on the cake (or chutney on the naan, if you prefer).
“Ganges A Go-Go” is 1970’s psychedelic garage rock filtered through a hookah, and it’s a crime if “The Great Gambler” wasn’t the opening song for a movie of the same name. It immediately throws you into a world of high stakes dice rolls, sexy people, exotic cars, and nefarious schemes. “Professor Pyarelal” is, by contrast, a lounge groove with between the sheets beats and sizzling synths. “Fists of Curry” doesn’t hit as hard as you’d expect with such a title, but it is slicker than Bruce Lee’s footwork.
The squeaky guitar and table-infused rhythms of “Punjabis, Pimps & Players” are a great combination, and you can just imagine “Inspector Jay from Delhi” going after them in his muscle car (with a case of $50,000 in the trunk) while his bad-ass, bass heavy theme song plays from its speakers. “Satchidananda” could be a love theme, or it could be the music for a leisurely journey on a Bond villain’s yacht. “Theme from Don” lets you know that Don is a bad cat who will probably punch your lights out as soon and then kiss your girl if you cross him, so don’t. The underlying synths on it convey menace, and those tabla drums and sitar riffs convey street smarts beyond belief.
“Fear of a Brown Planet” (a nice play on Public Enemy‘s record Fear of a Black Planet) has hints of John Barry’s James Bond theme in it, but it adds psychedelic spice to the mix. “Uptown Bollywood Nights” has fierce drumming and those tinny, weird, great synths you only seem to hear in bhangra and Bollywood music. The beats on “Kundans Hideout” are even wilder, as are the crazy vocal sounds (chants, whistles, and possibly a woman nearing orgasm). It’s the soundtrack of escaping from a madman’s lair and rescuing your latest fling along the way. The record ends with “Swami Safari,” which, as you might have guessed, combines surf rock guitar with Bollywood beats.
This record will stay in your head for days. It always sounds great. There’s a sequel out there that was released in 2001 that I now need to find. Find them both if you can.
Keep your mind open.
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