Scientist - Scientist Encounters Pac Man (1982)

"One of two fine LPs Scientist cut from Linval Thompson rhythms -- the other is the even more impressive Scientist Meets the Space Invaders -- Scientist Encounters Pac Man finds the onetime King Tubby protégé forging his patented minimal sound, a landscape resplendent with steely piano, depth-charge drums, and futuristic dub effects. Scientist also delivers one of his most progressive mixes here, deconstructing the originals down to their skeletal base and adding just the right amount of mixing board-generated Echoplex and reverb. And helping out considerably with the heady proceedings, the early dancehall period's greatest band, the Roots Radics, lay down the brutal rhythms and subtle keyboard and guitar interjections. Plus, one gets another of artist Tony McDermott's spectacular comic-book covers, this time depicting all of the studio Svengali's horror-movie nemeses from album jackets past (vampires, zombies, Frankenstein, those space invaders, and now the computer game's star of the day, Pac Man). A mind-warping yet eminently enjoyable way to check into dub central."

---------- Review by Stephen Cook

Tracklist:

"Under Surveillance" – 2:56
"Prince's Wrath" – 3:08
"Space Invaders Re-Group" – 3:18
"World Cup Squad Lick Their Wounds" – 3:58
"Vampire Initiative" – 3:08
"Malicious Intent" – 3:41
"The Dark Secret of the Box" – 3:47
"S.O.S." – 3:31
"Man-Trap" – 3:01
"Look Out – Behind You!" – 2:33

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Orchestre T.P. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - 0+0=Zero (Zero + Zero = Zero) (1980)

Unfortunately political realities in Benin had left the Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly Rythmo bereft of international recognition, while big bands like Super Rail Band or Orchestra Baobab enjoyed a rebirth… But Poly Rythmo has always been recognised as one of the best orchestras in Africa, so much that the former leader of Super Rail Band in Bamako, Tidiani Kone, left his job in Mali to join the fabulous Poly Rythmo in the seventies.

Their repertoire draws inspiration from the regional poly-rhythmic blend called Sato or Sakpata, original Voodoo beats, which are married with the funk left behind by James Brown’s African tours. Their voices, brass section, guitar and percussion weaved together to crystallise a golden age in this musically-fertile nation. Most of their 500 songs were recorded live with a couple of microphones and a Swiss-made Nagra reel-to-reel tape machine. The studio was a living room in the noisy neighbourhood near Cotonou’s airport.

Tracklist:

01. Belle Belle (8.07)

02. Semassa (Zero + Zero) (8.07)

03. Adin Gbanzon (8.32)

04. Ne te faches pas (10.15)

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Charanjit Singh - Synthesizing Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (1982)

In 1982, veteran Bollywood composer Charanjit Singh visits Singapore and gets his hands on the now holy trinity of a Roland 303, 808, and Jupiter 8 - the core of acid house and arguably the precursor to electronica as we know it today.Later that year, EMI India releases an album limited to a few thousand copies: "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat". It presents Charanjit's effort at using what was then entirely new technology to bridge the gap between programmed beats, synth lines, and classical Indian music motifs.It essentially sinks without a trace.In 2010, Dutch label Bollywood Connection re-releases this LP to an unsuspecting and wholly ignorant public, convinced that these beats were established in the clubs of Chicago, Detroit, and Manchester in the mid to late eighties.They weren't.Charanjit Singh still lives in Bombay.

Biography and some info from Guardian:

Charanjit Singh doubtless stood out as unusual in the Hindi film industry of the 1960s and 70s. Veteran of countless Bollywood soundtrack orchestras, Singh was the sort to turn up at session with the latest new synthesiser, acquired at great expense from London or Singapore. He was not, however, widely regarded among his country folk as someone "pushing things forward". His band, the Charanjit Singh Orchestra, made their rupees touring weddings, performing the hits of the day, and while he played on many popular Bollywood recordings, Charanjit Singh was never a household name.

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From Resident Advisor:

Behold, my children, the legend of acid house: Imagine in your mind Chicago 1987, where a small group of club kids, led by Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones, give Ron Hardy a record to play at the Music Box. Labelled "Acid Tracks" by Phuture, its uncompromising sound quickly clears the dance floor, but Hardy hammers the tune again and again, until the masses are converted and a new genre is born.

You've heard this story a thousand times. And everything in it is true. Except, it seems, maybe the part about it being the birth of acid. Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat challenges us to rewind acid's origin story to India 1982, and to move from a sweaty Chicago nightclub to the home studio of a veteran Bollywood musician. In the '60s and '70s Charanjit Singh did time on the Bollywood soundtrack scene, and earned extra cash with his own orchestra playing popular favorites at weddings. In 1982, armed with a now-iconic trio of Roland gear, the Jupiter 8, TB-303 and TR-808, Singh set out to update the entrancing drone and whirling scales of classical Indian music. It's enough of a mind-fuck that rumors circulated on the web claiming the record was a prank spawned by Richard D. James.

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