Charanjit Singh – Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat

Armed with a Roland 303 and an 808, in 1982 the Indian film composer Charanjit Singh entered a studio for a couple days to see what these new machines could do. He exited with the tracks that would become Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat, a ridiculously intense dance album that some regard as the first acid house record. The tools may be the same, but Ten Ragas approached dance music not just as an extension of American disco, but connected it with the drone-driven ragas that he’d grown up with. The result is a party-starter that is unlike any dance record in your collection, familiar yet alien, propellant and buoyant, filled with improvised, squiggly solos and a truly infectious energy. Alas, it is currently unavailable on streaming platforms. Hopefully that will change soon. – Randall