Monday's mp3: Big Bags of Bhangra

Normally I'm all about quality. But once in a while I cave to the pressure for more. And standing in a little music shop in Delhi's Khan Market, I caved. I'd been looking for a bhangra artist I kept hearing on taxi radios, but was striking out. Then, there it was. A gleaming black box about the size of a DVD case...but far more compelling than High School Musical 3.

Gulshan Kumar Presents Bhangra Groove: six CDs, 100 songs, a nonstop Punjabi party for the bargain price of 199 rupees. I haven't checked out many of the unknown-to-me artists, but I know that Surjit Bindrakhia actually died in 2003. And Gulshan Kumar died in 1997, so just how he "presents" this music is a very interesting question. It may be true that this collection isn't the newest and shiniest music around, but it sure is fun. Sorry I don't have the cover scan for you, but here's a photo of Surjit sporting a dashing red turban.

Without further ado, here's 1% of the compilation.

[mp3] Surjit Bindrakhia: Dupatta
from the compilation Gulshan Kumar Presents Bhangra Groove