Remembering Charanjit Singh’s Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat

Charanjit Singh passed away today, and I’m guessing that will only serve to increase the legacy of his amazing Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat LP. From when I first heard it a few years back, before I even could soak in that this was made over 30 years ago (before I was born!), it was hard not to be knocked out by the complexity, ingenuity and beat-driven spirit this record contained. Sounding like a cosmic bridge between traditional raga music and the more nuanced electronic music that would come a decade later, it is a classic album both in its content and by the fact that it was so far ahead of its time. Listen to the whole LP above, and buy a copy of the reissue if you like it.