Asia Classics: Dance Raja Dance: The South Indian Film Music of Vijaya Anand

 

cd133-00036-vg

 

       1. Dancing Is Beautiful - Aatavu Chanda   11. The Drink That Has Gone Up - Yerida Gunginalli

 

Before the current vogue for mix-n-match stylistic pastiche, there was the gleefully schizophrenic cinema music of India's "Bollywood," here represented by prolific South Indian soundtrack composer Vijaya Anand. In Anand's crazy-quilt musical cosmos, Indian music cohabits with surf guitar, cheap sci-fi synthesizer effects, saucy brass, dance beats, syrupy strings, and snatches of Arabic, Spanish, and other world musics--but with none of the arch postmodern irony of cut-and-paste artists like John Zorn. Anand's soundtrack music unselfconsciously references the Spaghetti Western stylings of Ennio Morricone, Vegas lounge kitsch, synthetic Eurodisco, and his own South Indian roots, sometimes within the span of single tune. The occasional tabla break or soaring Kannada-language vocals notwithstanding, Anand's soundtracks are ultimately more global than Asian, yet somehow this music could only spring from a society of multiple identities like modern India. --Dennis Rea