Ananda Shankar

Somewhere in the secret vaults deep beneath the Vatican where they lock away the secrets deemed too dangerous for the world, there is a book titled "Things That Could End the World as We Know It Probably." This book contains lists of potentially apocalypse-causing items and scenarios. It's quite a large book. All of the items are grouped into sections by type such as “Thermonuclear Missteps,” “Plagues, Diseases, Germs, and Cooties,” and “Musical Indiscretions.” The latter category is surprisingly lengthy, though not as lengthy as the category simply titled, somewhat ominously, “Birds.” Nearing the top of the list of dangers in the “Musical Indiscretions” category is “Sitar Covers of Rolling Stones Songs.” How the album “Ananda Shankar” by Ananda Shankar made it past the Illuminati’s shadow censors is anybody’s guess given the fact that it begins with a sitar cover of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Equally mystifying is the fact that the world is still mostly un-ended. Experts speculate that the only reason that the album didn’t summarily destroy the world is that the first track is balanced by an equally destructive sitar cover of “Light My Fire” by The Doors and, somehow, the two evils have managed to cancel each other out. This is, of course, purely speculative as nobody would be so reckless as to test the theory in a lab. Not even on a small scale. The risk is simply too great. For now, we must simply be grateful that, somehow, Ananda Shankar did not, intentionally or unintentionally, destroy the world as we know it. Probably.

One for the scliolists. Vaguely entertaining, mostly when it settles on a single idea and bashes away at it for three or four minutes. Less so on the covers that add nothing and take away plenty. But I suppose for whichever marketing bod short on ideas it was who proposed this crossover, that was the main selling point. Could have had some traction in 1970, but why the dickens is it still being mentioned 50 years later?

This is totally digable music, and I totally dug it. I kept hitting start every time it ended.

east meets weast what a feast

Yet another weird album, where I tend to find that it is in this list for curiousity reasons rather than it being actually good

really great rock, i’m not a huge fan of the sitar but he fuckin slaps it hard, the production is genius I think the message he wrote on the album cover perfectly sums up this super cool project - 10/10

i didn't realize sitar could shred this hard. had some slow moments in the middle but overall i really liked this. 9/10

The sitar is such an exotic instrument. While I probably won’t listen to this album again, that does not mean it was a bad experience.

First song.. hey this is pretty cool. Second song. Ok still pretty neat. Halfway through … holy crap this is dragging.

Day 32 of Albums You Must Hear.. Today’s album is a very interesting one. Ananda Shankar was an Indian musician that fused Indian music with rock and electronic music. This self titled album is an instrumental piece, and you all know how I feel about full instrumental albums, however, I really enjoy the sitar and Mook synthesizer. Ananda Shankar has a really cool cover of The Door’s Light My Fire as well as The Rolling Stones Jumping Jack Flash. The song Metamorphosis really shines a light on the sitar skills of Shankar. This is a pretty dope record, not one I would personally consider a “must hear”, but nonetheless, it’s pretty cool and relaxing. I totally wouldn’t mind sipping on a mojito with my toes in the sands of Palolem Beach while listening to some Ananda Shankar. Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!!

This could have been interesting, but as he chose to cover some very obvious songs, and without any particular variation other than using a sitar instead of a guitar, it was rather flat. Not impressed.

Transcendental. I have been conditioned to associate Indian music (the sitar) with transcendentalism thanks to movies and George Harrison

A lot of fun but unfortunately quite inconsistent. The covers are especially divergent in quality: The opener is transcendent while the Doors cut comes off as kitschy. Other than that, the meat of the record is pretty satisfying, though one wonders how unique it is in the sitar-rock space. And, sadly, the closing track reinforces that notion with its weakly perennial lyrics and uninspired second half.

Hier kan ik weinig zinnigs over zeggen. Robert Dimery had het weer iets te laat gemaakt in de opium den toen 'ie dit bedacht denk ik. Ik zal als huiswerk een alternatieve, betere tracklijst samenstellen met covers waarbij je in ieder geval nog schijtlollige woordgrappen kunt maken. Track 1 "Sitart Me Up" (Stones) Track 2 "Bharat About Dre" (Dr Dre / Eminem) Track 3 "Ganges Paradise" (Coolio) Track 4 "While My Sitar Gently Weeps" (Beatles) Track 5 "Curry On Wayward Son" (Kansas) Track 6 "A Sky Full of Sitars" (Coldplay) Track 7 "Running Up Tamil (A Deal With Shiva)" (Kate Bush) Track 8 "Delhi Watch The Sitars" (Air) Track 9 "Down With The Sikhness" (Disturbed) Track 10 "Vindaloo Child (Slight Return)" met daar aan vast als hidden track "The Sitar-Spangled Banner" (Jimi Hendrix) Bij de Nederlandse release zit als bonustrack nog 'It's Hard To Say Mumbai' van RONDÉ

I suppose I would look no further than the cover of this album for my comments. Ananda Shankar fulfilled his dream, I think. It is melodious and touching, and so interesting to bring the Moog synthesizer and the sitar together. I enjoyed the entire album, which has quite a range of music, making it difficult to pick favorites. I always love when something new and exciting is brought to a well worn song, and that happened with both "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire." I think "Metamorphosis" is a beautiful piece that showcases the creativity and skill of Shankar and makes its novel blend of instrumentation make absolute sense. "Raghupati" was such a lovely way to end the album with its joyous singalong. It feels very much of its time, but I really liked that about it. Beyond that, it was just beautiful music for a walk along the river today, nicely accompanying the sun shining through the trees and sparkling on the water.

Being a huge fan of sixties psychedelia, I was already familiar with this and it's right up my street. It's a wonderful fusion of eastern and western (rock) instrumentation. It's trippy, mystical, euphoric, groovy and exotic. There's plenty of cool kaleidoscopic effects and far out shifting sounds. The mix of longer and shorter tracks works well and of course Shankar's sitar playing is exquisite. Also it sounds sincere, not some cheap flower power exploitation cash in. PS There's a cool series of compilations called 'Psychedelic Sitar Headswirlers' that is well worth checking out. Love and peace man.

I thought the rock covers were unnecessary, except I liked the shredding on light my fire. Looking into this, it looks like the label forced the band to compromise on keeping these in to appeal to a western audience. Considering that, the novel sounds and the talented musicians invoked, I’m bumming my initial impression of 3 stars up to 4, this artist clearly knows what’s good.

Mixed feelings about this initially, the Jumping Jack Flash cover didn't really excite me although Light My Fire sounded admirably more ornate even than Jose Feliciano's version. One of my kids loved the sitar drone, claiming the longer tracks were "very calming", and made a rare demand for a second listen. Soon after the whole family was grooving along

I’m a sucker for the Moog, and it is used *exceptionally* on this record.

This is not Hindustani music with rock instruments or Psychedelic rock with a sitar, it is a blend of the two strands, though it seems to lack the improvisation of traditional ragas. The result is a really enjoyable listen that foreshadows much of the Asian Underground that would come more than a generation later.

Cet album étrange a au moins eu le mérite de me faire dormir comme un bébé. Je fus toutefois pris à mon réveil d'importantes hallucinations. Vous avez probablement remarqué que le générateur d'albums traverse en ce moment une crise majeure dans son histoire, c'est la raison pour laquelle il a été fixé que la première Grande Grève du Générateur prendra effet dans neuf jours si la situation ne s'améliore pas d'ici là. Je vous rappellerai ses modalités sous peu.

Funky, worldly take on some classic hits. Appreciate records like this as they paint songs in a new perspective.

“Sagar” has force, otherwise an unremarkable mix with a couple of unflattering covers, the whole veering too often close to muzak, and not the interesting kind.

Could really have done without the sitar covers of Rolling Stones songs, but I guess that’s just what life was like in the 70s? Presumably this sounds great when polishing your noggin with low grade acid. The second side where it moves away from pandering to our soppy western palettes is better. It’s a stark reminder that most albums until the 90s (?) had to physically be turned over, if nothing else.

So good. I was between 4 and 5 on this one. But this album just feels hugely important and groundbreaking. And something I'll return to frequently. 5 it is.

Doing his uncle proud in my opinion. These tracks are gonna slip right into my instrumental playlists.

Incredible! Such a creative, spirited album. You can read much about Amanda Shankar’s ambitions for this album— he put his statement right on the cover!— so it’s a manifesto kind of album. His goal is to combine his advanced study in the sitar, plus Indian classical forms, with 60s psychedelic rock, heavy Moog synths, big operatic arrangements. A platform for him to show us how expressive the sitar can be. On every one of these points he succeeds. The album is innovative as a piece of music for its time, but it’s also fun, and you can tell that everyone is having fun. The idea of combining Sitar and Western music could have been boring, or academic, or shallow in its exploration. This album is none of these things. I get the sense that Amanda Shankar is exploring this idea to its absolute fullest, complete with some crazy Moog sound effects on the tracks! And it’s a perfect environment to show us his skill in playing, with different shades of an instrument you might have overlooked. I’m getting major Herbie Hancock vibes on this album, in the way the album feels so inviting, excited about its own sound, like he’s the first explorer. And the musicianship is just amazing throughout. This album made me re-discover the sitar! Which makes me one more convert to Amanda Shankar’s way of thinking. What more can you ask for. 5 stars!

Amazing. It's a shame sitar didn't catch on better, but this album shows what could have been.

I really really enjoyed this album. Tasteful playing all around and even counter melodies. Sometimes there was like 3-4 Melodie’s all happening at the same time and it worked? Didn’t bother me at all. Sonics were great. Sometimes a lil harsh on the sitar but hey that’s the vibe. Super tight drums and drum breaks, loved all the percussion happening. This is something I’m keeping in my library and when I’m tired of words I’ll live here for a bit. Fantastic synth work and really enjoyed the whole album with the exception of the ocean song. 13 minutes or whatever it was, was just a lil too long. Beautiful track but yea anyways I’m done loved this tbh

Sitar perfection.

This is what I do this project for. To hear crazy neat stuff I never would’ve known about otherwise. Some of its silly, some of it’s cool, some of its a bit too long. I shoulda been blissed out on the couch or in the back yard not driving down the Garden State Parkway. It’ll zone you out real quick.

Oh yeah this is a great album!! Ananda Shankar is a genius and this album has my favourite tracks from him too. Light my Fire is on a couple of my favourite playlists I have and it's just pure brilliance. The instrumentation is so impressive to me, I could never!! Anyone who can play the sitar is pretty much a God and I could listen to it forever. Such a magical sound. The entire album is super creative and exciting. Major love. Including the beautiful album artwork and the sweet message he's included on there. Love how Metamorphosis grows and builds.

I just get the vibe.

I flipping loved this, thoroughly good sounds babe

Love the sound! The sitar goes hard and I gotta give props to how experimental the sound is

Really cool how this album worked. Added it to my background music list

Who knew. Very fun

I listened to this album at a friend's house and was blown away by the covers.

Nepotism will get you everywhere. Loved the Rolling Stones covers, and the rest of the tracks were a jam too.

Didn’t know I needed this much sitar in my life. Jumpin Jack Flash is a revelation

This is the type of albums i keep listening this list for. Never thought i needed a sitar cover of "light my fire" in my life, but i did. Thanks! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

This was.... awesome. I don't know what I was expecting, but what I got was something that sounded as if George Harrison, during his sitar phase, put out an album of proggy instrumental jams.

Very calming, easy to enjoy

Fusion

Super groovy and fun! Yeah, baby!

Yeah I would listen to this again. Dang good

I'm a sucker for sitar and world music. I dug the covers. 5/5

Alright! Already had Light My Fire saved, so I’m excited to hear the rest. First song is rad af! Yeah, this whole record is rad af. Very unique. Lots of fun. Really well done. Absolutely influential and inspiring for generations of western musicians.

Very artfully done covers. An enjoyable and interesting listen

cooool

I love indian stuff

That was the surprise of the month for me. Wow, I really enjoyed that.

This was delightful

Psychedelic sitar jams! It’s lovely to hear some of the 60s classics raga-fied, but for me, the album really hits its stride closer to the end, with drawn-out passages and subtle changes in tempo. Stupendous.

this is amazinggg genuinely just a perfect blend of familiarity and an instrument i am not accustomed to it’s so beautiful and so lovely i want to listen again and i’m still listening

Wow! I'd like to hear more of this :)

Loved it .

Hah hah, this was excellent! I love world music fusions, and it appears this album was one of the first to popularize that trend, so very happy to be introduced to it! (If you're also into that kind of thing I heartily recommend checking out Charanjit Singh's "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" - dude was a Bollywood session musician who got access to some synths in 1983 and basically invented acid house a few years early!) Fave tracks - "Jumpin' Jack Flash" slaps - that's a great version. I'm also very taken with "Sagar (The Ocean)" - I love a track that builds and builds and builds....

love it

Classical Indian meets Rock - lovely!

Wow! Psychedelia supreme. Incredible skill playing the sitar, over great psychedelic beats, with some quieter, layered, beautiful synths.

Great mix of Indian and western music. Sitar heavy but wonderfully so. Jumping jack flash cover is excellent! The ocean is nice as well

great trance sometimes covers are also deepened here

Totalmente sorprendido!

-didn’t write a BL- AL: this was a delight to listen to. The hybrid of western music and sitar Asian music was absolutely beautiful and really gave it a psychedelic feel. I’d expect nothing less from the talents of the Shankar family. Highly worth a listen and one of my favourite albums I’ve had on this generator so far. FT: “Metamorphosis”, “Raghupati” 5/5

Cool psychedelic sitar music - what's not to like?

I loved this, until I looked at the release date I assumed these versions of jumpin jack flash and light my fire were the original but i guess this is reinterpretations? Either way this album is sick

By simply having talent and incorporating more than just the sitar into the production, this album instantly rockets ahead of any stupid western psychedelic albums as well as most Indian albums on this list. Both high and sober, this shit slapped from start to finish. The mix of Indian and Western rock music was perfectly balanced and made each track interesting even without any vocals at all until the final song. Even though some of the songs are covers it still feels fresh and interesting.

Ananda Shankar gives us the authentic melding of Western rock and electronic styles that was, and still is, needed desperately in music. Cultural melding into music is not done very often to this day and i couldn't've be happier to have heard this album. Rest easy Ananda Shankar

This album is actually much better than Ravi Shankar's album (for my westernised taste). The record starts with few covers of sixties rock songs, with a strong Indian influence, which makes it much more interesting and exotic. But what really makes this great is the second part of the album with original songs. There is a slight reverse in the trend, now we listen to Indian music with strong Western rock influence. I actually really liked every song on side B of this record. Amazing quality, the songs are very mature, Ananda is not in rush to show off his skills, instead he slowly develops the sound and atmosphere, creating a terrific tracks. It's going to be hard to rate this album, as we have two completely different styles clashing. Side A gets a 3+, but side B is an easy 5. I think it's fair to appreciate good parts more than bashing on average moments, so 5 it is!

A complete masterpiece. Incredible album that is damn near perfect.

loved this - hidden treasure

Nice.

A really good album. Recreating some classic rock hits("Jumping jack flash, and "light my fire") into more 'dream-like' ambient music, with the combination of synthetic and sitar blends well. I enjoyed the east v. west fusion.

this was great, love the mix of covers and originals. also love citar and moog, so this was a perfect match

Awesome listen! Wow. Everything from the guitar and sitar tones to the juicy Moog lines to the unexpected backbeat grooves. The mix is airtight; sitar can sound really pokey and bright but here it sounds warm and full. I love all of these songs, but "Mamata (Affection)" comes to mind as a favorite. The sitar tones sound really thick and rich, they play super well with electric guitar and I can't say I've heard a blend like that before. I get chills every time the sitar swells out over a simple backbeat pocket or flourishes out of the texture. It's such a simple recipe: Western rock guitar tones and harmonies, spacey Moog lines and textures, a rock solid battery of bass and drums bolstered by Indian drums, all as the perfect backdrop for the beautiful sitar lead.

Love. It’s so psychedelic and with the sitar its Indian influence is clear. There’s a couple covers that are recognizable and the others are great as well. I only wish there were lyrics! The only singing is background. That makes this better as interesting background music though.

Not only a really cool idea for an album, very impressive to pull it off the way he has. Everything sounded so clear and clean (except maybe the sitar at times) and the album as a whole felt so natural and almost familiar rather than an experiment of sorts. Dance Indra stood out as a favourite to me. Brave sticking his manifesto on the front because if he fucked it, it would've been embarrassing. But I think he's pulled it off perfectly.

Not quite what I'd listen to normally but very interesting psychedelic playing

Funky, cool, I really liked that

Well this is the third Indian artist that I came across in this list and the third one that pleasantly surprised me. It’s surprisingly earnest and the songs pump through with very awesome renditions of Jumping Jack Flash and Light My Fire. It’s a tad tad longer than it feels like it should be - but otherwise a record i would return to.

soothing and a bop

Classic jams

A lovely fusion between Indian music and western music. It gets very psychadelic and the sitar sounds great.

Very cool album. Both the covers and originals were equally impactful and showed the versatility of Indian music. Favorite track: Indra Dance

A lot of Indian covers of rock and roll tracks. Interesting, but nothing that's making me think anything over and above some good, if uninspired musicianship.

I've stated my dislike for Sitar as an instrument before but this thing was both good and very funny

I love the combination of the sitar and the synthesizers! Favorite track: Metamorphosis.

Much more interesting than I anticipated. Sitar-remakes of Jumpin' Jack Flash and Light My Fire? Awesome.

Here we go!

Ну так, музыканты играют хорошо, но слушать каверы на ситаре довольно утомительно. Фоновая музыка

Nice with something new. Pretty good mix of different genres. Ravis nephew!

A really fun psychedelic, sitar driven trip.

You know I love that sweet, sweet sitar. And sitar covers? Go on with ya bad self

Trippy shit yo

Fun covers of contemporary pop mixed in with beautiful, engaging sitar. Good for a drive, also great background music to video games

I discovered Ananda Shankar sometime in the 80s courtesy of the used record market. I love remakes that really remake a song, and the groovy sitar versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash and Light My Fire more than qualify! I also love Moog music, and there’s plenty of that here. It's great to have this album make the list! Some great sitar jams... and the go-go arrangements are icing on a delicious cake! Definitely worth a listen for its unique style.

3.5: some really awesome and fascinating tracks with some great sitar work, surprisingly very easy to get into. The jumping jack flash cover is a great highlight

Solid album of oriental, indian music. My favourite was Sagar (The Ocean)

Interesting album, enjoyed the music, would listen again