Kalyanji Anandji is the name of an Indian composer duo known for their work on Bollywood film soundtracks, particularly action potboilers in the 1970s. One glance at the cover artwork for this LP should be enough to give any music or film lover a head start on these sounds.
In 1998, Dan the Automator collaborated with DJ Shadow to remix, re-title, and reintroduce this action packed eastern funk to a near-clueless western audience. Floating from jazzy windups to frenzied spy-flick jams, it’s a slick and concise rendering of a very specific intersection of geography and time. Imagine the best aspects of the greatest hollywood funk scores (Superfly, Coffy, Shaft, etc) reinterpreted by bollywood composers, and processed though a modern hip hop sensibility. Or just throw this record on and get heads nodding.
[you can grab this used via amazon]
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[Credit to last.fm for info on Kalyanji & Anandji Shah and especially to beatfanatic for introducing me to this album in the first place.]
Optimistic Underground 
Great write-up. Loved the Coffy reference.
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Thanks, I love that soundtrack, and several Roy Ayers albums in fact! Coffy is really underrated when it comes to classic blacksploitation flicks… and hell, it has the one the only Pam Grier (aka Jackie Brown) and a Roy Ayers score :]
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Such a good album! Dude, with the limitless horizon that is your music taste, I’m really surprised you hadn’t heard this. (beatfanatic ftw!) Speaking of classic blaxploitation movies, I recently found a blog that posted the soundtrack to Black Belt Jones. A little too much film dialog on the soundtrack, but overall a brilliant piece of 70s funk.
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It’s too bad that the near-clueless western audience (automator/shadow fans) remain near-clueless even after hearing this album. Kalyanji Anandji arrangements without hip-hop beats are just as good if not better than this mash up/remix but I digress, is that King Khan in the middle photo?
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No…it’s Amrish Puri in the middle picture. Black Belt Jones is classic. OT, I always felt that Coffy got the respect it deserved. I never found it to be underrated. I love that stuff though….Black Belt Jones, Shaft, Dolemite, Trick Baby, Coffy, Foxy Brown and Blacula. Classic stuff. Great music as well. Roy Ayers actually hosts one of the radio stations in GTA 4.
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Now you’re just making me jealous of ps3/xbox360 owners. Roy Ayers HOSTS a radio station in the game? ffffffffuuuuuuu
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Also, Amrish Puri played Mola Ram in Temple of Doom.
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GALLE MUUU SHUTT DEE DAYYYYY!!!
I love that guy. I remember reading about him when he died a few years ago.
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there is a volume 2 to Bombay The Hard Way series which is almost as good as this one. If you want to see the scans of the album sleeves that came with this record, check out my blog
http://fromherewegosublime.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/bombay-the-hard-wayguns-cars-sitars-dan-the-automator-dj-shadow/
– fromherewegosublime/beatfanatic
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Yo real talk this is Hip Hop at its finest gd work yall keep it bumpin
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