DISCO WARRIOR SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY -31/8- P2K REVIEW

So, for both Manga, the spearhead behind the Shaanti collective and Sharnita, his partner, it was a natural progression to extend this concept solely towards pushing ‘eclectic’ music with a ‘dhamaka’ and forming ‘Shaanti Play Records’.

Since the successful release of the ‘Fused Rocking Beats’ album, the team has clearly shown their passion to ‘experiment’ with the various genres of music from Drum’n’Bass to smooth soulful vibes to Desi Bhangra is nothing to be fearful of and illustrates that ‘Asians’ are not just about being segregated into a pocketful of Dhols and Tumbis !!

The lead track on the Fused Rocking Beats album was “Disco Warrior” by The Kalyan feat. Lehmber Hussainouri. The feedback on this track was full of praise and more so, how such a composition of guitar based rhythms and heavy baseline actually ‘works’ with a really traditional folk track incorporating raw desi vocals !

Forward to Autumn 2007, and the track has been made into an official single to be released on September 10th, with a further 3 mixes alongside a ‘Shaanti Play Records’ launch party for the track at, ‘The Factory’ in Birmingham which took place on 31st August…and yours truly was there representing P2K as a ‘Shaanti Virgin’ and heres the short and sweet lowdown in a nutshell…

We arrived at 10pm (at the time given to us!!) and lets just say it was quiet ….because were too early !! and there was me all ready with my mic. to interview Manga from the label and he told me he would be arriving at 11pm….great !!

At around 11.15pm, the club starting to buzz with the arrival of people and a wicked background of Oriental meets Desi soundz being played out by DJ Rich Reason……throughout the rest of the night (whilst we were there anyway!!) we were treated to an array of performances from the following in order:

Sunit an Rakstar – Awsome hip hop rapper and producer/DJ collaboration with a serious cult following blazing their tracks to the predominately young audience who were appreciating their lyrical talents..

MDK Cartel – A young crew of lads from Birmingham with their view on life through their fast paced chatting..

The Kalyan – Personally, my favourite performance of the night – supporting the cause of their single release. Performing to an extended version of the 'Disco Warrior' track with live percussion by Gubzy on the Dhol, Steve (DCS) on the guitar and The Kalyan (Anil) on the decks……not forgetting the halfway switch to ‘Dum Maro Dum’ !! – you had to be there to appreciate that its all about the LIVE scene !!

The Specialist – Coventry Born DJ with already hit albums to his name – mixing up the Desi tunes on the decks and a twist of Drum’n’Bass with an exclusive play of the Heer Dholi track by Kuldip Manak from the ‘Shaanti Play Records’ forthcoming compilation album entiled ‘Mighty Asian Beats’…..

AC and Desi – In my opinion, one of the more lyrically advance MC’s in today’s market, AC teamed up with Desi of the Mentor Kollective and performed a selection of tracks including Panga and Majane (freestylke)….lovin’ it !!

Before we made a sharp exit, as it was past my bedtime, 5 hours ago, PMC made his entrance and played out an awesome set of Asian club bangers, both old and new material…

All in all, it was a crazy night for us and we also managed to pull some live video interviews off with some of the above artistes including the promoter and representative of the record label himself, Managa (which will all bee up very soon to view)…

Apart from the abundance of short skirts and legs (and that was just the girls !!) and the fact that I was being harassed by an nymphomaniac of a girl for most of the evening, it was a brilliant event which illustrates that both Shaanti and Shaanti Play Records are existing to push live music and push the envelope in fusing music not from jus one sect, but on all levels, be it Rock, Reggaeton, Drum’n’Bass or Bhangra and spreading it from Birmingham all the way to Bombay…

A big thank you to Manga and Sharnita from Shaanti /Shaanti Play Records

www.shaanti.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/shaanticollective

Taken from the Shaanti website

“Shaanti Play Records get set to release their first single into the mainstream come September, 10th 2007. The new single "Disco Warrior" by the Kalyan to be taken from the hotly anticipated second album "Mighty Asian Beats" from Shaanti Play Records. Featuring the vocals talents of India’s premier singer Lember Hussainpuri, and with only a few copies in circulation "Disco Warrior" already looks like a big hit. With four exclusive mixes available alongside the main track pre-order your copy today. “
Track 1: Disco Warrior
Track 2: Desi Warrior
Track 3: House Mix
Track 4: Funk Mix

Listen and watch the exclusive video on www.myspace.com/shaanticollective”  or  The video section on Punjab2000

Peace,

Baja