[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 65: Lata Mangeshkar Special

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is an hour celebration of Lata Mangeshkar, the beloved Bollywood playback singer who passed away earlier this month. If you’re unfamiliar, Mangeshkar is an enormously celebrated and influential vocalist and is considered to be the most recorded voice of all time, credited with over 30,000 tracks and 1,200 films during her seven decade long career. With a legacy this enormous, I’m far from an expert and have barely scratched the surface of her catalogue. Still, these are some of my favorite moments of hers, many of which are among her greatest hits. She was an extraordinary voice, and the stories she told mean so much to many–it feels incredibly lucky to have been alive at a time in which we could hear her sing. Thank you for everything, Lata, we’re so happy to have had you. You can download an mp3 version of the mix here.

Tracklist:
1. Lata Mangeshkar – Aaina Wohi Rehta Hai (From “Shalimar”)
2. Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar – Is Mod Se Jate Hain (From “Aandhi”)
3. Lata Mangeshkar – Wada Na Tod (From “Dil Tujhko Diya”)
4. Lata Mangeshkar – Tu Jahan Chalega (From “Mera Saaya”)
5. Lata Mangeshkar – Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare (From “Rajnigandha”)
6. Lata Mangeshkar – Yara Seeli Seeli (From “Lekin…”)
7. Lata Mangeshkar – Aye Mere Dil-e-nadan (From “Tower House”)
8. Lata Mangeshkar – Main Teri Chhoti Bahna Hoon (From “Souten”)
9. Lata Mangeshkar – Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (From “Mughal-E-Azam”)
10. Lata Mangeshkar – Dil Dhundta Hai (Excerpt) (From “Mausam”)
11. Lata Mangeshkar – Woh Bhooli Dastan Lo Phir Yaad (From “Sanjog”)
12. Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar – Dekha Ek Khwab (From “Silsila”)
13. Lata Mangeshkar – Zindagi Pyar Ka Geet (From “Souten”)

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 1

I’m so excited to share my first episode of “Getting Warmer” for NTS Radio. If you like it, you can download an mp3 version here. Enjoy!

Tracklist:
1. Mark Isham – Raffles In Rio
2. Yas-Kaz – The Gate of Breathing (Excerpt)
3. A.r.t. Wilson – Rebecca’s Theme (Water)
4. Double – Naningo (Lexx Edit)
5. Elicoide – Mitochondria (Excerpt)
6. Yoichiro Yoshikawa – Nebraska
7. Salma Agha & Bappi Lahiri – Come Closer (Excerpt)
8. Len Leise – Forlorn Fields
9. Lino Capra Vaccina – Voce In XY
10. Eric Vann (Joel Vandroogenbroeck) – Algues Marines
11. Denny Lather – Timeless
12. Aragon – 家路
13. Dip In The Pool – Silence
14. Ryuichi Sakamoto – Put Your Hands Up
15. Grace Jones – The Crossing (Ooh The Action…) (Edit)

Ustad Ghulam Ali & Asha Bhosle – Meraj-e-Ghazal, 1983

It would be totally nuts to suggest that I’m sufficiently well-versed in Asha Bhosle’s catalogue to argue that any one record is her best, since she’s the most recorded musician of all time and has performed over 12,000 songs. I’m not even sure how this one wound up in my hands, as it doesn’t seem to be online or in print anywhere. I stumbled across it in my library by accident a few weeks ago and have been stuck on it ever since. There’s not much that can be said about Asha Bhosle’s voice that hasn’t already been said–it’s weightless, luminous, and radiates joy like nobody else’s. Additional vocals by the esteemed Ghulam Ali on four tracks. Ideal spring soundtrack.


Haruomi Hosono – Cochin Moon, 1978

The soundtrack to a non-existent Bollywood movie. This was supposed to be a collaboration between Hosono and illustrator Tadanori Yokoo, but the story goes that during the trip to India that spawned the record, Yokoo had a prolonged and incapacitating bout of digestive woes and the project ended up as solo Hosono, with Yokoo illustrating a killer album cover. Interestingly, this came out the same year as YMO’s debut, but Hosono had already been making music for over a decade. Not only was he already a seasoned musician, but he had long been interested in musical subversion, in ways both flagrant and covert.

This is his first all-electronic album, and is one of his most progressive and expansive works. In 43 minutes he moves through swirling cosmic synth meditations, sputtering swamp glitch, and a krauty synth raga, and closes with a nine minute long proto-acid track, all bound up with the sounds of fountain bubbles, insect fizz, and harp swirls. A fair warning: a lot of this record, especially long stretches of the first three “Hotel Malabar” tracks, sound like meandering synth whine and bird screech, but listening through headphones is a gamechanger. This isn’t background music–give it at an attentive listen, loudly, on good speakers. It’s worth your time.

PS: I’m gonna try really hard not to turn this blog into a YMO fanblog, but it might turn into a YMO fanblog.