Music: Delhi Heights

I hate punjabi music. Ok, make that noisy balle balle stuff thats on TV in India all the time. I remember that all through college it was impossible to escape the Punjabisation of India in general and Bhangra music in particular. Only one thing could have saved us, Daler Mehndi should have been shot or at the very least jailed, immediately after Bolo Tara Ra Ra. If that had happened the Bhupis and the Mikas wouldn't have dared to come out and inflict their music upon us. Someone in the punjab police, who was surely as frustrated with balle balle as I am, made a valiant attempt to frame Daler in an Immigration scandal. Alas, the frameup didn't work and even if it did it would have been a case of too little too late

The saving grace for punjabi music is Rabbi 'Bulla ki Jana' Shergill who has composed the music for 'Delhi Heights'. If you haven't already come across the music on TV listen to it here. In particular I liked the title track 'Dilli' as well as 'Tere Bin' & 'Kitni Der Tak'. Like in 'Bulla Ki Jana' the fusion of Indian/punjabi/sufi music with rock elements in this album is really neat. A rediff article rightly points out that some of the riffs seem inspired by popular western music (Deep Purple and Mark Knopfler to name a few) but I couldn't care less because the music is so fresh. If, only if, Rabbi had been born before Daler.......