Mr. Scruff and Turbotito & Ragz proudly present ‘Bhangra House Xtc’! A scorching Bhangra acid house and dub EP and a celebration of late Bhangra vocalist Manjeet Kondal and producer Deepak Khazanchi and their classic 1986 album ‘Holle Holle’. Available now for pre-order and out on vinyl and all digital platforms on April 19, 2024.

Manchester icon, Ninja Tune regular and eclectic selector Mr. Scruff aka Andy Carthy contacted Naya Beat in 2021 to compliment them on their first compilation. It was a fortuitous moment. Bhangra is inherently intertwined with the UK. A unique confluence of diasporic Punjabi folk music, UK dance music production and other influences like dancehall and ragga. Few possess Andy’s knowledge and heritage of UK dance music and culture. Not only did he share a deep love of Bhangra but Naya Beat had just received the stems for ‘Holle Holle’ from Khazanchi. A remix was destined to be.

A tribute to a forgotten era of late 80s/early 90s Bhangra influenced by house, dub and hip-hop, the EP features Scruff remixes of Kondal’s 'Ishkaan De Mamle' and several flavours of a new track ‘Pyaar’ by Turbotito & Ragz. You might remember the original version of Ishkaan from Naya Beat Volume 1. Already a certifiable banger, Mr. Scruff works the track into scintillating new territory. A mind blowing, snaking, stripped down and trippy acid house odyssey. A counterpoint to Mr. Scruff’s acid house workout, Turbotito & Ragz employ an assortment of Kondal’s vocal stems from ‘Holle Holle’ to deliver a blissed out dub tribute. To boot, the 12” comes with amazing artwork inspired by Bhangra sleeves from the era!

Manjeet Singh Kondal made his start in Bhangra in 1980 as the founding member and dholak player with the legendary band Alaap, one of the early Bhangra pioneers, and whose first three albums Khazanchi produced. In 1983 Kondal decided to go solo as a vocalist and asked Khazanchi to produce music for his album. Their first album ‘Holle Holle’ was ground-breaking with the title track Holle Holle becoming a household hit and wining best song of the year at the UK Asian Pop Awards. The album featured lesser known but nonetheless choice cuts, including ‘Ishkaan De Mamle’.

The success of Kondal’s Holle Holle is closely linked to his partnership with Deepak Khazanchi. Khazanchi, who cut his teeth by working with giants such as Trevor Horn, has extensive credits on everything from early Hindi disco crossover albums like Sharon and Musarrat's 'Chal Disco Chal' and Nazia and Zoheb’s ‘Young Tarang’ to synth-pop band Blancmange and iconic fusion band Monsoon. He played a pivotal role in the 1980s UK Bhangra scene with his work with bands like Alaap and Heera and by embracing synths, drum machines and other elements of dance music in his productions. This aesthetic is on full display in ‘Holle Holle’. Kondal and Khazanchi would collaborate on two more bhangra albums, ‘Wicked And Wild’ (1987) and ‘Let’s Party’ (1993).

This is Naya Beat’s sixth release in a series of reissues, reworks, remixes and compilations dedicated to uncovering electronic and dance music from the subcontinent and South Asian diaspora.

Tracklist:
A1 Ishkaan De Mamle - Mr.Scruff Remix5
A2 Pyaar
B1 Ishkaan De Mamle - Mr.Scruff Instrumental Dub
B2 Pyaar - Lovey Dubby Dub