India Man

Richard Sen's album India Man came out on Bandcamp at the end of August following a limited vinyl release earlier in the summer. Richard's life in the counter culture goes back to the mid- 80s and his career in music spans three decades. In the 80s he was a graffiti writer, using the tag Coma- he became aged eighteen the first person in the UK to be jailed for graffiti writing. He immersed himself in the late 80s acid house scene and has made music as Bronx Dogs, Padded Cell and Hackney Vandal Patrol as well as under his own name. He DJs and has a Masters degree in Criminology. He painted the sleeve art for Sabres Of Paradise's Smokebelch and contributed the massive sounding Tough On Chug, Tough On The Causes Of Chug to Sounds Of The Flightpath Estate Volume 1 earlier this year. 

India Man is in part an album about his roots, about his family background, ethnicity, his father and grandfather who both came to the UK from India, and his own life as the fourth generation of India men. It's also an album that merges the house/ cosmic disco/ electro of his own music with the music styles of India and the Middle East. India Man kicks off with Eleven Eleven, a tribute to Charlie Bones, the founder of Do You!! Radio where Richard has a residency- chunky, slowed down chug with cosmic twinkles and blasts of bass. Moksha speeds things up, a thumping four four rhythm and squalls of sax and acres of bottom end. Indus Symphony brings the funk, joined by Bollywood strings and a vocal sample. Leaving no electronic stone unturned, Parsi Princess goes to the basement, moody electro- machine funk with menacing synth strings. 

The second half slows things down again, a funky drumbeat driving Proto- Dravidian, another Indian vocal on top, sultry and seductive, the music and voice gaining intensity. Magadhan Empire glides in on synth and piano, eight minutes of dark cosmic disco with chanting, ideal for early doors at ALFOS. It's followed by the throbbing electro of Mysteries Of Meluhha, rattling snare and sequenced bass. India Man concludes with Hills Of Kashmir, an epic, sweeping electronic drive, bassline pumping out and synth melodies wigging out.

India Man is out at Bandcamp digitally and there are a handful of limited edition vinyl copies with art print left. Get either/ both here.