CD Review: The Bombay Royale's 'The Island Of Dr. Electrico'

The Bombay Royale
The Island Of Dr. Electrico
HopeStreet Recordings

Bollywood surf, spy, funk, disco, and dance music from a Melbourne, Australia group? The unlikely combination is nothing to get upset about, since everything works well here. The entire album is around forty-five minutes in length, but the sounds seem to live on forever. The orchestrations are reminiscent of a spy-thriller film soundtrack that could be heard in almost any country, but the Bollywood and spaghetti-Western sounds are most pervasive. The psychedelic sounds and surfadelic connotations are timeless and catchy. Every song on the album is worth repeating over and over. The infusions of punchy horns, suspenseful orchestrations, gritty funk, and South Asian vocalizations are simply too much to take in, because they are so appropriate and memorable. The Island Of Dr. Electrico is one of the best world music albums of the year. Discover it today. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: The Bombay Royale's 'You Me Bullets Love'

The Bombay Royale
You Me Bullets Love
Hopestreet Recordings

If James Bond starred in an Indian film, this would be his soundtrack. The surfadelic stylings of Bollywood psych-funk with loads of brass, rhythms, and gritty guitars is reinvented for today's generation. Building upon the classic Indian sounds of the 1960s and 70s, The Bombay Royale create amusing and reverberating rhythms that mimic the US/Cambodian group, Dengue Fever, and how they modernized surf-rock for today using songs and styles from the Khmer Rouge-era. In fact, Dengue Fever's music is quite similar to The Bombay Royale. The spacey electronics, blazing horns, and funky Hindi beats are very lively and memorable. Fans of psychedelic Indian funk will love You Me Bullets Love, especially for its release on gatefold LP, but also CD and download formats will be released. All ten tracks are monumental from this Melbourne, Australia-based band. India's Golden Age is back and The Bombay Royale are to blame. Thank you for creating this musical project. ~ Matthew Forss