The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969​-​1972

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The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969-1972 has sourced music from the archives of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad. The VA LP chronicles the works of previously unknown composers Gita Sarabhai, I.S. Mathur, Atul Desai, S.C. Shama and Jinraj Joshipura, who worked at India's first electronic music studio during the years following the country's independence.

The release developed from a long-term research project by British artist Paul Purgas, one half of Emptyset, who travelled to Ahmedabad over many years to explore the origins of electronic music in India.

An accompanying book, Subcontentinental Synthesis: Electronic Music at the National Institute of Design, India 1969–1972, is out on November 7th. Also edited by Purgas, this collection of essays will reflect on the larger cultural and political dialogues surrounding the studio.

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https://state51.greedbag.com/buy/the-nid-tapes-electronic-music-f/preorder.html

Bought this. Great stuff.

released.

Excite! Academic electroacoustic music is pretty universally rad, regardless of provenance

I used to bang an art hoe from NID.

It's great hearing non-western electronic music. To my ear the music actually resembles Indian classical music. The drone, the rhythmic drive that one finds in the tabla, but it is still very exploratory as far as electric timbres are involved. I wish I knew more about Indian music structure, because I'd guess there are similarities to be found there as well.

Thanks for sharing this!

I'm happy people are preserving this sort of thing. However upon listening to it, it sounds like every other person mucking about with electronic instruments from that era: various sounds squelching here, there and everywhere. Not particularly interesting or revealing although it wasn't "bad" and I didn't hate it. Have seen this get a LOT of coverage on "i have great music taste" twitter because it checks a lot of boxes for "I'm an ally with my media consumption for social media engagement" which is always a bit transparent and disappointing.

*puts on 10 ragas to a disco beat*

^ Reissues and repressings are a blessing and a curse for exactly what you just outlined. Everything deserves to be preserved and archived, at least a word or two of commentary, but not necessarily heard outside of niche aficionados. There are still diamonds in the rough but the reality is most stuff is middle of the road at best and often straight up forgettable beyond being an audio curioso. 

I'll give this a listen - I saw it earlier - but as with most media I'm trying to avoid listening to stuff out o a sense of obligation or need to from a hard sell via write-up. I want to spend time geeking out over stuff that I subjectively find fascinating.