It's Punjabi Dance music - a fusion of traditional Punjabi Bhangda with
"ra" - a short for "rave". The fusions range from pop-dance music to house,
techno, and recentlyjungle. I'm not familiar with all the players, but two
popular live bhangra bands are the SAFRI BROTHERS (out of London, UK I believe)
and PUNJABI BY NATURE (from Toronto, Canada). There was also a Bhangra-Rock fusion
band out of Western Canada called Dal Dil Vog - one of the illest live acts.
There are countless other acts and DJs in the scene. You can find mixed tapes and
CDs at your local Indian Record Shop and Video Stores. I understand the Scene out of
London is huge. The Scenein Toronto is huge as well. For those in the
Southern Ontario/Upstate NY area there are a couple of shows on Campus Radio to
check out (MASALA MIX on CKLN 88.1 FM and PUNJABI GHETTO BLASTER on CIUT 89.5 FM).
There may be others on your local College/Community radio stations.
shanti,
ashwin
ashwin@visgen.com