I’ve found that I really like the sound of Indian music (music from India- although there’s nothing wrong with Native American music, the Indian stuff is what I’m interested in at the moment.) However, I really don’t know of any good Indian artists- anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
~ Monica
Ravi Shankar comes to mind.
Check out Najma. I have Pukar. It’s excellent.
There’s a recording called A Meeting by the River by Ry Cooder and Indian musician VM Bhatt. Very interesting fusion of blues and traditional Indian sound.
One question which hasn’t really been addressed is: when you say you like Indian music, that still leaves a rather wide variety. Indian music comes (very crudely) in three main categories:
Classical Music - This can be further broken up into Hindustani Classical and Carnatic Classical music. If the music you heard (and liked) was (relatively) amorphous, moving up and down the scale rather fluidly, where the lyrics seem almost secondary to the music (hey, I can’t think of a better way to describe it), then you’re probably thinking Classical Music.
Folk Music - For most people, this basically means “bhangra,” one specific type of Indian folk music. I can’t think of a clear way to describe this, other than “catchy beat,” especially as it is beginning to be found a lot in the final category.
Film Music - This is the “pop” music of India. Current film music is pretty synth heavy, although recently composers have been backing away from that. This can be characterized as “lyric heavy” songs. Even if you don’t understand the words, the lyrics are pretty central to the music, and - to me, at least - they stand out. Note that even though I call this category film music, there are artists that produce this style of music without its appearing in movies.
I suspect the music you heard was either from the first category (in which case the aforementioned suggestions should work out fine) or the last. If it was, in fact, from the last category, you’re better off trying to track down film soundtracks as opposed to specific artists. I might suggest “1942: A Love Story,” as it has some of my favorite film songs.
I don’t know if I helped any, but if you’re able to identify the music you heard as one of these types, it might help in giving further suggestions
Bhangra is the folk music of the Punjab. There’s traditional bhangra and modern bhangra. Malkit Singh does poppy bhangra with cheesy pop and dance samples, but still a traditional feel to it. British Punjabi DJ Kam Dhillon has taken things in a garage direction, but uses traditional style vocalists like Amar Arshi on his tracks. Whether trad or modern, you’re always going to have the distinctive rhythms played on the dhol drums.
Deva Premal “The Essence” …lovely music…listened to it while practicing yoga.
I’ve been really liking Remember Shakti, a group of Indian musicians playing with guitarist John McLaughlin. Check out “The Believer” or “Friday Night in Bombay.”
You should all listen to System of a Down (they’re Armenian) they play a new style of music, heavy metal with Indian flourishs…they are all the rave today! 
Well, “Remember Shakti” was a re-union album. John Mclaughlin and various Indian artists have released earlier albums such as “Shakti”, “Natural Elements” and “A Handful of Beauty” all of which are worth listening to. This is by the original Shakti group. Incredible fusion music.
(twickster, I assume you are having an even later version of “Remember Shakti”, because the one I have does not have the pieces you mentioned – I do recollect them getting together yet again with Mandolin Shrinivas, so that could be it)
litost – I’m talking about more or less current work: Remember Shakti is what they’re calling the group who did the original Shakti album(s?), which I’m not familiar with. The titles I gave are both CD’s – here’s a link to Saturday Night in Bombay, which is the one that got me into these:
Seems like I’ll have to go back and check out the originals.
hijack/ McLaughlin is always interesting. I saw him live a few years ago (more “regular” jazz, insofar as McLaughlin does “regular” anything), and it was really amazing. /hijack
let’s try that link again…
Indian songbird Lata Mangeshkar is the biggest-selling recording artist in world history.
Clearly, you are in possession of their latest album.
The one I have is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000IGQ3/qid=1041049846/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/103-2129493-3256626?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
You have to listen to the original albums. “Remember Shakti” is tilted more towards Indian Classical (not that it’s a bad thing but it is different). The originals are fast-paced, more jazzy, and have a stronger interaction between McLaughlin and other players.
The original group didn’t have the mandolin player and any vocals. They had an amazing violinist in L.Shankar with whom John plays many riveting duets with.
Oh, yeah The Mahavishnu Orchestra was something!
Sorry to keep hijacking your thread, Monica – maybe litost and I should just get a room somewhere (with a boombox and our respective CD collections)?
listost – yup, I’ve got that one also, but of the three albums (four?, since this one is double album), this is both the earliest and my least-favorite. The Believer, second in the series, has a version of Lotus Feet that I think is much better – they’ve been playing together longer and are more cohesive. The album I linked to above is the third, and equally good – I listen to these two as a double album, usually.
(Another outstanding McLaughlin album is the one he did with Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, and Surrender. If I were really out to hijack this thread, I’d go on to talk about seeing Santana, free, doing an acoustic version of that album back in the mid '70s…)
I’ll second Shakti. Very good stuff
Can anyone recommend any female singers? I like the older and newer stuff, slower/more traditional as well as dance-club stuff.
check out:
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Pakistani singer)
Zakir Hussain (tabla player, has worked with Ravi Shankar)
The classification would be variegated in Indian music.
There are over 25 states in India, each has an individual music type, the ones worthy of note would however be, Punjabi (which is rather upbeat Punjabi folk), Karnatik Music (classical note of the south), and music from Bollywood (namely India’s version of Hollywood) has gained high popularity in recent times.
Classical Music however has been the most ‘exported’ Indian form of music. Classical Music would mostly likely include notes from the flute, sitar, tabla, and the veena.
Aforementioned, Pandit Ravishankar, Ustad Zakhir Hussein and known to be of the highest calibre of Indian music for a few decades now. Pandit Ravi Shankar has a few Grammy’s to his credit, and apparently The Beatles visited him to learn the awe-inspiring Indian Classical.
If you’re up for fusion, I would strongly recommend Talvin Singh, his music has a high strung tabla bass.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is commendable as well.
Yes there is an Indian in the house.
Namaste, twelfthsign. (Imagine the accent over the “e.” 
Monica, Paul Horn, a flutist, recorded inside the Taj Mahal. It is ethereal! The sound echoes.