Malkit Singh - King of Bhangra (2004)

«Malkit Singh was born in the village Husainpur near Jalandhar. He is the oldest child of five. He started singing at the age of four and attended a local school in his village where is talent was recognised. He then carried his talent through to college where he participated in competitions and won many awards. And now has taken his music from the Punjabi vernacular to cross-cultural experiments with various types of music such as rap, house, dance, Bollywood film screens and so fourth. As a result, traditional Punjabi folk music has gone from the relative obscurity of a Punjabi village to the heady heights of a world stage. As the music spreads its wings across the globe, Malkit Singh encompasses audience of all ages and backgrounds. With this, Malkit Singh has received numerous awards and accolades for his musical talents in that his contributions to Bhangra music and the Indian community have been greatly noted. […]

Malkit Singh has been hailed the ‘King of Bhangra,’ and is one of the few Punjabi icons around in today’s Bhangra industry. Punjabi’s all around the world look up to Malkit’s original style, melodious voice and unique music as he represents the true traditional Punjabi culture to worldwide audiences. His fan base keeps on growing from strength to strength. He encompasses an audience of all ages, from old to young. He has maintained his true Punjabi image throughout his career, which people have respected and feel they can look up to him as a role model. His popular music and videos have won over today’s generation of youngsters as well as keeping his die-hard fans happy, and will continue to do so in years to come.» (Hollywood Bowl)

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Rubber Folk (2006)

«To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of (arguably) The Beatles’ folkiest album Rubber Soul, Mike [Harding] presents a tribute from the cream of the folk music community of the British Isles. All the artists taking part did so with a huge amount of enthusiasm, some immediately drawn to the classics from the album, others relishing the challenge of the more oblique. In each case the artist was given a completely free hand. Some interpretations are faithful, albeit acoustic versions of the original; others have taken the opportunity to give a completely new feel to the song. From Ralph McTell's Michelle, complete with accordion and ukuleles, to June Tabor's unaccompanied rendition of In My Life, this is a remarkable collection which illustrates not only the great writing skills of The Beatles, but also the inventiveness and creativity of British folk artists.» (BBC)

Thanx to an anonymous reader for this post.

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