In 1982, London-based Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra recorded a true oddity. Accompanied by her son Kuljit on an early Roland synthesiser and drum machine, the pair laid down nine tracks of Punjabi folk vocals backed by hammering electronic percussion, disco basslines and fizzing synth melody. Only 500 copies of the resulting album, Punjabi Disco, were pressed; it was released to confusion from a diaspora audience used to the bombast of bhangra. In the decades since, rare LPs have appeared on resale sites, but Kuljit’s recent rediscovery of the master tapes has now made the record widely available for the first time.
The blipping electronic toms and rattling shaker of opening number Disco Wich Aa set the tone, gradually building a swaying groove over siren-like synth melody before Mohinder’s falsetto vocal takes over, entreating the listener to come and dance. Employing the melismatic, note-gliding technique of Indian classical singing, her vocals are delightfully versatile, skipping over the fast-paced disco bass of Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya, yearning with drawn-out notes alongside the bossa rhythms of Soniya Mukh Tera and making full-throated declarations on the driving groove of Ve Tu Jaldi Jaldi Aa.
