Sunday 15 February 2009

Sundar Popo and Caribbean Chutney

I picked up this strange 7" single at a jumble sale a couple of weeks ago and was immediately intrigued...the music seemed to be Indian in origin, but the record itself was from Trinidad & Tobago. The music itself is reminiscent of Bollywood film music, with driving rhythms and saucy lyrics. But I was still intrigued about the Trinidad connection. Now we have the world at our fingertips, it seems that mysteries like this can be resolved in moments. This is Chutney music, indigenous to the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana. It was created by Indo-Caribbeans, the ancestors of people from the Indian subcontinent who were transported to the West Indies during the height of the European Colonial period and served as indentured servants in the colonies. Once again, the music indirectly tells stories of the diaspora, of the movement of people around the world, the mutability of culture and the impossibilities of nationalism.

Here is the man himself, Sundar Popo:
And here are the two sides of the single so you can sample the flavours of Caribbean Chutney!


7 comments:

kreismyr said...

Wow, this is really off the hook!

icastico said...

Dope. Totally dope. Thanks.

Unknown said...

As a trinidadian, I must commend you on posting these two classics from Sundar Popo. He was one of the originators of the style, which has become very popular today.Thanks for sharing..

Anonymous said...

classic stuff

different versions of both those on 'the ultimate sundar popo'

peter said...

i love sundar popo!
there are some trinidadians who live down the street from me, and when the weather gets nice they set up their cars at the park and blast his stuff out the trunks! fantastic!! thanks for sharing!

Mr Tear said...

Thanks for the comments here. Yep, these tracks are both killer...I must try and check out some more of his stuff, if anyone knows where to find any then be sure to give me a shout.
Peter, the sharing is always a pleasure. Keep up the great work at the Mongrak blog.

peter said...

thanks!
and you are in luck as far as more chutney from mr. popo.. the url should say it all: http://trinimix.blogspot.com/2009/02/sundar-popo-mega-post.html