Ravi Shankar

No description necessary. Watch him introduce Western audiences to raga music at Monterrey Pop Festival, 1967, below. (Watch out for Hendrix in the audience).

Atomic Fire

From a review: “The mysterious bass player Keith Kanga, and an incarnation of the Atomic Forest ensemble he formed with vocalist Madhukar Chandra Das, lead guitarist Neil Chattopadhya and drummer Valentine Lobo in the early 1970s, stand as the only known ’70s Indian psychedelic/hard-rock band known to record an album.”

Seriously funky rhythms with psychedelic guitar and keys, playing grooves that stand the test of time. Listen to their track Obsession 77 below, and the album it comes from here.

Kalyanji Anadji

From a review: “By the late ’60s, Kalyanji Anandji were experimenting with psychedelia and acknowledging the influence of James Brown and his many disciples.

The original soundtrack (known as “OST”) albums that followed — or, in some cases, preceded — Bollywood films rarely contained their incidental music. Those late-’60s movies were largely melodramatic musicals; lavish song-and-dance numbers were as common in a film about star-crossed lovers as they were in an action film about the seedy exploits of the Indian mafia. Kalyanji Anandji delivered songs for these scenes with aplomb, all the while quietly revolutionizing Bollywood’s soundtrack with their increasingly funky and psychedelic incidental music.”

Ananda Shankar

The second in the Shankar dynasty to make this post, Ananda fused the sitar and tabla driven raga of his uncle with western instrumentation like synths and rock guitar to create a sound that has found its way into so many psychedelic rock bands. Ananda recorded manly for films in his time, and also played with the likes of Hendrix whilst living in LA during the late 1960’s.

Listen to his track Streets of Calcutta (later covered by Kikagaku Moyo) below, and a playlist of his work here

Shantam

A modern artist experimenting with psychedelic EDM. Part of a larger electronic music scene blossoming in India, Shantam draws from the rich tradition of psychedelia emanating from the country and feeds this into his genre blending sound. Listen to his track George below, bandcamp here.

Great Bear

An early 70’s band, the only track that I can find out there is the one below, the aptly titled Mist. An edge of Velvet Underground can definitely be found in this, with its lofi production, bluesy chords and trippy atmosphere. The changing tempos and rhythms work for a discordant and dreamy sound, vintage psychedelia in many ways.

Ray Spiegel Ensemble

Playing raga jazz, from the bands website: “Compositions are based in Indian Classical forms combined with folk drumming, Jazz, Kirtan, Reggae, Latin , Rock with Tribal overtones. Sum and Kali is uplifting music for the soul combining virtuoso performances with a devotional edge, good for listening, meditation, and dancing.”

Listen to his track Colaba Blues below, and more of their work on spotify

The Confusions

Solid 60’s garage punk styling’s (although they were active in the early 70’s), The Confusions have a ramshackle sound, mixing bluesy guitar with stripped down percussion and pumping organ. Described as “about as obscure as garage gets”, listen to their track Voice from the Inner Soul below.

Debashish Bhattacharya

One of the most innovative slide guitars players in the world, from an NPR description: “You’ve probably never seen or heard an instrument like this. The Hindustani slide guitar is the creation of Debashish Bhattacharya, whose creation pairs his first love — a Hawaiian lap steel guitar, a gift from his father when he was only 3 — and the sounds of India. You can see the similarities to a lap steel guitar, as Bhattacharya lays the guitar across his legs, sliding a metal bar to create the fluid, almost vocal melodies. The additional strings (and lack of frets) allow him to slide easily between notes, in the process creating a sound that resonates and drones while remaining attuned to his Calcutta home. His music incorporates a good deal of North Indian (Hindustani) classical music, but you can also hear the blues pouring out from this stunning creation.”

Watch him perform below, his website here

R.D. Burman

Like numerous artists in this post, his R.D. Burman composed music mainly for films, 331 in total during his career. His music has been described as “wrapped sugary string swoops around as many ideas as he could squeeze in at once”, psychedelia certainly finds its way into the mix. Listen to his track Dance Music below, and a best of here.

The Fentones

Numerous bands on here made recordings after India’s oldest cigarette company, Simla, decided to host a Battle of the Bands competition from 1970-72. The Fentones competed in this in 1971, winning the competition and subsequently getting to have two tracks on the resulting album. The vocal harmonies and soft guitar in the track Until Dawn have a definite Beatles influence, they also played with a more surf-rock sound.