"Play That Beat Mr. Raja" is the very first compilation dedicated to Tamil recordings in the West. It explores the wild shores of these late 80's Kollywood music productions. With an avalanche of cinematic strings, analog synths, mind-blowing vocal punchlines and drumkit earthquakes mixed with folkloric percussive elements, it reveals the audacity of composers such as Ilayaraja, Shankar Ganesh or Hamsalekha.
Covering an impressive range of styles, it features Kamal Hassan's vocoded rap "Vikram Vikram", Shankar Ganesh's disco stomper "Coca Cola", and the irresistible bontempi instrumental "Love Theme", among many other hits. Straddling boundaries between traditional southern indian identity and digested western influences, these selected oddities remain a lesson of creativity and freedom in the world of soundtracks, with their stunning incorporation of the most typical of 80s tools in a classical context, and a constant love for daring structures and demented arrangements.