Ramasandiran Somusundaram - Skinny Woman (2025) [Hi-Res]

Cinedelic Records present the first-ever reissue of Ramasandiran Somusundaram's Skinny Woman, originally released in 1974. Skinny Woman is the only solo album by Indian percussionist Ramasandiran Somusundaram, a former member of Bambibanda E Melodie (post-Garybaldi band of Bambi Fossati), Maya, and New Trolls' Atomic System (1973). Produced and played along with a large portion of New Trolls - the De Scalzi brothers, Gianni Belleno, and Giorgio Usai - Skinny Woman is an absolute anomaly of an album that mixes hard-funk and rock, supported by the incisive extraordinary rhythms of Indian music, all wrapped in an exploitation feel. The A side is a true funky party, starting with the funk-rock title track. But by the second track, "I Am Afraid Of Loosing You", the album takes a more experimental turn, with clavinet, Hammond organ, lo-fi brass, and a bizarre use of voices incredibly similar to Frank Zappa's The Mothers Of Invention. The Zappa reference continues into the next track, "Everybody", which starts with a distorted bass riff in a George Clinton style. Then you get to "Electronic Heart", a rhythmic bomb with a long insane flute solo - by the unmistakable Vittorio De Scalzi - in a Roland Kirk/Ian Anderson style. The B side is more psychedelic and meditative, mixing Oriental tinges and the American west coast into a very peaceful Hindu atmosphere. Skinny Woman is a funky, percussive orgy with flute. Features the bonus track "Contrabbando Di Fagioli" ("Smuggling of Beans"), previously available only in a very rare 7", originally released in 1973.