Author Archives: Shreya Bose
Im fond of dividing music into genres. The arbitrary act of placing art into equally arbitrary boxes amuses me, as do most pointless efforts to chain the unchainable. My friends call the music of Whale in the Pond dreamfolk. Its a fitting qualifier, given that most of their music is just right for unfocused stares into the distance with mists of longing in the eyes. Their songs fit right into those obscure little pieces you come across on YouTube if you happen to click your way into the meandering digital vales of post-rock from cold Bavaria or atmospheric doom ballads from Norway. The band is a trio : Sourjyo Sinha (primary songwriter, singer, musician), Shireen…
There is always much to be rejoiced about when an interesting new musical venture rears its head, we’re talking about the Pop/RnB fusion band with a healthy sprinkle of the jazz sensibility called Ek Bangalir Upakhyan. Created as the result of collaboration between musical veterans Mainak Bumpy Nag Chowdhury ( Kendraka ), Bodhisattwa Ghosh (The Bodhisattwa Trio) and Ratul Shankar Ghosh, the triumvirate coalesced their talents to give free reign to the songs in their head. The name which translates to Tales of a Bengali Bloke (according to Mainak Chowdhury) emerges from his pride in his identity as a Bengali, I have always been a proud Indian. Especially a Bengali. This project is where we represent …
Jazz Rock is a rather welcoming genre that promises a relentless potential for experimentation. Which is why when one has to recommend a band that goes well with the moniker of jazz rock, The Bodhisattwa Trio springs to mind. The band applies the term to the nature of their music for the lack of a better word, or so they say : We couldnt find a term that would explain the music that we are doing . jazz and rock are the two pillars or backgrounds that we are heavily banking on. Most of the treatment is very much influenced by Rock music, the content and improvisational spaces are very Jazz. While there are other forms…
India’s independent music scene is apparently flourishing. You have more festivals go to, scores of new bands or soloists crop up every month to offer original music and we have a plethora of websites and magazines to keep us up to date on what’s what and who’s who in the world of non-Bollywood tunes. All of the above might give most of us a twinge of radiant optimism, but turns out the “system” has a huge flaw. It is one you would expect, and it is one that debilitates it entirely. Musicians are not getting paid. Music doesn’t come cheap, despite what we’re told about the ethereality of art. Instruments have a price, as does studio…
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I tend to start on a new piece of music with a single question – “What does it feels like?” It is a simple approach that often assists with sentimentalizing the song, in ways that are both useful as well as generating bias. When I heard Bemanan, I was worried about the latter happening, because when I asked myself what their sound feels like, I found myself having a lot to say. I started with ‘Damal Chele’ off their eponymous album, and it was a good one to dip my toes in. Their music holds itself to impressive standards, and yet, builds itself around a nerve of casual serenity. There are numerous moments when it twirls on the…
For as long as we can remember, we’ve been hearing about how Kolkata is a location that bands, both national and international, avoid like the plague. Now, while that might not be completely true (NH7 did bring Mutemath down), it’s probably not completely false either. Nishit Arora had been around for a while before he decided that the city could use a shot of adrenaline, music-wise: “I have been part of the entertainment business for years doing a bunch of things like DJing, dance choreography, workshops, production, corporate events etc. It was my personal dissatisfaction with the kind of work that was happening in the city that made me start Smoke Inc. Smoke Inc allowed me…
People, when beset with the pointlessness of a 9 to 5 routine, often take to dreaming of an escape. Quitting their job, grabbing a backpack, heading out on roads less trod. Meeting people so incredibly inspiring and seeing sights so uplifting that everything they knew about life is changed. Forever and for the better. And thats where the fantasy ends as we grunt in response to the shrieking of an alarm clock or a demanding boss. Or so goes the story we are all fed to ensure a grudging loyalty to monotony. Debojyoti Nath, however, managed to forsake that loyalty and break out of the mindless interaction between phone and computer screens that was replacing actual human…
They have one of the most distinguishable sounds emerging from the indie music scene in the land, and to top it if, they decide to lace their music with a generous helping of Urdu and Kashmiri lyrics which turn the Parvaaz album experience into a sort of bass-plated, high-octane guitar encrusted qawwali-esque pantomime. Dont get us wrong, they are incredible, and certainly not stereotypical. Commonly categorised as Sufi rock, they are clearly influenced by psychedelic overtones, and a very serious attention to lock-and-loop groove, especially in songs like Itne Arsey Ke Baad which has a mounting guitar solo in the midst of a smooth, post-jazzy ambience. “Our music is a perpetual process of combining various…
When a band writes A bunch of 5 fun-loving boys hanging together and writing songs about everything that is hanging (from an old lady’s dudus to the hanging gardens), there is no way you can come up with a better introduction for them. What’s in the Name is a Mumbai-based 5-piece band that sings in both Hindi and English and mixes it up, in the truest sense of the term. As eclectic as you can get, they draw from practically every genre out there be it rock n roll, blues, jazz, funk-rock and heady pop tones and they have made promising combinations of diverse tastes. However, Clince Varghese (vocals), Deepak Verma (lead guitar), Ronaq Pinto (rhythm guitar), Govind Gawli (bass) and Royston Mathias (drums) have…
