Tag Archives: July

July by Subhodip Banerjee

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Subhodip Banerjee is a well-known guitarist in the Kolkata music circuit. I’ve had the chance to see him perform live a few times with his former band Safire and his current band Ifs ‘n Buts, and being a quiet and peaceful person, his persona generally tends to show during his on-stage performances. His music is a reflection of this calmness. The last few months have seen him busy on a nifty solo project named July,named after the month it was released this year.

As with most EPs coming from a guitarist, Subhodip’s July is also an instrumental piece of work, sailing through the boundaries of Blues, Country, Ambient and a bit of Alternative Rock. Fans of the Mumbai band Summit Attempt would in particular find this EP a treat to listen to since many of the tracks seem to be influenced by this band’s work.

There are tracks like ‘Blithe’, ‘If I Don’t’ and ‘Sundown’, with serene psychedelia, lots of spacey guitar solos, acoustic guitars and synth effects in the background. All of these songs make you want to sit back and relax. ‘Blur’ is another track that has this fat bluesy guitar tone but minus the highs. Elements of groove come into the album at precise locations such as with the track ‘Hilly’. It has some crafty, accented drumming alongside a very jumpy riff and some beautiful interludes, making this one of my favourite compositions on the EP.

Another admirable aspect of the EP is the presence of some delightful arpeggios in every song that are simple yet very elegant. This brings me to another one of my favourite tracks, ‘Moving On’.The intro to this song is so soothing and the solo that follows it has that slight play on the pentatonic, which makes it an amazing listen. Another interesting track on this EP is ‘Time Machine’.This composition has a good mix of groove, arpeggios and solos. Also, the guitar overlay work featured on it is extensive. I had to listen to it 4-5 times before I could work out the layers.

As much as I enjoyed this EP, I found the drums to be bugging, especially on ‘Time Machine’ where it sounded repetitive.On other tracks the drums were too loud or even a little sour at times. But taking into consideration that the recording was home brewed by the guitarist, the poor drum recording can be ignored. People who love acoustic/blues/ambient rock are in for a lovely surprise when they take this EP for a spin and its soundscapes are best experienced on a cold drizzly morning with a peg of whiskey in one hand and a good book in the other. Give it a listen here on Soundcloud. And if you enjoy it then I also recommend you check out Subhodip’s other projects Ifs n Buts, Neel and The Lightbulbs and Anupam Roy Band.

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Joy Chakraborty

Debdutto 'Joy' Chakraborty is the skinniest music fanatic, plays some guitar, jumps around trees, and likes to stay in the shadows. He is also studying B.Tech as a side project.

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Mood I 2010 feat. Katatonia at IIT Bombay

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As in each year, IIT-B managed to get a premier niche band, Katatonia, to perform for Mood-I this year as well. And, as in each year, IIT-B managed to let the general crowd in after the first band, Abraxas, had finished their set yet again. Abraxas was the eventual winner of the Livewire competition which also had Goddess Gagged, Purple Asparagus and Guillotine in contention. All these bands were allowed to play a very short set, which didn’t allow us to judge their performance too well.

The old stalwarts of Indian Rock, Indus Creed, were up next with a new bassist, Rushad Mistry (of Agnee) and a new drummer, the excellent and prolific Jai Row Kavi (ex-Agnee, ex-Pin Drop Violence, ex-Helga’s Fun Castle, Tough on Tobacco, ex-Bhayanak Maut). They played an hour-long set containing a mixture of old favorite tracks like ‘Rock & Roll Renegade’, ‘Pretty Child’ and ‘Top of the Rock’, in addition to some new tracks. In the entire set, it was very evident that the old guard (Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar and Zubin Balaporia) had lost none of its edge and did an excellent job of connecting with the crowd. Zubin’s and Mahesh’s intermingling solos with their respective instruments were particularly delightful. It was really heartening to see a nearly 3-decades old band truly enjoying themselves and rocking it out on stage like teenagers.

With the exit of Indus Creed to a thundering applause, a palpable pall of chill & doom descended and an almost tangible cord of tension was felt running through the expectant crowd. Katatonia took their time to arrive on stage, but when they did, they did with an explosion of ‘Day & Then The Shade’, which was quickly followed by ‘Liberation and My Twin’. They didn’t waste time belting out a mindblowing 17 track assault which spanned a rapturous 1.5 hrs.

The set seemed like Katatonia’s Best Of compilation with tracks from The Great Cold Distance, Viva Emptiness and Night Is The New Day. They played Viva Emptiness almost in its entirety, and it’s my most favorite Katatonia album! The tracks ‘July’ and ‘Teargas’ got the most crowd response, and it was quite interesting to see females in the crowd moshing about. The sound of the entire show was impeccable, the crushing downtuned guitars rooting all of us in our places, and Oh!, the mournful, soulful vocals of Jonas Renske! The vocals of Renske need a special mention. They were like aurora borealis floating and shimmering over a tumultuous ocean of thundering riffs.

Katatonia ended their set with ‘July’, ‘Forsaker’ and ‘Leaders’ and caught a glimpse of my friend and saw him actually weeping. That was effect Katatonia had on the crowd. A thoroughly professional and mesmerizing performance by Katatonia, made even more praise-worthy by the fact that they played 6 gigs in 9 days. Their No Sleep Till Tour 2010 actually lived up to its name.

Those who missed the gig, I can only feel sad for you, because you missed something which I don’t think you will experience again. Even if Katatonia comes back to India, I don’t think they will play a 1.5 hrs set.

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Karthik Yermunja

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