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Naren's indie round-up/ Mar 2024, Ep 4

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Tayc & Shreya Ghoshal/ Yimmy Yimmy Label: Virgin Music/ Play DMF Rating: *** 1/2 French rhythm n' blues musician Tayc teams up with Shreya Ghoshal on the new dance-pop number 'Yimmy Yimmy'. Who cares what that means, as the bonus comes in the form of a Bollywood-styled video featuring Jacqueline Fernandez. "Ab bhi chahoon, ishq nibhaoon, dil na maanein kaise bhulaoon", go Shreya's lines written by Rana Sotal. Tayc has written the French and English lyrics himself, and the music by Rajat Nagpal, Tayc and Nyadjiko has a club vibe. The video by Piyush and Shazia has silver screen-style choreography. Jacqueline's dance moves match Shreya's voice, and the 'Yimmy Yimmy' line sticks in one's mind. Amrita Chatterjee/ Tez Toofan Mein Label: Self-released  Rating: *** 1/2 On her latest single 'Tez Tufaan Mein', ghazal singer Amrita Chatterjee begins, "Tez toofan mein udti hui patte jaisa; zindagi bhi tera muqaddar

Naren's indie round-up/ Mar 2024, Ep 3

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Nitin Sawhney feat. Ankita Joshi/ Insaan (Home) Label: Positiv LLP/ Warner UK Rating: ***** UK-based musician and producer Nitin Sawhney released his latest album Identity in October 2023, using various voices from Joss Stone and Natacha Atlas to footballer Gary Linekar. The themes revolve around origin, identity and self-esteem. There are also two outstanding tracks by singer Ankita Joshi, which have somehow been unnoticed so far. A discicple of Pandit Jasraj, Ankita's mellifluous and trained voice fits in perfectly with Nitin's electronic base. 'Insaan (Home)' is a loopworthy masterpiece, which begins, "Ehsaan kiya insaan banaake, anupam aur mahaan banaake, pooran hoon anmol hoon main, bemisaal meri hasti hai'. The taans and sargams are rendered brilliantly. On the other track 'Nocturnal', Ankita uses wordless syllables with elan. While both these tunes deserve some push here in India, there's another beauty by Bangladeshi si

Gig review/ Demetria Taylor @ NCPA Soulful Blues

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Artiste : Demetria Taylor Event : NCPA Soulful Blues  Genre : Blues  Details : Tata Theatre, March 16 Rating : **** 1/2 Those who attended British star Ed Sheeran's show at the Mahalakshmi Race Course on Saturday were raving about it, even though the terrible traffic made many attendees miss half of it. A much smaller chunk - probably just 1.2 per cent of Ed's estimated 50,000 turnout - would have no regrets. What they saw at the Tata Theatre at the same time was something unbelievable, as Chicago blues singer Demetria Taylor provided the kind of entertainment that kept people on their toes. As far as Mumbai auditorium concerts go, very few shows have perhaps matched up in terms of sheer energy and crowd interactivity. At the same venue, one can only think of gigs by African singer Angelique Kidjo and Brit sensation Jacob Collier. But they had their subtle and slower moments, whereas this one was an out-and-out party. Taylor was playing on the opening day of

Naren's indie round-up/ Mar 2024, Ep 2

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Aanchal Bordoloi/ Ruins (from the EP Letters To Bombay) Label: Self-released  Rating: **** With songs like 'Whiskey Blues' and 'Anyway/ Eitherway', singer-songwriter Aanchal Bordoloi showed a maturity beyond her early-20s age. The musician, who hails from Assam and started her career in Bengaluru, has now released a three-song EP Letters To Bombay inspired by a series of e-mails she wrote to a pen pal. All the songs - 'Energy', 'Ruse' and 'Ruins' - are characterised by expressive vocals, strong lyrics and acoustic guitar layers. To shortlist one song for a longer description, we'd go for 'Ruins', with its hard-hitting words. "I'm still stuck in the ruins of the castles you left behind, all those promises and the playlists consume my mind, you piece of dirt, you'll be getting what you deserve". The song tells a story of betrayal and Aanchal's vocals have the sting, even on the wordless stret

Naren's indie round-up/ Mar 2024, Ep 1

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Prithvi Gandharv & Paras Nath/ Chamba Label: Sufiscore  Rating: **** The Himachali folk tune 'Chamba' has been sung by various singers from Mohit Chauhan and Harshdeep Kaur to Armaan Malik and Jonita Gandhi. What sets this new version apart is the flute-dominated arrangements by Paras Nath. Prithvi Gandharv once again sings beautifully, as he begins, "Maaye ni meriye, Shimla di raahein, Chamba kitni door". Santosh Mulekar's grand piano and Swaranjay Dhumal's percussions add to the charm. And yes, there's the scenic video directed by Pratham Chourasiya and featuring Prithvi and Reena Aggarwal. It's a breath of fresh mountain air. Sanjoy Das/ Kesariya Label: Self-released  Rating: **** Another tune that's been recorded often is the Rajasthani folk melody 'Kesariya'. Popular versions are by Mehdi Hassan, Mame Khan and by Karsan Sagathiya in Nagesh Kukunoor's film  Dor . Now, we have an acoustic guitar version by San

Gig review/ Indialucia and The Neil Mukherjee Trio

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  It's always a pleasure to hear music built around the acoustic guitar. There were two such shows over the past few days, featuring Polish flamenco guitarist Miguel Czachowski and Kolkata-bred, Mumbai-settled Neil Mukherjee, respectively. Here are some highlights: Indialucia feat. Miguel Czachowski Genre : Indo-flamenco fusion  Details : NMACC Studio, February 22 Rating : **** The group Indialucia was formed almost 25 years ago by Czachowski, with the view to blending the flamenco music of Andalucia, Spain, with Indian melodies and rhythms. Hence the name. This mix has otherwise been attempted by sitar player Anoushka Shankar in  Traveller , her 2011 collaboration with Spanish producer and guitarist Javier Limon. In their self-titled 2015 album and the 2017 follow-up Acatao , Indialucia featured a wide variety of artistes. For the show last Thursday, Czachowski was accompanied by flautist Ravichandra Kulur, ghatam exponent Giridhar Udupa and percussionist Pramath

Naren's indie round-up/ Feb 2024, Ep 3

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BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Varijashree Venugopal feat. Bela Fleck/ Ranjani Label: GroundUP Music Rating: **** Bengaluru singer Varijashree Venugopal's new song 'Ranjani' is based on the raag of the same name. While her composition uses brisk and wonderfully-controlled sargam phrases, it goes into global territory though appearances by banjo player Bela Fleck, of recent Grammy fame, and producer Michael League of the American jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy, playing the Moog Matriarch and Minimoog bass. The song, from Varijashree's forthcoming album Vari , also features B.C. Manjunath on mridangam and konnakol and Pramath Kiran on assorted percussion, besides a violin trio, thavil, chende and nadaswaram. Quite a diverse mix, represented by an animated video by Sant Mote and Akshaya Bhimaya. Of course, it's Varijashree's immaculate phrasing that enhances the piece. M.D. Pallavi feat. Andi Otto/ Velvet Flicker (from Buddha-Bar XXVI) Label: George V Records  Rating; *** An