narenmusic

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Ghaliban - Andaaz-e-Bayan Artistes: Sudeep Banerji, Amrita Chatterjee, Vishal Bhardwaj Genre: Ghazals Label: Hungama Rating: *** 1/2 Most ghazal singers have the desire to record the works of Mirza Ghalib. After all, he has been the most respected Urdu poet India has produced. On the album Ghaliban- Andaaz-e-Bayan  singers Sudeep Banerji and Amrita Chatterjee choose six classics. Both have fine vocal timbres and their coordination comes across rather well. However, one doesn't know whether it was a great idea for Vishal Bhardwaj to recite couplets before or in the middle of songs. He’s a remarkable filmmaker and composer, but here, his style sounds repetitive, adding little value and in some cases, interrupting the flow. On the compositions, Banerji focuses more on guitar, sarangi and percussion. The orchestration is pleasant and doesn’t overpower the words. Beginning with the popular ‘Dil-e-Nadaan Tujhe Hua Kya Hai’, the singers proceed

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Carte Blanche Artiste: DJ Snake Genre: EDM, trap music Label: Geffen Rating: **** Indian electronic dance music (EDM) fans are pretty familiar with French musician William Grigahcine, who goes by the name DJ Snake. ‘Lean On’, his collaboration with American producers Major Lazer, was a huge hit three years ago. Earlier this year, his appearance in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi created waves. Naturally, his second album Carte Blanche  has been much awaited. Here, Snake teams up with many big names of the club and hip-hop world, and comes up with a sound inspired by various global regions, yet maintaining a strong mix of 1990s European house and contemporary trap music. With 17 tracks lasting an hour, the album works marvellously as a dance compilation, which one can play start to finish at a party. Opening with the mood-setting ‘Butterfly Effect’, Carte Blanche  quickly gets into a blend of Afro-chants and dubstep on ‘Quiet Storm’,

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Megh & Malhaar Artiste: Pandit Jasraj, Rashid Khan, Ronu Majumdar Genre: Hindustani classical Label: Sagarika Rating: **** A few compositions are said to bring rains, or act like perfect company during this season. So what better than some monsoon raags? Megh & Malhaar, released last year, is just the ideal compilation for such weather. It's got three artistes – the legendary maestro Pandit Jasraj, popular vocalist Rashid Khan and ace flautist Ronu Majumdar. The five pieces chosen are short and melodious, making them accessible even to those new to Hindustani classical music. First in the order is Jasraj’s drut  (fast) composition ‘Baadar barsaave barsaat bahuteri aali’, sung in raag  Gaud Malhaar, which mixes elements of raags Malhaar and Gaud. A representative of the Mewati gharana , Jasraj has a highly melodious voice and immaculate control over his phrasing. Vijay Ghate accompanies him on the 12-beat ektaal , and Kala Ramn

By Narendra Kusnur  Album: No 6 Collaborations Project Artiste: Ed Sheeran Genre: Pop Label: Asylum/ Atlantic Rating: ** 1/2 Yes, British heartthrob Ed Sheeran has had huge hits like ‘The A Team’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘Shape Of You’. Yes, his latest album No 6 Collaborations Project  went straight up to top the Billboard charts. Yes, this new venture has a roll call that includes stars Justin Bieber, Eminem, 50 Cent, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Travis Scott and Chris Stapleton. Still, there's something badly missing from this 15-song collection. For a large part, it sounds like a bundle of confusion, a half-planned affair. Sheeran has been accompanied by all the big names, but there's no proper flow. A few songs do stand out, but many of them are skip-worthy. The singer has always portrayed himself as a multi-genre artiste. Here, he focuses more on hip-hop. No harm in that, except that most of those songs sound like cousins of each other. He squeezes in one o

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Est'd 1969 Artiste: Steeleye Span Genre: British folk-rock Label: Park Records Rating: **** To celebrate its golden jubilee year, British folk-rock band Steeleye Span has appropriately titled its latest album Est'd 1969.  Once again, it comes up with its trademark sound blending folk sounds with guitars and keyboards, using lyrics that narrate traditional stories, talk of life in the hinterlands or describe challenges of modern life. Best known for albums like Please To See The King, Now We Are Six and All Around My Hat,  the band has had regular line-up changes over the years, with early member Maddy Prior exiting and returning. She's very much on this album, sounding as magical as ever and getting assistance from some uncredited singers. A surprise is lent by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, who plays his trademark flute on ‘Old Matron’. In another guest appearance, Sophie Yates dazzles on the harpsichord on ‘The Boy And The Man

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Mehfil - Live Thumris From All Over The World Artiste: Kaushiki Chakraborty Genre: Thumri Label: Living Media Rating: **** The daughter of renowned vocalist Pandit Ajay Chakraborty, Kaushiki Chakraborty is a torch-bearer of the Patiala gharana. Her soothing voice, characteristic style and command over technique have earned plenty of accolades, making her one of the leading vocalists of her generation. Kaushiki has also faced criticism from a section of purists, who feel she uses excessive ornamentation and strays from the mood of the raags  she presents. Often, they dismiss her “vocal acrobatics” at concerts as nothing but show-womanship. Now, this is something that many exponents of the Patiala gharana h ave been accused of general. However, one can't but help admire the finesse of their taans and clarity of their sargams . One of the gharana ’s specialities is the rendition of light classical Punjab ang  thumris, in many cases made fa

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Anima Artiste: Thom Yorke Genre: Electronica Label: XL Recordings Rating: **** Among all the post 1990s bands, British outfit Radiohead has perhaps been the most unpredictable musical chameleon. Starting off with alternative rock and grunge influences, it slowly dived headlong into electronica and avant garde music, mixing live takes with heavy use of samples, loops, distortion and ambient effects. Though all its members made a strong contribution, Radiohead is often identified with its vocalist Thom Yorke. Blending a constantly changing falsetto with computerised tweaks, he has sung songs of angst and despair, taking listeners on an elevated sonic trip. Each fresh effort by Yorke is greeted with anticipation, and his third solo album Anima  is no exception. Assisted by long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and named after a theory of the collective unconscious popularised by Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, it highlights Yorke’s obsession w

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Satrang Artiste: Dr Prakash Sontakke Group Genre: Popular Hindi music Label: Self-released Rating:  ***1/2 After exploring Hindustani crossover music on their 2016 album Progressive Raga: Evolving Into The Future,  the Dr Prakash Sontakke Group (DPSG) gets into more popular terrain on last year’s release Satrang . As the title suggests, the band explores seven colours or moods. If the previous album had plenty of instrumental improvisation, the new venture focuses on catchy, pop-infused songs with emphasis on simple vocals. One finds many shades of retro film music and 1990s Indipop, besides doses of fusion and soft rock. Group leader Sontakke, who sings and plays the slide guitar, is joined by bassist Kedar Nayak, keyboardist Shadrach Solomon and drummer/ percussionist Karthik Mani. Each contributes to give the album a balanced sound, with Sontakke writing lyrics of six songs. The Sufi number ‘Ali Maula’ has a strong hook and an easy list

By Narendra Kusnur Concert : Saxophone Colossus Artiste : Ben Van Den Dungen Genre : Jazz Details : Experimental Theatre, July 13 Rating: **** In Mumbai, it’s always a pleasure to watch a jazz band led by a saxophonist. In the past, luminaries like Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Sadao Watanabe and Illinois Jacquet have adorned the Jazz Yatra. In 2013, Houston Person played a fantastic set at the Jus’ Jazz festival. Of late, however, there has been a tendency to have more groups fronted by guitarists and keyboardists. As such, one eagerly awaited the appearance of Dutch tenor saxophonist Ben Van Den Dungen at the Experimental Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, on Saturday. Dungen has played in the city before, and even spent some time learning Indian classical music – without much success, as he announced. But this time his tour is longer, also covering New Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa. The compact venue was packed, comprising a large number belonging to the old

By Narendra Kusnur  Album:  Super 30 Artiste: Music by Ajay-Atul, lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya Genre: Hindi film Label:  Zee Music Rating:  *** Over the past decade, brothers Ajay and Atul Gogavale have been very consistent in Marathi films. Following the success of Sairat in 2016, they have been getting a fair share of Hindi movies, including its remake Dhadak  and Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero. Now, Ajay-Atul compile for the Hrithik Roshan starrer Super 30,  which is based on the life of educationist and mathematician Anand Kumar. The musical duo has always been strong in using regional flavours, and this time they use dialects from Bihar effectively, besides a retro flavour. Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya provides lines that match the situations and moods. The opener ‘Jugrafiya’ (a play on the word ‘geography’) is a 1990s-styled duet featuring Udit Narayan and Shreya Ghoshal, both in good form. Lines like “Tujhse jo milke jo mazaa hai, kahaan woh ganit ke khayalon mein ha

By Narendra Kusnur  Album:  Orion Artiste: X Ambassadors Genre: Alternative rock Label: Interscope Rating:  *** After releasing its well-received debut album VHS in 2015, New York band X Ambassadors seemed lost in direction. It cancelled its proposed follow-up Joyful  last year, as frontman Sam Harris felt the songs weren’t up to the mark. Though guitarist Noah Feldshuh quit in the interim, the group finally released its second album Orion last month. Inspired by 1990s alternative rock, X Ambassadors has focused on short, tight numbers, with only one of the 10 exceeding four minutes. To be fair, there isn’t a bad song here. The lyrics are simple and clean, the angst is easy to identify with and vocalist Harris has a pleasant timbre and good tonal variation. Many tunes are radio-friendly too. However, a lot of stuff is the kind you’d listen to a few times before skipping to something else. The opener ‘Hey Child’ has catchy whistles and tight rhythm guitar, an inst

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Hotel Diablo Artiste: Machine Gun Kelly Genre:  Hip-hop Label:  Bad Boy/ Interscope Rating: *** The hip-hop world has been keenly awaiting the latest release of Corson Baker, better known as Machine Gun Kelly because of his superfast tapping. Over the past few years, the American has made more news because of his spat with star Eminem, specially on the song ‘Rap Devil’. Kelly’s fourth album Hotel Diablo  was released on July 5, and the talk has been on how he again got back at Eminem on the song ‘Floor 13’. Full of venom and vengeance, he sings, “I spent too many minutes watching little videos of shitty rappers dissing me, I spent many winters living after someone tried to hit a kill shot, missing me.” In typical hip-hop fashion, Hotel Diablo is laced with expletives, with each of the 14 songs being marked explicit. Most of the songs are angry and resentful, subjects being professional animosity or love affairs gone wrong. Kelly sings mo

By NARENDRA KUSNUR Album: Africa Speaks Artiste: Santana Genre: Rock/ world music Label: Concord Records Rating : **** Fifty years after releasing his self-titled debut album, Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana continues to experiment with concepts. In the past two decades, he’s gone into multi-artiste collaborations, a reunion with older members, cover versions and a mostly-instrumental album. Some attempts have succeeded, some have not. On his latest album Africa Speaks , produced by the versatile Rick Rubin, Santana pays tribute to “Africa, the cradle of civilisation.” The 11-track album may sound a bit weird and uncharacteristic on initial hearing, but the deeper you get into it, the more you admire the heady blend of rock, Latin music, jazz, flamenco and African sounds. The band is joined by two fantastic singers – Spanish diva Concha Buika and Britisher Laura Mvula. The net result is something that would automatically fit into the world m

By NARENDRA KUSNUR Film: Malaal Music: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Shreyas Puranik, Shail Hada Genre: Hindi film music Label: T-Series Rating: *** ½ One always looks forward to music coming out of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali camp. One also tends to compare each new release with the music of his Khamoshi – The Musical, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas , and often ends up with a negative remark or two. The fact, however, is that Bhansali is one filmmaker who has given due weightage to songs, their choreography and picturisation. In Malaal, a romantic drama co-produced by him and directed by Mangesh Hadawale, he has composed five of the seven numbers himself. What’s noteworthy is his emphasis on soothing ballads, with Prashant Ingole writing six songs. A few of them have been influenced by Maharashtrian folk music, and one finds a lot of newer singers here. The soundtrack, as is the fad, begins with a peppy number ‘Aila Re’, sung by Vishal Dadlani and S