narenmusic

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Lover Artiste: Taylor Swift Genre: Pop Label: Republic Records/ Universal Rating: ** 1/2 She's barely 30, and has already put out her seventh album, adding two No 1 songs to her chart records. Over the past decade, Taylor Swift has been a favourite of the younger generation, specially with the country-inflected synth-pop-laced album 1989 , released five years ago. Naturally, we greet her latest collection Lover  with huge expectation. However, on initial listening, one wonders why she chose to do 18 songs spread over 62 minutes. It's fine to be written about for creating the longest album in her career, but the downside is that half of it is just filler material lacking direction. Swift has a limited vocal range, and happily uses the formula employed in 1989 , staying away from the hip-hop styling and cynicism of her 2017 record reputation . If there's something fresh about Lover,  it comes in the form of just a few tracks. In some ...

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Babelfish Artiste: Shubhangi Joshi Collective Genre: Alternative/ indie-pop Label: Self-released, crowd-funded Rating: **** At a time when most artistes are focusing on singles, it’s heartening to listen to a full-length album. Shubhangi Joshi Collective’s Babelfish,  named after a character in the Douglas Adams opus The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy,  contains eight songs that vary in mood, tempo and style, and yet have a certain uniformity and flow. Besides the simple and accessible lyrics that move from hope and nostalgia to battling cynicism and finding one’s identity, what stands out is the sheer quality of arrangements. Whether it is Joshi’s guitar, Titus Pinto’s bass, Nishant Nair’s keyboards and melodica or Aamir Ismail’s drums, not one instrumental flourish is out of place. A lot of compositional thought has gone behind this. Joshi’s vocals are expressive and flexible, right from the opening track ‘Last Ticket Journey’ wher...

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Blinded By The Light OST Artistes: Bruce Springsteen, A.R. Rahman, others Genre: Film soundtrack Label: Sony Music/ Columbia Rating: *** Back in 1973, ‘Blinded By The Light’ was the first single Bruce Springsteen released. Part of his debut album Greetings From Ashbury Park, NJ, it had a lukewarm response, but was revived after Manfred Mann's Earth Band did a cover version in 1977. Cut to 2019, and Blinded By The Light  is the title of Gurinder Chadha’s new film, which talks of how the life of a London-based teenager with Pakistani origins changes after he listens to Springsteen’s music. The film’s soundtrack this has 12 Springsteen songs, which the famed singer readily gave after hearing the story. While it almost sounds like the artiste’s Greatest Hits compilation, it also has some fresh work by A.R. Rahman and one older hit each by a-ha (‘The Sun Always Shines on TV’) and Pet Shop Boys (‘It’s A Sin’). Rahman opens the album with ‘Ode ...

By Narendra Kusnur Concert: The Name's Bond Artistes: Auxilia Sequeira, Khooshmin Mirza, Michelle Naidu, Shriya Rao. Directed by Cyrus Dastur Genre: Hollywood, nostalgia Details: Royal.Opera House, August 11 Rating: **** As one entered Girgaum’s Royal Opera House on Sunday evening, the famous James Bond movie signature tune enveloped the air. A few minutes later, singer Auxilia Sequeira began her rendition of ‘The World Is Not Enough’, originally sung by the band Garbage. Directed by Cyrus Dastur, co-produced by Shreya Valecha and co-hosted by Shreyas Pardiwala, The Name's Bond was a unique theme concert based on music from the popular Hollywood franchise. It was nostalgic, no doubt, featuring songs right from ‘Underneath The Mango Tree’ from the 1962 release Dr No to Sam Smith's ‘Writing On The Wall’ from the 24th Bond film Spectre . Added to that were the doses of trivia and interactive quizzes monitored by the hosts. For instance, did you know that w...

By Narendra Kusnur Album: I Am Easy To Find Artiste: The National Genre: Alternative rock, indie-rock Label: 4AD Rating: *** 1/2 In case you haven't heard Matt Berninger, vocalist of American band The National, rest assured he has one of the best singing voices of the post-2000 era. Yes, some may feel his delivery style is similar to Leonard Cohen, but there's something unique and fascinating about him. Berninger now leads The National on its eighth solo album I Am Easy To Find.  He goes in for a twist this time, inviting a number of female vocalists to join him in duets. Yet, despite a few great songs, the 16-track venture falls short in some ways. To begin with, at 64 minutes, I Am Easy To Find  isn’t too easy to decipher, a few numbers being grossly out of place. In terms of consistency, the 2010 album High Violet  was far more accurate. Secondly, while doing so many duets, Beringer underplays his own role, almost playing second fiddle at times. There...

By Narendra Kusnur Film: Jabariya Jodi Music: Tanishq Bagchi, Sachet-Parampara, Vishal.Mishra Genre: Hindi film Label: Zee Music Rating: ** 1/2 If it wasn’t for two ballads, the Jabariya Jodi  soundtrack would be as avoidable as a drive through flooded streets. Sadly, filmmakers want to promote the most terrible songs under the label of party music, and many listeners miss out on the goodies. So here we begin with a remix of the Yo Yo Honey Singh-Ashok Mastie song ‘Glassy’, now renamed ‘Khadkey Glassy’. No prizes for guessing it's been remixed by Tanishq Bagchi, who adds a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and traffic jam sounds to make it sound like a barroom brawl with cutlery thrown all over. To add to your woes, this song has another remix, where singer Jyotica Tangdi uses lines that sound like an alcohol ad. And hello, this Sidharth Malhotra-Parineeta Chopra film is set in Bihar. Why is this non-classy Glassy sung in Punjabi? Then you have ‘Zilla Hiley’ where the dhol an...

By Narendra Kusnur Album: Mahler Ninth Symphony Artiste: Conductor Herbert Blomstedt and the Bramberg Symphony Orchestra Genre: Western classical Label: BR Classical Rating: **** Since he did a majority of his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Austro-Bohemian composer Gustav Mahler is often considered a bridge between the late Romantic and early Modern eras of western classical music. He spent a lot of time conducting too, and as a composer, came up with concepts that were unique and innovative. Written in 1908 and 1909, Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is a favourite for many orchestras and conductors. While its premiere featured Bruno Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, popular recordings have been led by Herbert Von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. It was the composer’s last symphony, and he didn't get to see it being performed live as he passed away in 1911 while writing his 10th. Unlike most symphonies which followed the fast-slow-fast-superfast f...

By Narendra Kusnur Concert: Perfect Amalgamation Artistes: Siddharth Kasyap Genre: Fusion, new age Details: St Andrews auditorium, Bandra, August 2 Rating: ***** The St Andrews Auditorium, Bandra, was packed on Friday night, and the applause kept ringing at regular intervals. The Perfect Amalgamation concert, conceived by Siddharth Kasyap, fulfilled its promise of being a fusion show with difference. There was a wide assortment of musical instruments, from the sitar, flute, violin and sarangi to keyboards, oud, guitar and drums, as 13 musicians dazzled on stage. The 90-minute journey was orchestrated and arranged by keyboardist Atul Raninga. Composed by Kasyap, the eight pieces were structured, and unlike most fusion concerts today, there was no jamming or unwanted gimmickry. It wasn’t the music alone that left a mark. The whole show was marvellously produced, with appropriate lighting and amazing animation visuals. Barring a bit of sound feedback on the opening piece ...