narenmusic

By Narendra Kusnur Album: The New Abnormal Artiste: The Strokes Genre: Alternative rock Label: RCA Records Rating: **** Their 2001 debut album Is This It was a huge success and put the Strokes at the forefront of the garage rock revival. Though their later records didn’t match in popularity, the American band was known for its experimentation and offbeat approach. After a seven-year hiatus, the Strokes are out with The New Abnormal. It sounds confusing and directionless on initial hearing, but after a while, the songs grow on you. Interestingly, this is one of those albums which sounds better as it progresses, with the last four numbers being absolute beauties. With songwriting seemingly inspired by Velvet Underground and the Ramones, the group is heavily dependent on the vocal strength of Julian Casablancas, and guitaring skills of Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi. While the tight bass and drums provide the spine, Rick Rubin’s production takes the songs to another ...

By Narendra Kusnur  Album: Future Nostalgia Artiste: Dua Lipa Genre: Pop Label: Warner Records Rating: *** 1/2 Three years after releasing her successful self-titled debut, British singer Dua Lipa has come out with the interestingly-titled Future Nostalgia.  The 11-track album has a lot in its favour – short and crisp songs totalling 38 minutes and an uptempo, happy retro-pop feel. As Lipa herself admits, she's been influenced by Madonna, Blondie and Gwen Stefani. Gear up for doses of 1980s punk-pop and disco. And while you find a hint of Shakira’s ‘Whenever’ on ‘Levitating’, she's also used portions of Olivia Newton John on ‘Physical’. There's also a sense of monotony and repetition on the latter songs, as she sticks to a specific style. The inspirations notwithstanding, this comes across as a clean record, definitely boosting Lipa’s position in the current female pop category. The songs have strong hooks, and are perfect as work-out accompaniment. With sy...

By Narendra Kusnur Event: NCPA@home Artistes: Symphony Orchestra of India, Manganiyar Troupe Details: Streaming of earlier concerts Genres: Western classical/ Rajasthani folk Rating: **** Following the lockdown and lack of opportunities to perform live, many musicians are streaming directly from home. And with some venues being shut down, they are doing their best for their patrons and audiences. The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) has thus started the NCPA@home series where viewers can watch recordings of shows held earlier. The daily transmission, which began on Friday April 3, starts at 6 pm, and right now, a week's programme has been announced, covering the fields of music and dance. If one missed the premiere, the shows will be available on the NCPA’s YouTube page for a week after the first streaming. This blogger checked out the first two days of this ‘event’. On Friday, the rendition of Mozart’s 35th (Haffner) Symphony at the Jamshed Bhabha T...

By Narendra Kusnur Album: After Hours Artiste: The Weeknd Genre: Rhythm n' Blues Label: XO/ Republic Records Rating; **** Canadian singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye, who goes by the name The Weeknd, has been one of the big voices in rhythm n’ blues over the past decade. Though he’s been active since 2011, his career was propelled by the Grammy-winning 2016 album Starboy,  and a brief affair with singer Selena Gomez added to his glam quotient. The Weeknd’s latest album After Hours  has received a great initial response. Though his falsetto vocal style is pretty much the same, he sings songs of love, hope, angst and self-realisation effectively, and there’s a clear 1980s radio-pop influence in the compositional style, mixed with the explicit nature of modern hip-hop lyrics.  The deluxe edition has a few bonus tracks and alternate remixed versions. “Take off my disguise, I’m living somebody else’s life, suppressing what I was inside,” he sings on the opening t...