The Indica Project/ Time Travel

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

The Indica Project/ Time Travel

Genre: Fusion 

Label: Self-released 

Rating: ****

In 1998, the Indica Project hit the headlines with the album Horn Ok Please, whose title was inspired by a sign commonly found at the back of trucks and other four-wheelers in India. Comprising guitarist-composer D Wood and bassist Storms, the group seamlessly blended Indian sounds with western jazz and global melodies.

They now return with Time Travel, following pretty much the same mix, but coming up with some interesting and diverse sounds over eight tunes. As a genre, one could describe it as world music, experimental fusion or even crossover. Either way, the music is eclectic and charming, with surprises constantly being sprung.

Thus, you have phone recorded messages, temple bells and handclaps by eunuchs, blending effortlessly with guitar, Roland VG8 guitar processor, bass, horns, violin and flute, with Indian and kit percussion thrown in equal measure. Foreigh guests like trumpeter Ron Miles, vocalist Sabine Kabongo and saxophonist Carl Clements add to the variety.

Each of the pieces travels a different sonic path, and jazz, Latin and African flavours eature regularly. 'We Have No Branch' is inspired by small businesses in Mumbai, with Sriram Iyer's violin and Yoswani Terry's alto saxophone giving it a unique flavour. 'Spiritual' is dedicated to ancient Indian wisdom, with Ashwin Srinivasan shining on flute.

The next two numbers are rooted in traditional Indian music, with 'Temple Town' using sounds of Kerala, played by temple drummers, and 'Children Of Bharati' featuring folk tunes sung by students from a school in Andhra Pradesh, with Kabongo guesting. 'From Mumbai To Matanza' blends Indian and Cuban sounds.

The title track is a unique experiment in percussion, mixing Carnatic mridangam and ghatam with Western kit and spoken rhythm syllables. 'Pillow Talk' changes the mood with its mellow and romantic feel. Finally, 'Six Hands Clapping features Shobha And Party, a group of eunuchs singing words of blessing.

A well-done sound mix and seamless flow of instruments add to the album's strength. As co-composers and producers, D Wood and Storms show a welcome willingness to break the barriers. In that sense, Time Travel is good creativity travel.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gig review/ Deep Purple in Bengaluru

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Deep Purple at Bandland  Genre : Rock Details : Bandland rock festival, Embassy International Riding School, Bengaluru, December 17 Organisers : BookMyShow Live  Rating : **** 1/2 We all came out to Bandland, on a Bengaluru riding ground, to shoot videos on a mobile, yeah, capture the classic rock sound. Ian Gillan and the Purples, were at the best place around, space-truckin' on a black night, we danced on dusty ground.. singing, Smoke On The Water, drones in the sky, Smoke On The Water... taan taan taan, taan taan tadaan, taan taan tadaan, taan taan... Three days after British rockers Deep Purple enchanted the crowd at the Bandland rock festival in Bengaluru, the gooseflesh lingers like the whiff of cologne. For many, they have been college heroes, cocktail companions, the kings of melodic power, the epitome of hard rock. Older-generation fans or youngsters, they knew many of these songs by heart. Every word, every instrumental passage, every back-up vocal lin
Read more

Gig review/ Sting @ Lollapalooza

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR   Sting @   Lollapalooza   Genre : Rock/ pop-rock Details : Mahalakshmi Race Course, Mumbai, January 28 Rating : **** You'll forget the sun in its jealous sky, as we walk on fields of gold... The sun had set a long ago, and the walk had been tiring and endless. But everything changed around 8.20 pm when Gordon Sumner aka Sting marched on to the Budweiser stage with a message in a bottle. For the next 85 minutes, every little thing the Englishman in Mumbai did was magic. The green carpet in front of the stage had been converted into fields of gold. The hardcore Sting fans should get those puns, and there were plenty of them who watched his concluding act at the two-day Lollapalooza music festival at the Mahalakshmi Race Course, Mumbai, on Sunday. Some had attended his shows abroad, some were seeing him for the first time, and others had been present at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan in 1980, when he played with his band The Police, or at the Amnesty International festiv
Read more

Gig review/ L. Shankar

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Artiste : L Shankar & Group Concert : Aditya Birla Group Masters of Music  Genre : Fusion/ Carnatic  Details : June 16, Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, Mumbai  Rating : ***** The sudden excitement was palpable when violinist L. Shankar announced that he and his group would play many Shakti tunes at Sunday's concert in Mumbai. He had already opened the evening with a dazzling rendition of Carnatic composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar's 'Vathapi Ganapathim', and if one thought he would focus on classical fare, that was not to be. Five of the remaining six pieces belonged to the repertoire of the original Shakti line-up, comprising him, guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla genius Zakir Hussain and ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram. Together, they had pioneered the Indo-jazz fusion sound in the 1970s, before going different paths over a decade later. Playing those old Shakti classics had a major issue though, at least for fans. They had originally been written for two mel
Read more