Naren's indie round-up/ Sep 2023, Ep 3

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Classicool by Purbayan Chatterjee/ Bhairavi

Label: Self-released 

Rating: *** 1/2

The brainchild of sitar exponent Purbayan Chatterjee, Classicool takes traditional compositions but gives them a contemporary flavour. Thus we have an ensemble comprising him and Megha Rawoot on sitar, Sangeet Haldipur on keyboards, Nastya Saraswati on violin, Ojas Adhiya on tabla and Shikhar Naad Qureshi on percussion.

'Bhairavi' is a video from their self-titled EP, released recently. The popular classical raag is played in a 10-minute rendition using the dadra rhythmic pattern. After a slow introduction, the piece builds up, increasing the energy with the introduction of see-tar, before returning to a thumri composition. It's a melodic piece played with virtuosity.

Ronkini Gupta/ Bohot Pehle Se

Label: Music Today

Rating: ***

The brilliant classical vocalist Ronkini Gupta has done her share of light numbers in the films Tumhari Sulu and Taali and the series Mukhbir, besides some ghazals.

Her latest song 'Bohot Pehle Se' is a ghazal penned by Firaaq. The opening lines are, "Bohot pehle se un kadmon ki aahat jaan lete hain, tujhe ae zindagi hum door se pehchaan lete hain".

The music is by Sanatan Deep who uses a pleasant keyboard line. It's a short ghazal which has a welcome simplicity.

Ali Naveed/ Ijazat

Label: T-Series

Rating: ***

Dubai-based youngster Ali Naveed makes his debut with 'Ijazat' on the T-Series label. An interesting thing is that the music is by Syed Imran Momina of popular Pakistani band Fuzon.

It's a pop-rock song with the lines, "Ijazat mujhe tujhe bulaane ki chahiye, mujhe sataane ke liye, rulaane ke liye, bahaane jo kiye, mujhse Ijazat mujhe, ijazat".

Though it's a routine song with a familiar riff, it strikes a chord with youngsters. The video, directed by Hina Sahar and featuring Amma Abbas, is also cute but hackneyed.

Nishant Singh feat. Utkarsh Sharma & Rupali Moghe/ Un Dinon

Label: Suno!

Rating: ****

The highlight of 'Un Dino', written and composed by Nishant Singh, lies in its video concept. Directed by Om Singh, it alternates  lyrical footage of the song with spoken bytes of people who narrate past experience.

The tune, sung by Utkarsh Sharma and Rupali Moghe, has a wonderful melody line. It talks of emotions and situations like love, separation, self-obsession and acceptance.

The song ends with, "Bas yoon hi chalte jaana hai, in dinon". The keyboard backdrop complements the mood.

Eashwar Subramanian/ Ambient Silence (EP)

Label: Ambistream Recotds

Rating: ***

Bengaluru-based Eashwar Subramanian has been doing some prolific work in the ambient and new age space. His latest EP Ambient Silence has five tracks, spread over 16 minutes.

The opening piece 'Paradiso' is just the kind that will make you chill. It builds up beautifully, with smooth progression, and smart use of soundscapes through keyboard effects.

The other four tracks - 'Sargam', 'Lotus Feet', 'Portal To The Heavens' and 'Adrift In The Clouds' - have some melodic moments. Like his previous work, this one's relaxing and refreshing.


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