Naren's indie round-up/ July 2024, Ep 2

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Rosa Linn feat. Denny/ Universe (Mil Jaana Tu)

Label: Nvak Collective 

Rating; ****

Known for her hit 'Snap', Armenian singer Rosa Linn is now doing versions of her song 'Universe' in with additional lines in different languages. After Italian and French, she has opted for Hindi. Next in the queue are Arabic and Spanish.

On 'Universe (Mil Jaana Tu)', she collaborates with Indian singer and composer Denny. The ballad talks about how a relationship can work in another universe, when it's not plausible in this world.

The blending of English and Hindi is smooth. Rosa is fabulous on the high notes and Denny balances things with his melodic style. While the song is produced by popular artiste Cirkut, the Hindi lines are written by Aashiq Khan. It all blends well to create a power pop goodie.

Manthan/ Rencontre

Label: 7407847 Records DK

Rating: ***

Delhi-based singer-songwriter Manthan used to earlier release cover versions òn YouTube under the name Zenith Sun. 'Rencontre' is his first original, for which he uses his actual name.

The title is a French word meaning meeting. The song talks of the feelings of a hopeless romantic, who falls for someone who isn't right for him.

Manthan has a pleasant voice, and the sound has a recall of the 1990s boy bands but with a solo rendition. The subtle orchestration adds to the ambience.

Samahita Narang/ Azaad Sapne

Label: Self-released 

Rating; *****

There's something fresh and charming about Delhi-based singer-songwriter Samahita Narang's singing and compositional style. Her song 'Azaad Sapne' is all about self-belief, dreams and emotional independence.

"Sapnon ke toh par hote hain, sapne toh azaad hote hain", she sings, Lines like, "Dheere dheere haule haule chalne lagi main bina dare apni raahein banaate hue, chhote chhote pal bhi jeena seekhna hai is safar mein khud pe yakeen karna hai mujhe" talk of firm resolve.

The song has been produced by Aditya Shukla, who uses santoor sounds and rhythms effectively. Ultimately, it's a song that is inspiring.

iushh feat. Slyde/ Daud

Labsl: Self-released

Rating: ***

Bengaluru-based producer iushh teams up with rapper Slyde on 'Daud'. It's about a boy's feelings after the girl he loves leaves him.

The lines are, "Dil mera ĺeke chaldi, shaayad tujhe thi jaldi, par sirf deke aansoon, deke aansoon, deke chali gayi", followed by "Reh khush, jahaan bhi hai tu, tujhko na mudhke dekĥoon". The production is neat.

The video, directed by Rohit Chaudhury, stars Pallavi Prakash who's either smoking or lying down. And in keeping with the title, Slyde begins running at the end of the film. The shots go with the narrative, of course. 

Tanish Somani/ Aadat

Label: Self-released 

Rating: *** 1/2

Nashik composer Tanish Somani teams up with singer Aakarsh Gupta on 'Aadat'. It's a simple song with pleasant arrangements and identifiable lyrics.

The song begins, "Savera hai tu, savera mera, teri yaadon mein phirta hoon main sarfera, meri taqdeer mein likha tera naam, ab Jaana tujhe, yehi hai muqaam". He then tell her, "Meri aadat tujhe ho jaayegi, tu bhi yaadon mein mere kho jaayegi".

This is Tanish's third release, and he seems to be moving in the right direction.



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