Omkara

Vishal Bharadwaj is probably the only director I know who has written and directed a movie and composed it's music too. He has always been known as a serious story teller and music composer. He caught mya ttention first with Chappa chappa in Maachis like he did of most other music lovers. However he hit it home for me with Satya and "Baadalon se" soulfully sung by Bhupender. I guess Vishaal is one of those musician who knows how to compose music worthy of and superbly suited to the likes of SureshWaadkar and Bhupender. Anyways lets go back to Omkara.

Omkara has music that blends the old and the new flawlessly. While most music directors' idea of old with new is a trashy sample from somewhere mixed with some tabla/sitar, Vishaal steps into the soul of the poetry and of the movie to create very gripping music. I'm listening to Raahat Fateh Ali Khan's "naina" which has melodious electronic and grungy background score. I notice that a lot of the emphasis is on the subtle sounds in the background and they are catching my ear the most. Vishaal sings well with Shreya Goshal on one of the tracks but you can hear a lot of his breathing that great singers effertlessly mask out. I'm sure he will get better at this. Rekha Bharadwaj (his wife?) sings soulfully in "Namak" and "Laakad" the latter of which resembles some of what we heard in Maachis. Still it has the signature depth of Gulzar's lyrics and Vishaal's music.

I can bet that "Beedi" is going to be a massive track this year. It's got the grimy soul of the country side accentuated by Sukhwindara Singh's raspy, thickly accented voice so apt for such songs. IT's another chayya chayya in the making. Sunidhi Chauhan lends her voice well on this track.

Suresh Waadkar's Jag Ja has a very melodious score and once again its the instrumentation in the background that makes it haunting.

Great score Vishaal. I can't wait to see the end product where the sounds and the sights will come together.

Shantanu Moitra sounds like a veteran musician

Shantanu Moitra has only 6 or 7 movies on his resume but don't let that baffle. He works with great poets such as the great Gulzar and has composed music for movies that have turned a new leaf in the history of bollywood such as Parineeta and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. And in each of his songs is a newness that isnt often seen in bollywood. I can go as far as saying that he makes AR Rehman sound repetitive. His songs wont get on the popular charts as often as the cheapness that the likes of Himesh Reshammiya spit out.

Let me list some gems from Moitra to give you an idea
- Urzu Urzu Durkut (Yahaan)
- Man Yeh Baawra (Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi)
- Piya Bole (Parineeta)
- Kasto Mazza (Parineeta)

I hope to savor his music for years to come

Prasoon Joshi - the real hero of Rang de basanti

Seldom do you hear goofy lyrics that are intelligent at the same time. Prasoon Joshi, the unlikely poet (his dayjob is ad films) of Rang de Basanti, has written lyrical gems in Paathshaala, Khoon Chala and Luka Chupi. They capture the sentiment of the film and the characters superbly and, in my opinion, are the mark of a well read and intelligent man.

Paathshaala:
"Talli hoke girne se samjhee humne gravity, Ishq ka practical kiya tab aayee clarity"

Loose translation: "A hard fall after getting drunk taught me about gravity, and a practical experiement with love gave me my much needed clarity"

Luka Chupi:

"Maine jharne se paani maa, todke piya hai
guccha guccha kaheen khwaabon ka ucchal ke chua hai"

Joshi has joined the league of stalwarts like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar by penning these meaningful and apt lyrics.

I heard his comments at the "Sa re ga ma Pa" show where he was a guest judge. Unlike most other bimbos that showed up and incessantly repeated "you sang well, God Bless you" a-la Paula Abdul, He had very intriguing thoughts about the performances and did not hold back criticism, which probably helped the participants get better.

Props to Mr Joshi.

'Zinda' by Strings

I just discovered the song 'Zinda' (Alive) by the Pakistani rock band Strings. This song is on the soundtrack of the movie 'Zinda'. The movie itslef went up in smoke but this song and Shibani Kashyap's "Zinda hoon main" and its Delirious Dance Dub mix are brilliant.

The lines from Zinda that blew me away are

In hindi:
"Chubhte Kaante yaadon ke daaman se chunta hoon,
Girti Deewaron ke aanchal me Zinda hoon"

English translation :
"I pick hurting thorns from the blanket of my memories
I live in the protective cover of walls that are breaking down"

Strings gives these lyrics total justice with the grungy electric guitaring and deep vocals overlapped with soulful piano. I remember when they released their song "Sar kiye yeh pahaad" in the early 90's. It was pretty popular back then and is still one of my favoritie songs that came our of the pakistan rock scene. Of course the now defunct Junoon was much bigger than Strings but these guys are damn good too.

Karsh Kale's Broken English

The master of the genre has done it again. Only this time he has kicked so much more ass on this new album "broken english". It's unlike his previous albums and has many songs with lyrics completely in english. Many more collaborations appear on this album and this time the collaborations are with a variety of vocalists and producers and not just with other electronica artists. This album has generous doses of what i thought was the best stuff in Realise and Liberation. The magic of 'Milan' and 'Letting go' is seen in "Beautiful", "Innocence and Power" and "somethings are ok". "Dancing at sunset" showcases Kale's talent with other instruments like the electronic santoor (I didnt even know an electronic santoor existed). The highlights of the album though are "Free Fall" and "City lights" (where Kale lends vocals himself).

After a long time I own an album that i can pop into the player and not worry about running into a tune i dont like. It's brilliant from start to finsih and touches upon many styles with the unmistakable Karsh Kale signature.

I saw him perform on the electronic Tabla at 1015 folsom last week. It was a spirited performance and sent the crowd for a spin. He started his set on the decks with a further "bhangrafied" version of "Manifest" and continued it with "Free Fall" and was clearly the best set of the night that was lined up with big names such as Cheb i sabbah and Janaka Selekta among others.

A personal highlight for me was a chat with the maestro himself. It happened at 1015 folsom right before things got heated up. He signed my copy of Broken English making it ultra special for me. His modesty has stumped me before and impressed me once again.

Check this album out if you have liked his work previously. It will not disappoint I promise.

Micropixie...correction

She does live in San Francisco and spins often at the Oxygen bar
and at other venues. Go girl!

she is also known to morph into singlebeigefemale

Micropixie

Ok so she is called the desi Bjork! The entire album is spoken word with some psychedelic, trancy, planetary(as she likes to call it) scores in the background. Very appealing music and very different from the typical ethno/desi electronica out there. I'm not yet sure if she's a San Franciscan but she does have SF based co-producers. Finally it's good to see someone desi making music in whatever the f*** way they care about making it.

www.micropixie.com

ze punditz

Had the opportunity to see the Midival Punditz spin it live at 1015 SF. They were the best set that night with heavyweights like ChebiSabbah and Karsh Kale. The Punditz played a few tunes from the new album "Midival times". Their set exploded on the bottom floor with 'Raanjhan', 'kesariya', 'ali' and a coolout mix of 'Mitwa'. Personally Raanjhan did the trick for me. I also met Tapan Raj Punditz after his set and was stumped by his modesty.

Hopefully their albums will continue to stomp in the genre of ethno techno

wickkidddd

Why did she do it ?

Why oh Why did Jessica Simpson have to annihilate Berlin's "Take my breath away".
She has no talent, and should stay away from completely destroying good old songs.
And the same applies to Ashlee simpson. Gosh!

With Apache Indian at the Concert in the park in San Jose CA on 30th June 2005. Apache Performed with Reggae Revolution and Musical Youth. This was AP's first performance in San Jose. wickiddddd ...

mombasa express

just discovered this belgian group that does european, south american house music with solid african percussion played by a guy named Raztah.

http://www.mombasaexpress.com/raztah/index2.html

they have samples on this site

their djmebe playing is particularly catchy. specially on a track named raindance.

hopefully i can play like this someday.

follow their links about the history of djembe. you'll enjoy reading

Karsh Kale's Milan and Letting go

I met KK at an Asian massive party in SF recently, but had known his music for a year or so before that .. I had his Redesign album and knew there was something about this artist .. something about his clarity and the fluent use of raw music in his tracks. However it wasn't until i heard Liberation's 'Milan' and 'Letting go' that i realised that there is a genius involved here. Both tracks have such an abundance of soul power they move every time you hear them. The progression from instrument to instrument in the tracks is flawless and woven as beautifully as silk.
And the man is down to earth. He had just finished spinning an awesome set at the party and i saw him walk by to the upper floor where he was sitting cross legged on the floor listening to some live classical tabla and sitar being played. I left after exchanging a few words and shaking hands
with him. A man who knows his music and knows what he wants to do with it .. what else can you ask for .

www.karshkale.com

wristband # @#$%!%

1306 has done its job.
not the best seats in the house but tickets nevertheless to what is going to be a kickass show !

wristband # 1306

just scored my wrist band this morning at the HP pavillion in san jose.

started this effort at 4 this morning to try and get in front of the line but they sent all campers away because they were handing out wrist bands only at 8am. Anyways, got back in line at 7 and got my band at 8.
now theyre going to call out numbers randomly (?) at 9:30 . Thats when every1 gets a shot at scoring tickets.

u2 tickets

U2 performs in san jose hp pavillion on the 9th of april 2005.

tickets go on sale sunday 10am at various outlets ..

im going .. will do whatever i can to score tickets on sunday ..

unfortunately i missed the presale because im not a u2.com member .. that sucks .

but tickets i will score !

what this is about

ive been a music buff for a long while now. and what i enjoy most is introducing people to music i discover and begin to love. for most part this space will be dedicated to just that. mah music.
while im at it i also want to write about certain musical experiences that have been a total trip.