Cafe Fluid (Music review), Naveen Kumar

The melancholic Heartflute’s tune is heartfelt and instantly strikes a chord. Kerala cues in Sindbad Vs. Kerala are subtle; the Sindbad cues, non-existent. But it is gorgeous – the ambient backgrounds working perfectly. Rajhesh Vaidya’s veena literally speaks in Indofusion, even as it sits comfortably over Rajasthani folk flute, and uncomfortably over the jarring Middle Eastern prelude. The title song sees Naveen with exotic, rightly imagined Middle Eastern sounds, this time; the flute domination is mesmerizing. Tranceflute is a entertaining amalgamation of flute in pulsating trance, while Bellyflute overdoses on the Middle Eastern genre. Ullieann Pipes Song misspells the instrument’s name – Uilleann Pipes, but the track is absolutely stunning, in the way the pipe is played, and in the overall orchestration that makes dramatic use of claps. Naveen’s Desh raag in Fantasyflute is a lovely combination of joyous folk rhythm, Rajhesh’s veena and uncredited vocals. Bombay Doves is a jugalbandhi that sees Selvaganesh’s conjira beautifully stand-out, while the jazzy elements (Louiz Banks) stand out for the wrong reasons. That Never Say Goodbye bonus track is a pretty nifty adaptation of KANK’s title song! Sivamani is audibly missed in Naveen’s sophomore effort, but this is a remarkable follow-up to Fluid.

Keywords: Naveen Kumar, Reeg Deb, Louiz Banks, Selvaganesh, Matt Cooker, Keith Peters, Levon Ichkhanian, Rajesh Vaidya, Rajhesh Vaidhya, Sanjay Divecha, Dennis Chambers, Christy Samuel, 200

Related read: Milliblog review of Naveen Kumar’s debut album, Fluid.

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