Vismaya is perhaps the earliest, documented Indo-Western musical collaboration – a fascinating combination of Sanskrit lyrics set to Celtic tunes, by one of India’s foremost composers, Muthuswami Dikshidhar (1775-1835). It’s...
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Music review: Grounded in space (Advaita)
Advaita’s music truly breaks new ground; at least as far as Indian non-film music goes. With 8 members in the band, there seems to be many more, in terms of...
Continue reading...Music review: Thaalam (Malayalam Pop – Job Kurian, Charan & Yakzon)
Update: I have a friend who knows Charan and apparently Manorama Music has not paid these guys for this album! This is so incredibly unfortunate! These guys have made amazing...
Continue reading...Music review: 3rd Person Singular Number (Bangla – Assorted Artists)
Nancy’s silky vocals outdo Habib’s in Didha, but the tune is spell binding – its rather simple, but haunting and adorned with appropriately restrained backgrounds. Traditional Bangla sounds peek in...
Continue reading...Music review: Gulaal (Hindi – Piyush Mishra)
Rahul Ram’s Aarambh is powerful, both in the arrangements and in the incredible selection of words that work with their rich intonation, while Shilpa Rao towers over the soulfully arranged...
Continue reading...Music review: Mahaleela (Indipop – A Sivamani)
Sivamani intelligently merges with the flow in the first 2 tracks – the bouncy Dancing in the moon and the chants-meet-lounge, Kriya. Ustads Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain make inspired...
Continue reading...Music review: Dev.D (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)
Amit’s own vocals rule in the grungy Aankh micholi, experimentally bizarre Duniya, Nayan tarse, the moody Saali khushi and Tochi’s Pardesi – these tracks showcase the composer who was awesome...
Continue reading...Music review: Slumdog Millionaire (A. R. Rahman and others)
It’s one thing to Sitar’ize everything going Westward and entirely something else to infuse drama with violins so beautifully in a maniacally racy, Sitar-driven track – the strangely titled Mausam...
Continue reading...Music review: Aanandha Thaandavam (Tamil – GV Prakash Kumar)
With a breezy, instantly engaging tune, Kallil aadum is a complete winner – Benny and Shwetha sound awesome. Megam pola’s gloomy outlook is new to Tamil films, but within the...
Continue reading...Music review: Vaaranam Aayiram (Tamil – Harris Jeyaraj)
Sudha Raghunathan replaces steady favorite, Bombay Jayashree in Anal mele – a soft, heavenly track who’s tune and focused vocals create a fabulously ambient concoction. The mild backgrounds reminiscent of...
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