September 28, 2008

Paban Das Baul

0 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 8:33 AM



Phew, It has been hectic all these days.
I am back with another unique artist, Paban Das Baul. Before telling anything about their music, its utmost important to know a little more about Bauls. The word "Baul" means divinely possessed, without limits, simply mad; the Bauls address each other as khepa meaning furious. They have a mode of life entirely determined by a fundamental choice and bring chaos and disorder wherever they go - attracting people towards them, inviting intimacy, breaking the rhythm of daily life.

Their wild behavior and repetitive rhythms make them seem strange and manic; so it's not surprising that in traditional Bengali society, where strict caste and class distinctions are rigidly maintained, they are chastised and despised. Through their songs, dances, gestures, through silences, through postures and looks, the Bauls tell stories of the earth, of the body, of lovers uniting - subtly revealing the mystery of life and the laws of nature. Submission to the divine is the tightrope to wisdom; Baul knowledge is transmitted through songs. This early apprenticeship gives Paban's music a unique quality. His unconventional nature and versatile talents, drawing and inspiring him from old and new sources, make him a controversial figure in Bengal.

Paban comes from Mohammedpur, Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India - land of a population incarnating the spirit of syncretism between Tantric, Vaishnava, Muslim and Buddhist traditions through music, dance and song. And his music is the most iconic of all as he derives inspirations from his roots. He is well known for his genius of improvisation on the dubki (a small tambourine) and the inspired lyrical beauty of his songs, which give him the power to create trance-like states in his listeners. Most of his music is made on instruments made by himself - the dubki, khamak and do tara.

He has been involved in collaborative projects since a long time, the most notable being with Sam Mills. I cannot understand his lyrics but his music does invoke certain feelings which can be best felt. Below is his career details:

Discography

- Paban Das Baul - Inner Knowledge (Womad Select - 1997)

- Paban Das Baul & Sam Mills - Real Sugar (Real World - 1997)

- Paban Das Baul, Gour Khepa, Nimai Goswani & Mimlu Sen - Manouche O Ratan (Fonti Musicali, Brussels - 2002)

- Paban Das baul & Jonny Wartel (Gravitation - 2003)

- Paban Das Baul & State of Bengal - Tana Tani (Real World - 2004)

- Paban Das Baul - 'live' At Satellit Cafe Paris (2008)



on Compilations

- Chants des Fous: Bengale (Chants du Monde - 1979)

- Le Chant Mystique des Bauls (Sonodisc ESP)

- Les Musiciens Bauls “ Fous de Dieu” (Disques Arion - 1983)

- Bauls Des Fous de l’Absolu (Sonodisc - 1989)

- Chants d'initiation Bauls (Buda Musique - 1992)



Collaborations

- Marque Gilmore /Drum-FM - Creation Step (Tribal Broadcast - 2003)

- The Katia Labèque Band - Unspoken (KLM - 2003)

- Cheick-Tidiane Seck - MandinGroove (Sunnyside Records - 2004)

- Paul Mills - The Other Side Of The Glass (IUS - 2006)



Filmography

- Le Chant des Fous (Doc. Georges Luneau Antenne Deux - 1979)

- Vagabunden Karawane (Doc. Embryo (german band) - 1979)

- Nagmoti (fiction: Gautam Chatterjee, Kolkata - 1972)

- La Nuit Bengali (Nicolas Klotz France - 1988)

- Egaro Miles (doc Ruchir Joshi – Channel Four / prix Joris Ivans Centre Pompidou in France - 1992)

- Bhalobasha O Andhokar (Gautam Chatterjee - 1995)

- Faut pas rêver (Doc.FR 3 - Frederic Zoltan/ Dominique Rabotteau - 1999)


Recommended:

I havent been able to find a lot of songs but still all his songs have become my favourites. They are listed below:

  • Dil ki doya ( a must listen!!!)
  • Mon Fakira
  • Manush key
So go ahead, enjoy his music!

ps. Can someone translate his tracks for me, plzzzz :)

Regards,
Talvinder
Listen Without Prejudice


 

September 15, 2008

Midival Punditz

1 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 11:26 AM


Their Music is as Exotic as their name, I can gurantee that first hand! Midival Punditz is a duo band comprising of two Delhites Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj. 

Their music is a mix of Jungle, electronica, North Indian Classical and Sufi. In simpler terms, their music is a mix of indian classical and new age electronic club music. Their music is deep in terms of the ragas and instrumentation employed. Lyrically intensive, their music is timeless and progressive. 

What they do best is let the richness and timeless feature of Indian music reign over the straight forward western beats. That makes their music very indian yet very modern.  They add subtle, not obvious dancefloor influences that strike a balance with the musically rich past Eastern music. The duo is widely regarded as the first South Asian band to fully synthesize modern Western electronic music with regional traditional and classical music, to create a new sound for 21st-century India, so although the production sparkles with the sheen of an electronica or techno set, their music stilll sounds and feels like Indian. 

They have composed music for the bollywood movie "Let's Enjoy!" and have collaborated with a number of reputed artists like Ustad Sultan Khan, Karsh Kale (he will be covered in the next post), Anoushka Shankar among others. Their music is Unique with a capital U! Its panoramic and ambient with experimentation done on almost all tracks. 

I have seen people being apprehensive about this kind of music but one demo of their music and they can't help nodding.

Some of the recommended albums and tracks are:
ALBUMS
MIDIval Times 2002 - Debut
MIDIval Punditz Remixed 2007
Lets Enjoy(OST) 2004

SONGS
Fabric - Featured in monsoon wedding, a must listen
Mundiyan de dil hil gaye - Lets Enjoy(OST)
136
Ali - Ft Kailash Kher
Bhangra Fever - the famous Nokia 1100 truck ad's track
Night - Haunting lyrics and tune
Raanjhan - Ft Abida Parveen
Rebirth - Ft Anoushka Shankar
Tere Bin Sohniye - Lets Enjoy(OST)
Forest Dreams 
God Of Love - A MUST LISTEN, crazily catchy
Dark Age - Again a must listen.. dark, mystrerious and ambient

I will end up listing all their songs, I guess... so will just list the first few tracks which come to my mind :)

So happy listening!

Signing off...
Talvinder Singh
Listen Without Prejudice


 

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September 9, 2008

Karzzzz

0 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 7:28 PM


Disclaimer: No kids and animals were hurt during the testing of this album.


Okie fart apart... I hate it when people make pre conceived notions about music and just ignore it because of that. "Himesh hai yaar.. daya" " tu ch**** gaya hai kya.. himesh sun raha hai" etc etc (imagine the hardships I have gone through to come up with a review on Karzzzz) I like the way the composes music and has given huge hits. So there is no problem in trying out his music as well.

My Take: The album would have rocked, if himesh had spared us from his vocal chords. The music is no doubt apt for a typical "Masala movie". There are two CDs - one with normal tracks and the other one having remix tracks. 

The title track- lut jaun lut jaun- is original but inspired heavily from the sounds of Karunesh(especially punjab), nice effort and nice catchy tune. Only let down is his vocals(this is actually common for all the songs). One of the best tracks of the album definitely.

Hari om hari om, tandoori nights, soniye je tere are all average tracks, you will hear all of them in autos definitely. Worth skipping

Dhoom tere ishq is a beautiful track (sans his vocals) harmonious and very romantic. Very catchy tune, makes you humm along. 

Sisak Sisak ke is again a typical himesh track, with catchy hook tune. Overall average track though.

Tere bin chain na aave is a romantic track with nice usage of tabla and subtle western beats. Not as good as Dhoom... but better than other tracks.

Masha Allah is a good effort towards using indian instrumentation with raw drum beats. Kind of works.

And finally there is the haunting Ek haseena thi. He has modulated his voice in this song to avoid his nasal accent. Its an upbeat version of the classic and doesnt disappoint much. Not at par with the original but not bad also. Worth listening especially for the end portion of the song.

CD2 contains all club versions of these tracks and are worth a skip.

Overall the album belongs to masses and doesnt disappoint much. An average album.

 

September 8, 2008

Talvin Singh

1 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 9:10 PM




Today I will like to talk about one artist I really respect for his innovative music style and his experimentation with sounds.

Creator of an innovative fusion of Indian bhangra music and drum'n'bass electronica, Talvin Singh was classically trained on the tabla but rejected most of his learning when he founded the Anokha club-night at East London's Blue Note. 

Singh founded Anokha, the club night where drum'n'bass DJs and Asian punk bands went head to head with the amped-up sounds of his tabla and percussion. Guest spots by LTJ Bukem and others made Anokha a Monday-night hotspot in London, and Singh signed to Island for an Anokha compilation including several of his own productions. 

He also worked as a remixer before issuing his proper solo debut, OK. in late 1998

My Space: Talvin Singh

From Wiki: Talvin Singh is considered to be the pioneer of Asian Underground, a sub- genre of electronica. He is a percussionist, table player, producer and composer. 
He is known for his forging of indian traditional music with electronica, particularly jungle and ambient.
My Take: First advice: His music is not for the masses and in the same breathe I can confidently say that who ever listens to it gets hooked. His sound is a mix of electronic beats with modern Indian drums(Tabla). In fact, it won't be superfluous if one calls his music as Indian Drum n Bass. His sound is very unique and the first remarks I got about his tracks were " shit! what was that. " or " Awesome!!!" or "Who is this guy??" or.. you got the point I guess. 
He is the producer/composer of the now-famous-in-IITB track "spiritual masterkey" which was used in the last choreo(UV) of PAF 1984 last year.

Go ahead and listen to some of my favourites
Mystic Groove
Spiritual Masterkey
One
Jaan
Veena
My heart, my life ft nusrat fateh ali khan

and let me know how u felt about his music :)

 

September 6, 2008

Kula Shaker - Govinda, Namami Nanda, Radhe Radhe

1 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 3:40 PM





Song: Govinda
Year: 1996
Band: Kula Shaker
Album: K
Lyrics: Govinda

Summary: Govinda belongs to the genre of Raga Rock and that defines the sound of the song to a great extent. After George Harrison, perhaps kula shaker is the only band to produce such a track.

My Take: One of the best fusion tracks I have heard till date. Oriental, spiritual and mystic vocals paint a picture wonderfully soothing and relaxing. Ethnic lyrics elegantly blended with rock sounds, give the song an amazing aura and volume, compelling you to test your sound system's limit.
The usage of peacock's sound in the beginning, alaap in the later half of the song and tabla in different sections are amazing improvisations.


Song: Namami nanda
Year: 1999
Band: Kula Shaker
Album: Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Lyrics: Namami Nanda

Summary: A soulful Sanskrit song. I don't know the meaning of the song yet.

My Take: Very few songs can give you a state of bliss; eyelids close automatically, a smile on the face appears instantly and you feel enchanted. Again the magical usage of alaap and sound of birds along with flute and traditional Indian instruments, makes this song one of my favourites.


Song: Radhe Radhe
Year: 1999
Band: Kula Shaker
Album: Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Lyrics: Radhe Radhe

Summary: The famous Radhe Radhe chant with guitar riffs and drums.

My Take: The song starts as a typical bhajan, but wait for a minute and let electronica and drums join in, because with them the experience gets a new high. Its not soothing or surreal like the other songs I mentioned but deserves a listen for its uniqueness.

 

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September 4, 2008

After Glow

2 comments Posted by Talvinder Singh at 7:22 PM


Well, I was planning to start this blog since long and what better song to start with, than Afterglow


Song: After Glow
Year:1996
Album: Switch
Band: INXS
Lyrics: Afterglow

Summary: Its a beautiful breakup song by a rather unknown australian band INXS, sung from the perspective of a lover who wants to stay in the past, who wants to sacrifice and wants to live in her afterglow.

My take: The song starts with guitar notes and indian traditional beats and slowly grows into a surreal experience which made me believe in the singer. The song is definitely an experience, a dream wave which threw me in a different world, a world which is moving slowly in the negative time frame. I can see scenes of my past happening in the reverse order.

The delicate guitar riffs and the indian harmony thrown in the end along with the lyrical imagery makes this song a must for everyone.

Recommendation: Must listen for all and specifically for those suffering from a break up :)

 

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