Exciting times ahead- if you like music

Good things are happening all around and especially at this time of the year.
More so, if you like music. 

• I recently subscribed to Apple Music and have been amazed ever since. I guess I am a little late to the adoption bandwagon but never having used music-streaming services like Spotify I had my own doubts. Launched in June 2016, it offers the best of music and works really well if you are looking to discover new artists and genres. Best part is- it is available on iOS (ofc) as well as Android!

• Coke Studio Pakistan recently launched the much awaited Season 10. The bar is set high from Season 8 and 9- what with sublime musical experiences such as Bewajah, Sammi Meri Waar, Man Amadeh Am and Baliye to call out just a few. S10E01 features some varied musicalities, my favourite (so far) being Ali Sethi's rendtion of Mehdi Hassan sahab's ghazal Ranjish Hi Sahi. 

More so, if you are in India.

• We Indians have been devoid of our fair share of live experiences that has been improving only in the recent years with Lamb of God, Metallica, Steven Wilson and Coldplay visiting. But the rest of 2017 looks bright with Nitro ft. Chris Adler in September and the prog. masters Dream Theater in October- playing live in Mumbai! Personally, I will miss Mike Portnoy but Mangini does pack a mean load of power too.

• And then there's the NH7 Weekender in November/December. Hope the line-up this year is as exciting as it was last time around.

Even more so, if you are a drummer:

• Talented young drummers like Luke Holland and Matt Mcguire have become YouTube sensations with some well produced videos. Taking drumming to a whole new level and transcending genres.

• Gavin Harrison is coming to Drumeo for a 1-hour lesson this August. Yes, the King of prog drumming! 

Exciting times ahead! |m|
Did I miss anything? Do share your thoughts in the comments! 

Skyharbor- Guiding Lights

Date: 22^nd March 2015. Venue: Blue Frog, Mumbai. Event: Rolling Stone (India) Metal Awards 2015. Phenomenon: Skyharbor winning awards in almost all the categories.

Well, I had always heard about this band founded by the guitarist Keshav Dhar and being applauded by everyone. But had missed listening to their albums altogether. Their last album Guiding Lights was released in 2014 and as soon as I started listening to it I could understand why they are creating waves!

There is huge merit in listening to complete albums- one song after another- rather than listening to singles which are really good. In the age of YouTube and iTunes, there is a tendency to listen to only the best songs by a band instead of the complete album. A few years back, we would have had to buy the CDs/EPs (or even cassettes) and go through the whole album song by song. I have come to realize that that’s the way albums are meant to be listened to and it renders a totally different meaning to the individual tracks. Even more so with the progressive genre.

The first song on Skyharbor’s album is Allure and boy, is it an awesome track! It starts off right away with a normal 4x4 time signature being played in all different combinations for different instruments giving a great prog feel. The track keeps perfectly oscillating between a heavy (distorted guitars) and a clean style of playing. What stands out is the bass and the drum pattern that starts off at 2:32 into the song followed by the guitar solo at 2:51. This calm and intricate patch (makes you feel like an Opeth song) gets a superb transition into the heavy style at 5:10.

While the album demonstrates that the musicians are some of the best in the world, it would be difficult to make them sound as good as they do without a flawless production. The sound quality of drums, the guitar tones and multi-layering of sounds is just impeccable.

Skyharbor’s music puts them in the same league as Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Dream Theater. If you like Allure do make sure to listen to the complete album and especially Evolution (their most popular song) and Halogen + New Devil (these two tracks are meant to be heard in sequence and the transition is just brilliant).

It would have been great if the drummer Anup Sastry and vocalist Daniel Tompkins had continued their brilliant work with the band. Nonetheless, waiting for more music from this amazing band.

The advent of Indian prog- Clinton Cerejo's 'Baina'

Few composers in the Indian music scene have experimented with odd time signatures although Indian classical music has thrived on 7x4 & 5x4 time signatures. Well it is only appropriate that Coke Studio introduced progressive stuff this year with its season 3 and how!

Coke Studio has become a platform for composers to bring out music which is completely different from the mainstream Bollywood stuff and Season 3 has lived upto the expectations. Such avenues have enabled musicians to express themselves rather than help expressing a director’s storyline.

After his mind-blowing compositions such as Madari and Saathi Salaam in season 2, Clinton Cerejo is back with a bang. This composition Baina is different yet equally enthralling. As I post this, the video has just about 40k views while according to me it deserves many more. The track might not be progressive music in its purest sense but the change to a 7x4 time signature for the chorus is just remarkably done. The amalgamation of Veena and Guitar, of Qawwals and untrained vocals, of the Manjiras and the drums is very well arranged. The attention paid to the minutest details such as the guitar feedback note played at 2:40 which then fuses into a Cello is noteworthy.

Watch out for the bass guitar at 2:35, the Veena coming in with the synth playing deep notes at 4:13, Vijay’s Prakash’s vocals and the super guitar tones. Clinton Cerejo’s harmonizing vocals with the chorus totally stand out in your left earphone/speaker.

‘Baina’ has come so close to becoming my favorite track this season. Wish the end were cut a bit short and the drums had more punch to it. Wonder how awesome it would have been to listen to some triplets and quads among the fills especially during the chorus!

It would be completely unfair to not acknowledge Rahman’s mesmerizing compositions. And yet, the most anticipated episode by Amit Trivedi is due this week! If Baina has got you interested, do make sure to check out Marghat from the same episode and Aigiri Nandini by Ram Sampath which also boasts of a little prog inspiration by itself. \m/

Song of the week #10- Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree

There is a reason why the Progressive genre has a small albeit loyal fan-base. And that reason is the music composed by bands like Opeth, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree to name a few. I was introduced to the name Porcupine Tree as a band which came to India to perform live at the Mood-Indigo (undoubtedly India’s most extravagant cultural festival at IIT-B). Little did I know that I would become such a huge fan of PT and would regret missing their live show.

According to me, Anesthestize is one of the best songs that PT has ever composed. It has that true progressive flavour to it with the song catching up different moods in phases. The initial drumming structure has Gavin Harrison’s signature all over it with a simple 4x4 beat built into a beautiful sequence of beats over the toms. This track stands as an epitome of his drumming prowess. Kicking those triplets & quads throughout the song make it sync perfectly with the superb bass playing. The tempo starts building up at 7:47 and my favourite part is the riff at 9:17 and again at 11:46. The track again changes gears at 12:54 in such a wonderful way.

This song, to me, is a drum anthem with all parts played with the ultimate sense and taste. People who believe Gavin Harrison to be a boring technical drummer have probably never listened to Anesthetize. It’s a pity that PT is on a break these days. Can’t wait for their next album to come out!

This live video of the song makes it even more difficult to believe that creating such music is humanly possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKeTD8E8Nkg

Signing off with that for now. Keep rocking! \m/

Song of the week- #9 Madari by Clinton Cerejo

It’s been a really long time since the last time I wrote on this blog. My laziness got the better of me. But then a couple of days back, while travelling, I realized that the making of good music (especially in India) is at its peak these days and it’s just too good to be ignored. So here it is, after a break, with one of the best produced and composed tracks of recent times.

Well, to begin with, who would have thought that when three people namely Clinton Cerejo, Vishal Dadlani and Sonu Kakkar get together, it would be purely magical. Cerejo went completely unnoticed even after singing Kya Karoon in Wake Up Sid. Vishal Dadlani brought up some of his magic with the Dewarists’ first song Minds Without Fear but the completely unexpected was the amazing voice of Sonu Kakkar which can be heard in Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo.

The aura and texture of this song is its primary beauty and that’s why the producer must be applauded. The song starts off with the main tune on the mandolin. Vishal Dadlani’s deep voice then kicks in with beautiful accenting on the keyboard and the bass guitar. At 3:00 the music goes silent with Sonu Kakkar bringing in purity in a wonderful manner. The bass guitar groove, the cry baby on the guitar and the rim shots on the snare make the voice sound even more awesome and the starting of beats on the Dafli at 3:52 add to the soul of the song. The snare drum tone at 4:12 is just heavenly. To take-off the song again at 4:52, Vishal and Sonu harmonize some beautiful lines followed by the Mandolin solo. And the start at 6:01 with dholaks is so unmistakable. All in all, there are so many amazing musical moments in the song including the song’s end that describing them would only be unfair to their depth.

I have listened to this track hundreds of times just to realize that producing music and getting together of musicians is what builds up the soul of a song and not shredding fast guitar solos without others contributing. Otherwise, when did cry babys on pedal-trains or mandolin or daflis or dholaks or the bass guitars sound this magical?

I have new found respect for Vishal Dadlani after this track particularly. Moreover, as a friend Surbhit says: "Imagine the level of joy and fun these musicians must be having being able to perform such an awesome track". Seriously, the joy and satisfaction is clearly visible on their faces!

While ending this, I must mention that Coke Studio India’s Season 2 has been really awesome and this song is just the tip of the iceberg. One must listen to others like Husna, Saathi Salaam and Yatra to name a few. Signing off with that. Keep Rocking. \m/

Song of the week- #8 "Pareshaan" by Amit Trivedi

It’s after quite some time that I thought I should write about a song. Which is why, I am back. And this time with the first bollywood track on this blog. Yes! This composition is from the genius Amit Trivedi. It’s called Pareshaan from the movie Ishaqzaade. Amit Trivedi has been composing some awesome stuff since Dev D and I, personally, love his music because it is signature to him.

Pareshaan is amazingly sung by Shalmali Kholgade who is a newcomer at least to Bollywood. The track begins with beautiful plucking of strings and Shalmali’s voice blending in to create a great start. Amit Trivedi has used the Harmonium and the Bass guitar as a combination to give the song a traditional yet a rock touch. The crash ride used while playing the drums seems to be a perfect background for the Harmonium solos. I believe, Darshan Doshi has been the drummer for Amit Trivedi on this album and he is one of the best drummers in the industry as can be seen from his performances at Coke Studio India and MTV Unplugged.

If you find this music enjoyable, make sure to check out the new ‘dub step’ style incorporated with his song Aafaton Ke Parinde from the same album. Although, Amit Trivedi’s music might seem a bit repetitive with the music in his consecutive albums, I think it’s his original style and that’s what makes him good. I hope we get some more rocking music soon in the future from Amit Trivedi! J Keep Rocking!! \m/

Song of the week- #7 "Fix You" by Coldplay

There are many Coldplay compositions which are amazing but Fix You is sheer joy! If you believe that music can rejuvenate you and that it can inspire you and uplift your soul, this is one composition which can epitomize that belief.

It starts with Chris Martin playing an old piano which sounds like a church-style instrument and his signature falsetto singing. The point where the electric guitar and the drums kick-in injects that energy into this track. The recorded version has the acoustic guitar coming in after the first piece but this particular live version has strings plucked on an electric guitar. Both the styles are great to listen to. However, I feel, the video of this version is more awesome as the whole band gets engrossed in the performance and more importantly it is amazing to see them enjoy and feel the emotions of the song.

Martin wrote this song for his wife Gwyneth Paltrow after the death of her father and the lyrics are so pertinent and awesome! It is very easy to fall in love with this song if you get the feel of it. Well, that’s just my opinion. :) Keep Rocking! \m/