First of all, I disagree with the dude who posted this video on youtube!! It’s not scat-singing, it’s much more than that!!! Konnakol is a Carnatic music performance art of vocal percussion, or in other words it can be said to be an Indian form of beat-boxing. But it is much more than that too! It is also a language of rhythm which can fit into every musical style in the world. Watch out as the three sons of veteran Grammy award-winning percussionist “Vikku” Vinayakram – Selvaganesh, Umamahesh and Umashankar create magic while having loads fun at the same time. They make it look so easy!! Look out for the beat-conversation that begins at 3:00, evolves into an argument and also gets resolved through the language of beats and rhythm :D Mindblowing!
p.s. Umamahesh is the very same Mahesh from the Toilet Jam video :) And Selvaganesh makes a third appearance in my blog! :)
Hahaha.. You don’t need a time or a place to make good music! :) Mahesh Vinayakram & Henrik Andersen start jamming to the drone of the air-conditioner in the toilet and then just get carried away! Talk about inspiration! :P Watch out for the guy who comes in to pee while they’re at it! ;) hehe.. Awesome stuff…
p.s. Mahesh is the brother of V. Selvaganesh who plays the kanjira in the Remember Shakti video that I posted. :)
The video’s kinda lame but Niladri Kumar does some good work on the Electric Sitar or Zitar as it’s called. He’s almost shredding after 2:22! Neat stuff..
Hahaha.. Call it funny, call it lame, call it what you will! You just gotta admit it.. These IITians are jobless!! :P They call themselves Baseline Wolves. Good work guys! :D Neat stuff! Peace out..
Hmm.. The latest news across all the news channels is that Barack Obama, yes the ‘Change’ man himself, has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2009. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples” and for promoting nuclear disarmament. Hmm.. This year saw a record number of nominations for the coveted honour, 205 candidates to be exact. Now, I don’t really know whether he deserved it or not; dunno much about it to comment. But definitely food for thought! I bet the debates are already on in full flow about how much he deserved it! Or whether he deserved it at all! :)
Proves you can enjoy music even if you have no fuckin’ idea what the song means! Here’s Avial who call themselves an Alternative Malayali Rock band with their song Nada Nada. Brilliant!!
I don’t normally listen to classical music. I chanced upon this video at a fellow musician’s place and initially when he told me about it I didn’t make much of it. But when I did see the video, it blew me away to say the least!! The band Remember Shakti is a sequel to an earlier band Shakti and consists of five musical wizards - English guitarist John McLaughlin from The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zakir Hussain on the tabla, U. Srinivas on the mandolin, Shankar Mahadevan on vocals, and V. Selvaganesh on the kanjira, ghatam, and mridangam. Remember Shakti can be said to be a ’super-group’ of sorts with the five virtuosos weaving their magic into their unique blend of music which combines Indian classical music with jazz. The song is Giriraj Sudha (its spelt wrong in the video!). Check it out! And watch out for the awesome tempo changes!! :) Enjoy..
So lately I’ve been on this Indian rock music spree and have been scouting around for good music by Indian bands, both the famous and the not so famous. And I found this gem by the popular band from Cochin (though their website says they’re based in Bangalore now..not sure!) Motherjane (love the name! :P). Broken is one hell of a song with a pretty neat video. Really love the way they infuse Carnatic music into their guitaring (loved the veena-like guitar patch on the solo!). Explains why they mention their genre as Rock/Progressive/Carnatic Rock on their website. Really lookin forward to lay my hands on more songs from their album Maktub which seems to have got great reviews from The Rolling Stones magazine. And I really hope I can catch them live at the October fest in Bangalore on the 25th! :) Learn more about the band at www.motherjane.in. Peace out..
Disillusioned by the world
Disdained by the conscience
Self-doubt creeps in
A mind-numbing obscurity Comfortably Numb
Yet far from so
A self-imposed predicament
Yet…Inevitable
A Chopsuey of emotions
The burdens seem unbearable
Atlas wants to shrug at last
Elsewhere Jeremy has had enough
He wants to speak in class
The mind is sober
Yet drunk on delusions
A Purple Haze descends upon him
A psychedelic kaleidoscope
Of images and memories
Yet his eyes perceive
Only the darkness
No need for sympathy
Too late for concern
White noise in the ears
As Cobain screams Teen Spirit
Time seems to stand still
And yet it seems to run out
All the time in the world
Yet none left to spend
A bullet to the brain
Hole in the soul
The show’s over
The skin is cold
P.S. For those of you who r not aware, the words in italics are references to songs by Pink Floyd,SOAD,Pearl Jam,Jimi Hendrix,Nirvana and The Doors. :)
My guitar after i jazzed it up with a permanent marker!
For the music is your special friend
Dance on fire as it intends
Music is your only friend
Until the end..
- When The Music’s Over, The Doors
So, I finally decided to start this blog. Randomly, just like a lot of other things I do. I didn’t think I needed a reason to start one! And then I actually started asking myself. Why?? Was there really a need to put stuff that would otherwise have been scribbled in the last pages of my college books or scrawled onto some piece of paper (never to be found again!) onto the web? Was it an ego boost to see my words put up for everyone to see? By people i don’t know, possibly from obscure countries I’ve probably never even heard of? Or perhaps no one at all! Not necessary that just because it’s out there people will see it and read it! We sometimes miss things that are right in front of us, so what chance does my blog have of being read out of the millions of other blogs out there? Will a 20 year old’s words and thoughts really matter to anyone?
Hmm…now that’s a lot of questions! So, after all the pondering and brain picking, here is my blog addressing people who are there/not there/doesn’t matter! It’s there so i can offload some of the random musings and reflections brewing in my head. Whether anyone reads it or not, it’s like my Pensieve. Like Dumbledore says “When too many thoughts and memories are crammed into my mind, it is a relief to siphon some off and store them here”. So that’s that. Guess I have found my answer after all.
