Musickafe Blog
Ghastly Voice, Memorable Music | Tulku
When I first listened to his music tracks in Fast Forward, I instantly like it. If you have listened to Buddha Bar series, you probably listened to his track Radha Ramana. (Buddha Bar IV Disc 2) or the Spiral Dance track in Buddha Bar III Disc 1. Both these track make use of voice that is normally not likeable. Yet Tulku makes them likeable. I feel that’s creativity. And I love his music compositions for that matter. On the negative side, my sensitive ears find a similarity between his Spiral Dance and some tracks in Global Spirit album by Karunesh. Who composed it originally? Is Tulku making a variation of Karunesh composition or did both of them got the same inspiration in music that there is some tinge of similarity?
Time for Awe | Devil’s Thrill | Vanessa Mae
I listened to Vanessa Mae's album Choreography for the first time with my friend and both of us felt a new artist is finding a place in our music rack. The pace of her music composition is something that reminded me of Beethoven's Symphony 5 . While I review more of her albums for my midos in the blog, here is a youtube video of her performance to have a taste of her music.
The track in this video is Devil’s Thrill, one of the best tracks of Vanessa Mae. I like this video for the fastness and staccato notes of the violin and also for the picturisation of the track: Vanessa Mae is seen playing her violin throughout the video. The fastness of the track can not only be felt by the music but by her movements, alike. The movement creates awe in me (who knows that’s what she calls Devil’s Thrill!). Maybe it can also do the same to you.
Seas | An Epic in Music | Bhaskar Chandavarkar
Today I’m writing on a very special music album (at least to me): Soundscapes, Music of the Seas, by Bhaskar Chandavarkar. Believe it or not, I’m listening to this album for almost 7 years in row (3 yrs non-stop, till the tape breathed its last, and 4 more years in cds till date at irregular intervals, but still often). Even today I listen to this album with the same pleasure (sometimes even more) with which I listened to it for the first time. Isn’t it special then, Mido? Yes, definetly. (not a great thing, I agree, for those who claim to see their wife as beautiful as she was on their marriage! Mido, let this be between us, I don’t really believe such open lies!)
Seas has lived through quarter of my life and will increasingly live further. Starting with the track Deep Blue, the album moves towards the shore rather than deep sea. Deep Blue is serene, undisturbed, reflecting the self-same nature of Seas beyond shores. Anyone listening to this track(or the album as a whole) cannot forget the impression that bamboo flute makes. It lives in my heart as a treasureable memory. How do you expect the next track to be, Mido? more serene? If it is, then i’m sure you’d be rather listening to my snoring this time (did I forget to tell you? I do that exercise when I listen to Al Gromer Khan’s albums)
The second track is Coastal Garba, a very festival mood track tuned for a Garba dance. Garba is more like the western social dance taking its roots in Gujarat, India and is more spiritually connected. Dancers go round a focal structure (mostly idol of Amba, goddess, or a lamp) clapping their hands at regular interval. Coastal Garba imitates this scenario. Like the painless, strainless dance movements, the rhythm goes smooth, less stressful, more relaxed, let-go. I label this track D2O! (pardon me, Chem was hammered too much into head in my schooldays… I mean the track is a Dancing gas).
More than 15 years have passed since Seas was first released. Still it’s one of the best selling new age albums. Music Today, recording label, calls it “multi-platinum best-selling album.” For all this, and for my personal liking, I’m writing on his album in a series. Rest of the tracks will be covered in other posts. On my part, I make sure that I don’t sing you a lullaby in this series (like, next only to my mother, Al Gromer Khan does to me when I listen to him) nor drive you crazy (as Trilok Gurtu does often with his drums, tempting me to play next.)
Al Gromer Khan | Strangeness of Ambient Style
Writing on Al Gromer Khan is a bit tough! Listening to his composition is still more tougher. Mido, not that I make fun of him (I paid him that tribute over there) but seriously speaking, it’s difficult to listen to his music without finding yourself doing some other (even, sleeping) largely ignoring the music. That’s not Gromer’s fault. His is ambient style New Age music and it’s how it is meant to be.
‘Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.’ — Brian Eno
The three main phrases here “without enforcing”, “ignorable”, “interesting” are what can be best described of Al Gromer Khan’s. His music doesn’t ‘force’ the listener to listen (through strong beats or high pitch voices or metal sounds that fill up most mainstream music); it passes by as gently as the mildest breeze (not even wind!) : If you are sensitive enough, you feel it or else it goes ignored. But if you can tune yourself to feel this ‘mildest breeze’, then you will be no more the same person you were: You’ve moved into deeper into your being.
Gromer’s insight into music is well established in his writings on music. I’ve been listening to his music albums for almost four years now (with large intervals) and I see myself just a newbie listener of Ambient genre. I feel Gromer’s music ‘interesting’, penetrating, ‘ignorable’ (am still a newbie, I said) and challenging. After all these years, listening to his music, very lately, I feel the breeze of his Tantra Drums, a wonderful music album to start wit, if you are newbie to this genre like me.
In weeks or months to come, I’ll be writing on this artist. But largely I wonder, if something can be written in albums which can be ‘ignored’? If I write, will my writing be ‘without enforcing’, ‘interesting’ and ‘ignorable’? Let’s see.
Rain Moods Celebration Week | Ekatman | Louis Banks
Isn’t it Rain a very beautiful “happening” in our world? Mido, Rain has so many moods in it and I enjoy most of these either drenching myself in water or by silently wacthing it over open windows (mostly with a situational music on the background). Music with rain is as perfect as a beer for a party! And so, am on an expedition to explore the various moods of rain in music and will be posting a Rain Mood a Day (it keeps worries away).
Starting with Fresh mood, Louis Banks’ Ekatman album features ‘Rain’ and is a very good music composition by him which fuses elements of ‘freshness’, ‘purity’ and ‘energy’ in it. (BTW, I have a pungent comment elsewhere on his Romance album, but let’s not spoil the mood here messing with that). Rain of Ekatman starts with a soft keyboard tune, a few bird chirrups and a traditional flute raaga. The music goes more jazzy with interludes of TraditionalModern flute and ends with a fusion of many percussions. In short,
Rain of Ekatman is a good BGM to start a Morning Rain Day.
Sonu Niigaam performing live at Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s 70th birthday celebration
5 days passed since Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s 70th birthday. Living in Pondicherry in South India, it was not possible for me to attend the grand function in Mumbai (24hrs travel by train from my place) for Hariji’s bday. I hoped for some fans of Harji who have been to the function to upload the perforamance on youtube. At last here is a video from the function — Sonu Nigam, “India’s best playback singer or as the Golden Voice of Indipop”, performing live at Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s 70th birthday celebration. I wish Harji’s fans upload more video music from the function, especially classical ragas.
New Age Music: A BIG FIGHT
The other day there was a guest at my home. He is a semi-puritan Hindu preacher and I being a new ager, a BIG FIGHT sparked out, naturally. He isn’t any outdated preacher. He knows quite a lot about what is happening in contemporary world, its trend, fashion, lingo…. His argument was that New Age Music, howsoever good to listen, has no intrinsic quality to elevate spirit as does the traditional mantra meditation, or even better no-music meditation, which he is interested in.
That Big Fight went for some hours and is not much related to discuss that here in full length. But this much can be said: It reminds me of an Quote which Manish Vyas, popular new age musician, likes so much that he had placed it as the welcome message in his home page.
“Music and meditation are the two aspects of the same phenomenon.
Without music, meditation lacks something,
without music, meditation is little dull, unalive.
Without meditation, music is simply noise - harmonious, but noise.
Without meditation, music is only entertainment”
- Osho
New Agers feel that like everything in this world getting updated, most of them on daily basis or even faster in hours and minutes, like that of your Anti-Virus software, approach to meditation and spirituality can and should also find a new way. Sticking to the old age just because it is OLD is irrelevant for a new ager. Mido, if you are the kind of that half-puritan preacher, do start another Big Fight here (comments are for that purpose ;-) ), or if you are one who endorse new age, share with me the thought.I like much philosophical debating…. but Mido… Wait…. Hold on for a second, dont take my word too long… I also like a quote from Gibran’s Sand and Foam:
Said a philosopher to a street sweeper, “I pity you. Yours is a hard and dirty task.”
And the street sweeper said, “Thank you, sir. But tell me what is your task?”
And the philosopher answered saying, “I study man’s mind, his deeds and his desires.”
Then the street sweeper went on with his sweeping and said with a smile, “I pity you too.”
Just a sarcastic joke on philosphers. Never mind!
Journey East with Yes to the River!
After nearly three years I had the chance to listen to one of favorite music albums: Yes to the River, by Music from the World of Osho. I cannot explain the joy (or ecstasy, better) of listening to this music album in mere words.
For the joy was two-fold. First being the intrinsic soothing nature of the music and other being listening to it after a long time. It was a kind feeling…. feeling of meeting your old friend whom you love much but missed his presence for long for various reasons. In my case, I missed Yes to the River for three years because the cassette used worn out after repeated use (I cannot blame the cassette, it worked hard for me till its last breathe). And I didnt buy another copy of that cassette for I need to travel to a nearby City to buy it.
Of all the tracks, I like the Journey East, Festival of Lights, and Peacocks and Swans. No doubt all other tracks are equally soothing. I listened to Journey East, in repeat mode, until the serenity of the track entered into me. If you want to know the best of what Eastern music can do in fusion with western instruments, Yes to the River, by Music from the World of Osho, is a real bet. In general, Music from the World Osho are very poetic in expression and the track titles play as much as a role as the music. To understand this you must really listen to a few tracks by yourself. Here are the tracks listing from Yes to the River.
01 - The Manifesto
02 - Festival Of Lights
03 - Pratiksha
04 - Garden Of The Beloved
05 - Satsang Celebration
06 - Here In My Heart
07 - Doorway To The Heart
08 - Chopping Wood
09 - Lunar Eclipse
10 - Journey East
11 - Peacocks And Swans
12 - Footsteps Of Silence
13 - The Unsayable
Promoting a Child Rapist Music? I am ashamed
While I was writing this post, I received an email from one of my friend who closely reads my blog. The email hurt me a lot and put myself in a moral dilemma. For I never knew that Oliver Shanti had developed a bad reputation for himself by involving in massive crimes, sexually exploiting children (over thousand, it is said) until my friend said those in his email. The mail shocked me to the core and made me think a lot about why I should write a music post on such a person? Should I just look at his music and shouldn’t bother about his personal life (public crimes) when I write a music review?
I like this music of Oliver Shanti but I dont know if I will listen it anymore after reading some horrible facts about Oliver Shanti.