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I first heard ALOBO NAGA & THE BAND on VH1 when their video of PAINTED DREAMS was making its rounds. Honestly after listening to it the first time I didn’t realize what a good band they were. Little did I know I was humming their song a while later and then the realization hit me that this is not just another band. And of course, VH1 rarely showcases Indian artists until and unless they are very well off or just too good to ignore. So hearing ALOBO NAGA & THE BAND alongside NILADRI KUMAR, DREAM OUT LOUD, SHAAIR + FUNC and others on VH1 seemed like the appropriate thing. A few days later and a couple of hours of research into the band cemented my conviction in their music.

Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the great sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, has with her new album given herself a new direction and expanded her horizons. One could argue that music is in her blood and therefore she grasps more attention because of her lineage rather than her music but her experimentation with her genre, especially in TRAVELLER, does to some extent prove that perhaps her intentions are to create an identity for herself rather than step into the shoes of her father. As is the case with many children of established classical musicians, they tend to be overshadowed by the monumental achievements and talent of their parents and cannot properly fill the void that they seem to be confronted with.

For lack of a better word, “curious” would definitely be the word to describe Harsha Iyer’s album CURIOUS TOYS. It seems to me that Chennai has become a hub for Experimental/Krautrock type of music. This movement has yet to grasp the music scene of the rest of India which still slumbers peacefully in the lap of either Metal or Alternative Rock. It is a great surprise to see how the youth are finally taking the initiative to independently produce music of the own and remain faithful to their likes and dislikes. Harsha Iyer, a 19 year old Indie musician, has spearheaded this movement with his debut album that has been received with open arms by the changing moods of people’s music choices.

We are all under the impression that there is only so little, one artist can probably compose. But seldom do we realize that it gives you the freedom to do whatever you feel like creating; after all too many cooks do spoil the broth. I was never in favour of bands anyways. It prohibits the creative storm clouds from brewing and gaining new ground and hence hinders the process of composition and out of the box thinking. Why should anyone compromise with their ideas? After all ideas are what keeps us going from day to day. Prateek Kuhad’s self-titled E.P has all the making of a true Blues or Jazz artist. Of course, it will take time to mature into a full blown Jazz musician but musical talent does not have any age, gender or race. Some artists are born with it, while some spend their whole lives searching for that iota of musical genius in them. First impressions are sometimes enough to gauge the potential and expertise of musicians and these impressions are the ones that will define the artist in the years to come.

It takes a great deal of effort to put emotions into words. More so to write a song that one means or believes in quite religiously. Perhaps somewhere down the line every artist has to compromise with his emotions to produce music that turns out to be something quite different had it not been under commercial pressure. With a great deal of relief I can say that ADAM & THE FISH EYED POETS embodies an idea quite antithetical to it. Plain and simply, it is raw. But this rawness is its most delightful trait. It is brutally honest; it resonates and amplifies the most basic emotions from some dark, hidden corner of the listener’s mind. That is a thing in itself. This new form of music so under embellished and bare, is perhaps more of a return to the good old days, and stands tall as a counter force to music produced with a commercial intent. Honestly, if my opinion was of any vital importance (though it isn’t!) this artist has single handedly restored my faith in the Indian Underground Music, which until now, according to me, was just floating on the surface, on the verge of drowning.

As a citizen of Kolkata myself, I have often been amidst extraordinarily talented musicians over the years and still seem to do so every now and then. Obviously there is no lack of musical genius here, and the close proximity to the Rock capital of India has blessed it with innumerable number of amazing artists, soulful singer-songwriters and countless bands. So DARK PROJECT’s LIBERTY & ENTROPY was from my perspective under a lot of pressure to outdo and outmatch the many able and gifted bands the City of Joy has produced. So technically it would be nothing less than a monumental task to set itself apart from the madding music crowd and bring to the forefront a piece of work that is refreshingly extraordinary, brimming with talent and possessing tremendous potential for growth.

CAESAR'S PALACE is a band composed of Narayanan Nambudripad, Anurag Shanker, Kishan Balaji, Kenneth Wilson and Jason Zachariah. In a music scene primarily overcrowded by Heavy, Thrash or Progressive Metal, CAESAR'S PALACE is nothing less than a boon for listener’s preferring the lighter side of the music spectrum. Whether one calls them Blues, Jazz, Funk, Disco or anything in between is hardly to be considered as long as the music is enchanting and songs, melodic. It is the debut albums or E.P‘s and the few to follow that determine a band’s life span in a music scene which is always under a state of constant flux. Hence MINDFIELD which is a combination of strict adherence to musical traditions as well as deviation from it is what sets it apart from all the other albums that keep coming out every now and then.