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Paradigm Shift has been around since 2008, jamming, touring, and fusing with old Hindustani and Indian Classical music and Contemporary Indian Rock music. An impressive experiment, one might say, but one that’s been tried unsuccessfully by bands who are unsure of where they stand on the genre scale. ‘Another fusion band? Ha!’ you smirk. Wait till you listen to this one, smirkers.

Since more than ten years now, Mumbai-based SPLIT has been in and out of the scene, mastering the stage at live venues. After seven years, when they released their first E.P, P IS FOR PIG in 2008, which was really a compilation of their best live songs, fans wondered when they would get to hear newer material from the band which gets mentioned whenever someone talks about the top independent acts in the country. Finally, we have a full-length album of theirs, produced by the Kiwi producer Zorran Mendonsa who apart from being a previous band member himself, has also worked with GODDESS GAGGED and THEM CLONES as producer.

The members of PAAPI 4 call their genre Humor Rock. Their debut album PAAP released through SAREGAMA RECORDS, is a mix of seven tracks and was released in October last year. Well, Humor Rock does put you in anticipation of lots of comedic elements in the music. Lonely island comes to mind with the mention of humor music. But PAAP is less about that, and more about the freedom of day-to-day Hindi slang in song lyrics, which do make the songs interesting to hear at first listen. If you can count on yourself to jump with joy at a regular five minute mundane conversation between you and your friend making it to the lyrics of a song word by word, the album’s going to bring you oodles of joy. Nothing comedic though. What you can watch out for is some very good quality sound recording, and hope to catch the band live some day, because that would be the time these songs would get the right response.

One thing very noticeable about INDIAN OCEAN is the extremity of its fans. The fans who love them absolutely worship the band, while those who don’t will not be found changing sides. There is a certain ‘feel’ that is associated to INDIAN OCEAN, something that was missing in popular Indian music before, something that they brought to our notice, and that they have continued doing all these years. You cannot be unsure of whether you like INDIAN OCEAN “sometimes” or only on “some of their songs”. Once an INDIAN OCEAN fan is always a fan. And even when you’re a fan, it takes time getting used to and liking their sound, but you eventually do. It is important to start this review with India’s oldest and probably only Fusion Rock band, because that is where it began, after all, for its lead guitarist Susmit Sen, as he adds another feather to his cap with his debut solo effort DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN.

The Alternative scene in Delhi is just about to get hotter with another local band that has entered the mainstream with their debut E.P. Welcome aboard, WHITE BERYL, who with their Alternative/Jam music, and now a self titled debut E.P, have been regularly playing live in Delhi underground circuits and even other cities, colleges and clubs.

There is a sense of contained excitement among the Alternative Rock quartet, WHITE BERYL from Delhi. Reason being, the impending release of their debut E.P, INCREDULOUS which takes their music, played live at various venues, in and around Delhi and other cities, a good, huge step forward.

Electro-rockers SKY RABBIT from Mumbai, Maharashtra sure are a bunch of cool lads. Simplicity and class reeks off their second full length self-titled album, and they come across not as amateur music makers trying to find their own sound, but as a group of confident and talented musicians who have not only discovered their sound, but are also accomplished to a certain extent in taking it to the next level – which is producing an album that is great to listen to, and fun to keep humming away.

Rock guitarist and co-founder of DREAM OUT LOUD, one of the biggest bands in India, Chandresh Kudwa released his debut solo album CONQUEROR in November this year. The album is an out-and-out solo effort by Chandresh Kudwa with Frank Basile behind the drums and Grammy-winning Bob Katz as producer. Let us see, what do we have in here!

Funk/Alternative rockers from Chennai, FRANKS GOT THE FUNK, fool the listeners in many ways. Firstly, their logo is a skull wearing a hat and smoking a cigarette and no, it’s not a Slash influence. Nor is their music Hard Rock or Grunge. Second, it has a very dark, sinister look about it, which is contrasting to the music they make. 5 tracks and 23 minutes of your life is all FGTF takes of your time to drown you in delightful, melodious, harmonious ‘funk’isms. All this, through their debut album +HE NEX+ LEVEL.

 Before I start off with the E.P. review, a small preface. BLUE SKIES AND PAIGN is the solo project of Saib Bilaval, an independent musician from New Delhi. A few of you who read my reviews would know I say this a lot, but in a time and place where metal music is like those electric mosquito attracters, it’s hard to be tempted to try anything else and expect to get noticed (except the Classical and Fusion genres obviously).