World Class Listening Problem

I got hold of their latest release. Damon Che proves once again that he is one of the most prolific drummers in the scene today. The spirit of the band hasn't changed at all inspite of Damon being the only member from the previous line-up. They've only gotten more jazzier and the songs are much lesser in length compared to Don Caballero 2, their most acclaimed album. Highly recommended for math rock enthusiasts.

Recent Finds

I've become a fan of Cake. I've heard just one album of theirs (Comfort Eagle) and it left me on the lookout for more Cake. If you like funky music with witty lyrics, you will like the album.

I somehow gathered up the courage to listen to Converge's 2004 album titled You Fail Me and needless to say, it pummelled me. They are one of the most hard-hitting bands I've ever heard. It doesn't make sense to talk about the talents of a band like Converge. You Fail Me runs on similar lines as Petitioning an Empty Sky with a brilliant slow paced song placed appropriately on the album. The last song on the album, Hanging Moon, has to be one of the most abrupt endings one could write for a record. Respect for Converge!

Vicious Circle

How often does one go to a rock show in India and listen to original music? I'd like to see Indian bands play more original compositions. There are two sides to the issue actually. Firstly, we need an open minded audience that is willing to give a new band a chance. The second issue is that the music has to be good in order that the crowd likes it. For example, if you take Zero, a band that has managed to create a very unique sound, it is no surprise that they have sold more albums than most other bands in the scene. In fact in their concerts it’s fairly common to see the audience requesting for their original compositions and actually sing along with the band. On the other hand, we have a whole spectrum of the average run of the mill bands which sound no different from a dozen other acts. Being able to replicate popular rock anthems is good musicianship, whereas creating your own rock anthem for the masses is true musicanship. When will we see all original set lists at gigs? I don't see it happening in the near future. I’ll explain why. Bands that do create good original music unfortunately don’t get the recognition they deserve for lack of backing by record labels, which are very skeptical about signing a home-grown rock band irrespective of how good the band is. This skepticism arises out of a multitude of factors including piracy. There are well known cases of brilliant bands which sold an insultingly small number of albums, for lack of a loyal fan base. The situation is worsened when even the so called diehard fans are satisfied with downloadable mp3s. Why we never borrowed the concept of independent music labels from other music cultures is a little baffling. Although the situation is slowly improving with a few independent studios coming up, there is a long way to go before we see an Indian rock band sell more than a couple of thousand albums. Owing to all these reasons, even groups that have real potential are forced to disband sooner or later. If you heard a good album by an Indian band, would you buy it? Do you like any Indian band? If so, do you own their CD? Or are you happy listening to the pirated mp3s on your computer? Thermal and a Quarter is a talented funk rock band from Bangalore who released their second album for free on the internet. The album is aptly titled Plan B. I sincerely hope the plan works out for them. I have also heard some promising EPs from heavier acts like IIIrd Sovereign and I’m sure there are more emerging bands out there. Only time will tell us if the rock scene in our country is going to get any better.

- I had written this a long time ago and happened to find it by chance on my computer. There are a few Indian bands that I actually enjoy listening to. For example, Zebediah Plush's Afterlaughs is pretty good and I love some of the stuff on it. Demonic Resurrection's "A Darkness Descends" is a very good metal album. Hoping for more good music from our very own desi bands. And ofcourse, the best contemporary Indian rock band according to me is Zero. Older bands like Indus Creed, Rock Machine and Colourblind are quality acts too.

Livewire

I missed Bruteforce, the first band to play in the livewire competition. I saw them live atleast a couple of times earlier and loved some of their covers but never enjoyed their original compositions all that much. Hypnosis was amazing. It was really nice to see good, solid rock and roll (meaning Hendrix) in the livewire finals. The band's originals were very good too. If my memory serves me right, one of them was called Walk Away and it rocked. This was the number one band of the night for me which my made my visit to the open air theater worth it. Next up were Skincold, a nu-metal act, who were playing in livewire finals for the second time. I think they were called off stage before their time was up, as is generally the case with most rock shows around here. The band played two originals and was tight but not brilliant. The vocalist could have been better.

The pro bands were to play next. Demonic Resurrection played three of their most popular songs in the order Darkness Descends, Frozen Portrait and Apocalyptic Dawn. The drummer was all over the place. JP no longer plays drums for the band if you did not know. Sahil blabbered something about this guy, Vikram, who flew all the way from some place to play with them that night. Sahil's vocals were extremely bad in my opinion. Although I really love the band, I thought this was one of their no-so-good gigs I attended until now. Themclones came next and played a few pointless originals and some bad covers including the sacred RATM tracks Freedom and Killing in the name of. The singer can't sing for nuts and on top of that he tried acting really "pro" by throwing water on the crowd and using profanities on stage. The unoriginal swashbuckling heroes of Indian rock, Parikrama were up next. They were accompanied by a violinist and a percussionist this time. They belted out some regurgitated bullshit to please the crowd which was so eager to listen to their messed up Led Zeppelin, Floyd, Coldplay and AC DC covers. I wish they stopped playing music for the sake of music. I left the auditorium after their second song, but fell prey to their aural crap while I was trying to eat something at a nearby canteen. Overall, a very average Livewire yet again from the Mood Indigo team.