Slacksuite

I've started composing some music. The first song is kind of ready. Its called Curious and can be found at slacksuite. Thanks to my good friend Vikas for writing the drum track for the song.

Leaving Home - The Life and Music of Indian Ocean

I finally got the movie. Don't ask how! The movie is everything that I expected it to be and much more. Indian Ocean is a band that has been through a long and arduous journey before they found mainstream credit. The movie takes us through the memory lane of the band right from their childhood, to the early 80s when the band was conceived through to the present day.
It's interesting to see the band members and their family members talk about their backgrounds and the process of discovering their sound. We also get to see ex-band members whose words leave no doubt in the viewer's mind that Sushmit Sen (guitars) and the late Asheem Chakravarty (vocals, percussion) always believed in their music, although the band was never taken seriously until much later in their career. It wasn't until they met Rahul Ram (vocals, bass) and Amit Kilam (drums, keyboards) that they became a formidable musical unit that was able to fuse traditional Indian folk music with improvisational tendencies of jam bands in a manner that has never been done before. The band draws its inspiration from sources as diverse as the tribes of Narmada valley, the folk music of Rajasthan, Kashmir, Bihar, Assam and interprets the music in a manner that is uniquely Indian Ocean.
The movie not only talks about the band but also indirectly brings to focus the things that are wrong with the music scene in the country. It is almost painful to see the band talk about them getting rejected by every record label that they approached, because a record executive felt their music was not a product that'd make millions through mass sales. Sushmit narrates an incident when he went to the UK in hope of finding takers for their music. There too he was rejected because they weren't an authentic "Indian" band - in the sense that they use guitars and bass instead of more traditional Indian instruments. That was when the band had decided to release the album on their own. It is also interesting to know that Desert Rain, the first album of the band, is also the first and probably the only live album release of an Indian band until now. Sadly the movie didn't do much to widen the audience of their music, but it has set a trend for things to follow. Hopefully more such movies see the light of day!

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley has been on the to-read list for a long time but not until recently - I saw a copy of Brave New World and picked it up finally. I love 1984, but I like Brave New World better. Huxley approaches things in a very scientific manner, laying the basis for the story upon a set of basic axioms he believes will help create a completely mind controlled future. I also picked up this other book written by him called The Devils of Loudun. Its a non-fiction novel set in 17th century France amidst all the Catholic hysteria surrounding people who practice the "old" religion i.e., witchcraft. It's a brilliantly researched upon book. Huxley provides numerous references to books that have been written on related subjects, for anyone who cares about it. There are also a lot of Latin passages and quotes sprinkled all over the place - this is where I kind of do not completely get what he is talking about - but they do not take anything away from the superb description of the prevailing beliefs and situations. I right in the middle of the book, I'm reading it kind of slowly, but I'm sure will finish it in a few days.
   There is also a movie based on the book, called The Devils. The director is interestingly Ken Russell, the director of Altered States, one of the weirdest and coolest sci-fi movies I've seen.

VALIS

I recently finished reading VALIS, a highly acclaimed work of Philip K. Dick. I have been a huge fan of Philip K. Dick since I first saw Waking Life and later A Scanner Dartkly. Richard Linklater, the director of the two movies happens to be a big fan too and frequently uses ideas of Philip K. Dick. I had read a few of Dick's books in the past - A Scanner Darkly, Counter-Clock World, Our Friends from Frolix 8, Time Out of Joint. While I thoroughly enjoyed each one of those reads, it wasn't until I read VALIS that I had discovered the true genius in Dick's writings. Highly enjoyable!

Mirror

Mirror is the fourth Andrei Tarkovsky movie I've seen. The first two being Stalker and Solaris, arguably two of the best sci-fi movies ever made. The third one is actually a short called The Steamroller and the Violin. Mirror wasn't a sci-fi movie, but what beauty! It's full of stunning imagery. Tarkovsky's movies helped me redefine my notion of the movie medium - that the image is more important than anything else. The story, the plotline, the background music are all secondary. If hollywood isn't your cup of tea, please do yourself a favor by watching Tarkovsky's movies.

David Cronenberg

I saw A History of Violence in college. It wasn't such a special movie. After that I luckily chanced upon a few of his other movies on the TV and wow, is he crazy or what. He is known for developing this genre called body horror, most of his themes deal with horrors of bodily transformations and infections etc. You have to watch his movies to really understand what I'm saying. Definitely some of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. Recommended :
  The Fly
  eXistenZ
  Naked Lunch
  Dead Ringers
  Eastern Promises
Eastern Promises wasn't in the sci-fi genre but it was still pretty good.
Each one of these movies left me with a feeling of uneasiness which I haven't experienced too many times in life.

Remember this rockumentary?

.. called Leaving Home? Too bad, it played only one show in Hyderabad city at 11:00 AM on 3rd April, in only one theater. I didn't get to watch it too.
And.. that's the kind of fan following we have in India for the band Indian Ocean. I remember seeing the ticker on a news channel saying Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean was releasing nationwide on 2nd April. My joy new no bounds. Indian Ocean is one of the most understated bands of our time. I've been an ardent follower of the band ever since I first heard them in 2003, listening to all of their albums regularly even now. It always beat me why these guys were so obscure. Obscure is not exactly the word, thanks to Bandeh and Kandisa. The lack of an ecosystem in India for independent music is disheartening. The movie Leaving Home has proved it. I'm hoping there will be a DVD release of this movie. You can read more about this movie at Director Jaideep Varma's blog.