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.

Candiria - The Process of Self Development

I can't believe this band has existed for 17 years. The band calls their style Urban Fusion. post-rock-mathprog-electro-pop-grind-rap-core-ambient-dnb-jazz-metal. you are free to insert as many genres in the - in the previous sentence. Thats a pretty accurate description of their genre. These guys switch from heavy groove metal to latin jazz and along the way throw in a hip-hop interlude or noodling space rock riffs. Now, this may not be everyone's idea of music, but if you like listening to crazy stuff and you don't care to label your music as this or that, you'll love Candiria. I have listened to all their previous albums and just downloaded their 2008 release "Kiss the lie". Get The Process of Self Development now!

Mastodon - Leviathan

Beware! Collosal metal grooves will crush you. Brann dailor is a drumming monster gone berzerk. His heavy drum rolls swirl in and out of the tune, completely swallowing it at times. This kind of metal drumming very rarely comes by, if ever. This is one of the few modern metal bands that actually lend the term modern any meaning. The angry screams of Troy Sanders are so apt for the music. The vocals are quite varied on the album and get pretty innovative in tracks like Seabeast. The guitarist lays down the perfect riffage which sometimes gets amazingly bluesy for the high powered rhythms that Dailor plays. Oddly, it feels as though it is the drummer's heavy fill based drumming that's driving the album unlike the more conventional guitar based structure. Finally, the track Hearts Alive - the longest in the album, clocking 13 mins is one of my favourite tracks by Mastodon. It starts off as a sober piece and takes the listener through a sonic journey which only a band of this caliber can create - not to mention the amazing guitar solo towards the end of the track. This album features some of the best heavy metal chops displayed in the recent years. This one is not for kids or the light hearted. Be ready to get destroyed

Agalloch - The Mantle

Agalloch is a band from the US. The Mantle can be described using any number of tags like folk, black, doom, stoner, psychedelic or even post-rock, as the wikipedia page suggests. This is a rare piece of work - a dark primeval sound created using atmospheric effects and amazing acoustic guitar melodies. The guitar work is quite minimalist and that makes the album sound beautifully space rock-ish, at the same time creating a desolate but strangely peaceful mood. If you are into any of the genres I mentioned above, get this.

Unquestionable Presence

I've listened to Unquestionable Presence by Atheist a few times recently after a gap of about 2 years. And I rediscovered what a delight it is. This is aggressive, death-thrash-jazz-funk stuff with tons of jaw-dropping riffs. The album opener Mother Man is sheer genius. The song immediately makes clear what to expect from the album. The drumming is mind-numbingly precise and lays down the perfect basis for the ensuing madness. The bass keeps switching between maniacal gallops and crazed funk slap. Kelly Shaefer's vocal work is spot on. This is one heck of an album, one of metal's greatest.

My bass

I bought these yesterday!