Rahul Ram

It has always annoyed me, how Indian Ocean's Bandeh was sung by the junta ignorantly and in a rock style. Anyway, a cool interview of Rahul Ram.

"Along the way, his marriage broke up. “It began in 2001. But we didn’t divorce for the longest time. Thing is, there was a lot of affection.”

That was a tough period. “Unusually,” he stresses the word, “I was depressed, for about a year. Then one day I was up in the hills, and it suddenly burst on me. Yaar, you were not made to be sad. If your wife wants to leave, let her go. If she’s okay, she’s okay; if she’s not, she’s not."

Am a big fan of their music, even though the word 'their' does not mean the same group of people it seems.

Melt

Nick has a way of melting my innards. The saxophone, the flute, the bass, the guitar, the piano and his voice.

Kshay

Revolutionary Road meets Trainspotting in India. Not suggesting that the creators of this movie copied from any other movie - am just referring to how deeply thought-provoking, social, intense and terribly depressing this movie was.
An absolutely wonderful creation shot in black and white - good idea though because it focuses attention on the characters. I haven't heard such wonderful use of music in a while now and the story was simple yet filmed in a brilliant way. Even with the use of expressionism, the director didn't tire the audience as it happened in that god-awful movie: The Tree of Life.
Rasika Dugal was awesome and it was her movie through and through.

Thoughts:
Why was the sculptor kid such an angry boy?
Why was Chhaya obsessed with the stone?
Why did Laxmi always look at Chhaya?
Could losing a child during pregnancy be that disturbing?
Would Chhaya have been the same if she would not have cared for the neighbour's kid in the beginning of the movie?
Why was Arvind oblivious to everything?
Is India finally becoming like the West, where social support is difficult to find?
If life really is that difficult, why do people struggle through it?
Would a dead spouse be better than a dead self?

I went for this movie because a friend recommended it. I didn't know the meaning of Kshay until I came back home after the movie. The progression towards the end.
"Do you know what a woman goes through when her child has died and she will never know what it would be like to ever give birth to one of her own? Do you know what it's like when she is left all alone at home with nothing to do with her life?"

The Beatles!!

I was driving to work today and a song played and I heard myself singing along and tapping my foot (while driving) and just lost myself. It went on my BB status. And then I thought that I need to blog about these guys...

I feel fine, Can't buy me love!, All you need is love, Imagine, Help!, With a little help from my friends, Love me do, She loves you (yeah yeah yeah!!), Yesterday... and even after listing these songs, readers of this post will say.. "Hey! you missed out on "this" song..!!!"
The Beatles will be classic and timeless; when I heard "I feel fine" today morning I didn't realise that it had been released in 1964! That is 47 years ago!! Ridiculous eh??! The song feels like a 2011 release :)
There is humour and light-ness and flakiness and love and romance and joy and philosophy and sincerity in their songs. Lennon's voice is magnificent. Feel bad when people haven't heard songs like "What is life?" - this was sung by George Harrison, so Lennon fans tend not to like him :)
One can listen to The Beatles almost anytime and they can promise to make one think or make one forget thinking :) Cheeeeeerj!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Nick Drake

This is my second post about Nick Drake, the first one is here. I had to write about this (as I always do :P).
There is a song called 'Milk and Honey'. Nick sung this song which was originally by Jackson C. Frank in a 1965 album. Before he starts strumming his guitar and singing, Nick mumbles something so beautiful :D
"What could I do? What would be interesting?" But he says it more like... "Whattt-uh could-iii dooo-uh?" and when he says this, he is adorable or as my friend described it - orgasmic.
It is sad that he is no more.

Sigur Rós

The western classical music of today. This is the genre to which Sigur Ros fits.
I have 4 albums by them and I don't understand a single song; however, it is one of my preferred artists when driving or when sitting at home. I can listen to them when I am writing and even when I am reading. I have tried listening to true 'western classical' but cannot find the same temperament.
Sigur Ros is a true treasure of today. Today, with its loud music, independent styles, bold lyrics and unsoulful but excellent melodies, is a fantastic petri dish for various forms of music and expressions - in that clutter (even though I haven't heard as much music as I would like to) Sigur Ros stands out as being fiercely independent.
The capitalism of today has its merits - Rehman chose (or so I think) a song by Sigur Ros for the soundtrack of the movie '127 hours'. May be it's going to bring them more recognition, but that is the magic of music isn't it?
To fall in love with a band, an artist or a group that many don't know of, dislike or are ignorant of.

127 Hours

Too many spoilers. Read at will.

My eyes were wet twice during the movie; first during the flooding scene and the next actually made me flinch, when the family of 3 start running towards Aron (James Franco).
The movie itself didn't impress me for the first half but Danny Boyle did something brilliant towards the second. Cropping three scenes into once frame, the music, Sigur Ros and AR Rehman and Jame Franco outdid himself.
During the first half I liked James but not too much, during the second he blew me away. I loved the flashbacks, the dreams/ hallucinations, Rehman's background score. I knew, like many others that he makes it out alive but the movie still gripped me.
It will definitely be a memorable movie. Cheers to Aron Ralston and the spirit within us all.

Special mention to the flashbacks and hallucinations. Absolutely brilliant.

There are odd things I liked about the movie:
The fact that none of the girls were pretty.
The masturbation scene. Some would be humoured by it and I thought it completely natural - momentary pleasure can be wonderful.
The way Aron ran off after saying goodbye to the girls towards the beginning of the movie.
The flashback when he chose not to receive his mother's phone call.
The premonition of him with his son.
The way Aron kisses the hooks when he approaches the cliff after he had sawed off his hand.
How swiftly the canyon flooded, how easily he freed himself and how believably he made it to his girlfriend's house just for the audience to understand that it's some sort of a dream.
The ants on his face.
How the audience is forced to gasp when he drops his bottle of water.

Cannot forget how the family of three ran towards him :) - That scene just gnawed at me from my insides. Something so animalistic about how they ran to help Aron.

The Raghu Dixit Project

I read about this band in the newspaper some days ago, I then moved to youtube to see them perform their song on a BBC show and instantly fell in love with them.
They had an odd South Indian/ Western fusion attire with fusion music; there was an electric violin along with acoustic and electric guitars backed by percussion and tablas; I saw a weird joy in Raghu's singing.
Luckily my friend told me that they were going to perform at Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai (the gig was yesterday). I had to go.
I was so happy with the performance - they seemed like intelligent guys (Raghu is some sort of engineer I believe) and their sound was magnificent. They jumped, swayed and Raghu's voice captured me. Resounding, effortless and full of heart.

There is also a filmy story involved where Raghu had been turned down by production houses because his music wasn't "Bollywood" enough. Vishal and Shekhar heard them perform at Zenzi (Bandra) and decided to launch this guy as the first produce of their new label. The 'Project' has been touring the US, UK and Australia.
I will not be surprised if these guys make it big. Their sound is just so full of joy.

Glee

You know what's missing in most movies nowadays? Heart. They may be cinematically brilliant and the actors might be better performers(?) but a certain truth is missing from even the most sincere movies today.
Glee is not a movie. Glee is a TV show which is also a musical. The TV show is such that I do end up greeting each episode with glee :)
Much of the show is nonsensical and far-fetched but that is exactly what musicals tend to be. Individual stories, songs and the performances tackle the minute miseries of our time. What this show manages to do is not easily describable but I can say that it makes me want to sit back, relax and just watch. I find it funny that I lock my door and try to dance along once in a while. The ease with which I watch it is greater than that while watching FRIENDS or Seinfeld. The show is a must watch.
The problem with TV shows is that it's difficult to sustain the same enthusiasm and art with which the first couple of seasons are created. We shall wait and see.
(Side note: The lead character - Will Schester (Matthew Morrison) - is incredibly cute and hot at the same time. The fact that he is a brilliant dancer just makes it difficult for me to remain straight.)

Drake

Finally, I've decided to write about this artist - Nick Drake. He's dead now, wish he was still creating his art :)
There is a raw emotion in his voice, which by the way is not really sweet or melodious. But it's so truthful. I can see him crying while he was singing his songs. The sad part about this is that I cannot describe the psychological superiority that he may have had.
His words are so simple and yet, amazingly powerful.
The music is just original and can make one cry.
I am disgusted at how poorly I am writing this post because this guy deserves some real words.

"So I leave the ways that are making me what I really don't want to be."

Once

Glen is an emotional, care-free singer who writes meaningfully and the Irish charm pours from his face while he sings.
Marketa has the cutest innocence and a unique accent; she is confused and stuck and sad.
This movie was made whole through the music and creations by Glen Hansard, etc. A sweet movie with a twisted romance that has, what most would believe to be, a sad ending. For me, it signified joy; it was an uncanny, short-lived, memorable and meaningful relationship between Glen and Marketa. Both of them were broken and torn and they saved each other - a fact that is easily overlooked. It seemed a true story and the ease with which Marketa and Glen played their characters made one believe wholly in their stories.

A part that stuck with me:
Marketa playing the piano towards the end of the movie and the look on Glen's face with his eyes shining and his mouth open, as though in horror. She sings well and she looks great and then she breaks down before completing the song. He says nothing, rubs her back and says, "Did you write that for your husband?"
What ensues, can make a viewer so confused and sad and hopeful. The viewer can see how much they fit and how much they care for each other, but Marketa is attached to her child and mother and still longs for her husband. Till the very end, the viewer hopes that they find a way to be together...