Baran | PARVAAZ | Music Review

Album : Baran

by PARVAAZ

Listen Here | Buy Here

I was initially reluctant to buy the album, mainly because I was told that the songs were mostly written in Urdu and Kashmiri, two languages I had no clue whatsoever. Luckily enough, the songs somehow appeared at gaana.com and when I started listening, again reluctantly, the album surprisingly managed to hook me from the very first song. After three songs, I went straight to OKListen! and bought it. 99 bucks. Worth it? Totally. And how.

We are greeted with the sound of a siren with the opening song Beparwah, as if something is on fire. The song is truly on fire, Khalid Ahamed's searing vocals  and Sachin Banandur's brilliant drums gives a colossal high energy start. But Ab Ki Yeh Subah diverts from the initial set mood completely, taking a more tender route, led by the lazy guitar strumming on a breezy tune. It gains momentum midway, though maintaining the grace. Lyrics here are amazing, I have to say. Couldn't understand the lyrics of Gul Gushan much but the sound is inherently mysterious, spiritual and the song progresses like an enchanting prayer on the back drop of refreshing natural sounds. Kashmiri folk influences are evident in Roz Roz and the song works wonders in pushing the listener into an abyss of nostalgia. I myself found stuck in high school memories by the time the song ended. Enchantingly magical, the song is! The 13 minute title song is better heard lying down, your eyes closed. It changes sound several times, from a bluesy base to a  somewhat Bon Iver-ish mood. Not quite a fan of this one and couldn't quite understand the various voice overs. Ghaib is a younger brother to Ab Ki Yeh Subah, similar settings prevail. Guitr strums, a free flowing tune and broody vocals. Generic sounds could be heard in Fitnah, though the haunting vocals does the trick. Ziyankar on the other hand intrigues with slow-jazz sounds mixed with full blown guitars.

Baran, meaning rain in Urdu, is without doubt, an impressive effort. Like a fresh drizzle of rain, the songs hinges you one by one. The four piece band based on Bangalore are incredibly talented and have to be watched out for.

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Attuned Spirits | Vasuda Sharma | Indipop Music Review

Attuned Spirits Music Review

Artist : Vasuda Sharma

Listen to the album online HERE
or 

Buy the album legally HERE

Vasuda Sharma was an unknown name for me until I heard Maajhi on YouTube one fine day. I took a liking for it and have been following Vasuda since then.  From the research I've done, Vasuda Sharma is part of Aasma, the pop band which surfaced from the second edition of the band hunt reality show Channel [V] Popstars. The status of the band is unknown, but some of the other members have made their own name in Bollywood, Neeti Mohan and Sangeet Haldipur, to name. Vasuda had composed for a movie in 2010, then went on to study at The Berklee School of Music for an year. Attuned Spirits is her return act I guess. Another interesting fact is that the album is fully funded by crowd sourcing! That is quite appreciable, for the crowd sourcing culture is yet to grow in India, some good demonstrations are needed.
So all said and done, the expectations from Attuned Spirits, Vasuda's solo debut album, are definitely pretty high! Taking a look.

Maajhi gives a heady start, the free flowing composition work magic with Vasuda's soulful vocals! The Hinglish lyrics gets along well, makes the song soothing to core. #Repeat

Sax is the highlight of the otherwise too superbly arranged Meera bhajan remake Giridhar. Here again, the melodic backbone is pretty strong which gets to another high with the well refined singing bit. #Repeat

Almost the same can be said for the breezy Barsan Lage Nain, though it takes more of a classical route towards the end portions and stands out, obviously. #Repeat

Love-drenched lyrics of  Laagi Lagan demonstrates Vasuda's excellent range and vocal variations while the strings and occasional Violin gives highly pleasing results! #Repeat

Classical base of Jaagi Jaagi Raina is evident, though not very clear and while Vasuda moves gracefully with her vocals, the arrangements simply stand out! A smooth amalgamation of Sax, Violin, Keys and Guitar (and some other indiscernible instruments too) provides one hell of background! #Repeat

Calling out to you aptly alternates between a modern, frothy outlook and an intense pathos led avatar, and the Cello along with the keys, Violin and Guitar are used to brilliant effect! #Repeat

Perplexing is the word for the heavily unconventional sounds behind Maula! The Kabir dohas are skillfully stuffed into an ensemble of sounds with an Arabic feel in parts while switching to a bass led metal like sound towards the end! #Repeat

Dhola somehow changes the entire mood of the album. Mainly because of  its rich and joyful Rajasthani dance base which gets along wonderfully with Vasuda's sweet and perky vocals! #Repeat

With Keep the Faith the album does a somersault again, this time to land on an aggressive Emo base! Vasuda sounds passionately deft and expressive while conveying the deeply laid out emotions of the lyrics with fantastic skill! #Repeat

The genre switches to bluesy base in Cruel World but the prospects aren't much exciting here, not really. The guitar interludes are great BTW which somehow raises the bar of the otherwise average composition. 

The immensely swayful tune works in great favor of Never Lose your Heart which feature a lilting A capella-ish background! Spritely singing by Vasuda helps. #Repeat

Verdict : Back with a bang?! Definitely. Attuned Spirits doesn't go wrong anywhere along the way. A masterful association of world music with Indian roots, the album is a steal! And Vasuda Sharma has taken me by surprise! She is a lot of talent. Composing, singing, arranging. I mean, how many Indian girls are out there doing all these things together and with a mellifluous perfection? Oh yes, the spirits are attuned and good things are happening to Indipop again! :D

Must Hears! : The Entire Album

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Again, buy the album legally HERE. For Rs. 100, 11 bloody good songs are totally worth it!

P.S : Here is an article published in Rolling Stone where Vasuda talks about the album, song by song. If you want to dig deep into the classical bases that is the raga and stuff of the songs, this might help.
http://bit.ly/1c9HPNP

And here are the two accompanying videos released.

Alai Wave of Bliss | Sounds of Isha | Indipop Music Review

Alai - Wave of Bliss Music Review

Band : Sounds of Isha

Buy the Album Here at a 'Name your price' basis. Get it for free if you don't want to pay.

Prelude : For those who don't know, Sounds of Isha is the home band of the Isha Foundation, you can get more info Here.
Isha Foundation's or rather Sadhguru's spiritual influence is generally expected from the album. Written and composed by Sounds of Isha during a series of Mahasathsangs with Sadhguru across South India, Alai boasts of profound lyrics with deep inner meanings. Being made completely in Tamil, a dominance of native sounds and classical influence seems like an unavoidable element. A visit to Isha Foundations website thankfully gave the lyrics of all the songs and can't really help being a bit enchanted by the sheer eloquence of the lyrics!

Alai Alai is the perfect start, the fisherman's song presumably, a colloquial tune set to wonderful guitar riffs, enhanced with the nuanced sound of Mridangam and the spritely chants of the chorus!
Kanale Kanale is more folk in the core, both the singing style and instruments announces so, while the poetic lyrics of Sri Marabin Maindhan Muthiah gets a highly rhythmic and addictive tune!
Oru Anniyar is folk genre again, sounds more like a 'pulluvan song' going by the alluring sound of the violin like instrument(pulluvan pattu) and the constant beats of pulluvan kutam, but then the nadaswaram comes in between resulting in somewhat a hybrid natured song, yet engaging in every way!
Oru Murai has predominant Carnatic classical base, the free flowing composition sung to grace by Narayan Parasuram given lift off by VV Ravi's brilliant Violin with some inspiring lyrics!
September 23 is perhaps the most spiritual of the lot, the haunting vocals merged with the deeply rich lyrics given classical treatment produces something with a resilient divine mood!
The absolutely graceful tune of Something Something works big time, an ample melody strong in the composition department gets to another high with the confident yet soothing vocals!
Un Padham sounds like a fervid prayer, the traditional temple rhythm backed by apt instrumentation(Mridangam and Flute) gives highly pleasing results!

Verdict : Sounds of Isha doesn't go wrong anywhere in Alai. It is a wonderful ensemble of brilliant tracks with some equally brilliant lyrical backbone. Nothing below than a must buy, the album enchants you, inspires you and puts you to sleep, evoking questions about life we've chosen to ignore until now hovering in your head. If it is spiritual, then it is beautiful!

Must Hears! : The whole album!

Buy the Album Here 


4.25/5
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Trivia : The name September 23 comes from the date on which the song was first performed!

Press Play | Adnan Sami | Indipop Music Review

Press Play Music
Music Director & Artist : Adnan Sami

Listen Online the Album Here
or
Buy the tracks LEGALLY Here

Note : Buying the tracks legally instead of downloading them off piracy websites will definitely make a difference here, since it is an independent album and the revenue comes ONLY and solely from the album sales.
You downloading pirated tracks = You killing the album.

Ali Ali is well sung, with the sufi touch ringing into the interesting Qawaali-ish arrangements. Good hear.!
Roya and Mein Tere paas Hun are ruddy brilliant, trademark Adnan Sami stamped poignant love ballads complete with sonorous heart touching arrangements and soulful singing! Is anyone complaining about the 'Kisi Din' hangover? I'm definitely not, coz its quite unnecessary, for the songs stand out on their own! Great.!
Mere Baap Ka Kya Jata Hai tries to be funny with quirky lyrics and manages to impress somewhat with all that gully tune and energetic singing. Not really buy worthy, will work better behind a good video.
Kudi Tight is nothing great, templated Punjabi dance track, predictable to core. But then it manages to appeal for once, thanks to the careful placements of arrangements and lyrics that are quite wacky.
Karun Na Yaad gives another great listen, while remaining in league with Roya and Mein Tere, this soft-yet-intense ghazal gets an urbane treatment which somehow holds it different!
Baba is passionate, the singer's tribute to his father for whom he is desperately searching, made evident through the good lyrics and expressed with soul in singing! Great hear!
Dua De has an intriguing soft jazz-pop sound, quite likable romantic track. Good one!
Ali Ali and Roya appear in Remixes, quite unnecessary.

Verdict : Press Play is Adnan Sami in pure form, showcasing what he does best. A well composed and well sung album with all those feel good melodies and couple of heart touching ballads, definitely worth the money and time you spend on it. I'd say, go for it, add the tracks to your playlist and press play!

Must Hears! : Roya, Mein Tera Paas Hun, Karun na yaad, Baba


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Thagni | Shreyas & Abhas | Indipop Music Review

Thagni  Music
Music Direction : Shreyas and Abhas

Mora Siyaan is plain, slow and soothing, pleasingly orchestrated and sung gracefully. Good hear!
Moko Kahan Dhunde is pure bliss, ghazalish tune given upper lift by flawless singing! Grt hear!
Maya Thagni  takes more of an anthem-ish, classical route with mixed results even with interesting lyrics.
Tohe Piya was painfully old school, Falguni Pathak type love song giving an average hear.
Man Logo Mero Yaar 2012 is another take on the age old Kabir Bhajan, soulfully composed, which is nevertheless good.
Ud Jayega is ear pleasing soft rock, soulful and catchy with a nice amalgamation of interesting arrangements. Good Hear!
Jheeni Re is tender sounding pleasant composition sung equally expressively and passionately with inspirational lyrics and simple low profile arrngements. Grt hear!

Verdict : Thagni is an impressive collection of  some fervid melodies which you won't regret hearing. Good attempt, could have been better.

Songs To Hear : Mora Siyaan, Moko Kahan, Ud Jayega, Jheeni Re