Category Archives: Music

Lolita Was a Man Eatah, and other music news…

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URB Artist of the Year- – Mathangi

Its been awhile since we have had an MIA post, and since I know most of you have been waiting with baited breath, here goes. URB Magazine contributor Scott Sterling informed us late last month that mutinous MIA, aka Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam has been named URB magazine’s artist of the year. I am not really surprised, are you? No, it isn’t that she is desi, I just can’t think of one other artist that has been as innovative and influential this year. MIA’s music has been everywhere, from SXSW and Central Park to a Honda commercial and the O.C., and her influence is easily seen in the resurgence of electro-pop in the mainstream: drum machines and synthetic beats all intertwined with elements of various international flavors and hip-hop. Its not that hip-hop his dead, but it is almost as if MIA has added to this new genre of post Hip-Hop. Music with a message, but with danceable, stranger, hip-hop like beats . This sound has been kickinng around the indy hipster scene for awhile–look at bands like Supersystem on Touch and Go, and LCD Soundsystem. This trend seems to now be making its way slowly towards the mainstream. One of the first indicators, Madonna’s latest release, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Scott has promised us he would be posting the full cover story soon. You can of course find more SM on MIA here, and my first post on her here.

This, by the way, wasn’t all we got out of Scott. He gave us the scoop on how DJ Quik found the sample of Kaliyon Ka Chaman, for the first big hip hop record featuring a desi sample. Yeah, I am talking about Truth Hurts featuring Rakim’s–Addictive [click here for a sample] from 2002. Continue reading →

Kundalini Shock Attack

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If you’re a desi in your thirties, you’ve probably got fond memories of Depeche Mode, New Order and the Cure. You might also be nostalgic for the desi songs your parents used to play at home.

Realizing this, an indie band in Dallas got peanut butter in their chocolate and chocolate in their peanut butter (thanks, midwestern eastender). The members first met at UC Berkeley:

… I’ve also recently gotten a CD from the Amrikan Kundalini Shock Attack (I actually found them just by typing in “indotrash” after a conversation with Shiva Soundsystem one night), which has been amusing me all week. Imagine Depeche Mode singing in Hindi and you’d be in the ballpark of their old-school techno-disco style. [Link]

Listen to Kundalini Shock Attack. I still haven’t decided whether this self-proclaimed ‘desi post-dancefloor deconstructionalism… techneurotic… neoretro post-structuralist desiwave’ duo is Spinal Thappad or just sincerely trashy:

The songs evoke an energy that is lysergic, kaleidoscopic and Rangolian. It will blow the saris off all mofos! [Link – PDF]

That pseudo-PoMo humor, however, is pure Berkeley.

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State of the union

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You’re probably familiar with State of Bengal’s iconic drum ‘n bass fusion track, ‘Flight IC408,’ on Talvin Singh’s Anokha. The airport sample below was good for one correct answer on Amardeep’s quiz. Listen here.

[In thickly accented English] Your attention please… Your attention please… Indian Airlines announces the departure of their flight IC408 to Calcutta.

This kickass DJ is spinning at a live show tomorrow in Manhattan. It’s in honor of the third anniversary of Third I New York, the screening group for desi indie films.

Sam, aka State of Bengal… [was] a cutting edge producer/DJ at the infamous ‘Anokha’ club nights… His eruptive tracks ‘Flight IC408’ and ‘Chittagong Chill’, featured on Talvin Singh’s Anokha compilation… remain anthems. State Of Bengal is finalizing his new… album, Skip-IJ… His [set will include] his new tracks.

Also playing: videos for M.I.A., Cornershop, Asian Dub Foundation, Karmacy, Lal, Geto Boys, Gurpreet & Jugular.

State of Bengal at the Sullivan Room, 218 Sullivan btwn Bleecker and W. 3rd, Manhattan; Thursday, Nov. 10, 10pm, videos at 11; $10
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Rock musicians get really high for charity

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Few stories with the words “rock” “band” “huge stone” and “high” are news, but this piqued my interest. Recently, five british musicians, from five different bands, joined together for a charity gig at Everest Base Camp, 5,545m above sea level.

The 40-minute concert, in front of about 100 mountaineers, was to raise money for children victimised by armed conflict in Nepal…. [It] raised almost £30,000 overall to help Nepalese children…. a shelter and skills centre will be set up for the conflict-affected children at Dhulikhel, east of capital Kathmandu…

Rights groups say almost 400 children have died in the nine-year-old armed conflict in Nepal. [Link]

The concert was the highest rock concert in the world. This was actually the second world record set by the organizing charity, British charity The Nepal Balabalika Trust (Trust for Nepalese Children). In September, another group of musicians set the world record for the longest concert by “by performing continuously for almost 44 hours in a bar in London’s Soho district.” [Link]

For more on this story, see their webpage: The Worlds Highest Gig – October 2005

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Eelam Idol

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a guerrilla group in possession of a national flower, must also be in want of a national anthem. The Tamil Tigers, having selected the poisonous Gloriosa Lily as their national flower last year, are now holding a contest for a new patriotic song. [Since 1990 they’ve been raising their flag to the appropriately titled “Look the Flag is Rising”]

Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka are advertising for “bards and minstrels with patriotic fervour” to write a catchy national anthem. The anthem should “symbolize the history of our struggle and victories to future generations,” the rebel statement says.

The lyrics should extol the “virtues of those who sacrificed their lives in Tamil struggle, celebrate the unique qualities of exclusiveness and resourcefulness of the Tamil homeland, and manifest the resoluteness, dedication and the aspirations of the Tamil people for freedom and dignity.”

“It should contain 18 lines – catchy and lively and in immaculate Tamil.”

Budding poets have until 27 November, “Tamil Eelam Martyrs Remembrance Day”, to come up with a suitable anthem. [Link]

Personally, I think that they’re missing an important opportunity here. Not only should the anthem be catchy and lively, but the entire process of anthem selection should also be appositely hip. To that end, I suggest the creation of Eelam Idol, a TV show designed to ensure that the resulting anthem is the people’s favorite. Hosted by MIA, Simon Cowell and a high Tamil Tiger official, the three judges could offer ascerbic commentary on the performances of the singer songwriters who volunteer to perform their proposed new version of the national anthem. The show would get killer ratings, both in Jaffna and abroad, and the new anthem would instantly top the charts! Guys, if you’re reading this, the idea is yours gratis. No really, there’s no need to meet for lunch …

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The peacock

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Congrats to our hottie stepsister Pardon My Hindi for finally launching a tee and tank store featuring Raag*’s luscious designs. Unlike our graphically-challenged asses, they actually feature original artwork:

He’s also posted a beautifully designed online magazine with photos of a Bombay circus, his exploits tagging the LES with babu stickers and an interview with Koushik Ghosh, who’s got a new downbeat album coming out on the same label as Peanut Butter Wolf:

Koushik specializes in making that hazy, hip-hop-based downbeat sh*t that you could easily compare to contemporaries such as Four Tet (who released Koushik’s first single on his Text label), RJD2, and DJ Shadow. What sets Koushik apart from the others is a beautiful ’60s psych-pop element that tends to pervade throughout. [Link]

Listen here.

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Lost in Translation

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India Uncut points us at a series of fun blog posts over at Minor Scale.   Manoj has translated some choice South Indian film songs into anglais.  Most translations are just text but this one had pix and made me smile.   Next time some cultural elitist snob rants about how every piece of media was better in the original Tamil, Uyghur or !Xóõ, I’ll point ’em here –

SBC 03  SBC 04 

Proof that if you can’t have the pix, some folks really do listen to the lyrics.

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A Concert for Bangladesh: Re-released

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Before there was Live Aid or Live 8, there was the original, the Godfather of all arena-rock fundraising concerts: 1971’s a Concert for Bangladesh:

The Concert for Bangladesh was the first benefit concert of its kind in that it brought together an extraordinary assemblage of major artists. The two shows, a Grammy award-winning triple album boxset, and the feature film, generated millions of dollars for a charitable cause and as importantly raised global awareness of a hitherto unpublicized humanitarian disaster. It is therefore acknowledged as the inspiration and forerunner of the major global fundraising events of recent years. To quote the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan “George and his friends were pioneers”. [Link]

And from Wikipedia:

The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York.

As East Pakistan struggled to become the separate state of Bangladesh, tremendous political and military turmoil led to a massive refugee problem. This problem was compounded by torrential rains causing devastating floods and threatening a humanitarian disaster.

Bengali musician Ravi Shankar consulted his friend George Harrison regarding a means of providing help to the situation. Harrison recorded the single “Bangladesh” to help raise awareness and pushed Apple Records to release Shankar’s single “Joi Bangla” in a dual-pronged effort to raise funds.

Shankar also asked Harrison’s advice regarding a small fund-raising concert in the United States. Instead, Harrison took over and persuaded his friends to join him at a large concert at Madison Square Garden. The event was organised within five weeks.

A well-reviewed re-release of the concert on CD and DVD drops in record stores Monday. Continue reading →

Being Nitin Sawhney

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When it comes to music in the diaspora, there a few names that of course come to mind (Talvin Singh, Panjabi MC), but one of the most consistent and visible musicians evolving from the South Asian diaspora, and who is not universally from the UK Bhangra or the Asian Drum and Bass scene, is without a doubt, Nitin Sahwney.  DJ, producer, musician, and activist extraordinaire, Sawhney whose most recent studio-album Philtre, which has to be listed amongst his best work, is now slated to score Mira Nair’s production of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, and is reported to be working as a producer on Indo-Canadian British transplant pop-star Raghav’s unfinished second album.  In fact, Bobby and Nihal, on their October 12 radio show on the BBC offerred up a bit of a preview of the Raghav/Nitin collaborative work entitled “Seasons,” which draws heavily on the heavenly ‘Mausam’, which appears on the Philtre album.  After having heard the original Mausam, the version featuring Raghav admittedly sounded a bit cheecky, but knowing that Nitin is producing some of the record makes me dizzy with anticipation.  Well, maybe not dizzy, but excited for sure.

Incidentally, Sawhney, who has also worked with Sting and Spanish collective Ojos de Brujo among others, seems to be in demand lately. Former Beattle Sir Paul McCartney, in an interview with Rolling Stone published earlier this month, said he initially wanted to make a record influenced by Nitin’s sound, 

“I liked the idea of toying with a kind of Asian thing, a one-chord thing. There’s an artist called Nitin Sawhney who I like — he’s a British-Asian guy. It was just a vibe I was into at the time

More SM on Nitin here.

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