A Music Blog

Avial (a rock band from Kerala) is named after a South Indian dish Aviyal. The band has mixed to perfection folk music from Kerala and alternative rock, making the name quite accurate. Avial depicts the social scene of Kerala and its historical heritage. The music consists of folk songs often sung by workers in paddy fields. Their maiden album can boast of beautifully played instrumentals, brilliant singing, and lyrics which are beautiful and poignant.

Discography -
Nada Nada
Chekele
Njan Aara
Arikuruka
Aranda
Karukara
Aadu Pambe
Ettam Patu




Rudra is a Singapore based band that plays a style of black metal with interpolations and extended traditional Carnatic music. The words originate from Vedic literature and philosophy with incorporations of mantras and shlokas. The band describes this style as Vedic metal. Rudra is the God of Storm or Lord Shiva in the Hindu Pantheon. Inspired by Advaita philosophy as taught by the Vedas, the musicians frequently use the mystical symbols of OM and the Sanskrit language in their albums and WebPages.

Discography -
The Past (Demo, 1995)
Rudra (Album, 1998)
The Aryan Crusade (Album, 2001)
Kurukshetra (Album, 2003)
Brahmavidya: Primordial I Transcendental I (Album)

Recommended Tracks -
Ageless Consciousness
Meditations On The Mahavakya
Aham Brahmasmi
Veil Of Maya
Shivoham
Where The Sun Never Shines

Looking forward to Karthik Calling Karthik'r release - with Farhan Akhtar in it, it sure promises a lot! Here's about the music that just came out.

All the tracks are worth listening to - simple music, likable enough, great guitar

Hey ya
Jaane yeh kya hua (a typical KK love (amazing) song)
Kaisi hai yeh udasi
Uff teri ada

Cham Cham Jani Raate - A touch of folk music, Sonu Nigam's brilliant vocals, performed to perfection, the song grows on you over time!



Bombay Bombay Tararam Pam - Another of those songs which romanticize life in Bombay with a catchy tune and lyrics!

"Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself."
~ Havelock Ellis

Some of the most gracefully performed pieces, set to beautiful music!

Danny And Lacey - Viennese Waltz




Pasha And Lacey - Smooth Waltz

Soft Rock

Judas Priest - Angel
Collective Soul - When The Water Falls
Staind - Everything Changes
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry
Dream Theater - Hollow Years
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
Chris Daughtry - Home
Breaking Benjamin - Rain
Green Day - 21 Guns


Alternative Rock

Travis - Love Will Come Through
Travis - Flowers In The Window
Poets Of The Fall - Carnival Of Rust
Poets Of The Fall - Late Goodbye
Foolsgarden - Lemon Tree
Alice In Chains - Alone
Blackfield - Blackfield
Blackfield - Cloudy Now
The Verve Pipe - Freshman
Porcupine Tree - Lazarus


Rock

Alter Bridge - Blackbird
Puddle Of Mudd - Blurry
Lifehouse - First Time
Rasmus - Sail Away
Breaking Benjamin - Forget It
Live - River
Tribal Ink - Refugee


Symphonic Metal

Lacuna Coil - Swamped
Porcupine Tree - Synesthesia
Kalmah - Dance Of The Water

Irtiqa which literally means Evolution, is a challenge to Pakistani fundamentalism from an average human being.



The poem Irtiqa 3, performed by eP (Entity Paradigm) -

Kuch aitraaz hai, kuch ikhtilaf
Gar aaj is mushkil mein daal hi diya hai
Toh suno, suno ki main ek jhoot hun
Ek muh bolta, muh phaat jhoot
Main bhi aur tum bhi, jhoot

Yeh gard-o-nawah ke pech-o-kham
Yeh tajasus-e-dil-o-dimag
Peer-o-alam, ustad-e-muhtaram
Yeh raasta dikhane wale
Sab jhoot hain, jhoot hain, main bhi aur tum bhi

Yeh baatein shayad samajh na pao
Ki nazar faqat shanas hai
Mustarid roshni ko sach jaanne ki
Haqeeqat maanne ki

Alfaz ke madaar mein alfaz hi alfaz hain
Alfaz ke is bhanwar mein alfaz ki talash hai
Alfaz se toh soch hai

Yeh baatein shayad ab bhi samajh na aaye
Ki yeh alfaz bhi toh jhoot hi hain
Sab jhoot hain, main bhi aur tum bhi

Gar aaj is raat ne parda chaak kar hi diya hai
Toh suno, suno aur sun lo
Ki yeh raat is dil se zubaan chahti hai
Yeh raat subah-e-tareek se panah chahti hai

Har woh soch jo alfaz se mashroot hai
Yeh raat us soch ki kadi saza chahti hai
Yeh raat har us haalat ki maut chahti hai
Jo ishq ke badle khuda chahti hai
Yeh raat irtiqa chahti hai




Lyrics for the rest of their tracks. Very highly Recommended!!

You can always find their videos on YouTube (Aghosh, Waqt are worth a watch) and download their album here.

This Jal concert in India quickly gained in popularity after Jal performed the hit track, "Dil Dil Pakistan", tweaking the lyrics slightly to "Dil dil Pakistan, Jaan jaan Hindustan". Now you can guess why that did not auger too well with a certain section of Pakistani society! A great thing about our north-western neighbors is that even though there is a stark contrast between its citizens when it comes to following religious ideologies and preaching extremism, everyone there is a fan of rock music! And this song is as close to being a national anthem as pop music can ever take it, which means that is it widely loved and respected.

Watch the video at 30 seconds and you will get a taste of Jal's ingenuity, which drove Indian fans to the brink of madness and was a move well appreciated by liberal Pakistani youngsters too. Nevertheless, it triggered a spate of debates on online forums and plenty of jibes, arguments, hopeful attempts to convince blind following with reason. The controversy kept the band in the limelight which suited it well of course. Jal's members behaved reasonably and in a mature way, coming out to say only that they had no problems in singing this song again to embrace friendship with India. And they did sing it again!

I, however, am stunned and greatly disturbed by the video. I have attended and watched footage of several of Jal's concerts. What appalls me is their ingenious and infallible ability to merge every track with 'Aadat'. Any track at all! At first, it had seemed a respect accorded only to the myriad derivatives of Aadat. But there you go :)

And just in case you are not completely enamored by the Pakistani music world, there was a rumor going around that Aadat was actually composed by Mekaal Hassan, a greatly gifted musician whose compositions fall into the classical fusion category. Though, Jal can boast of a reasonably talented guitarist in Goher, while Farhan's vocals only get better with every new release! And he does happen to be a great stage entertainer. Not to mention good-looking!

The much awaited music of Ishqiya is finally out! Classical songs performed to cater to the tastes of pop culture, the music is deep and soulful. Singers Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Rekha Bhardwaj have done a wonderful job. Instrumentals are beyond splendid, particularly in Badi Dheere Jali.

My favorite tracks, in that order -
Dil toh bacha hai ji
Badi dheere jali
Ibn-e-batuta