Mynta, Swedish for mint, are veterans in the world of Music. Having started out in 1979 as primarily a blues, jazz, latin band they slowly turned to fusion and jazz rock in the 80-s. And then in 1987 on a tour of India they met Fazal Qureshi, the son of the illustrious Alla Rakha and [...]
Another year is over. And it is time to compile the best of the Music that was featured on AI over the last twelve months. My output last year was low due to myriad personal reasons. But starting this year that might change for the better – I am going to be joined by a [...]
Normally, on AI, I only post Music. We’ve never had a post that has not talked about a song, or an album, or a band. But this will be an exception. Sort of. It will talk about a man, and me. Although, I admit, I didn’t know him personally. Of course, the man had something [...]
We have earlier featured the first 4 volumes of The Great Indian Rock – the annual compilation of the best of the underground Rock scene in India. And now we would like to present Vol. 5 of the series. This volume included the usual suspects – Orange Street and Parikrama – trusted veterans of the [...]
“What else should I be, All apologies…” For suddenly doing the disappearing act on AI. Fact is, a momentous event took place in the interim – the birth of my son! And I can see all of you who have gone through above-mentioned trauma nodding your heads quietly in sympathy! Nah, who am I kidding! [...]
‘the Buddies’ are an amalgam of two bands, Welcome to Ashley from Chicago and Pale Blue Dot out of Nashville. On AI we have covered Welcome to Ashley before and so when this opportunity came I was definitely very eager. I wasn’t disappointed! The band is made up of Coley Kennedy (Voice), Kim Collins (Drums, [...]
If you think you’ve heard it all, you’re about to realise that you are (sadly) mistaken! Unless of course you have heard the Diablo Swing Orchestra! Then you would know what I am talking about. Before I describe their music, bear with me while I copy-paste the long history behind the band – 500 years [...]
Agni was one of the bands of the first wave of Indian Rock, back in the mid-90s, when they released their debut album Wind Dance with Fire in 1995. The album was well-received despite the somewhat poorly-produced videos, a testament to the inherent musical quality of their compositions. Their video for Darkening Light, a brilliant [...]
D For Brother were Amyt Datta and Monojit Datta, brothers, musicians, maestros! Amyt was the guitarist; Monojit (he was more popularly known by his nickname, Kochoo) was the full-time drummer/percussionist and part-time multi-instrumentalist! Taking a break from playing in all kinds of rock bands in and around Calcutta/Kolkata, they released an eponymous album of World [...]
If you have been following AI, you may have come across the ‘Rock Roundup I’ post (here). Then you will probably know that this roundup thinggie happens when I haven’t been posting for a while, although I have been searching the web and listening to new music all the while and then suddenly one day [...]
I cannot recall now how I stumbled upon Nilima’s website and the first strains of Nothing Left But Me stunned me with its beauty and grace but I am glad I did and then one thing led to another and I bought her entire EP. I also had the audacity to send her a fan [...]
[UPDATE: The Slytones have a new video of one of the tracks featured here - Goldie Locks. Scroll right down to the end to see it. It's really crazy, like everything else about this band! ] After having picked up all the pieces of my mind which was blown away by The Psychedelic Sounds Of [...]
In keeping with the theme of the times, after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, I have decided to feature an accomplished Japanese Jazz musician, Shigeki Kawahara. This is my way of paying tribute to the spirit of the people of Japan. Shigeki Kawahara is a product of the digital age. A full-time [...]
One fine morning, this album landed in my Inbox, with a request for a review! Imagine my surprise! Me?! Good ol’ me?!! I took upon the task in earnest, since I was getting the album for free, legally. But I was so fascinated with the album, after giving it a few listens that now I [...]
GIR IV was released in 2000, the fourth in this series of yearly compilations of tracks from Indian rock musicians. But it still sounds surprisingly fresh and there are undoubtedly some gems in there. By this time the phenomenon of GIR had grown – yearly concerts started happening, featuring the bands/artist who made it into [...]
[UPDATE: Updated with a new cover of Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Please see below.] “Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music.” “For ten years Johnson and his team travelled the globe, with a single-minded passion to record little-known musicians for what would become [...]
A few months back Enigma announced an interesting project in celebration of their 20th anniversary: The Social Song. The idea was to harness the power of the Social Web and create a song. Quoting from the website, “…it has been 20 years since Enigma’s first album was released… Up until now we have enjoyed our [...]
The year is over! For some of us, it just came and went – a member of a long list of other such candidates. For some of us it probably was an year of great import, a milestone in our lives in some way or the other. I am not one for grand new year [...]
Revolution Void is an electronic jazz music project from producer and pianist Jonah Dempcy and the album Increase the Dosage is one of the finest offerings to come out of this project yet. And the album is free to download and share. It mixes electronic beats and jazz to create a unique style of music [...]
Welcome to Ashley, a funny name for a good band, is Coley Kennedy (vocals), Pete Javier (guitar), Jeremy Barrett (bass) and Sherrlia Bailey (drums). Their last album Beyond the Pale is available as a free download and is better than most other trash people pay good money for. Their sound has been compared to The [...]
