Friday, October 17, 2008

This Day in Music, October 17

October 17, 1972

Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-Ling" reaches Number One on Billboard's Pop Charts. It remains his only Number One song.


Btw, some interesting bit of trivia that I came across on Wikipedia. This live version - which is the one that topped the charts - was recorded during at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England on February 3, 1972. Apparently, after Chuck Berry did this song, the audience refused to leave the ballroom where it was happening - they absolutely wanted an encore. What this meant was that the next concert scheduled there for the same evening, started some two hours late. And the band playing at this next concert? One called Pink Floyd.

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Motherjane - Fields of Sound

Now, this is what we call truly Indian rock! Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Motherjane, one of the best Indian bands around. They have just released their second album, Maktub. This, here, is a track from that. One of my favourite tracks on the album.



Joe Satriani - Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock

Joe Satriani

Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock

*** and a half

Sony BMG


In 1987, Joe Satriani’s sophomore effort, Surfing With The Alien broke into the Billboard Top 40, a place no instrumental album had gone so boldly before. Now, over twenty years later - and after having made instrumental guitar albums a lot less niche in the meanwhile – Satch has released his 12th studio album. Professor Satchfunkilus and the Musterion of Rock might be quite a mouthful when it comes to the name, but it’s an album that’s quite accessible to most fans of this genre of music. And that’s where the ‘problem’ might lie – many of the tracks on Professor Satchfunkilus… might sound like stuff you have heard on his earlier albums; which is not necessarily a bad thing. Just that one has come to expect the unexpected from Satch.

So "Musterion," and "Overdriver" - both out and out rockers and brilliant ones at that - sound like tracks that could have found place on 1989’s Flying in a Blue Dream or 1992’s The Extremist. "I Just Wanna Rock" is the quintessential stadium rocker, designed for the crowd to chant along with. But hey Joe, you already used that device in the rather unimaginatively-titled "Crowd Chant" from 2006’s Super Colossal.


But give this CD a few spins and you will discover some absolute beauties on the album that will justify your putting hard-earned cash on the table. "Professor Satchafunkilus" that kicks off with a fluttering saxophone part by Satriani’s son ZZ, has a nice and funky groove to it. "Diddle-Y-A-Doo-Dat" is a quirky number that instantly reminds you of Satch’s once-student and now-friend, Steve Vai. Then there is the regulation ballad, "Come On Baby," a paean of love for his wife Rubina. Despite the cheesy name, this is one helluva melody. As is "Out of the Sunrise" with its soaring guitarlines. The best one of the lot, though, would have to be "Andalusia." It starts off with an acoustic six-string and hand claps. But as you go on to discover soon enough, the deceptive acoustic passage is tantalisingly short – just after the timer hits 2 minutes, Satch slips into a barrage of electric notes on his Ibanez. "Andalusia" – one of the two tracks dedicated to Turkish saz player, Asik Veysel – is unique in that it’s not very often that Satriani picks up an acoustic guitar. In fact, I don’t remember the last time he did that on an album.


So what’s the verdict on the album? There should be no question about whether you really need to pick it up. You should. But lower your expectations just that wee bit. For just this once, hopefully.


© Bobin James/Rolling Stone India, 2008

Skinny Alley - Songs From The Moony Boom


Skinny Alley

Songs From the Moony Boom

*** and a half

Counter Culture Records


Four years after the debut album, Escape the Roar, Kolkata-based Skinny Alley have released this second offering. At first listen, Songs From the Moony Boom might not have the kind of instant connect the first album did – perhaps because of the breathlessly frantic rhythm section in most of the songs. But give it a fair listen, and rest assured it will grow on you. The band’s collective jazz and funk influences show through clearly in this album – be it the extended jam in “Swunk,” or the chiming rhythm guitar in “Go Figure.” The latter has gentle funk morphing into dirty riffing and back, effortlessly. On “Shape Your Life,” Amyt Dutta shows us why he is on our list of best Indian guitarists.

© Bobin James/Rolling Stone India, 2008


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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

This Day In Music, October 14

October 14, 1957
"Wake Up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers tops the charts and stays on for 4 weeks.



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Thursday, September 25, 2008

TAAQ - This Is It

Thermal and a Quarter

This is It

****

TAAQ Music


Thermal and a Quarter have, in 11-plus years, built up a formidable reputation of being a fantastic live band. So it’s slightly unnerving when the title track – and the first song – on This is It, hints at goodbyes to live shows (“Look into those front row eyes/Make your little goodbyes”). But that doesn’t stop the entire album from sounding all nice and happy, TAAQ-style. The intricately-layered sound, while not radically different from their past albums - especially 2004’s Plan B – captures the energy of their live shows very well. The troika of Bruce Lee Mani, Rzhude David and Rajeev Rajagopal keeps the proceedings very tight. Highlights of the album are the groovy “Holy Jose” (the bouncy bassline will have you moving in no time); “How Can I Get Your Groove” (with a superb lead constructed of notes rolling off the fretboard) and “This is It”. Don’t let the monstrous roach on the front stop you from reaching out for this great album.

© Bobin James/Rolling Stone India, 2008

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Michael Jackson - Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition

Michael Jackson

Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition

Original disc: *****

Bonus tracks: * and half

Sony BMG


A long long time ago, a pop singer named Michael Jackson brought out a music album called Thriller. Little would he have imagined that it would turn out to be the landmark disc that it became. Hundreds of thousands of young kids and not-so-young adults all over the world would put on their white socks, turn up their trouser cuffs and try out the ‘moonwalk’ from his Motown performance of “Billie Jean.” (Yes, you did, too. Admit it.) The dance moves from the “Thriller” video would go on to ripped off and then ripped to pieces by everyone from Mithun (in a B-grade movie, the name of which escapes recall, thankfully) to Madhuri (in her 2007 comeback, Aaja Nachle). The album would waltz off with a record-breaking seven Grammy Awards in 1984. (Jackson himself got eight trophies that night, including one for the E.T. Storybook).


This 25th anniversary edition of Thriller underlines why it went on to become the best-selling album of all time. And it shows why it should not be messed with: the package includes newer versions of five tracks, as interpreted by some current artists. The original “Beat It,” - despite its slightly cheesy synthesised drumlines and assorted ‘uunhs’ and ‘trrrrrs’ – had pocketed a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance in 1984. The Van Halen solo helped, perhaps. Unfortunately, in the 2008 version, singer Fergie in her earnest attempt to get some of that original street-gang aggression ends up sounding, well, constipated. “The Girl is Mine 2008” knocks out Paul McCartney and brings in Will.i.am instead. While the original was slightly laidback, Will.i.am turns up the r.p.m. and adds some funky beats and drum loops, basically make it a bit more danceable. But his experiment with “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” falls flat. Jackson had laid down an extremely groovy rhythm, one that was guaranteed to make you move. Will.i.am on the other hand morphs it into something eminently forgettable, bearing little resemblance to the original other than the occasional vocal snatches. Akon is one of the current crop who actually does something good with his mandate, on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008.” He does this by starting off the song as a nice, piano ballad that revs up into full ‘will-have-you-moving’ mode with that original bassline thumping down below. And he hasn’t forgotten the ‘mama-se, mama-sa’ loop. (Trivia time: Jackson was sued by African musician Manu Dibango for flicking that very loop from his 1972 single “Soul Makossa.” They settled out of court later.) This leaves us with “Billie Jean 2008,” rapper Kanye West’s attempt to recreate the original magic. Boo! Go south, West! All those drums and ‘unh-hunhs’ seem unnecessary and pointless – what exactly is he trying here?


So why should you buy this album? More than a few reasons. One, there is the imaginative Thriller, in all its original glory. Clichéd and hagiographic as this next sentence might appear, this is seriously one album that is timeless. This is ‘classic pop,’ ‘classic disco,’ ‘classic call-it-what-you-may.’ From the foot-tapping, hand-clapping groove of “Baby Be Mine” and “P.Y.T.” to the lilting vocals on “Human Nature” and “The Lady in My Life,” each of the original nine tracks is a splendid treat. In fact, seven of these nine would go on to feature in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100.


Reason two is the accompanying DVD. The stripped down live video for “Billie Jean,” – a Motown anniversary performance – while it looks lip-synced to, has Jackson at his dancing best. He requires no more than a single spotlight – no flashing lights, no pyrotechnics, nothing – to deliver a scintillating performance. And the DVD’s got the videos for “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller”. Yes, the same ones you used to wait for endlessly when music television had just arrived in the country.


Is it worth your money? Yes, actually. You get the videos and for completionists who wish to round off their Jackson collection, there is also “For All Time,” a ballad that was left over from the Thriller sessions, but was rather wisely left out from the album. Thankfully, the new versions which you are advised to avoid are all bunched up together at the end of the first disc. So the moment Vincent Price’s maniacal laughter track ends, just go back to the very beginning.


© Bobin James/Rolling Stone India, 2008



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Avial - Avial

Avial

Avial

****

Phat Phish


Music transcends language, they say. And concrete evidence for this aphorism lies in Avial’s self-titled debut. For those not in the know, Avial is a five-piece band from Kerala that takes Malayalam folk songs and literary pieces and puts it to music. They first burst onto the scene in 2006 with a video for “Nada Nada” (the first song on this album) that quickly got circulated extensively online thanks to YouTube – at last count, the super-slick video had 56,000+ views. It didn’t seem to matter that singer Anand Raj Benjamin Paul was rendering his raw vocals in chaste Malayalam. What really mattered was the sheer energy of “Nada Nada,” delivered very ably by Rex Vijayan (ex-Motherjane) on guitars, Mithun Puthanveetil on drums, Tony John on turntables and synth and Naresh Kamath (ex-Bombay Black, Kailasa) on bass.


And it is this very energy that pervades the entire album. Despite the ‘alternative rock’ tag the band chooses for its music, this is good ol’ rock – complete with searing vocals and crunchy guitars. Hear, for instance, the guitars in “Njan Aara”: gentle arpeggios alternated with wickedly heavy distortion. Or the stadium rock chants in the chorus of “Aranda”. Of the eight tracks on this album, you would be hard-pressed to come up with a single weak one. Avial is very easily one of the best rock albums to come out from an Indian band lately.


© Bobin James/Rolling Stone India, 2008



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Monday, September 01, 2008

Zero's farewell gig



So, Zero, one of the most popular Bombay bands ever, disbanded last weekend. Their headlining appearance Independence Rock XXIII was their farewell gig. They will be missed.














Monday, July 28, 2008

Megadeth at Rock in India

Machine Head at Rock in India

Junkyard Groove at Rock in India

Prestorika at Rock in India

2x2







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Saturday, December 15, 2007

Scorpions, Humanity Tour, Mumbai, Dec 14, 2007









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