Mavrix

Tag: India

  • A.R. Rahman – The Spirit Of Music – Book Review

    Conversations, Not Biography “The Spirit of Music” sets the readers’ expectation right on the cover by declaring “Conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir”. Unfortunately, a lot of people have been referring to it as ARR’s biography. It is not. It is just a very long interview. It makes for a light and entertaining read but it…

  • Why Streaming Music Is Not The Same As Owning It

    An acquaintance of mine asked me why anyone would ever buy music when there are multiple on-demand streaming services available in India for free. I can answer the question from my perspective: Quality – I am yet to see any form of streamed music that matches the quality of CD music. In India, internet service…

  • Music Wants To Be Free

    Pirates (distributors and consumers) often invoke Stewart Brands’ iconic phrase “Information wants to be free” to justify piracy. In a recent discussion with a friend, I argued that Brand used this powerful phrase to suggest that information should be easily available to everybody, not that it should be available free of cost. My friend’s counter-argument…

  • 5 Songs For Women (And An Update)

    God made man first, and decided he could do better. Here are my top 5 songs dedicated to the women in my life: Kabhi Kabhi (Mukesh) Nee Kaatru, Naan Maram (Hariharan) Amma Endru (Yesudas) Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka (Kishore Kumar) Daughters (John Mayer) What’s your favorite song about women? A cool announcement on Women’s Day…

  • The Fascination For High-Pitched Vocals

    There is an awesome thread in RMIM in which a few people have asserted that music directors did a disservice to Lata and music lovers by making her sing at a pitch higher than what was necessary or pleasing. Just because she could. One guy actually edited a song and tweaked it to a pitch…

  • Solar Punch – NY based Eco-Rock Band Live in Bangalore

    I’m writing this post about the band Solar Punch just because I loved their attempt of rendering Yun Hi Chala from Swades. Solar Punch is a solar-powered band that uses music to educate people about the environment and climate change. Their sound system is powered by a small PV array mounted atop band mate Alan…

  • Objective Fans – An Oxymoron

    In the last couple of days, our blog got a nice spike in traffic. A quick peek at Google Analytics showed that most of the new hits were for a recent post regarding A.R. Rahman. Almost all the hits for this post came from a Yahoo Group and good ol’ Google helped me figure out…

  • People – Please Get Off A.R. Rahman’s Back

    For some reason, a Facebook status update from me about 127 Hours elicited some negative comments against A.R. Rahman. This is not the first time I have heard such comments. I am intrigued by generalizations that A.R. Rahman is overrated. Why would people say something like that despite the brilliant work he has produced over…

  • Coke Studio In India?! Fingers Crossed

    Anyone who has seen the delectable live show program from across the border will understand why I am so excited about the news that Coke Studio may come to India! Like most Indians, I have many misgivings about Pakistan and it’s attitude towards India but I can’t help admiring, even envying, their music scene. What…

  • Raghu Dixit’s Folk-Bhaavageethe-Rock Fusion

    The recent trend of stylising Bhaavageethe with contemporary music is becoming very popular. A great and effective contributor to this style is none other than Raghu Dixit, who has significantly recreated most of the Sant Shishunal Sharif’s songs. This new genre is well-received and asking- for-more kind of stuff. Bhaavageethe – ‘Songs with Emotion’ (Bhaava…