Radio silence

When you spend nearly a week in some sort of a waking dream its extremely hard to walk into work and hit the ground running. 


Which leads me to the topic of surreal holidays. This long weekend lead me to Hampi. When you are completely cut off from the world surrounded by thousands of years of history something changes inside. This bizarre desert spotted with lush green rice fields and decaying architecture made me think about how sometimes we forget things around us that are tangible. Being cut off and unplugged from the rest of the world awoke my sense of touch. It was like having your sinuses clear after almost a year, even the filthiest smells seem exhilarating.


Four days with fabulous company discovering ruins, rock climbing, endless conversations and great south indian food don't seem enough. 


Getting into work only to contemplate your next holiday is just wrong; So I have decided to put an end to all the sulking with this video. 


It's a music video of sorts beautifully crafted by Natalia Dufraisse and Flip Piskorzynski. The perfect thing to stumble upon on your post holiday blues. Thanks Ria


The epic finale to my tantrum. Gravity. enjoy

The little things

Waking up feeling like the world is at your feet is easy, getting through the rest of the day isn't.


I woke up yesterday feeling like I could take on the world. It wasn't until I stepped into a cold shower, stubbed my toe, pushed my bike up a hill missed the ferry and dropped my sandwich that I realised something was very wrong. What was worse?
It was only 8 o clock in the morning.


Things began to accumulate and by nine at night I was a blithering,hysterical mess. Of course the little things merged into my larger problems and after a brief moment of existential angst I realised that the only logical thing to do was to wait for midnight so hopefully the next day would be better to work. I learned three things:


Being superstitious leads only to lack of sleep and a mild case of acidity.


If you ever feel a tantrum coming get someone close to you to slap you. It helps in the long run.


Buy a washing machine. Washing your own clothes solves nothing


Today isn't much better than the last but one will eventually have to grow up and grow a pair.
Besides, rage is best released through music. This time I found solace in Little Dragon. 
After the rain is a little manic but its perfect when you're in weird headspace. The video is fabulous(like most little dragon videos)

For when the storm has run its course and you are looking to calm down. Stormy weather, again by Little Dragon. Enjoy

Distractions

I came to work distracted. It almost always happens when very close to what might be a fabulous holiday. 

Riding along the sea listening to Stacey kent and her lazy vocals waft through my helmet I realised I've been drifting from all the Nu Jazz I spent so much time collecting and not actually listening to. 

Today in attempt to concentrate I dug out and old MTV chillout session album. It was all going extremely well until I hit upon a foreign beggars remix of If I Don't by Amp Fiddler featuring Corrine Bailey Rae. Listening to this song is like sitting on the beach watching a woman dance barefoot. Her body glistening with sweat, her hips swinging almost lazily to nothing in particular. Its heady, its cheeky and it is not something you should listen to while at work.

My ipod is the devil I am now lost to the song.

"If I don't think about you I'll be sad

 If I don't stop thinking about you I'll be mad"

P.S. The rest of this album has a fantastic collection of music, if you like what you're listening to go ahead and download the rest its worth it!

Mondays

Mondays are strange days. Even when you actually like the work you do getting down to it is hard. It's days like these where I find myself looking for some sort of dance or electro so I can get through the day happy.

The 2 bears have recently released their album ‘Be Strong’ with the the title track being the best by far.

This production duo consist of Joe Goddard from Hot Chip and Raf Daddy, who is a DJ and musical man about London.

Be strong combines a nicely padded kick, some echoey and rather silly vocals and a deep resonating synth. My only issue is the song ends a little randomly though I'm guessing its probably got something to do with youtube.

My toenails are sparkly, the beat is set

I think I can handle it.
Enjoy

Of long lost friends and stuck scooters

Keeping in touch with people has never been my strong point. I'd like to think its because i get distracted easily but I feel like that is something I tell myself to feel better.

I met Zombie in Chennai a few years ago at a music fest in Chennai. It was here that I realised that I have an almost illogical bias to people who like the same music as I do. 

Needless to say we hit it off instantly. 

It was on one of these sultry evenings that he introduced me to Bonobo. I had successfully managed to ride gitlers scooter into a particularly sandy bit of beach and after a good sweaty hour of pushing and cursing my fate I called the two of them to help. Forty five excruciating minutes later we ended up walking along the beach to cool our heels.

Knowing I was rattled and not in the best of moods Zombie pulled his phone out and played me flutter. The air around me came alive. I began noticing the details in the sand, the surf making patterns around my feet, the heat, the smells. It was as if my brain shifted into third gear. 

We fell out of touch and drifted off into the humdrum of our lives. Brief meetings and a few phone calls was as far as we went. Almost four years later I wake up to a video on my wall. 

Bonobo featuring Speech Debelle in the Sun will rise.

In this new city, the heat rippling off the glass and steel, the music wafted through the silence. 

It felt like home.

Thanks Zombie

"Be Stupid"

Have you ever had this urge to get up in a fancy restaurant and do something silly? 

Shkaplan and I had a fabulous lunch at Busaba in Mumbai recently and somewhere between the

pleasantries and talking in hushed tones he decided to show me this very bizarre music video. I am 100% sure that this is what lead to the Bob Marley sing off a few hours later.(at another fancy restaurant mind you)

Die Antwoord are "a fresh, futuristik, flame-throw-flow-freeking, zef rap-rave krew from da dark dangerous depths of africa." If you are into M.I.A you will love this band. They are obscene, awkward and downright strange but there is some twisted little part of my brain that wants to keep listening!

I would however advise you not to watch this video at a fancy restaurant. Watch out for Yolandi Visser with her scrawny form and sparkly eye paint. She is by far the strangest, hottest most captivating weirdo I have ever seen! 

nokia has me

So I spent a lot of time over the past week drooling over Shkaplan's phone. The new Nokia Lumia has set whatever little tech obsession I have on edge.

Some say the interface "lacks the depth of thought behind the iPhone" but my designer instincts are pulling me towards it like a magnet. Neat, stylish, fun what more could you ask for?

Of course you know they have you when you here the official tune used as the ring tone on an iPhone.

The times they are a changing?

Here's the original, Garden, by a band called totally enormous extinct dinosaur (who would not love them with a name like that!) enjoy

Midnight kitchen cravings and talks on travel

The nice thing about having guests over is all the new music playing of your dock when you get home. Of course there is always a substantial amount of stuff I cant relate to but when someone like Ratmeister comes home there is always bound to be something interesting.

Two glasses of wine later we settled into my sex couch to catch up on the hectic week that was. After much giggling the conversation gradually drifted to music that we listen to when we travel.

It didn't occur to me until last night but I realised I have a song for every city I enter. The song also depends on my mode of transport. Some rhythms slide smoothly into the groove of the train or vocals that match the scenery you see. It might all be humbug but I feel like the music sets me in the mood of whats to come.

Last night the Ratmeister shared a song that he would listen to every time he got in to Bombay. Something about Bonobo is so ambient that it lets you zone out to the sights and sounds of everything around you. I could almost feel the sweat trickling down the back of my neck, the people crowding VT station, their freshly bathed bodies adding to the heady smells of the waking city.

I will make this a song to somewhere.

Eyesdown Featuring Andreya Triana, from the bonobo album Black Sands. Enjoy

p.s: This isn't the whole song but I found the video extremely interesting. To listen to the full version click on the video below this one.

2012, don't screw with me

One magical week to end a crappy year and back to the sterile life I chose to lead. Things can only go up from here and when I left that to the cosmos it gave me what we crudely call the ultimate bitch slap.

From this moment on I intend to take it all into my own hands. I have everything going for me and its time I made the most of it. It isn't very often that one is given the option of a fresh start. So, lets get down to business.

The first being what to do with my black patent leather porn couch. 

The second being a decision as to what I intend to do with all the music in my life. I honestly thought I would have something new to share for the new year but as watson so wisely put it:

"It doesn't mean 2012 is messed up

It means new things will begin."

So here is a song I listened to while getting to work. Riding along the Mandovi bridge early in the morning is one of the most meditative and beautiful things I get to do everyday.

A tribute to the bridge and the time I will now have to think, read, draw, swim, paint my toenails etc.