Dev D

I'm not sure if i like this film or not. For starters it is way too long and could do with about an hour of editing! but the music! now the music on the other hand is quite fantastic! This is Amit Trivedi's big break! his first movie Aamir is not half as good as this one but it was the beginnings of something very interesting. He started of with a band called 'om' which did local gigs until the times discovered them. After that Trivedi went on to doing music for sitcoms and some small budget films. He has outdone himself in Dev D! unlike Rehman his sound is less clean, lots of scratches(which he does himself) harmonies etc. He has also got a whole lot of humour in his music which i love. Pardesi is great fun to listen to and watch(i love those male cabaret dancers) It keeps you on your toes throughout and if you listen to this song often enough and try singing along it also keeps everyone listening to you in splits. In an interview I read earlier he apparently keeps all his music raag based but I can't seem to hear it in the song yet.

Paayaliya was the first song i fell in love with. The tune sticks to the older bollywood love songs but he has added all these small quirks to it that make it sound really fresh. I love the way it starts but I'm not too sure about that orchestral bit in the middle. He can tend to get a little random but I like the way he flows and hope that he won't stop here!

Little Dragon

I think i mentioned 'scribbled paper' in the last little dragon article but I was listening to it again and i've realised that its quite, quite beautiful! I also just noticed this lovely instrumental bit in the song. Hinting at jazz at the same time quite lounge like. Their music tends to grow on you.
unfortunately their isn't a video!

Prashaanth Davidson

Prashaanth's life was a quiet one. He was one of the best bass players in Bangalore and he was one of my closest friends.

There is a tribute to him tonight at B Flat and I am begging anyone in Bangalore to come for it. There is a great line up of local musicians and it is bound to be a great gig.

I've never really thought about dedicating this blog to anyone but now I know that this is one person whom i wish would have seen this.

I love you.

Prashaanth Davidson

the Vocapeople

I tried looking them up but it is all very vague...This is really funny and extremely good!

A tribute to round midnight

"You know, anybody can play a composition and use far-out chords and make it sound wrong. It’s making it sound right that’s not easy."

Thelonious Monk

Round Midnight is one of those standards my father introduced me to very early. It was one of those songs we would work on to see if i could actually manage to sing. I don't think i will ever do justice to this song. I stopped trying but I was still curious to see how other musicians interpreted this song. It is one of the most recorded songs in jazz history but what makes it so popular?
You don't understand how tough it is until you try to sing/play it, the melody is not easy to listen to and yet it touched so many hearts. If you ask me its one of those songs monk composed that came from his gut. The music is haunting and beautiful sometimes even claustrophobic not really giving you any space to breathe with him cutting the meditative atmosphere with strange half notes.

It is said that Monk composed this track in the 1940s. Miles Davis used this track later as the name of his album Round about midnight. The thing about Monks compositions were that his music was way ahead of his time and that his music was never fully appreciated when it was released. Now however is a completely different story!

This first version is one by Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea. They are just fantastic together, voice and piano flowing into each other like water. This one came from the album play something i will be putting up most of in later posts. It captures that haunting quality I'm so bad at describing!It is one of my or maybe my favourite version of this track. All these versions are vocal renditions of the track.

How can one have a vocal tribute to a jazz melody without Ella? This was the first version I heard of this song after which I got slightly obsessive! She brings Round Midnight to the big band with such class. I don't know how she makes this song sound so easy! Her sense of rhythm is unbeatable she brings the swing to the song.

Cassandra Wilson has the voice for this song. Its beautiful earthy timbre was made for singing music with this kind of atmosphere. I personally prefer it to the Ella version, its got more soul.

I know Jazz hardcore's will kill me for this but when i was looking for versions on youtube I found one by Amy Winehouse! Its the most accessible version and is actually quite nice. Please listen with an open heart and open mind!

Regina Spektor

Once again this song came from Myrthe. Regina Spektor is slightly hard to describe. She is like a box covered in beautiful, really intricate wrapping paper and when you open it there is this whole slightly twisted Dr Suess kind of world inside.

Consequence of sounds i one of those songs that describes her the best. Its got fantastic slightly retarded lyrics and an amazing half rap, half melodic sound. I am not going to put the lyrics down because its one of those songs that you can keep listening to and discover new things!