The Music Box.
Entries about the music I like.
Thoughts on the Associates' Party Fears Two
On Party Fears Two, the Associates’ Billy Mackenzie makes 1 odd vocal choice after another; he takes chances that would be recommended by neither vocal coach nor armchair music nerd. But it’s because of these choices that when I try to describe the sound of the single, I think not to say early new wave, or minimally arranged proto-eighties, or melodic synth-based post-punk.
Sankarabharanam
I wish I understood carnatic music better than I do, which is not well at all. As with so much art, film serves as a great gateway. Sankarabharanam is a classic of Telugu cinema, and really of Indian cinema. It’s story, centered on a carnatic music maestro and his relationships with his daughter and disciples, required an immaculately composed soundtrack carried by a tremendously skilled vocalist. It found this in composer KV Mahadevan and vocalist SP Balasubrahmanyam, my gateway to this music. As someone who grew up with SP’s voice in Roja, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Maine Pyaar Kiya, et al, I was affected by his passing. I have since been listening to a lot of his music, including his unbelievable work on this album; in my view, a must-hear.