The Music Box.
Entries about the music I like.
Peter Cat Recording Company — Bismillah
Anybody who talks about Indian indie talks about Peter Cat Recording Company. It’s the Indian independent music version of you like beatles? So it isn’t really a hot take to say, you like PCRC? But here goes: Bismillah is a great album.
Lifafa — Jaago
Some time in 2014, my friend and I were partaking in that quintessentially Bombay concept of a sharing table at that quintessentially Bombay institution, Janta, when we were joined by the lead singer of what was then, and is now, my favourite Indian band, someone we assumed was a girlfriend, and someone we assumed was a girl friend. Bombay doesn't allow known faces private conversations.
Prabh Deep — K I N G
I’ve been unable to indulge in hip-hop much anymore. A weird thing that has begun happening with me and hip-hop is something that happens whenever you hang out with your alco-weird friend. You’re always on the look out for a fight picked with a stranger, or inappropriate views about women or something else from a litany of embarrassments. Anyway, I don’t feel that way about Prabh Deep’s K I N G. In fact it’s one of my favourite records from 2019. It’s also my most listened to album from that year.
John Coltrane — My Favorite Things
I’ve found comfort (once again, a bit, not too much) in one of my favourite jazz albums: My Favorite Things by John Coltrane and his quartet, consisting of McCoy Tyner on piano (in my view the standout performer on the album minus, of course, John Coltrane), Steve Davis on double bass, and the great Elvin Jones on drums. Released in 1960, this album is among the best starting points for listening to jazz, especially in the form it has taken since the 60s. Listen to it and wish me luck.
KennyHoopla — how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//
Ok, prediction. Some future version of 23-year-old KennyHoopla will become quite huge, likely in the short to medium term. I’m basing this off of how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//, his really good post-punk inspired electro-rock EP. Expect driving rhythmic percussion, muted synth stabs, jangly guitars, emotive (but often childish) vocals, all passed through rich reverb. Think Joy Division and Bloc Party, but with a richly inventive approach to vox.
Vashti Bunyan — Just Another Diamond Day
Around the time of its release, huff-and-puff chest-thumping big boys supposedly dismissed Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 acoustic-guitar-and-little-else folk album as childish in its wide-eyed pastorality. See while most seventies folk music from the UK did deal with themes of nature, Just Another Diamond Day did so without grand metaphor or metaphysical sulking, setting it apart from what was perhaps considered more serious music. Of course, since the album is near peerless in its beauty, its influence has since grown and grown.
The Music of Mali: Part 3
The overall air of joyousness in Amadou & Mariam's music is even more amazing when put in the context of the lives they've led. Over 2+ decades before the release of 2004’s Dimanche à Bamako, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind. Here, Bagayoko, who'd lost his vision at 16, and Doumbia, who'd lost hers at 5, found a shared love for music.
Merchandise — Children Of Desire
There are some songs and albums that go with certain memories like peanuts in plastic white cups used to go with Friday nights back in the day. I had just graduated from college and had just begun life as a rent-paying adult. White men crooning soulfully over fuzzy, reverb-drenched, jangly guitars had become a large part of what indie rock sounded like. My Friday nights were peanuts in plastic cups with friends listening to, among other songs, Merchandise’s Become What You Are. My Saturday mornings were glasses of water alone in my room listening to, among other albums, Merchandise’s Children Of Desire.
Otis Redding — Otis Blue
You might see my recommending Otis Redding's 1965 classic Otis Blue as an act of unconscionable lethargy. You might well ask: what's your next recommendation going to be, the Beatles? Rahman? But my purpose has never been to talk solely about some obscure post neo strangecore nutters. I mean, I will often talk about obscure post neo strangecore nutters, but not always. With these Chits, I only intend on sharing a paragraph on the Good Music I’m enjoying. And what I've been enjoying this week is this heartfelt Soul staple all week. It’s absolutely accurate to say that in this case, the genre label Soul is perfectly apt. Listening to this album is listening to a supremely talented person bare his soul on tape. Hard to believe he was only 24 when this album was released and only 26 when he passed. If there’s only one Soul album you can listen to, maybe this one?
Treble Puns — Sounds Like Treble
The other day, this guy asked me, ‘so you support local artists and all, huh?’ I said yes I do, then for some reason felt the need to justify that I support good art no matter where it’s from; it just so happens that a fair bit of it is from India. The justification’s purpose: to give due respect to the likes of this Bengaluru-based instrumental rock band, Treble Puns, whose debut EP, Sound Like Treble, I’ve really enjoyed. It’s loud/soft/loud instru-rock that stands out from other post-rock acts because of Abhimanyu Roy’s Indian-folk-inspired scales and Sohini Bhattacharya’s hard-hitting robotic drums.
Indie / Bedroom / Pop / Surf Rock - 24/7 Radio - Nice Guys Chill FM
The infinite YouTube playlist is a real genre: think lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to with that study girl gif, which had many of its millions of listeners up in arms when it was briefly taken down off of YouTube earlier this year. I’ve recently discovered my favourite of this genre of 24/7 curated YouTube radio.
Lounge Piranha — Going Nowhere
I was just about still a teenager when I heard this band play live in Bangalore with friends. Three of us chipped in for their CD; fifty rupees each. For a while, this was our soundtrack. For a bunch of snotty elitists to commit to anything like that really is something; proof enough to me that these were great songs.
Clams Casino - Instrumental Relics
A new compilation of old favourites by vaporous hippity-hop producer behind the first albums of Lil B and A$AP Rock. Nostalgia-filled listening session of smoky parties with old friends. Vibe-heavy instrumentals 👌👌👌
The Music of Mali: Part 2
Tuaregs represent a small percentage of the Malian population, which is mostly of sub-Saharan ancestry. The music of these peoples bears a striking resemblance not only to Tuareg music, but also to music from the rest of West Africa. This piece is about Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté.
The Music of Mali: Part 1
The slipshod drawing of borders during decolonisation seems designed to plunge most colonies into a period of post-independence uncertainty with which most ex-colonies are still coming to terms. But that’s not what this piece is about. What I will discuss is the music of Mali, and the impact the country’s diverse cultures has on its music.
Taylor Swift — folklore
Often I feel like folklore is attempting to pander to the parts of me that listen to indie electronic folk. Toned down percussions, muted snares, acoustic kicks, more or less completely absent hi-hats, a solid dollop of reverb. And often, spare vocals. Often on this album, the emphasis with the vocals seems to be on a central melody sung simply, naturally.
Bully — SUGAREGG
When expressed authentically, like in SUGAREGG, there is power in the journey of self-discovery. Alicia Bognanno was diagnosed with Bipolar II before the making of SUGAREGG, and a lot of the album deals with her experiences of the condition and the aftermath of the diagnosis. It's cathartic to shout the realisation that you deserve a good life over crunchy power chords.
Rival Consoles — Articulation
So much minimal electronic music does a great job of creating exactly this sort of vibe: armchair, headbob, toetap, lemony beverage, one person daydreaming. Like Jon Hopkins’ Immunity manages to convert even an early morning run on just another manic monday into a contemplative, meditative, in-the-here-and-now sort of experience. While Articulation doesn’t do this perfectly, it comes close enough.
Murthovic — Antariksha Sanchar: Transmissions in Space, Vol. 1
The two Antariksha Sanchar albums by Murthovic are splendid heady mix of electronic music and Carnatic classical music. Through collaborations with incredibly talented instrumentalists and producers, the album traverses through such a rich variety of sounds, while managing to create two coherent opuses of moody downtempo.
Doomsday by MF DOOM, and the art of the comeback
Doomsday is a pretty chill song given its emotional backstory. Its wickedly funny, and rife with puns and epic wordplay. And more-or-less devoid of cold cynicism. But at its key moments, for instance in its chorus, you can see how emotional Operation: Doomsday really is for DOOM.