SOUVIK CHAKRABORTY
Folk bands in India
In a Bollywood frenzied nation, the alternative music scene seems always to struggle. But the very scaffolding of a shaky foundation has been used to the benefits of some of the best musicians in the country. The love for one ' s lands, and its little musings and songs reflect in the popular lyrics of the foreign lands too. The diasporic contemplation of the songs of the land make it big into the international market. But, it would have been a despairing death for the folklores of India, if it was only surviving through the little efforts of the indigenous singers in its raw form.
Indian Ocean is perhaps the best name to start with for this list. Many would argue that the music that they render is not purely of a folkish origin, but with the Indian Ocean the flavour is so damn infectious that it contaminates a lot of their highly energetic riffs of jazz and blues. This means that their music is rooted and so is their writings, so much so that they do not always need to perform a folk band antic to stand out tall in the market of the young bunch of folk musicians. In fact, it would perhaps not be wrong to say that their music is of the urban legends for the urban folks.
The Raghu Dixit Project is perhaps one of the most popular of the folk bands and they have achieved it by a curious mixture of blending the western forms of rock and roll with the desi tadka of the dusts and winds of the Indian soil. To spice up their intriguing music they have brought in the drums, guitars and the bass guitars all together with the flute of Parth Chandiramani. Jag Changa an album by the Raghu Dixit Project is an example of what happens when passion weds talent.
Advaita comes with a philosophical core that is unfettered by the corruptions of the MIDI musicians of the modern days. There music bares the chest to the rough winters of the sound of today yet manages to flesh out an uniqueness that is almost like achieving the golden mean in a band of eight members. Not all fusion bands come up with the kind of music that Advaita has created over the years. Their talent has certainly taken them a long way, and they had already performed with luminaries like John Lecker who has worked with the likes of Radiohead and Pink Floyd. The curious mix of different tunes and lyrics in their body of music has actually made them a happy eat for most random of the random taste buds. Hailing from Delhi these guys have rocked with ease most corporate events, music festivals and the Coke Studio on MTV.
Tetseo Sisters should take a bow for their highly unique sounding music amongst the trending folk bands of India. The music produced by these group of true queens are an absolute treat to the ears and the heart too. Mercy, Azi, Kuku and Lulu ' s voice scents of the lush green meadows and the sweaty soaked bamboo shoots of the beautiful Nagaland. One can tour the hills and roll down the vales when they have plugged in their earphones for listening to the Tetseo Sisters. Started with the humblest of exposure, the Tetseo Sisters shot to fame in the international circuit very soon, rocking the stage in the Handshake Concert in Bangkok, and then going on to set fire on stage at the Commonwealth Games ' Queen Baton ' s Rally in 2010.
Agnee has managed to crack a deal with the rock lovers, through their honey smooth blend of rock and Hindustani music. Agnee brings in the classical, the carnatic into a playground of interesting notes and intensifies the mood of the song to an aphrodisiac slumber. Agnee flames up the passion in your heart to go back to your roots and water your core for resurrection on a Monday morning. And, the best part is Agnee has done all this and still remained totally mainstream, so much so that it will be absolutely no crime to play Yaariyaan from Cocktail on loop.
Swarathma from Bangalore shot to fame when they were included in one of the segments of a highly popular and experimental TV project called the ' Dewarists '. Collaborating with Shubha Mudgal on any project is a blessing in itself. Swarathma boasts of a much bigger spectra of talents and thus their range of music makes them stand well apart from their competitors. Hook into their album like the Topiwalleh and you will rollick in the dripping goodness of the percussions, bass guitars and violins too!
Kailasa is a band that will connect to your soul with just one string pulled on the guitar or just two hills down on the keyboard. For all that Kailash Kher could not do in Bollywood he has done it in his band. Kailash unlike most playback singers has a high affinity towards the songs of the soil. Just like some sing because their vocal chords vibrate, some sing because it is the way of their prayer every day. Sufi has been the main inclination for Kailash and whatever Kailasha hums is just pure devotion. That does not mean that the ignorant youth will keep aside his album on the rack labelling it ' bhakti geeti ' or ' bhajans '. Kailasa is peppy, quirky and all the more colourful like the emotions and emoticons of a cosmopolitan. One cannot just ignore a Kailasa album unless he does not want to get high with a dope load of surprises.
Papon and The East India Company is a highly viable project for it is one of the bands that cracked the economical equations of bringing a non-mainstream music to the forefront. Whenever folk bands are set up; there is by default, a clear sense of adulteration felt in the original feel and flavour of the song. But, with the musical maestro like Papon fusion in itself takes off to a different autumnal ecstasy of a sweet breeze. The drooling over and the intoxication is as cherish able as a spoonful of sundae after a weary day.
The Score Magazine
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