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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