Morning Walk

EXPECTATIONS Well, first and foremost the film itself comes as a bit of surprise. With zilch information about this project, in spite of the presence of Anupam Kher and Sharmila Tagore, it is impossible to build any expectations for the music. Also, it appears to be an offbeat subject hence diminishing any hope that one has from a popular score. Jeet Ganguly, who was once a partner with Pritam for the music of Mere Yaar Ki Shaai Hai and Tere Liye, comes solo for creating the music of Morning

Music Review: A Pretty Mess - We are the Damaged Youth
Review by Tony - Hell Feels Like Home A Pretty Mess is a four piece female punk band based out of Los Angeles, California. There are a lot of punk bands out there that try to capture the sound and spirit of the original punk movement and few of them do it as well as A Pretty Mess. This band roars like a caged animal and has an aggressive bite of early 80’s hardcore. The guitars have a rough metallic edge, while the bass and drums thrash and groove. The vocals have a razor gargling fierceness

CD Review: American Waltz by 3Play+
All over the stylistic map, this collection of jarring segues and first-rate melodies by the new group 3Play+ positions keyboardist/composer Josh Rosen somewhere between the Americana jazz of Bill Frisell (notably the deceptively simple title track, which becomes less simple and absolutely gorgeous as it gets going) and maybe Danny Elfman. Rosen’s compositions are considerably more sophisticated, but throughout this mix of alternately melodic and more tonally abstruse jazz , there’s a recu

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (Hear Music)
Hardly a day goes by that we hear about another performer leaving their chosen career trajectory and taking a swing at country music.Some of these travelers deeply feel the need to honor the history, the tradition, of the genre. They also bring something new and interesting to the sound. Then there are the carpetbaggers. The ones who’s career have a justly stalled and are looking to find a new audience in a genre they mistakenly see as an easy get. They carry with them the foul stench of mediocr

New Heights for Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp) Grizzly Bear’s highly anticipated album Veckatimest is finally out. After an unfinished version leaked in March, I, fearing a false impression of the new songs, decided to wait for the official release. Singer Ed Droste accepted the leak with understanding; on Twitter he remarked that the leak would happen sooner or later, but that he wished the tracks were of better quality. read more

Kirkit
EXPECTATIONS Sports based films are hardly made in India. Worse, they have not really been known for their music. In such a scenario comes the music of a film called Kirkit which by itself is an unknown film that is getting all set to be released pretty soon. Any expectations? Well, none even as the album cover proudly proclaims the title song to have been sung by Marcia Barette of ‘Boney M’ fame. MUSIC Shashi Preetam is not just the director of Kirkit but also the film’s composer. In fact

The Specimens - The Quick and the Deaf
I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m not a big fan of the whole garage rock sound. Just ask Racer. He knows. He’s seen the derisive curl of my lip as he’s played the stuff, and I think he either enjoys tormenting me or he actually prefers my face to look that way. No matter. Today . . . today is the day that I can finally sit back in my office chair and claim to have found an appreciation, nay . . . a love for at least one band that fits the garage rock mold. That band, as I’m sure you ever so bra

NEW ON THE SCENE: JOSH X-AN-TUS!
R&B newcomer Josh X-an-tus is wowing audiences across the nation with his new single, “First Time,” from his highly anticipated debut album, Can I Live. The classically trained pianist already has a major buzz about him thanks to his single, “Let’s Ride,” with rapper Jadakiss. The hood love anthem was featured as one of the top ten favorite videos on MTV. X-an-tus is now slowing it down with a beautiful ballad about the blossoming of young love and making love for the first time, wh

Jay-Z Delivers Death Sentence to Auto-Tune
Via Pitchfork : Jay-Z’s first track from The Blueprint 3 is called “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune),” a booming mid-tempo rap excoriating both the omni-present pitch-correction software and rappers who use it to robotically scale the chart. In a witty use of Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” the refrain is purposely sung terribly, and Mr. Carter raps that “Y’all n—-s singin’ too much / Get back to rap, you T-Pain-in’ too much.” The irony? “D.O.A.” is co-produced by No ID and Kanye Wes