Album Review: In Technicolor- Ganesh Talkies

Hi,
    My name is Surjo and I'm a professional musician. The songs you're hearing (hopefully) are from my debut album 'The Key Has Turned' which you can buy here.

   The album up for review is 'In Technicolor' by Ganesh Talkies, who are an odd entity in the Indian music space. They're viciously indie, all the while tipping their hat quite strongly to the most obviously over-the-top Bollywood music and choices. I'd first heard the band at NH7 in Kolkata last year, where they evoked a lot of strong reactions in me, both good and bad, and good enough that I went ahead and bought their first album. You can buy 'In Technicolor' here.

'Monsters In Your Head' starts off the album, and one thing immediately stands out from the first guitar riff; this is going to be an innovative album in terms of sound and production, and that's something that always keeps me interested. The beat is almost disco bliss without overdoing it, and there are some accordion stabs in the pre-chorus. The vocals are behind in the mix, so I don't have much of a clue of what the words are. The disco drum roll with the ooa ooa ah ah is just golden. A lot of interesting production techniques used throughout, so cool points for that. The bridge almost sounds samba, and the screaming guitar harmonics laden solo scores high on the interesto-meter. 

'Dancing Dancing' starts off with a unison harmonium like riff. Hmmm, never thought I'd say that so a lot of cool points. The wall of overdriven guitar swirling around on the chorus lines is just so nasty and appealing all at once. The lyrics sound like a love song, and there are some fairly generic lines in the first verse. The second verse has a Hindi line in there to add to the gadbad, and of course, the pre-chorus is just too sweet. This is a damn good song. The keys parts layered all around the song are just gold. The horn section at the end just lends a different level of energy to the track. 

'Fight Club' starts off real aggressive, with an almost cough like guitar riff in the back, and then there's this real trippy disco like line on top of that. The pre-chorus has all sorts of drama in it, with Suyasha screaming out her lines. The lyrics speak of how a lover has fallen in her eyes and how she feels he should be start a fight to redeem himself. ???????? Ok. Forget the words, sing along with what you can decipher, and enjoy the music, because it is quite spectacularly creative. The descending guitar trills in the pre-chorus is so innovative. 

'Item Song' is the standard bearer of the album, with a whole lot of cool to support of whole lot of musical muscle. The intro riff is just so memorable. The song might turn out to be an anthem for a Women's Rights Movement. Or just an anthem for women in general. The chorus has the uplifting chord progression of the ages so that doesn't hurt one bit. 6 minor followed b the 4 and 5 Major was always a safe bet to let loose in a song and that's what they've done to great effect here. 

'Raju Banega Gentleman' starts off in Hindi, and the most funky riff so far. The rest of the song mixes Hindi and English. I do wish that Suyasha's vocals are a bit more upfront in the mix, because it does sound like she's doing a stellar job emoting on the vocals, but she's way back in the mix. The story of the song is almost like a piece of advice from her to the character Raju and what he should aspire to in life. Lot of cool music floating in and around the words. 

'Brother From Another Mother' starts off with a pounding bass drum before a whole lot of disco-era music jumps in, but it doesn't dated in the least bit. The pre-chorus sets up really sweetly for the chorus, which might be one of the oddest choruses ever. The one quality that is everpresent in the album is how easily they can get you to headbob, and that is just rare. The lyrics don't make much of impression, but again, the mix might have something to do with that.

'Disco Days' starts off with, what, a disco groove man. A whole lot of sizzling hi-hat on this one, and staccato keyboard riffs with delays. The lyrics started off quite strong, and suddenly descended in chaos by the time the chorus came around. If this were to play in a disco, there'd be a lot of folks dancing, that bit I can say for sure. The Bappi Lahiri toms sure bring about humour and nostalgia.

 'The Fan' starts off with a really twisted guitar riff. The lyrics are about a twisted fan fantasy. All the quintessial guitar and keyboard coolness are maintained in the album. 

'Wonder Woman' starts off with a cheeky keyboard line, and then upps the ante with some aggressive guitar work. Whoa, this could be a female anthem too. The chorus is power exemplified. Naari Naari Wonder Woman, has got to be on the most catchy chorus lines in recent memory. So much funk packed in one song, definitely has the Bollywood overdo tendency spot on, with the only difference that it sounds great throughout here. The instrumental break is full of dance-along goodness. 

'Style' closes out the album with the most epic bit of music so far, with the dhaak bols and the kaasha coming in. Loved it when I heard it live, and love it now. The guitar riff that accompanies it is so appropo, kudos guys. I get the feeling that the lyrics are good, but the mix just isn't helping, the vocals are overshadowed. The heavy chorus just sits right with me. 'Guitar solo like Salman' has to be the best line in the album. The bridge with the good name segment was hilarious. 

Just get the album fellas. You won't regret it. It's some of the most interesting music that an Indian band has produced and we should encourage them completely to keep kicking it like they do.