Album Review: Antariksh- Khoj

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

   The album up for review is 'Khoj' by New Delhi based band Antariksh. I must admit that listening to their album for the first time got me real excited about the possibilities of Hindi rock with a keener edge, and hopefully they can reach the level of success where their music is heard and adored by massive numbers. Certainly, the musical potential is there, it's just a question of whether all the pieces to the jigsaw are there or not.

 

You can buy 'Khoj' here. 

The first song in the album is 'Parichay' and it stands to true to it's name. It's an introduction, no words, just setting the tone for a lot of innovative guitar melodies, and there is a lot of innovation in the production of this track too which scores a lot of points in the cool meter too. The aggression is pumped up in the latter half of the song, till it breaks down to an orchestral section, which is misleading since the band doesn't have a keyboard player, or a string section. A small disconnect though, they outline one of their signature tunes in the final measures. 

                                                                                                                                                                    

'Parichay' immediately morphs into the opening riff of  'Dheere Dheere' without any breaks, and what a riff it is too. Super funky, and the brown note in there too, and that's a rarity in a riff, let alone a Hindi rock riff. Cool points boys. The vocals don't score high points for 2 major reasons. The first time I heard this band, I didn't know anything about them, except that a friend of mine serves as their manager. So I heard the album with a blank slate, and when I heard the first vocals I thought, wow, they have Usha Uthup as their singer. When I found out that it was a guy singing, it was just a major WTF moment. Secondly, with all bands that know that their arrangements are stronger than their vocals, here too, the vocals are kinda behind in the mix, and don't make it easy to be understood. Like seriously, this is the 4th time I'm rewinding to listen to the words, and the music is just taking me on a trip each time, and I can't focus on the words. So while uber cool points for the music, the vocals are just going to have to sit this one out. Very neat breakdown, and the bridge later on is pretty good. The band have definitely taken their time in making sure that the soundscape is an interesting one. Cool points for a cool guitar solo with a killer two-handed tapping section. 

'Aisa Hi Hota Hai' has a riff that defines swag. It starts out one way, but ends up another way and is cool both ways. Now that's swag. I've tried to focus on the lyrics, and it speaks of instances in life when everything might seem against you and you're in the doldrums, that those moments shall pass and there'll be a new tomorrow. The verse riff is reggae, and the chorus is hard rock, while the breakdown is jazz followed by power metal. 

 

'Naa Jaane Kyun' starts off with a fun little acoustic guitar riff. The same syndrome of listening 4 times for getting the words hit this song too, but I fared better. The song speaks of the uncertainty of the ways of the heart, and how it can take one away from what the sensible roads are, and how it takes us back to what we love. The verse is far better suited for the feel than the chorus which has a more syncoptated feel to it, and the bridge back to the final chorus felt a bit choppy, but a good song nonetheless. 

'Nishabd' starts off with a really edge riff and almost a Dave Matthews style drum groove at the back. The high level of music is to be expected, given that band members of Antariksh have paid their dues being in pretty tight metal bands in the past, and have a understanding of each other's styles from that time period. Another possible reason for the high-flown music is that they're from studious backgrounds, and these riffs have that prog quality that studious folk tend to play ( Is that discrimination of sorts? Don't shoot me, I belong to that group too). Didn't quite catch the words to the chorus, so there goes that. The music is spot on though. The end of the guitar solo into the breakdown and the bridge is just prog chocolate cake, with a whole lot of yum, and a gallop at the end to boot. 

'Aashayein' is next, and it starts off with the sound of a motorcycle engine, before moving into a quite lovely acoustic guitar riff. The first lines speak of the futility of starting an adventure based on the destination alone, and ignoring the journey entirely. The lyrics are understandable, and are following a generic pattern that their music has successfull avoided thus far. This is the most laid back song in the album so far. When I'd first gotten the album, I'd played it to a lot of my friends and seen if they shared my enthusiasm about the album, and none of them did. One of the reasons I got was, if they're going to sing in Hindi, atleast let it sound like Hindi, it sounds like an English speaking guy singing in Hindi. And that was from a guy who lives on Clapton, Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa, so that did get me thinking. I just tripped on how cool the music was, and I'm part of a really small demographic of people who listen closely to music (and write reviews, for instance), whereas most people who listen to this want to be able to sing along, for which the vocals are the most important bit, not the music. So I feel that'll be the major disconnect between this band and the next level of success. 

'Tum' starts off with a massive orchestral string section. This song is more of a vocal showcase and it doesn't work out well, and the pronunciation and the tone just doesn't work. The music works, as it does with all songs in the album, and there are a couple of subtle mode changes that pain a prettier picture. The sudden appearance of a carnatic guitar solo drew my attention to the fact that Baiju Dharmajan does a cameo in the song. Major arrangement, mix, feel and tone mismatch on his sections. 

'Shoonya' starts off with what could be a techno version of the start of 'Another Brick In The Wall' by Pink Floyd. That morphs into a nice guitar bit that has two Steve Vai sweep licks followed a Steve Vai alternate picking lick, running into a fairly generic rock riff. The Joe Sat whammy bar lick makes it's way into the song (twice), and some DT influences shine through in the breakdown. A whole lot of Porcupine Tree follows and then the song is over. The musical innovation that scores so highly elsewhere in the album scores a shoonya here. 

'Aur' starts off with an uptempo version of the chorus refrain from 'Dheere Dheere' and then settles into a nice pocket riff. A nice shift to the 4th minor lends a cool dynamic shift to the verse. The pre-chorus riff is just pure prog gold. The chorus delves into almost metalcore territory, and the vocal melody has some nice notes in it, but all the the previous factors prevent it from scoring way higher. The vocal harmonies here are a welcome addition though. The guitar solo is followed by the intro section again, and is followed by a whole lot of alternate picking. The words speak of the human tendency to keep wanting more. 

'Khoj' is a one and a half minute vocal showcase, that I'm sure is a link between songs here, but the vocals just aren't pulling their weight. 

'Intezaar' is the last song, which starts off with a melodic acoustic guitar riff, almost DTish. Ok, that's a female vocal for sure. The lyrics speak of the wrong in waiting for a love which hurts each time. The second verse features the male vocal, and it needs harmonies, and a lot of them to try and meet the power of the female vocal. It doesn't quite. The girl has more volume singing an octave lower, and it's a real lesson to me in how bands often overlook what might be the most important bridge between their music and their audience. The vocal melodies throughout most of the song are interesting, and in the hands of a better vocalist would have made a major difference. That key change for the solo has always been one of my favourite ones, so cool points for pulling that out of the hat. 

That finishes the review. I stand by the musical quality of the album, in that it is top notch, but what lets it down are the vocals. This is Hindi prog rock, which is a rarity, and as a fan of prog rock, and as a person who desperately wants new sounds to emerge in Hindi, this is definitely a very good start. Just a few more pieces to fall into the puzzle and Antariksh might be a major force to reckon with. Good luck 

Yo Yo Honey Singh! The Champion of Urban India?

Hi,
    For those who have read previous entries to my blog, the title must surely come as somewhat of a shocker. I urge you to read on, and vent post reading. A few things out of the way before I begin; firstly, I have not heard all of Yo Yo Honey Singh's songs, only a few, don't know which one's he has sung, and have not heard them in efforts to research for this train of thought. Secondly, I have not used Wikipedia or the internet to research various aspects of his life, because quite frankly, I don't care much about his past or beginnings.

  For those who haven't read my blog and don't know why I am writing this about their hero; I'm a pro-musician, have been playing guitar for the last 17 years and am very curious to know how you got to know about this article. Is it because it has to do with Yo Yo Honey Singh?

   Now on to  what I want to write about. It's about Yo Yo Honey Singh. If you haven't heard of him while you have access to the internet and TV in India, then you are part of an overwhelming minority, or are trapped under a rock. I'll be using the abbreviation YYHS to refer to him for the rest of this article, because it's tedious to type out his full name, and he does insist that Yo Yo is a part of his name. He's a singer who is the flavour of the season, and what a strong flavour he is too. It is difficult to move anywhere in India without running into the legend of YYHS. I want to narrate a couple of anecdotes before I launch into my analysis. For the past year, I had been acting as tour manager for Bollywood soul diva Shilpa Rao, and as such my phone number was made public, which resulted in a lot of phone calls and messages from her fans in and out of the country, they who wanted to speak to her, profess their love to her, marry her, meet her, give her their lyrics, the whole nine yards. Two calls stand out in memory for their disconnection to Shilpa Rao. It was almost in the same manner, I'd get a call, it was a male once and a female the other time. They told me they were huge fans of Shilpa Rao, I offered to deliver a message to her from them. They hesitated, told me it wasn't necessary, and then went on to ask for YYHS' number. I would inform them that I didn't have his number, they'd ask me to ask Shilpa Rao if she did. And as a rib, I narrated the entire incident to her, and asked her whether she had YYHS' number. She burst out laughing and said she didn't.

   That's the impact this man has on the masses of our country at the present time. He has reached a level of visibility and success that has hitherto been unseen. He's on TV shows as a guest, he's on TV adverts, and he has just been given his own show on the Star Network, where he'll be a mentor to those who are looking for the opportunity to showcase their songs to millions. This kind of stardom is unprecedented. Those who have been industry stalwarts in the past, have not had the exact same path. Daler Mehndi blazed a trail in the mid-nineties, but due to the lack of the internet and TV exposure at the time, he didn't quite get where YYHS is at now, had Daler been here now, it might have been a different tale, but we'll never know. Jal, the Pakistani band who was at the hearts of everything romantic in the mid 2000s didn't quite reach YYHS' level as well. In the information age, a simple look at the Facebook stats of artists reveals his reach. His Facebook page has 24 million likes, which is ahead of Aamir Khan, SRK, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Nigam, A R Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, and pretty much everyone else Indian.

   So what is it about YYHS that has captured the imagination of the nation? I know for a fact that he has a vast number of detractors too, especially in the demographic of parents who are concerned as to the result his lyrics have on their impressionable children. I also know that his isn't the most musical act in town. His live performances are more show than substance, so why is it that people don't care for the negatives and seek out this man, whose positives are hard to find and harder to explain. My opinion on my own question came to me while I was listening to 'Khoj' an album made by Delhi band 'Antariksh'. I feel 'Khoj' is an amazing album, and quite different to most Hindi rock acts of past and present, yet whenever I shared the album with my friends, most of them have been lukewarm to the band and their album, citing various reasons as to why they didn't like it. So it was while listening to the album, that I did a quick mental check for the songs of 'Khoj' against the songs of YYHS that I'd heard and I formed concrete opinions as to why YYHS works like a charm.

     I had first heard of YYHS when he was just HS and hadn't begun to YY between his house and the bank collecting ludicrous sums of money. I was in college, so almost 7-8 years ago, and there was a song which was all the rage. It was titled 'C***', a (Hindi?) word which translates to a certain part of the female anatomy. The lyrics were filth, and obviously, captivated all the guys in my hostel, and in the college in general, and across all colleges too I would think. Here's a guy, who is basically talking about a guy's innermost primal feelings, in the innermost primal language, that which is normally used after lusty drinking sessions and such, with the exception that it is not on any inner level at all. He's loud, proud and completely unabashed in his lyric, his delivery and his clear desire to get as many people to hear it as possible. I'm sure that his lyric isn't quite as crass anymore, but I have heard some of the complaints from parents about a lyric to do with '4 bottle vodka' or some such, while he was on Kapil Sharma's family friendly comedy TV show. By the way, Kapil Sharma's Facebook following is also behind YYHS' and this guy has the highest rated non-fiction TV show in India today.

   Therein lies the charm of YYHS. He is essentially what India is growing into. Our country is a juxtaposition of a schooling system which champions fear, decency and hard work for continued minimal success, and a political system which will choke you till your eyes pop out. As a result, most of young urban India, while having jobs that pay their bills, and put food on their plates, are in a state of almost constant disillusionment, and with no forum to express their frustration. The kids are taught English at school, asked to use English in the workplace and in every professional interaction, yet they are far more comfortable in a tongue that is neither Hindi, nor English, nor Punjabi. Young Indians are now most comfortable in the tongue of abuse. Abusive remarks are used like punctuation, language no bar, I have seen that in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Bangla, everywhere. I'm a musician who's had to travel a lot, and I've studied in a college where students from all stratas and states come to study, believe me, I've seen this for years, being a constant F-word user myself.

   This is also a time when young Indians, despite the frustrations, are in fact more confident in their own ability than ever before, and part of the frustration has to do with non-utilization of that ability. That's a dangerous mix if you think of it, confidence, which has come from years of education, hard-work and an iron-will, matched up with a society whose extreme pragmatism wants to confine the same confiidence it has bred. What results is a youth, whose inner-mind is extremely volatile, fractured and looking for a space to release. This is where YYHS steps in.

   He's not the most skilled musician in the world, he probably isn't the most skilled musician in his house, but let's face it, YYHS, isn't selling just music, he's selling himself. The sheer outrageousness of adding the Yo Yo to his name, which might be dumb to anyone who stops to think about it, is now the biggest separating factor between him and his contemporaries. He has a stage-name that trumps all stage names. This is no pen-name, no pseudonym, no Bachchan, or even no Eminem. This is as basic as branding gets, add something you associate immediately with the genre of rap and hip-hop to your name. And there you have it, Yo Yo Honey Singh. The sheer brazenness of it is what I think is so attractive. In a society where the youth are constantly encouraged to cross their T's and dot their I's, to maintain their social standing at all costs, here is a guy who creates an all new social standing for himself, as good a dream as any for the young Indian.

  It doesn't stop there, aiding YYHS' juggernaut is the incredible role that social media plays in the life of urban India today. I saw a married couple at a coffee joint where for the first ten minutes both husband and wife were just texting on their phones, then the wife showed something on her phone to her husband, following which she went back to her phone, the husband started and finished a call, and then proceeded to stare out the window, their coffees came, were consumed and they left. My 9 year old cousin knows which is a timeline photo, which is a profile photo, and going closer to home, told me yesterday 'You don't know about Yo Yo Honey Singh, where've you been, don't you know we all love him?' These aren't isolated cases I'm sure, as can be evidenced by his tremendous following on social media.

   So there you have it. A guy, whose pretense is that he makes no pretense. What he thinks is what he says, and if it is foolish, rough around the edges, rustic, then it's your problem to deal with, not his. If the music isn't great, or lyrically stimulating in the traditional sense, again, deal with it. If the live performances aren't great or really true, again, deal with it. Which I think is exactly what young India wants to portray to the entire world. We're here, and we're taking over, and deal with it.

PS. I'm not a fan, just an analysis of what I can see.