New Places and New Music

Tanisha,

So much has happened in this past week. Neither of us are in Bangalore anymore and we are on the cusp of new and exciting things. I figured I would find a song which would be good to mark this moment in our lives. I have heard the original before but I actually prefer this cover. Congrats on the start of a new life and cheers to a new phase of Mephobics!

-Sudhir

The Rising : Sting

Hey you,
Almost forgot that today was blog post day. Quite a transition we've both had just the past week. There will be many changes in our lives, but I'm glad that blog won't have to suffer. :)
Heard this song during my travels last week and knew I had to remember to share it with you.

Where is the Heart : Alex Clare

Earth and Sky

This is Lisa Dupuy. She is one of Sudhir's friends, classmates and overall awesome human being. During a very intense one year in London, they bonded over good writing, issues relating to journalists and politics (lots of politics). However, one of Sudhir's biggest regrets is that they did not talk about music tastes more. This letter is Lisa's way of solving that problem. Thanks for writing in, Lis.

Dear Sudhir,

I am currently experiencing a somewhat sleep-deprived delirium the likes of which I have not seen since our panic-stricken thesis-writing days ... You’re well aware, of course, that telling people to only recommend two songs is impossible. But I see that’s part of the fun. You see, I listen to music in the form of albums. When I like a song, I usually don’t just appreciate its music or lyrics, but also like if it sits comfortably amongst its fellow tunes, or if it does a one-eighty and kicks the rest of the musical entities in their rhythmic, three-minute butts. 

The other thing I do is associate songs or artists with one another, sometimes in ways that seem random. I suppose everyone does that: music can transport you to places or moments you’ve been at. For example:  Me feeling in a pickle about this blog post brought me back to my nervous 17-year-old self on the day  I was going in for my university admissions interview. My dad had driven me to the appointment and as I sat in the car with a semi-case of hyperventilation he played me a song called ‘Bodies’. It’s a Sex Pistols tune. It’s about a girl who is getting an abortion. It’s about as horrible as you’d expect. “It’s to get the jitters out”, my dad said. And it did, so that my song for nervous occasions is still this embodiment of refinery. I figured that this would make an original pick for Mephobia. But then I realized, If I pick this abortion song, I have to pick my other abortion song – which I know sounds weird. 

The other song is called ‘Oasis’ and it’s a song by one of my heroines, Amanda Palmer. She wrote a painfully personal but funny and poppy song. But the thing is: I’m not sure that ‘Oasis’ is my favourite Amanda Palmer song. And as much as I would love to feature her stuff here (she’s a label-breaking, tweeting, Neil Gaiman-marrying, punk cabaret machine), I’m afraid that once I get started with her, my association skills will be bouncing off the walls, ratcheting into dusty black holes of ever-expanding CD stacks. And you did just inform me in our whatsapp conversation that one or two introductory lines should suffice. 

I guess the best thing to do here, is forget about the namedropping above. After much deliberation I decided to let serendipity do the choosing, mostly because I’ve always wanted to use the word, ‘serendipity’. The selection turned out to be cool brothers crooning out soulful heartfelt songs. There’s some politics in both, as well. 


The Rolling Stones : Salt of the Earth

Just last weekend my beloved brother played a horribly overproduced R ‘n’ B cover version. Big mistake. There’s no for a reimagination of this tune. It features my favourite ‘change’ in music of all time: the opening lead is being sung by Keith Richards in the first verse. at about 30 seconds in, Mick Jagger takes over. It gives me goosebumps everytime. Throw in some societal statements and I’m raising my hands in praise.

 



Paolo Nutini : Iron Sky

The entire Caustic Love get a regular repeat at my house, but in my opinion ‘Iron Sky’ takes the cake. I like a raspy voice and in this track Nutini is bringing his voice, for sure. Also – despair, dystopia: perfect musical building blocks, even politics works here. It’s something stirring in this song. And the Charlie Chaplin Dictator speech in there is a great trick, too.

Musical Interlude: May Edition I

This month, we are treating you to two guest contributors. The first is Shyju Varkey- the guy known to take over Bangalore's stages with his incomparable acting and singing talent. I'm sure you'll love his selections.

There are a million and a half bands. Then, there’s Rush.

Like most things transcendental, it’s a tough act to comprehend but once you do, there’s no getting out.

There’re two aspects of music that most of us get attracted to – the evocativeness of the music per se, and the lyrical quality.  The former works at a subliminal level;the latter boils down to the quality of storytelling. I've chosen two pieces that reflect one of each.

Of these, the first was what drew me inexorably to Rush and the second, when I got incurably addicted to the magic of Messrs Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. The year was 1992. Twenty three years later, I still go weak-kneed when I hear these tracks. It could also be the onset of arthritis, but I chose to think otherwise.

Red Sector A

Back in the days of analog, I used to play a tape before hitting the sack. I didn’t like counting sheep. Instead, I’d conjure up images of the songs that were playing, trying to make a video in my head.  I’d usually drift into la-la land by the end of the first song. There was this one time, however, when just as I felt myself drifting off into slumber, I woke up in cold sweat.

In my soporific state, I had distinct images running through my head. Try it yourself. Click on ‘play’, close your eyes and make your own images to this song. Then watch the video. I promise you a tingle running down your spine.

Anagram

Really, has there been a cleverer song than this? 20 years on, I still discover a nuance every time I hear it. It’s a lyrical masterpiece. The video here has been put together by some random person in a way that made sense to him. You’ll find the lyrics relevant in different ways for you.

And, to amuse yourself, try to locate the anagrams in each line.

For those who aren't familiar with cryptic clues, here’s an example:

In the first line, ‘There’s a snake coming out of darkness’ – the letters in red make up s-n-a-k-e. Sorry for the spoon-feeding. I just thought it was important enough that no one misses it. Now, go forth and figure out the rest of the song! 

P.S. Check out their 'No One at the Bridge' and 'Trees' too, for evocativeness and lyrical genius.