Music and Lyrics

Sting writes in the introduction to his book, Lyrics:

The two, lyrics and music, have always been mutually dependent, in much the same way as a mannequin and a set of clothes are dependent on each other; separate them, and what remains is a naked dummy and a pile of cloth.

Though I am a fan of Sting’s songwriting, I might not want to buy this hardbound book in which all his lyrics are published, with a brief intro for some of them, much like liner notes.

I glanced through these notes in a book store - apparently, the beautiful “Mad about you” is based on the story of David and Bathsheba, and what a great love song it is!

And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominations over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love.

"...and the punishment comes in Chapter 12".

Zen and the art of Taking it Easy

I had almost stopped reading travel writing two years back, after being bombarded by travel blogs. Perhaps, the travel blogs I used to read were not a great read as travel writing goes. But definitely, they came in handy when you had to find a good home stay or the driving route to a destination.

I think the last travel book I read (almost 5 years ago!) was Under a cloud, Life in Cherrapunjee, which was a highly readable account of life in the wettest place on earth (not really, the wettest place is Mawsynram, just close to Cherra). In the foreword of this book, author Binoo John says that the project was sponsored by Penguin India. This declaration made me wonder whether he was really passionate about the travel to Cherra or he did it just for the “project”.

In contrast, Pico Iyer’s The Lady and the Monk is a more intimate and passionate account of something he really wanted to do - to live in a monastery (a bit clichéd, but the book works), though Iyer says that he was on Time Magazine’s payroll through his stay in Japan.

The book eventually showed me what great travel writing is. Maybe it was due to my short stint in Osaka in the early 2000, or for my fascination for The Razor’s Edge kind of life (which I know, I can never do) or may be for the highly readable prose of Iyer, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. For instance, prose like this I could instantly relate to:

Whenever I wandered the winter streets alone, though, Kyoto still aroused in me a surge of unaccountable elation: even in winter the skies were unreasonably blue, and the days had a bright, invigorating chill that seemed to admit of no despair. In Japan, there was truly a sense of a culture calmly on the rise, in possession of itself and buoyant, and the mild air itself felt cleansed of cynicism and decay.

Iyer also writes a lot on literature, both Japanese and Western, and on Zen in this book. The most amusing Zen story he narrates is “Is that so”. He also narrates the classic Zen tale of absent mindedness, the story of the Zen monk and poet Ryokan:

One day when the ever-hospitable Ryokan had a guest, he went out to the village to get some sake, asking the guest to wait for a minute. When the guest didn’t see his host for hours, he stepped out in search of him, only to find Ryokan sitting just outside gazing at the moon.

“Isn’t it beautiful?
“Yes. But what about the sake?”
“Oh yes, the sake. I’d quite forgotten about it.”

As Iyer says, the mind was absent to the world -but only because it was taken up with something higher!

The other day, I was chatting with my friend on Buddhism and he had an idea on blending Christianity with Buddhism – I wish I knew this excellent Zen tale then:

One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"

Reminded me of what George Harrison had sung on his final album – “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there!”

PS: Iyer says that westerners flock to Japan for two things: Buddhism and Japanese women. Strange. If only they knew how to take it easy!

Kinsmen, Amit Chaudhuri, Miles from India

I enjoyed listening to Rudresh Mahanthappa on NPR’s Fresh Air last week, though I didn’t quite catch the math-y details discussed in the conversation. I had written to Rudresh, in February, asking him where I can get a copy of Kinsmen, his work with Kadri Gopalnath, in India and I got an email reply from him saying that it’s not available in India yet. I had liked what I had heard on the NPR site, though I am not a great fan of “fusion" as such. Just before that I had listened to a song sample of the high profile east-west-fusion jazz band Miles from India, Miles’ “All blues” (my favorite Kind of Blue track) interpretation, which I didn’t like much. I found it to be, to use a cliché, “more of confusion than fusion”.


In 2007, I learned about Amit Chaudhuri’s “This is not fusion" album from Amitava Kumar’s blog and bought the album from a record store here in Bangalore. It is a fantastic album, the catchiest tracks on the album are surely Chaudhuri’s interpretation of “Layla” in raag Todi and his version of Gershwin’s “Summertime”. Even though I haven’t heard much of Hindustani music, the tracks of improvisations of Hindustani ragas with accompaniment of western instruments were really interesting. Though the title of the album says “This is not fusion”, it is essentially a fusion album! As Ananda Lal, Professor of English at Jadavpur Universtity, Kolkata, writes in the liner notes of the album:

To tell the truth, all music is fusion. No musical form remains untouched by acculturation, though classical pundits still turn up their noses at the perjury committed by colleagues who jam with jazzmen. To pin those purists down on hybridization, just ask them how their ragas Kafi or Miyan ki Malhar got their names, or how violin found such a hallowed place in south India.

The only explanation for the title of Amit’s album is that it is not a fusion album in a traditional sense, where a eastern celebrity musician works with a western celebrity musician to produce a “fusion” album.

I guess, as long as it is not fusion for fusion’s sake, it would sound as good as any other genre in music.

Kapish redonkulous?

Havent enjoyed a movie scene like this in a long time since the bread came in slices and changed the way we lead our lives... . The movie is worth for this one scene.
Bolt, the superdog from a TV show meets some pigeons in Hollywood....

Two Men With The Blues

Two super-heroes of our times, one at 78 and the other at 75:



Roger Ebert writes in his review of Gran Torino:

I would like to grow up to be like Clint Eastwood. Eastwood the director, Eastwood the actor, Eastwood the invincible, Eastwood the old man. What other figure in the history of the cinema has been an actor for 53 years, a director for 37, won two Oscars for direction, two more for best picture, plus the Thalberg Award, and at 78 can direct himself in his own film and look meaner than hell? None, that's how many.

AV Club writes in the review of Willie Nelson's collaboration album with Wynton Marsalis, released in 2008.

Willie Nelson records so frequently (2008 releases included Two Men With The Blues, the solo Moment Of Forever, and the career-spanning box One Hell Of A Ride) that it takes some stamina to keep up. Not bad for a guy who recently turned 75.

Note: I haven't watched Eastwood's movie, but listened to Nelson's Two men with blues, which is a fantastic album.

Rock Journalism, Kaufman etc.

Though Web 2.0 is feeding us with more reviews and star ratings of arts and entertainment than ever before, you have to look in the right places to find a good piece of journalism. Well, Journalism- as I heard in a movie last night- is literature in a hurry!

For music reviews, I have now narrowed down to just three sources: AV Club, Pitchfork and All Music Guide.

The AV Club review of Synecdoche, New York, drawing parallels between the protagonist of the movie and the life of Axl making the Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy album, is perhaps one of the best reviews/appreciation I've read in recent times.

Not to mention the comments section which has some gems like these:

Kaufmann can write a script about you writing an article about watching his movie and listening to an analogous hard rock album. Add some crazy time-bending thing with Axl writing the album based on a movie he thinks is going to be made in 2008...

If you think there is great music and great reviews to look forward to, read this sattire-at-its-best piece by The Onion: Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8.

"Music used to be great, but let's be honest, it's a 6.8 now at best," said Los Angeles resident Lowell Radler, 23, who admitted that he just looked at the rating rather than reading the whole review. "I seriously might never listen to music again."

Related: Roger Ebert on giving out too many stars.

Best Band intro during a live performance

I think no one can beat Springsteen when it comes to introducing the band during a live performance. He usually does this on the song Tenth Avenue Freeze-out, which apparently is a song about the E-Street band itself. I heard this on the Live in NYC concert CD and here is the youtube clip.
Love the Clarence Clemons part:

"When the change was made uptown
And the Big Man joined the band"

The Year-end List

This time it is easy for me to identify the things I have heard, seen and done since the beginning of this year (2008), as there was a significant event in my life in January and I can clearly distinguish everything pre- and post-Jan’08.

In music, it was a comeback year for the album. I listened to more albums (start to finish) than in last 3-4 years, instead of listening to hit/single mp3s. I am glad that I did. Didn’t listen much of radio this year (almost nil), while 2007 was dominated by NPR and Worldspace.
Here is a list of some impressive albums I listened to in 2008 (most of them released before 2008)
1. Wilco- Sky Blue Sky (2007)
After hearing them on the Woody Guthrie Project, I picked this album which is a bunch of soft, melodious, piano and steel guitar driven songs.
2. P J Harvey – White chalk (2007)
Eerie. Harvey sings in a spooky tone throughout the album; piano driven rock and absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, I can’t play this album very often as its songs are centered on the theme of abortion; the darkness which the album successfully conveys through its music and words, which my partner and now even I can’t stand.
3. Pegi Young – Pegi Young
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
Both albums released in 2007, individually by the Youngs. Neil’s stuff is mostly from a long time abandoned project.
4. Johnny Cash – American Recordings III: Solitary Man (2000)
Started listening to this for the cover of Bonnie Billy’s I see a Darkness, but the other covers -One (U2), Solitary Man (Neil Diamond) and Mercy Seat (Nick Cave) - are equally good.
5. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – I see a Darkness (1999)
Undoubtedly, my best find of the year.

Honorary mention: Fleet Foxes’ self titled debut. Haven’t listened to the whole album yet, but I liked what I heard. Winter Hymnal is a must-listen.
Update: I played the Fleet Foxes' album yesterday and realized that my fav tracks on this, as of now, is "Blue Ridge Mountains".

Albums I have listened to before but found a new dimension while listening to it this year:
1. Steely Dan – Aja
2. DMB – Live at Folsom fields
3. Allman Brothers – Live at Fillmore (A perfect weekend start would be having English breakfast and coffee listening to this album. No hurry at all!)
4. Dire Straits – On every street

Indian Music: I got addicted to Kathaklai music this year, which has a stunning percussion (Chenda and Edaikka); something you don’t find in Carnatic and Hindustani music. I realized that listening to Kathakali music is as good a treat as watching it.

And for books, not much of reading this year. Read two graphic novels which were outstanding. Sarnath Banerjee’s Corridor and Amrutha Patil’s Kari. The dark and disturbing Kari had more text than any conventional Graphic novel. Both, Banerjee and Patil, have contributed to the year-end special edition of Tehelka which has “Short Fiction” as its theme.

Books I wanted to read this year but never got to it (and will definitely read someday):
1. What I talk about when I talk about running – Haruki Murakami
2. Imagining India – Nandan Nilekani

My best find: Malayalam literary critic K. P. Appan. I picked up a book with the transcript of an interview with Appan-sir (as he is widely known) back in September and was craving to read his essays on The Bible (book titles given here are roughly translated from Malayalam), which I picked up this month.
1. “Bible – The armour of light” – His reflections on the Bible and its impact on his life.
2. “So Sweet, Your life” – Appan talks about the significance of Mother Mary in Christianity and introduces to Malayalees, a relatively unknown stream of thought in Christian studies– Mariology.
K. P. Appan passed away on Dec 15th 2008, 10 days before Christmas – a festivity he loved the most in his life, even though he was not raised a Christian.

Movies: The most memorable movie was In Bruges, which for me was “a perfect movie”. The AV Club reviewer sums it up: "When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise."

This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the Coen Brothers’ legendary, hyper-intellectual stoner noir film, The Big Lebowski.
The 2008 NYT article on achievers, here.

Outstanding Blog: Song of the Waves – Parayil A. Tharakan shares his view on current affairs, anecdotes and trivia on anything Keralan (flowers, spices, traditions) and it is frequently updated! A blog where every other post is a collector’s issue!

Reaching Fahrenheit 451

A month back, I borrowed the latest book by Anita Nair, Goodnight and God Bless, from a local library. Earlier, I had read her columns in The Sunday Express and I own a copy of her last work of fiction (Mistress), which I liked. I glanced through this small book, priced at Rs. 399, before borrowing it, and realized that the material is nothing superior to the free stuff that I get from the blogosphere. To make matters worse, on reading the book I realized that most of the pieces were from her earlier Sunday Express columns which I had already read! Strange that this was not mentioned in the preface, blurbs or in any publicity material; but only at the end of the book as fine print! I was glad that I didn’t buy the book for 399 bucks, but spent just Rs. 40 (10%) as lending fee.

Most of the Indian Writing in English published here is overpriced, except for certain authors like Chetan Bhagat. I haven’t read Bhagat yet, but despite being a best seller, his books are nominally priced (The 3 mistakes of my life at Rs. 95). I like him for that.

The latest entrant to the overpriced Indian Writing in English scene is Nandan Nilekani, with his ideas for the new century: Imagining India, priced at Rs. 699! I am not commenting on the quality of the book, of which I have just read an excerpt, and I don’t expect the book to be mediocre- from whatever I know (and have read) of the author as a businessman and a person. I feel that it is overpriced, even though it is a thick book. As rightly commented by a reader on Nandan’s blog: “..when you price a book such that it’s inaccessible to many, you are not letting the ideas reach the people”. Mr. Nilekani, apparently, has bagged the fattest advance for a nonfiction work in India. With India eagerly awaiting the release (on Nov 24th) this one would easily become the all-time nonfiction best seller in India. Moreover, it is quite obvious that Thomas Friedman would be showcasing this book to a wider global audience who might not be really interested in India or Nilekani.

Indian is a country where Public libraries haven’t evolved as in the West. Reading a new book still means paying a 10% of the book price at a privately run library (if at all they get a copy of the book you want to read) or actually buying the book (assuming you don’t buy the pirated copies of limited collection of best sellers available).

Ironically, in the last edition of The Sunday Times of India (Nov 16), which carried an excerpt from Nilekani’s Rs. 699 book, the opinion page carried the column by Gurucharan Das about reading and the state of libraries in India:

Just as a great city must have a big public park along with lots of small neighbourhood parks, so it must have one big public library and many neighbourhood libraries. Ideally, public libraries should be free, paid by taxes, and managed by the municipality. But this is a distant dream in India where the state has failed to deliver even more basic services like schools and hospitals.

Between 1900 and 1917, [Andrew] Carnegie founded 3,000 neighbourhood public libraries [In the United States], insisting that the local municipality had to guarantee tax support for running and maintaining them.

Perhaps, one day we, too, will spawn our Carnegie.

Till that day, I wish, at least the financially sound Indian writers don’t overprice their books by demanding unjustifiable advances from the publishers.

Guy Montag, you there?

Making Music

Donald and Walter of Steely Dan might have been the coolest, laid back guys of rock 'n roll in the 70's. From '74 they decided to work from home; they gave up live shows and worked entirely from the studios, churning out platinum albums. I got initiated by a Dan Head at a local pub and bought a best of CD, couple of years back, but never really got into it. Recently, I got hooked to the album Aja and I just can’t stop playing it!

Even if you are not a Dan Head and have some interest in music, this documentary on the making of Aja is a must watch. In case it is not available where you live, you can download the torrent here.

In the last fifteen minutes of the documentary, Donald and Walter jam with some of the Aja session musicians, playing Peg and Josie. I haven’t seen a band playing under so much pressure, as if you miss one-tenth of a beat and you mess up the song, and enjoying every moment of it!