Features | Indiecision: Music Blog: Independent Music in India and Elsewhere

THE INDIECISION ‘08: INDIE OF THE YEAR

January 2nd, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Features

The Indiecision ‘08 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.

The Indie Of The Year is the Indian independent artist that was creatively and entreprenuerly the most impressive in the year 2008 in terms of published music and live performance. The nominees for Indie Of The Year are

Indigo Children

They could have so easily let it go their head. Instead they let the music not their mouths do the talking. The band formerly known as The Superfuzz went from three to four, changed its name and showed us that they didn’t just sound like the desi Arctic Monkeys, they could do a mean Oasis, a canny White Stripes and play as fast and as well as just about any of their heroes. In other words, they stayed Indian rock’s biggest hope.

The Raghu Dixit Project

Raghu Dixit’s folk-pop-rock project quickly rose the ranks as one of India’s top performers on the base of a strong debut album, a national tour and a mini, four nation international tour. Then there’s Dixit’s nice guy charm that always gets us. With a totally clued-in attitude about music and getting it to the masses, The Raghu Dixit Project made 2008 their own personal launchpad into Indian indie stardom.

Hit ‘More’ for the rest of the nominees and the Indie Of The Year ‘08.

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THE INDIECISION ‘08: BEST ALBUM INDIAN

January 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted in Features

The Indiecision ‘08 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.

The Best Album Indian is the best album released by an Indian independent artist in 2008. The nominees for Best Album Indian are

Jet Lag, Da-Saz

Multi-ethnic, multi-genre, multi-influenced Da Saz had a name that made them sound all gangsta but hip hop was not high in the list of sounds they traversed on their enjoyable debut, which surprisingly sounded as good live as it did on record. With frontman Dhruv Sangari’s eclectic vocals and an unmatched variety of percussion brought to the table by Suchet Malhotra, Jet Lag was a truly refreshing sound.

Confect, Scribe

The fact that Scribe gave away Confect as a free download does nothing to diminish the expectation or the quality of this record. The complexity of this album is matched only by its ability to relate at a very visceral level. At its (hard) core it was a balls-out metal record that put together talented musicians who are destined for greater things.

Hit ‘More’ for the rest of the nominees and the Best Album Indian ‘08.

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THE INDIECISION ‘08: BEST SONG INDIAN

December 31st, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Features

The Indiecision ‘08 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.

The Best Song Indian is the best single recording released, in any format (CD, video, MySpace, etc) by an Indian independent artist in 2008. The nominees for Best Song Indian are

‘Bilqis’, Rabbi Shergill

We’re not really sure if Rabbi’s still indie what with the Bollywood soundtrack and all, but this song off his love ballad-heavy sophomore studio album had the deepest traces of the old urban balladeer we were all enchanted with back in 2004/05. ‘Bilqis’ was political, powerful and saved Hindi pop from being a completely soulless genre.

$Shaa\'ir + Func$ ‘Light Tribe’, Shaa’ir + Func

For all its political overtones and Monica Dogra’s searing outrage at the system, Light Tribe gave us some memorable moments, none more than it’s eponymous first song. ‘Light Tribe’ announced the arrival of Shaa’ir + Func v2.0 with aggressive electronica and a need to make a statement. A song that’s far better live than on record, ‘Light Tribe’ is the definition of the new, fearless Shaa’ir + Func.

Hit ‘More’ for the rest of the nominees and the Best Song Indian ‘08.

Tags: Features, the indiecision '08

THE INDIECISION ‘08: MOST PROMISING INDIE

December 30th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Features

The Indiecision ‘08 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.

The Most Promising Indie is the act that, in 2008, showed most potential as an act for the future. The nominees for Most Promising Indie are

Da-Saz

Fans of Sufi pop, Indi rock and and electronica rarely find common ground but they found it in the music of Delhi’s Da Saz. With a captivating live show and a multi-instrumentalist talent on full display, the act is hard to ignore. If these guys are the future of non-film Hindi music, the future’s definitely not as dim as it sometime seems.

Sridhar/Thayil

The project of the uber-talented Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil, Sridhar/Thayil gave us reason to believe that creativity and substance could work together in only the dirtiest of ways. If ‘cutting edge’ was ever a term used to define music, this would be it. Their brand of urban grime (fine, call it whatever the hell you like) is refreshing and totally unique to an Indian scene that needs people to speak up about art and feelings. And stuff.

Hit ‘More’ for the rest of the nominees and the Most Promising Indie ‘08.

Tags: Features, the indiecision '08