Indiecision: Music Blog: Independent Music in India and Elsewhere

LIVE: ALISHA BATTH, THERMAL AND A QUARTER @ HARD ROCK

The recession is taking its toll on live music in Mumbai. Thermal And A Quarter ended their 75 minute set at the Hard Rock Cafe with less than 100 people in the audience, half of whom had come for the food.

Alisha Batth opened for the Bangalore giants who, according to a particularly interesting Mumbai Mirror listing, have been “trying to carve a niche for themselves for the last 12 years”. The listing went on to note

Opening for Deep Purple way back in 2001 got them a lot of visibility but it has only been in the last two years that they have started gigging extensively. Thermal and a Quarter have been recognised by various music magazines and their fourth album, This Is It, has received decent reviews.

With a preview like that, how could you NOT SHOW UP Mumbai?!

Head downstairs for reviews of both Alisha Batth and Thermal’s sets, pics and Indiecisions.

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THIS WEEK’S TOP GIG PICKS

Your guide to the top gigs in town (Mumbai town), weekly.

It’s a busy last week of November if you’re in Mumbai.

On Monday, ie, in less than an hour, jump in to your car/cab/local gas chamber and rush to the NCPA at Cuffe Parade to watch Polish act Zakopower. The band was nominated for the ‘Best Polish Act’ award at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards. The press release claims

Zakopower is a trailblazer of sorts in the global music scene. Combining traditional folk music of Polish Gorals with modern beats and rhythms, the band truly epitomizes fusion. Seamlessly crossing and combining genres, they create an eclectic mix of music that spans electronic, pop and folk rock.

Head back here tomorrow to check whether the goods are as good as the box.

Tuesday night sees acoustic-folk-ster Alisha Batth open for Bangalore rockers Thermal And A Quarter at Hard Rock Cafe. TAAQ don’t frequent Mumbai much so if you haven’t caught them since the launch of This Is It, an Appletini at Hard Rock could not be better timed.

Head to Bandra on Sunday for a choice of gigs.

Sample international jazz at the Mumbai Jazz Utsav at the Lands End Amphitheatre from 6pm onwards with

6 pm: Thomas Siffling Trio [Germany]
7 pm: Wojciech Konikiewicz [Poland]
8 pm: Hot Club de Norvege [Norway]
9 pm: Saskia Laroo [Netherlands]

Entry is free, but you’ll need to pick up said free passes at Rhythm House.

If jazz is not your thing, try the New Skin Metal Fest at the Mumbai Times Cafe (next to KFC, Bandra Linking Road) for a lineup that includes Split, Aftertaste, Prizm, Depth and Black at a gig that is planned to be an annual event. On Facebook.

Split and Aftertaste are featured on Stupid Ditties 2. Which is a free download. That is totally mind blasting. Have a week.

INDIAN ACTS IN BLENDER’S LIST OF ‘100 HARD ROCK BANDS YOU MUST LISTEN TO’

Blender’s known for its vast variety of lists. As with most lists related to music, the results are often (always) debateable. The new issue of the Indian edition of Blender features the clinically titled list ‘100 Hard Rock Bands You Must Listen To’.

Making the cut among international acts like Nirvana (#3), The Ramones (#8), Meatloaf (#86) and The Clash (#8) are a few Indian acts. Here are the Indian bands that made it to the list of ‘100 Hard Rock Bands You Must Listen To’

Thermal And A Quarter (#48)
Junoon (#53) (not Indian though)
Pentagram (#76)
Agnee (#81)
Colourblind (#87)
Zero (#95)

In case you were wondering, Led Zeppelin were #1, The Sex Pistols were #2 and Deep Purple were #100. But Zero behind Junoon, that’s just wrong.

PREVIEW THE NEW THERMAL AND A QUARTER ALBUM

A few days ago I did an interview with Thermal where they revealed a few details about their new album This Is It. The band has now put up six tracks from the album for streaming on their MySpace page. The tracks available for streaming are

‘This Is It’

‘How Can I Get Your Groove’

‘Holy Jose’

‘Take Me To Your Dealer’

‘Between The Lines’

‘Fly’

Check out the songs here.