Romay - Freedom

Romay, the producer who set up his own record label called Acoustic Science, has released Freedom via his soundcloud page. This is a drum and bass track inspired by chants for freedom across the world and has been released ahead of Romay's True Vision EP which should be out on the 21st May.

Freedom starts with a choppy vocal sample and is followed by some brilliant futuristic sounding beats and bass. Romay has made this available as a free download via soundcloud, so get it while you can.

Bikram Singh - ELB Navdeep Inversion Mix

Bikram Singh has released a remix of Electro Love Boliyan with the single Jaaniye. The Navdeep Inversion Mix of ELB was made by New York based Navdeep who previously remixed Taakre from Bikram's first album. Like the Sunil Sehgal remix of Kinna Sohna Munda, this new mix of ELB is something that fans may not have noticed. 

There are now three remixes of ELB and the Navdeep Inversion Mix sounds the most different from the original. The original ELB is loud, unapologetic and full of bass. However the new mix is much quieter and more like a chill out tune than a dance floor filler. It is wonderfully understated and melodic. Navdeep has removed most of Bikram's vocals, something which I usually dislike. But the vocals that remain are so well integrated into the rest of the track, that I barely noticed their absence. It's ingenious of Navdeep to make everything softer rather than just add a heavy bassline which happens all too often in remixes. There is a complex combination of beats and subtle bass which work well together and Navdeep has created a whole new atmosphere in the song. He's removed the boliyan, but kept the love.

Magical things have happened when Navdeep worked with Bikram in the past and this occasion is no exception. ELB was one of my favourite tracks on Bik.I.am and I'm glad that it has been remixed in this way. I just wish that Bikram and Navdeep could make music together more often as the results are spectacular.

Zameer - Tatti

Zameer, whose debut single was selected as the theme song for the 2010, Paralympics , has released a video to accompany his single Tatti. For those who do not understand Punjabi, the title of the song translates as “poo”.

The video starts off in a barn where a girl wearing only a bikini, duputta and Wellington boots makes eyes at a man. She flounces off outside into the cold where a bhangra group are dancing. She then sits on a tractor and feeds Zameer various food items, before Zameer pronounces that he needs to relieve himself. The video switches between shots of the girl, Zameer, the tractor and the dance group before Zameer and his musicians head back inside the barn where the video ends.

The blurb accompanying the video states that the video is satirical and that it “aims to bring to light various human elements in a comedic format.“ It goes on to say that it does not “intend to poke jest or offend and cultural, linguist or religious groups”. It ends by stating “We sincerely hope you will laugh at what is meant to be a simple, light hearted, gastrointestinal comedy”.  If the video producers felt the need to put this up with the video, I’m sure they have already had people being offended by it.

Whilst I like the idea of satirising and parodying the typical bhangra video, I thought most people stopped finding jokes about excrement funny aged five. I don’t find poo jokes offensive, but I think they are puerile. Perhaps this is satire aimed at those suffering from arrested development. In my opinion stating the need to relieve oneself is not satire or funny even if the makers of the video say it is.

It’s not just the toilet humour that I don’t find funny, I also take issue with the casual misogyny and unlike the poo joke I do find this offensive. The only woman in the video is objectified and stereotyped beyond belief. It’s two and a half minutes of telling the woman to get back in the kitchen and stay there. It is not satirical, ironic or funny. I’m sure some women would put laxatives in the food if they were treated like that, ensuring that the man who ordered them about really did need to spend some time on the loo.

The only good thing about the video were the subtitles. If they hadn’t been there I would have questioned my Punjabi skills as I really never thought someone would write a song about human waste. The track is not something that you would want to dance to. It is a short simple song and it gets boring and predictable after a few listens.

Overall this is an awful video. Despite what the makers of it say this is not comedy and it is not clever enough to be satire. If you find this funny, you are either five years old or have the developmental age of a five year old and need to grow up.

Take Five: Sitar Tracks

If asked to name an Indian instrument, most people would probably say sitar. Twangy sitar notes have almost become a cliche in the West. But there are artists and musicians who know how to use the instrument.Today's Take Five is all about sitars and those who make them sound great in new and innovative ways.

Ananda Shankar - Streets of Calcutta

The nephew of famous Ravi Shankar, Ananda Shankar played with Jimi Hendix and covered songs by the Rolling Stones. Ananda Shankar was one of the first musicians who fused Eastern and Western Music together. Streets of Calcutta is a brilliant piece of phsychedelic sitar funk that sounds ahead of its time. The song was brilliantly remixed by the Punk-A-Wallahs and was recently used in the adverts for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. 

The Decline of the Album: Part Two

In part one of this post, I looked at what iTunes and the closure of specialist music shops had done to cause the decline of the album. In part two, I am exploring the role of the media in the decline of the album and what artists can do about it.

A song can be amazing, but if music fans don’t know about it, sales of the song will be none existent. Marketing and PR companies acting on behalf of the artist used to tell the media about a new release who in turn would let fans know. The intention was to create a buzz about the release and get people interested enough to buy it.

Now with social media, an artist can reach fans quicker than the time it takes marketing to spread the word. It is great that artists can communicate directly with their fans. However, they may not be the most skilled copy writers to promote their work through social media. Tweets like “my new album is out, buy it now” soon become boring when tweeted ten times a day. All artists should be involved in promoting their work, but they have to make sure they engage their audience properly to create a buzz.

When I first started buying music I relied heavily on magazines like Snoop and several websites which no longer exist. As well as telling me about new artists, they all regularly reviewed albums. The reviews were thorough, expressed opinion and I felt I could trust them. As well as praise, there was constructive criticism which helped me sort the hits from the misses.