Parousia@Joseph's

Possibly the last show for a long time for me in the hometown (thanks to Parousia ... Renjith in particular!!) ... Parousia progged the shite outta Joseph's ... maybe not to all of the fans' expectations ... but twas enough ... some highlights ...

Opened with the SFAM overture ... (watch it ... here comes Parousia!!!!) ... though I still liked Freedom Jam a notch better ... Rambo and me were outside ourselves that night ...

They're going onto classic prog people ... Porcupine Tree (Blackest Eyes) and Kansas (COWS) ... in great detail (although Renjith was too eager to get to that whole scale high "...No more" in COWS) ... solo ... Naveen and Bry ... enough said ...

Purple's "Sometimes I feel ..." was ok ... but Ive seen much much better outta these boys ... and in closing ... Symphony X ... not as tight as I or the guys would've liked ... but they had the balls to whip out "Sea Of Lies" da!!! And that tap sequence in SOL and the entire solo in "Candlelight... " ... almost verbatim ... thanks Naveen ... you deserve all those hails from them Josephites ... you got mine too bruhh!!!

Later for picks/rant/banter with Parousia (btw ... there's more folks back there asking for picks ... finally Ive got competition!!!!!) ... out for dinner and talk ... home ... better person today!!!

Chill out you guys ...
-A

Pravin Bell Interview

I just came across an old interview of Pravin Bell, the guitar/bass player of Agni. The interview was conducted by Hypnos Reviews, a site that has a lot of great articles and reviews about music, especially Indian rock music. The interview seems to have been taken around the time when Mrityunjaya was released. But Pravin Bell provides a lot of details about the history of the band, Wind Dance with Fire and the recording of Mrityunjaya. Pravin Bell mentioned in the interview that the band had actually recorded an all English version of Mrityunjaya. But because of poor response from music labels, they had to scrap that project and do the Hindi-English version. I wonder if a copy of the English recordings are available.

New Motherjane logo?

The Motherjane homepage has a new logo with the Motherjane figure on a blue background. I always associated the band with red on black theme. I wonder who came up with the blue background concept. Also the original logo is a back shot of the figure of Motherjane walking away. The current one is a frontal view with lot more details. I wonder if this represents a change in the personality of the band. In many ways Maktub with it's heavy eastern theme represents a new sound for the band. The new logo might represent that change. But then this may just be a temporary thing. I guess I'm wondering about too many things... I've posted a message on the band's Orkut page. I'll post an update once I hear from them.

Bootlegs Videos

MusicTantra has a nice collection of bootlegs of Indian Bands including Brute Force and Pentagram. Check them out.

LickPenny loafer ...Bonded...review

People,

This is mind blowing... production is great (and has done full justice to the song) and ofcourse I've heard this song before(as a lesser being that grew to embrace immortality) and is one of my personal favourites. Led Zepplinish vibe (riff reminescent of "Kashmir") meets Rush (with the open notes on B and E strings) meets alternative (especially the intro: tell me, three doors down=Kryptonite, with a jazzy twist) meets Radiohead on vocals (with the vocal acrobats or is it Nick Drake, not sure). Interesting chorus with the keyboards (is it, or a delayed/chorus artificial harmonic??) playing seconds (is it the 5ths or the 7ths??, don't know yet). And yes, as an authority in prog-rock-prowess-music (is that a word?), this certainly qualifies. The senses are treated to an eclectic mix of the band's artistic vision. Gentlemen, this is the dawn of a new era. I am not kidding when I say this. Because, the lyrics are far superior, which in reality galvanizes the whole experience. This is the alchemy of different styles in music (which I think are the band's musical/artistic influence and claim to fame). A band that all can appreciate, is truly majestic.

Suggestions/comments: It is ofcourse a personal choice (a prog-rocker's perspective),but still. GEt a female vocalist for those high registers that your song writing demands. More of keys on the chorus, I feel the ambiance but not potent enough, just a tad more. Drumming is great, more of hi-hats and a snare followed by a double bass or vice-versa before the 2nd verse begins after the chorus (ala soundgarden: I fell on Black Days, drrrrr..: and whomsoever I..."...if you know what I mean). Bass is good, especially on the doubling with the lead guitar on the end of the intro and over the course of the song. I would like to hear more from this guy though, he's got potential. A little more pompusness, in terms of orchestration, would go well with the energy (hey, that's just me). Overall, this is a promising upcoming band which I would support. Please let me know as to where I can purchase their music. Good luck and Rock on!!

Check 'em out on myspace.

PS: One of the band's friends on Myspace is Derek Sherinian (Ex-Dream Theater)... Wow!