the sound of the city

i like cities. all cities. well, most cities. they are like people- the most interesting ones are the ones with the maximum amount of layers. the confused ones. the ones heavy with history and ghosts of the past, yet young, exuberant and growing in ways they can’t fully understand. chaotic, beautiful and full of a strong sense of individuality.

when i’m feeling low and drained of energy, drowning in mundanity, i dream of standing by the side of a road, in the middle of a city (nada, no blue skies and green meadows for me). and when i close my eyes i can almost feel myself absorb the energy that surrounds me, like neon motion streaks. (maybe i’ve been watching too many movies that use that particular shot.) but whatever the reason, i like cities. especially delhi. it has a certain buzz. an energy that makes you hit the ground running. a pulse, that’s the same, for the rich and poor alike. something that brings together the stuffy babus enjoying their single malts in luytens delhi and the obnoxious jats getting sozzled in their cars at parking lots. something that binds the ones that have put their roots down and the ones that are just passing by.

some call it soul. but a band of musicians i know, call it rhythm.

they’ve compiled an album that captures and celebrates the spirit of delhi. i’ve heard it, and i like it. i like the sound. and i like the artwork on the cover. as much as i like the idea of it. the album is called “sahi bol”, which at the same time means so many different things. “sahi bol” literally means “say the right thing”. it’s also an expression that loosely translates into “for real???”. and in musical terms, “sahi bol” means the right lyric.

i like the way the musicians describe it – the music as well as themselves. they call themselves the kids of the 80’s (remember the time when rockstars were ROCKSTARS and everyone had a bad hairdo), who stumbled into the 90’s. sometimes making music. and sometimes noise. yet always holding on to the idea of independent expression. inextricability linked and strangely free from the city they live in.

the two cd compilation spans a great many genres (sufi, rock, blues, electronic, urban styles, dance, indo-fusion, folk and the undefined) and a great many artists (midival punditz, orange street, them clones, euphoria, mili bhagat, audio pervert, stargazer, mystique, radius, adhvaitaa, arjun sen, donn bhatt, da saaz). so when it hits your neighbourhood music store be sure to check it out. and in the meantime, as and when I learn to, i’ll put the demo’s up on the blog for you to download.