The Music Boom

Hot Address

If the music is playing loud and clear,can a gig spot boom be far away? While Mumbai still prefers old venues such as Blue Frog and Hard Rock Café,Pune has opened its gates to wide concert lawns such as Laxmi Lawns where NH7 Weekender took place this year,and Amanora Grounds,where Bryan Adams held fort. Clubs,pubs and gig spots are sprouting in every nook and corner. Chandigarh boasts two popular gig spots — Tao and Kava — and Delhi can reel off names such as Manajsa in Hauz Khas,Boombox in Khan Market,Out of the Box and Zook in Saket and Kitty Su at the Lalit. The piece de resistance,of course,is Blue Frog,Delhi’s newest musical address.

Viral Fever

2011 was the year of the YouTube artiste and the phrase “going viral”. A lot of musicians found the YouTube route to success — where would Kolaveri Di have been had its music makers not uploaded it? The song from the simple tradition of Gaana Payettu cut across the North-South divide with its risque poetry and catchy tune. While some Indian bands like Indian Ocean gave away music for free via downloads,the music grew exponentially on the Internet. American clarinetist-composer Shankar Tucker delivered innovative covers of internet songs like Aaj jaane ki zid na karo and o saaya,Punjabi rapper Kanwer Singh in Canada talked about social issues and about being gay and Indian listeners followed it beat for beat on the “tube”.

Wannabe Woodstock

Once,we didn’t know where to go for a music festival. Were we still wearing our Woodstock bifocals? Yes. All that changed this year,as rhymes,reasons and beats tried to up the ante. NH7 Weekender in Pune was a traffic-stopper with its edgy line-up,the Escape Festival raised the heat in Naukuchiatal,and Sunburn Festival in Goa and Invasion festival in Bangalore became new music destinations.

Indie Go

For decades,indie musicians battled several problems when it came to getting their music released. Record giants had little interest in them. But 2011 saw a rise in indie record labels. Qilla Records,Audio Ashram,Inkroom Records,and Amarass Records made their presence felt. “In the last year,there has been an increase in the number of independent record labels. Though they can’t survive on album sales alone,the situation is improving. A mini indie music industry is shaping up,” says Laiq Qureshi,who set up Inkroom Records in Mumbai.

Con and Concepts

We’d “YouTubed” all the Coke Studio,Pakistan,shows,so when news leaked that MTV was launching Coke Studio India,imagine our delight. The show turned out to be a damp squib that we didn’t want to waste tears on. Clearly,concept shows were an idea who’s time had yet to come. What did come like a strain of fresh music was The Dewarists,a rockumentary on Star World,that had musicians collaborating with artistes from different genres. While concept shows made a lukewarm start,the M returned to MTV. Thumbs up to MTV Unplugged and MTV Roots.

Surround Sound

We swayed to man ka taanpura,frustration mein chhede sirf ek hi raag in Delhi Belly. Clearly,the era of Urdu lyrics was making way for young guns blazing away in the language of the canteen. Munni and Sheila also became youth anthems. And then DK Bose,the innuendo-heavy song from Delhi Belly,assumed cult status,making shock power an admirable musical quality. After “luv” and sex made their entry into songs last year,we were not expecting much lyrical depth in 2011. We did not get any.