Tajdar Junaid's 'Dastaan' Selected for Iranian Film The President

Perching another feather in his cap, ‘Dastaan’ off of Tajdar Junaid’s 2013 debut album, What Color Is You Raindrop, was selected by Iranian film maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf as part of his 2014 movie release, The President. “I love the simplicity of Iranian cinema,” Tajdar told us, “And their powerful story telling. Mohsen Makhmalbaf is such a storyteller. I was just trying to reach out to people that I admire. And, I learnt something valuable on the way, if your intentions are good, things fall in place like a jigsaw puzzle.” It seems as if Tajdar’s music has been inherently favorited by a series of different film makers since its release; with music from the album also featured in Jeffrey Brown's 2014 short film, Sold. In fact, rumor has it that Tajdar has been in conversations with many international artists and film makers of possible collaborations in the future. At the moment he seems to be taking it easy, he said, “I've started working towards my next album but I'm no rush at all. It'll fall in place when it's meant to.”

Listen to 'Dastaan' by Tajdar Junaid below:

Bonobo And Snarky Puppy Live at Mehboob Studio

Photo Courtesy Claudia Jaime

December 2014 witnessed Oranjuice Entertainment pull a rabbit out of a hat, bringing down British electronica act Bonobo, and progressive electronic jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy to Mehboob Studio for 'Johnnie Walker The Journey', in front of hundreds of buldging eyeballs still trying to fathom the reality. The concert attracted hundreds of die-hard fans from across the country to come experience this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having performed across four continents, in over 25 countries, at venues that range from the Sydney Opera House in Australia to Coachella festival in the United States, Bonobo is one of the most sought-after musicians across the world, wrapping up his world tour at Mehboob Studio last year. Among the many hundreds that showed up for the concert were hardcore Snarky Puppy fans and post fusion band Advaita, who ended up cancelling one fo their own gigs scheduled the same day to come watch Snarky Puppy live. “It was an awesome experience,” bassist Gaurav Chintamani told us, “A lot of us in the band are ardent fans of Snarky Puppy, and to get to see them at a stage in their evolution when they’re peaking was just great. We were supposed to play a gig in Jaipur and it was a pretty big show; public gig, near the Vidhan Sabha, and apparently the CM was supposed to be at the show too. But well, it’s not everyday that you get to see a band like Snarky Puppy live! So, we took a call and called the Advaita gig off.”   

View a photo gallery of Bonobo and Snarky Puppy live here.

Superfuzz Release Debut EP

After first hitting the scene back in 2004, Superfuzz had created a cult following for themselves in the last decade; with the Delhi-based rock n’ roll band’s name being as household as sambaar. Ever since Superfuzz first formed, the band rocked stages across cities in India winning over competitions like Campus Rock Idols and Channel [V] Launchpad, and more; all this without any album releases. The band was off the grid for the last six years ever since drummer Aditya Paharia left the country in 2008 to pursue a career in accounting, before coming back together again in February last year with renewed vigour. The members moved in together converting their apartment into a rock n’ roll paradise, and started spending their energies into jamming – perfecting old songs and working on some new material which would soon be released as the band’s long awaited debut EP. Finally, after a decade of its formation Superfuzz released their EP, Inner City Waster, to a following of rabid fans who had their mouths foaming at the idea of the band’s debut release, making this one of the most surreal developments of 2014.

Listen to Inner City Waster by Superfuzz below:

Crowd Funding and DIY Festivals

Last year saw a big shift in the Indian indie music scene sensibilities as artists, producers, and festival organisers turned toward crowd funding  to realise their projects. While bands and artists like The Vinyl Records, Baiju Dharmajan, Vasudha Sharma, Mame Khan, and others, worked towards crowd funding albums and music videos, even festivals like Bangalore Open Air, and Control Alt Delete head the same way. Of course, the biggest question on everyone’s mind was whether it would work; surely enough some did and some couldn’t. While Bangalore Open Air organiser, Salman Syed, expressed dismay with the culture of crowd funding in India in an interview with RSJ in July 2014 saying, “I don't think the concept of crowd funding works in India”, organisers like Control Alt Delete’s Rishu Singh seemed hopeful and said, “Very frankly I believe the audience is very sensible, they understand if you’re giving them a shit product expecting them to pay for it. I don’t think crowd funding will ever work in a scenario like that.” Surely enough, with the success of DIY festivals like The New Wave Musicfest that was headlined by Japan-based rockers Shonen Knife, Control Alt Delete, DIY Day, and many more, 2014 has broadened horizons for homegrown festivals and DIY organisers by an immense fold.

Vishwesh Krishnamoorty Parts From Scribe

Nearly a month into the release of Mumbai-based hardcore metal band Scribe’s much awaited album, Hail Mogambo, vocalist and founding member Vishwesh Krishnamoorty announced his departure from the nearly decade old band to pursue other artistic ventures. Marking the end of more than memorable era of amazing music and performances, Vishwesh’s departure was a pretty heavy blow to the fans causing a huge cry in the community. The vocalist  expressed that his job as a film maker and director demands much more time from him, and often doesn’t allow him to commit to tour dates with Scribe. Scribe went on to induct vocalists Siddharth Basrur and Viraaj Saxena into the line up, taking to a stage in Bangalore sometime in November 2014 without any previous announcements of the line up change, to a much surprised audience. Bassist Srinivas S told Rolling Stone India in an interview in November 2014, “We were nervous before the gig, but one song down, we thought, ‘Let’s just have fun’. We didn’t play any bum notes, so we’re happy.” Perhaps for better or for worse, but one can’t deny that this moment marked a huge flagstaff in Indian indie music scene history. 

Listen to 'Cops Cops (Cops Cops)' by Scribe below:

Nischay Parekh Selected By Red Bull Music Academy

Photo Courtesy Naman Saraiya/ Artwork Courtesy Ayesha Kapadia

In July 2014, the Red Bull Music Academy announced the selection of 60 producers, vocalists, DJs, instrumentalists, and more, from across the world to have the opportunity to attend a series of lectures and workshops with some of the best mentors, and new age facilities available in the music industry around the world. One such musician among these choice few who visited Tokyo was Kolkata-based singer/songwriter Nischay Parekh. Nischay applied to the academy with five tracks; off his debut LP, Ocean; a song by experimental-pop act The Monkey In Me; and an unreleased electronic piece he had composed a few years ago. Expressing hesitation at first, Nischay decided to embark upon the journey when he was encouraged by fellow virtuso musician and percussionist Jivraj Singh. “I remember the application being very organic”, he told NME in an interview in July last year. “I didn’t even see the divisions in the questions. Honestly, I did not expect to get in, let alone be the only Indian to get in this year. It’s all quite surreal, from an outside view the Red Bull Music Academy looks a little too cool for the likes of us mortals. It felt like only geniuses like Flying Lotus or Jivraj Singh have a place there. I look forward to manipulating synthesizers in a non-virtuosic manner because it’s still going to be incredibly fun.”

Listen to Ocean by Nischay Parekh below:

Leave you comments below and tell us what you think about the list. What were your most memorable moments from 2014?