Aditya Biswas - 8octaves Music

February 17, 2013

February 17, 2013September 23, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Album Review – The Last Point by Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists (compiled by Psyness)

Album: The Last Point

Label: Sonic Tantra Records

Mastering: MMC aka Mushroomjet

Release: Dec 2012

“The Last Point is a powerful magic portal that exists. It is neatly tucked in deep wilderness and promises an intense journey to hyper-static states of groovedelia each time the psychedelic traveller hits the spot.”

A Hardcore psychedelic album meant especially for the darkest of nights. The Compilation is an ensemble of some of the best talent in dark psychedelic trance scene from across the world.

Except for few exceptions the compilation album has good continuity.

This album has been compiled by Psyness. Psyness is also the founder of Bangalore based record label Cosmic Crew. He has also been producing music with the project Hitech Error. Psyness has been one of leading figures in the psytrance scene over the last few years in the country with gigs in Goa, Bangalore, Hyderabad and other parts of the country. Apart from DJing, the man has also been organizing events in the country featuring some prominent international acts like Psykovsky, Necropsycho, Liquedator and more.

Here’s a brief introduction of the artists featured on this compilation.

Not much of an introduction needed for Aghori Tantrik. He is a Mumbai born currently living Hyderabad dark psychedelic trance producer/artist. One of the most established psychedelic trance projects of the country, he is also the founder of Sonic Tantra Records. His music is deep and has spiritual influences.

Psychogenes is the side project of GenOhm aka Vadim from Russia. One of the best track on the VA by this project. Psychogenes is a fairly new project with releases on a couple of VAs so far.

Psy4Tecks is Portugual based dark psychedelic trance producer. He describes his style as Dark Psychedelic with weird & creepy melodies, agessive leads and scary atmosphere. He produces between 148 & 170 BPM.

Zamurah (3eke) is Ezequiel Mozzi from Buenos Aires, Argentina, musician and producer. A noteworthy talent worth keeping a lookout for. His music consists of fat basslines, well arranged eerie and beautiful atmospheric sounds.

Gotalien is upcoming hitch psytrance producer Alberto Zatta from Italy. With numerous releases last year. He is also to be seen on the lineup of many parties/ festivals in Europe lately.

Liquedator, is psytrance producer Frikttos from Russia. He is also the founder Dark Terror Records. His track on this VA is a bomb. Must hear for any fan of Psycore or high BPM music. He tours the country often. One is likely to find him in Goa at some event around wintertime.

Necropsycho is a well-known psychedelic trance producer Carmine E. Tarsitano aka Nuccho. Been around with some smashing releases for more than 9 years now, His music could be best described as dark psytrance with a flavor for Macabre. His side projects are Ogun & Alien Corporation. He has collaborated with Berclunoise on this album. He was in tour in India few years back. His performances created quite a fanbase for him in the country over the tour.

For the final track of the VA, Mushroomjet collaborates with Phagus Sonus & Pharmacore for the final track of the VA. Mushroomjet is the hitech project of MMC, a psychedelic trance producer who has been in the scene for years. Though the MMC project ranges from morning psychedelic trance to full on psychedelic trance, Mushroomjet is quite apart from Alex Karlin’s MMC project.

Américo aka intekshine from Portugal entered the trance influence by a friend to go play at a small club. Since then he started to produce his own songs with some friends. He describes his style as dark and fast Psicodélico . Intekshine has played with producers as Palex, K-lapso, Hyldhegan, Tryambaka, ov3rdos3d, Divine stones, Killer Machine, Rawar, Akés, Playtek, Neurotic Poizon, Project Psylocibe, Psichonauta, Hydrus, Meteor Burn, Corrosive Brain and more. On this compilation, he has collaborated with veteran psychedelic trance producer Psiconauta aka Master Pain.

Sonic Tantra is a longtime dark psychedelic trance label from India. Been around since 1995, the label has been presenting numerous intrinsic delicacies through artist releases and compilations. The labels boasts of having more than 40 artists signed on its roster. It consists of some of the best talent from across the world. Artwork for the album done by none other than Sid aka Aghori Tantrik.

The album is available here for free

February 17, 2013

February 17, 2013September 23, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Album Review – Escape to Reality by Spinal Fusion

Artist: Spinal Fusion

Album: Escape to Reality

Label: Hill Top Records

Mastering: Nick (Saga/Mechanimal)

Release: January 2013

Fresh morning psychedelic trance hits us this winter from an upcoming producer Spinal Fusion. Spinal Fusion has been creating a stir in the psytrance scene for some time now. ‘Escape to Reality’ is the debut release of Navi Mumbai based producer Bilas Rajdrekar aka Spinal Fusion. Spinal Fusion is inspired from artists like Avalon, Sonic Species, and Tristan. This three track EP is a showcase of the talent of this young producer. With releases, collaborations, performances as well as remixes, Bilas has been making much noise. The man has also found appreciation in this regard from fans and supporters on various mediums like Soundcloud and Facebook.

This album was released by Goa based label Hill Top Records. Hill Top Records, a new upcoming psychedelic trance label is connected to the popular venue, Hill Top, Goa, host to some of the biggest psychedelic trance events in the country.

The music on the EP is dance floor oriented with fat baselines and groovy beats to swing to. The tunes are not heavy and aggressive and do not include usage of the glitch oriented sound popularly used in psychedelic trance music. At the same time, the music is not too fluffy keeping the melodies sweet enough to groove to and at the same time not so sugar coated that one may get annoyed with it. Ranging from 142 – 145 BPM, the tracks on EP each have their distinct touch and are qualitatively on par to be used by DJs or listeners the world over.

The title of the EP, ‘ Escape to Reality ‘, is the concept behind this introductory EP. The EP took 6 months to produce with the help of hardware and virtual synthesizers. Gentle atmosphere used on the EP present an uplifting feeling which is known to be characteristic of this genre. Funky leads with at times a twisted edge further add to the glory of the ensemble presented. The high hats based percussion can get repetitive at time. There is an interesting flow to the songs with twists and turns keeping the listener engaged throughout the album. The third track on the EP is a collaboration with Earthspace aka Matheus Nogueira who is part of Ovnimoon Records.

‘Escape to Reality’ has already hit Rank # 20 in list of top 100 releases on Beatport. It will be interesting to see what tunes Spinal Fusion churns out in future. Hope he makes good of the platform he has created for himself with this release. Considering the success achieved by other producers such as Silence Project, Karan ‘Third Eye’ Bhoj and Ankytrixx, sky is the limit for this young producer from the country.

The track list:

1. Spinal Fusion – Idea 07:23

2. Spinal Fusion – Warfighter 07:33

3. Spinal Fusion Vs. Earthspace – Atomic Bomb 07:05

The psytrance music scene in India though small is growing. Releases from producers such as Spinal Fusion put India on the map of the global psy-trance scene. In terms of number of homegrown releases and active labels, no other sub-genre of electronica is as developed as psychedelic trance music. Long considered the evil cousin of electronic music, psychedelic trance has been gaining acceptance across wide range of audiences with a showcase of the genre at major festivals and venues across the country along with performances by acclaimed national and international DJs/ producers.

February 7, 2013

February 7, 2013September 21, 2022 Aditya Biswas

3rd Edition of Unbox Festival Coming Soon

Unbox Festival, a festival with a difference is slated to take place between 7-10 February in the capital city, New Delhi at Zorba. It aims at celebration of interdisciplinary processes and innovation. Its tagline is: Action at the intersection. It could be a potpourri of different art forms with the range of activities slated to happen over the four days of this festival. Since its inception in 2011 this festival has caught quite a bit of following and has been doing much more at its every next step. To express the dynamics of this festival a number or researchers from reputed universities across the world are on their way to be part of this festival.

Unbox promises to be a treat for all interested especially for those engaged in creative and media activities. The versatile range of conferences, exhibitions and workshops lined up and all of them taking place under one roof makes it quite an exciting venture.

The tickets are a bit expensive ranging from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 12,000. Having expensive tickets is a trend to be seen in the event scene this year with festival management focusing on multiple star lineups rather than keeping it budget oriented.

Soundcamp is the name of the music related activities to take place as part of Unbox Festival 2013, a joint initiative of Gebrüder Teichmann and Border Movement. Border Movement is an initiative that aims to bridge the gap between musicians of South Asia and Germany through various activities. It is a movement in itself. Soundcamp’s origin lies in a three day conference that took place in Colombo, last year. The festival would be host to events that are primarily electronic with a couple of instrumentalists tagging along. Also, this event does not only involve performances of the artists mentioned below but more.

The scheduled artists will work in two ad-hoc studios set up on the festival site to produce and eventually release an UnBox EP. Tunes from this would be showcased at the closing ceremony of the festival. The artists will also contribute by creating a bank of sounds and scores for the video games being programmed UnBox Festival’s GamesLab fellowship, which is another exciting part of the festival : D

Here’s a look at the artists slated to play so far are:

Asvajit (SL)

Gaurav Malaker (IND)

Raumagent Alpha (DE)

Sandunes (IND)

TL Mazumdar (IND)

Nucleya (IND)

Suryakant Sawhney (IND)

Vinayak (IND)

The Unbox Instrumentalists:

Gwyneth (Harp) – Netherlands

Saksia Rao (Indian Cello) -Netherlands

Soumik Dutta (Electric Sarod) – UK / India

Aditya Kumar (Tabla) – India

For detailed information on the event schedule at the festival visit here. This festival seems to be a real treat for connoisseurs of any kind of activity on showcase at this festival. For regular updates on the festival as it progresses visit their Facebook page. SoundCamp will run from 5 – 10 February, and will be curated and co-hosted by Border Movement and BLOT. Visit the website for information on registration and tickets.

February 7, 2013

February 7, 2013September 20, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Psychedelic Trance Biggie Ajja to Play

The diverse electronica fanatics of Mumbai have another great electronica performance to look forward to in the upcoming months. Apart from massive number of electronica gigs happening in the city featuring the who’s who of the global dance music industry, the city would be playing host to Psychedelic Trance producer Ajja this March.

Blue Frog, the city’s most happening venue when it comes to events would play host to a performance by this popular psychedelic trance music producer. The event is going to be held on 1st March, 2013.

Ajja is a psychedelic trance music artist who has been around in the scene for many year now. Born in London, 1975, he has spent a large part of his life roaming the planet with world renowned family of tattoo artists and travelers.

He is a founding member of The Peaking Goddess Collective, a chillout & psytrance band . He is also one of the founding members of popular night-time psytrance duo, Yab Yum which he continues on his own currently.

He released his debut album “Psychogenica” in november 2007 on Syncronize Reords. He released his latest release “Tulpa” on Peak Records early last year. He has received much appreciation since then, both for his music as well as for live performances. His music is high quality ranging around 150 bpm and has a lot of funky grooves. A dancefloor mechanic, he knows how to get the party rocking. Ajja has been part of and has played at major psychedelic trance music events such as Boom, Universo Paralello, Glade, Antaris, Sonica and Full Moon Festival. Apart from being a top notch producer, Ajja is a nice guy.he also engages in making tattoos, works as a graphic artist and label manager at Peak Records.

Ajja has been touring the country around this time from a couple of years now. Though this would be the first time that he would be performing in Mumbai. He has already performed numerous times in Goa, Bangalore, Nepal and some other cities of the country.

Peak Records is a Switzerland based Psychedelic Trance music record label. Been around since 2003 it is switzerland’s first psychedelic trance label. It is the outcome of the combined efforts of musician Ajja S.F. Leu, Dj Gaspard, Master Margherita and visual artist Tanina Munchkina. The label is mainly oriented towards releasing full-on night-time trance music. It also ventures into chillout downtempo music from time to time. Other artist on this label are Electrypnose, Flooting Groves, Drumatik, Amazon, Master Margerita, Govinda.

Ajja is also slated to play @ Pebble, Bangalore on 24th Ferbruary. This event is a promo party for Universal Religion, a massive psychedelic trance festival that takes place in Nepal every year. He is going to play a three hour set at this event. For Information on event details and tickets contact: +919819216386 or +91 9916233334 So if one is a psychedelic music enthusiast or just want to hear good electronic music or wants to know what’s contemporary in the Psytrance music circuit come by to blue frog on the 1st of next month. Tickets for the event would be available at the venue.

February 5, 2013

February 5, 2013September 20, 2022 Aditya Biswas

NCPA to Play Host to a Concert by Melody of Rhythm

Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer) would be performing for the first time in country along with Symphony Orchestra of India at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on 22nd February. The event is part of Symphony Orchestra of India’s 2013 Concert Season and sure to be a highlight for all orchestral music enthusiasts.
The Melody Of Rhythm: Trile Concerto (composed by Zakir Hussain). It’s hard to classify the music. They bring together the dynamics of three different musical instruments along with an orchestral backing. It also includes the theatrical nature of orchestral music with a mix of the best of bluegrass, jazz and Indian classical music. The music is nothing short of mesmerizing and would catch the attention of any audience. The sheers skills and talent that these multi-instrumental musicians pack is spellbinding.

Festival of the World’s Symphony Orchestras in Moscow. This year apart from performing in other parts of the country the orchestra is scheduled to play at the Royal Opera House in Muscat.

Tickets to the event can be purchased here.

February 4, 2013

February 4, 2013September 21, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Mi A Mi announces ‘Mi A Mi-Battle of the DJs’

Mi A Mi sets up the stage for the sultans of the future as it launches the first chapter of ‘Mi A Mi-Battle of the DJs’. With an aspiration of promoting nouveau talent in the country, the city’s hippest nightlife destination is rolling out the arena for upcoming DJs to lend out their tunes to the partying life. All you 18 years and counting, send in your entry as the nightclub creates for you a dream console.

Entries open now, as Mi A Mi invites you to send in your sets on a CD to the hotel. The club urges you to give your dreams a platform. Send us the best of you, to make it through to the 24 finalists who then get the chance to spin to the city.

When:- Entries close on the 15^th of February

Where:- CDs to be submitted at the Front Desk in the name of Kshitij Rekhi, Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre Time:- Noon to 8 pm

February 1, 2013

February 1, 2013September 23, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Album Review – From The Tree With No Ledge by The Mavyns

Artist: The Mavyns

Album: From The Tree With No Ledge

Label: NH7

Mastering:

Release: March 2012

The Mavyns are an indie rock outfit from Mumbai with heavy classic rock roots. The name of the band comes from a term used by author Malcolm Gladwell to describe “almost pathologically helpful” people in his book ‘The Tipping Point’. Pradeep Mathews, lead guitarist/vocalist of the band describes the band as a pop group albeit one that takes the polish of the Beatles and roughs it up with punk aesthetics. They are the Arctic Monkeys of India mixed with traits of orchestral music reminiscent of band music played at catholic weddings. They follow a very jam based approach and often jam at an old Portuguese bungalow. It is a pity that this band would only be recognized post break-up for some as they have disbanded few months ago.

‘From the Tree with No Ledge’ is the debut studio release of The Mavyns. The album is an easy listening mixtape of diverse range of things woven together into a style of their own by The Mavyns. Vivek Nair has a dominating voice that drives many tracks on the album. Simplistic drumming with the use of a minimal drum kit on this album keeps the beats simple and also messy at times (in a good way). Blues and indie style guitar solos are a musical treat layered well across the album. Mathews’ bluesy wailing soloing style gives the added edge to indie style of The Mayvns. The album is infused with warm fuzziness and mellow vibes of the 60’s garage rock and lo-fi.

Been around since 2007,The Mavyns are not as amateur as a college band nor as rigid as an established act. The band has performed at various venues across the country. Their sound is raw, improvised, infectious and imaginative. The band unfortunately has split, for a while now, hence this album becomes more special, a collector edition for the fans of the band.

The album was released on the 20th of March 2012 with a gig at Blue Frog (Mumbai). The venue has been a base for the band for a number of gig with each being well cherished by their fans. Apart from this the band supported this online-release-only album with a five city tour.

The band is much inspired from 60’s psychedelic rock music and ideas of that age and their music to some extent is similar to indie rock that had generated quite a stir in UK some time ago, still does in fact. Incidentally most bands seem to always have a ‘The’ at the beginning. Wonder if it’s a thing – The Keanes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists are all part of this movement.

The music of the Mayvns can get passé at times. Far too many bands are making this style of music in the country at the movement. They at times lack the vigor that might make them stand out from the rest. At the same time their lackluster approach gives them a raw sound, which is quite appealing and going by their fan pages, this is what the fans like.

Lyrics on the album are deep and insightful. Adopting on jam band concept, the songwriting process of the band is said to be spontaneous for the music as well as for the lyrics.

The mellow music yet raw grit of The Mayns and also classic rock inclination makes them worth checking out especially if one is a fan of the 60’s rock era or alternative rock mash indie music. Good song composition on some tracks is another reason why ‘From The Tree With No Ledge’ should be tuned in to.

The Mavyns are:

Vivek Nair – Guitar/Keys/Vocals

Kristofor Paul Mendonca – Drum/Vocals

Pradeep Mathews – Lead Guitar/Vocals

Varoon Nair – Bass/Blues Harp/Guitar/ Vocals

Tracklist:

Bad Milk

Echoes

Golden Silence

Greener Than The Sea

Little Woman

Some Side Of The Story

Soul Friend

Star Seeds

The Dawn is Here

Under The Streetlight

Vagabond

Buy Album

January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013September 21, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Music Storm Brewing in COORG – Storm Festival

Coming this first week in february is a musical storm at Coorg, Karnataka. Building on last year’s success, Storm Festival is back, bigger, versatile, better organized and more. This year too the festival promises to be an event filled with performances from top notch artists from across the country and world apart from it doubling up as an outdoor nature camp. The event is organized by Liquidspace Entertainment.

This year, the festival is slated to have 4 different stages representing three different styles, viz., Fusion, Electronica, Singer-Songwriter based. Checkout the website for the lineup. Noteworthy amongst them are – Dash Berlin, Michael Woods, Bobina, Sidd Coutto, Siddhart Basrur project, Michael Dias, Alisha Pais, Swarathma, Advaita, Papon, Karsh Kale Collectiv, Raghu Dixit, Arjun Vagale, Sanjay Dutta, and B.R.E.E.D. The Stages to be hosted by Nikhil Chinappa.

On the EDM lineup, Sachin Boparna, festival director, “Our national and international lineup for EDM stage brings together some of best electronica artists, each unique and exciting in their own way”.

On the latest edition of the festival, Lavin Uthappa, Festival Director and MD, Liquidspace Entertainment said “Storm celebrates music across genres and a collaboration between two stalwarts (Indian Ocean & Shankar Mahadevan) strengthens our resolve to celebrate what we believe in, Nothing binds people together like good music and I’m positive that the storm festival and this special act will bind our audience to us even more, just the way i have bonded over time with these fantastic musicians like Shankar Mahadevan and members of Indian Ocean among others. Change is what the audience always craves for. What better way to bring about that change than these fantastic acts coming together for the first time ever especially for this festival. I am sure that this collaboration will be a feast for the audiences at storm festival in Coorg this February”.

On the challenges faced in organizing this mega fiesta, Uthappa commented, “As someone who has been in the event industry for almost two decades now, logistics is the first thing that you learn. It is a part and parcel of organizing an event of this magnitude. Hence these factors would be addressed in the most appropriate manner.”

Apart from the music, the festival would play host to a whole range of other activities liking zorbing, workshops of farming, yoga, etc. The festival is being held across an 22 acre area in Napoklu, Coorg. The camping option at the festival would allow audiences to experience firsthand without any deviances what music festivals are all about. The event is being heavily promoted across various print, television and digital medium. It is hoped that the marketing done by the sponsors at the festival does not over shadow the vibe the organisers envisioned to create with this festival.

This festival was initiated with a vision to promote environmental sustainability via various activites promoting the indigineous culture and socially driven messages as well as promoting solidarity among music lovers of different styles of music. Various measures have been taken by the organizers to bring about the same.

To book your tickets go here

January 10, 2013

January 10, 2013September 23, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Album Review – Pentagram Chronicles by Paraforce

Artist: Paraforce

Album: Pentagram Chronicles

Label: Shiva Squad Records

Mastering By: Tryambaka at Big Bellies Studio @ Portugal

Release Date: 21 Sep 2012

Another hard-hitting album to hit the streets this winter from Shiva Squad Crew. Pentagram Chronicles is the latest release of psytrance producer Varun Anand aka Paraforce. This is the 4th release of the label and 5th album release of this producer!! Things seem to just get better and better from this Delhi based producer who is also founder of the label Shiva Squad Records.

The album is a bass driven menagerie of dark mystic mysteries encapsulated by hi tech sonic symphonies. The music is fast paced and gripping. Sequenced rhythmic melodies which propel one to vast distances. The music is characteristic to Paraforce’s style that has been brewing for quite some time now of Heavy basslines and glitch based melodies. The sonic landscapes presented are wicked and perfect for a night out in the wild.

As per the release notes, the focus of this album is on intense muscular psychedelic music specially crafted for extreme dancefloors. It is difficult to narrow down on a best track for the album. Tracks ‘Walkie Talkie’, ‘Further Dimension’ and ‘Psychotic Synthesis’ are worth listening to. The album can also be perceived as a concept album as a there is a string of musical ideas that are common across all the tracks of the album.

Much more aggressively mannered than the previous album release ” Deja Vu” (2011), This album is well constructed sonically. A number of tracks compared

Tryambaka, a well-known psytrance producer from Portugal mastered this album. The work done by him is good. A comparison with the previous album ‘ Deja Vu’ reflects this fact. Mastering plays an important role in the final output of the mix. In today’s mp3/mobile music age, good quality mastering has become a pre-requisite for any release. However, one would recommend to hear this album on good quality speakers to appreciate the details on a higher magnitude.

Concepts behind Pentagram Chronicles:

The Pentagram is a symbol of a star encased in a circle. Always with 5 points, with each point having its own meaning. The upward point of the star is representative of the spirit. The other four points all represent an element; earth, air, fire and water. All these things contribute to life and are a part of each of us.

We have five fingers/toes on each limb extremity. We commonly note five senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. We perceive five stages or initiations in our lives – birth, adolescence, coitus, parenthood and death. The number 5 is associated with Mars. In Christianity, five were the wounds of Christ on the cross. There exist five pillars of the Muslim faith and five daily times of prayer. Five were the virtues of the medieval knights – generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety as symbolized in the pentagram. The Pentagram have been believed to be a potent protection against evil, a symbol of the unseen.

The list:

1.Zithrox – Mad Clowns

2.Paraforce – Walkie Talkie

3.Paraforce – Mega Killer

4.Paraforce – Forest Frequencies

5.Paraforce – Audio Accelerator

6.Paraforce – Further Dimensions

7.Paraforce – Maha Tandav

8.Paraforce – Introspectrum

9.Paraforce – Welcome

10.Paraforce – Psychotic Synthesis

Preview here

Shiva Squad Records is an independent record label founded In India during the summer of 2009. Head quartered in New Delhi and is managed and owned by Varun Anand (Paraforce). Their aim is to release and promote killer underground acts and introduce top notch quality dark psychedelic sounds organically designed by our team of highly qualified and world renowned sound engineers to all the party people world wide. The music out here can be best described as full power dark psychedelic music which is highly recommended for the power packed night time dance floor experience. At the same time our intentions are to enhance our extraordinary & mystic sensory reality while merging the aural and visual experience into a magical blend that all friends & folks will joyfully remember and pleasurably recall.

Shiva Squad Records has grown to be a well-established label with an increasing number of followers & a solid reputation that has offered many artists the chance to share their music with the rest of the world, and an event organizer, having organized from several parties/gigs to big musical & cultural festivals in India. Watchout for Shiva Squad Festival coming up in may this year. Today, Shiva Squad Records is growing to be one of the finest psychedelic trance labels in India and we look forward to grow into an excellent resource for everything you can imagine in the psy community.

Buy this album here:

Beatspace

Saikosounds Enjoy this release with as much fun as I had reviewing it.

January 9, 2013

January 9, 2013September 23, 2022 Aditya Biswas

Album Review – Three Wheels and Nine Lives by Thermal and a Quarter

Artist: Thermal And A Quarter

Album: Three Wheels and Nine Lives

Label: Thermal And A Quarter

Mastering: Sterling Sound (New York)

Release: 2012

‘Three Wheels and Nine Lives’ is the 5^th album release of Thermal And A Quarter. An amalgamation of Blues, Funk, Rock and Grunge. With already 4 studio albums and quite a reputation in the rock fraternity, Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) is going places.

The album itself is a multi-disc set comprising of unreleased and live material. The album has been inspired from their recent tour of Singapore among other things.

Been around since 1996, Thermal and a Quarter are, Bruce Lee Mani (guitars & vocals), Rajeev Rajagopal (drums) and Prakash K N (bass). The Phish-meets- Steely Dan-via-Mahavishnu-Orchestra style of TAAQ has been appreciated and elevated to a position of pride and critical respect by rock aficionados, independent music enthusiasts as well as the international community. ‘This Is It’ was the band’s previous release way back in 2009.They have been touring ever since internationally for the past one year with performances with artists such as Deep Purple, JethroTull, Megadeth, Machine Head and Greg Howe. Even in India, as per their website, the number of gigs done by these guys is in double digits. They recently opened for international acts Guns n Roses and Simple Plan that played at Bangalore and Mumbai respectively.

Front man Bruce Lee Mani won Guitarist of the Year at Rolling Stone/Jack Daniels Awards 2009; also won Leon Ireland Vocalist Of The Year Award in 2011.Ranked #48 in Blender magazine’s 100 Ultimate Rock Bands among top international acts. TAAQs stellar musicianship, hard-hitting lyrics, and fluid improvised style makes their performance an unforgettable immersive musical experience.

The funky basslines and drum grooves provide an upbeat tone to TAAQ‘s music. This gives it a retro feel unlike the releases of other bands belonging to a similar genre. At the same time, some tracks are more laid back. In Contrast the lyrics are much more serious and likely to leave the listener in a mood for introspection. Bruce Lee Mani has good vocals and has done a good job throughout the album. He presents a versatility that makes him able to support the tracks well.

The music can get a bit technically bland and repetitive at times. A number of tracks on the album do have traces of jazz with use of instruments like saxophone, flute and keyboards in them. This is an interesting addition to overall setup. Also the inclusion of these in specific tracks gives a unique flavor to each of them.

Various arpeggiated guitar patterns add a pleasant sound to the album. Reminiscent of some of progressive and funk rock acts that have been around. Ho-Hum an instrumental track on the album is a good example of this.

The band has a tight sound with excellent collaboration among all members of the band. The album enjoys certain level on continuity across the certain sections of the album. Though this band’s music has influences from various styles of music, the fusions of these styles presented gives an excellent unique flavor to this release. Interesting guitar solos by Bruce makes the track go towards different places. The man is as good a vocalist as he is a musician.

The vocals takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride with breaks and crashes which goes either supported or in ensemble with the rest of the band. Various moods are potrayed on this album from the upbeat and aggressive to the funky and blues driven. Considering the various musical ideas the band wants to potray on the album the 20 odd tracks plus the bonus tracks on the album seem justified. So another massive release worth catching especially if you’re a fan of TAAQ and also if you wish to explore what music is being put out by one of the reputable band of the Indian music scene.