So far I had forgotten that an Indian version of Coke Studio existed — until a friend asked me today if I had seen any of the recent episodes. I caught up with the videos and an hour later, I didn’t find one track that was tasteful. Sample these and let me know if I’m being too critical:
Shankar Mahadevan – Allah Hi Reham
Sabri Brothers – Humein Toh Loot Liya
The list goes on.
[The only exception was Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd by little known singer Ramya Iyer. And this is not caste politics. Yes, she belongs to my caste but I'll have to consult seniors in my community about her attire before we can confirm her acceptance.]
These are the problems I noticed: Arrangement that doesn’t do justice to almost anyone, vocalists’ volume, voice texture of backup vocalists, similar and repetitive harmonies of backup vocalists, excessive use of cymbals by the drummer, faster than comfortable tempo, textbook interpretation of reggae/rock/jazz/other genres, and plenty more. In a nutshell, all tracks had the Leslie Lewis mark and he is not the greatest of musicians.
I now think that it can’t be all that bad and perhaps I am so overly biased against Coke Studio MTV that I ought to stay away from it — which I will.
***
It took me another hour of listening to the original Coke Studio and some added respect for Rohail Hyatt before I could continue with my routine.
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
September 15, 2011 at 1:51 pm
Abhimanyu Garg
I had the exact same thing happen to me, September is a bad month I guess. Leslie Lewis…! I mean, what should I say, the man is best known for Colonial Cousins…. The fault lies with MTV that they placed their money on him. Hell, they should’ve even invited Sivamani to the free for all buffet. And, if you’re really on a budget and don’t want any kinda creativity, Aadesh Shrivastav was unemployed, last that anybody heard.
You don’t necessarily have to chase after an elusive Rehman all the time. He’s not the only man with an ear in India. You have the likes of up and coming Amit Trivedi or the seasoned Vishal Bhardwaj, God knows how many times the man has said he wants to focus on just making music! And, for God’s sake, this is MTV we’re talking about they’re supposed to know music. I hope their money sank on this.