The Indiecision ’08: Most Promising Indie

The Indiecision â??08 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.

The Most Promising Indie is the act that, in 2008, showed most potential as an act for the future. The nominees for Most Promising Indie are

Da-Saz

Fans of Sufi pop, Indi rock and and electronica rarely find common ground but they found it in the music of Delhi’s Da Saz. With a captivating live show and a multi-instrumentalist talent on full display, the act is hard to ignore. If these guys are the future of non-film Hindi music, the future’s definitely not as dim as it sometime seems.

Sridhar/Thayil

The project of the uber-talented Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil, Sridhar/Thayil gave us reason to believe that creativity and substance could work together in only the dirtiest of ways. If ‘cutting edge’ was ever a term used to define music, this would be it. Their brand of urban grime (fine, call it whatever the hell you like) is refreshing and totally unique to an Indian scene that needs people to speak up about art and feelings. And stuff.

Hit ‘More’ for the rest of the nominees and the Most Promising Indie ’08.

Sajid And The Lost Boys

Delhi based Sajid Akbar’s project Sajid And The Lost Boys published their first release Kid Without Candy on a Singapore label in 2008. The airy pop-rock and Akbar’s breathy vocals come as a refreshing alternative to a scene looking for a more adult-alt approach to songwriting. With an Indian release scheduled soon and more dates in India, watch out for the Lost Boys in the near future.

The Supersonics

We haven’t been this impressed by a new Indian indie act since The Superfuzz (now known as Indigo Children). The Supersonics’ brand of Britpop induced alternative is immediately catchy and efficient. The depth of their original music is admirable and with a new album Maby Baking promised soon, we’re expecting great things from this Kolkata act.

Paperclip Aeroplane

With a drummer who looked like he was out way past his bedtime, we expected little from Paperclip Aeroplane’s debut gig at Hard Rock Cafe. But they impressed us with a more-than-competent set of energetic alternative rock that included covers of Alice In Chains and Arctic Monkeys and a couple of originals. The fact that they had a cute guest female vocalist didn’t hurt either.

And the Most Promising Indie ’08 is

The Supersonics

Head to the Indiecision â??08 homepage for all the details and the awards.