The Indiecision ‘10 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 Best Song Indian is the best single recording released, in any format (CD, video, MySpace, etc) by an Indian independent artist in 2010.
‘Sau Rupiya’
The Riot Peddlers
Old school punk in the vein of Minor Threat and Black Flag finds its Indian reincarnation with the anti-establishmentarians The Riot Peddlers. A familiar sample of insistent hawkers’ sounds straight off the side of the street kicks off the song, which launches into the incredibly persuasive repeated chorus of “Sau Rupiya”. With the inconspicuous sound of a bottle breaking in the background, this forthright track leads into a screaming, punky guitar interlude and an angsty tirade against the persistence of aforementioned vendors. On an average, listeners will be chanting “sau rupiya” in their heads for approximately two hours after sampling this song.
‘The Clown on the 22nd Floor’
Peter Cat Recording Co.
‘The Clown on the 22nd Floor’ is something a villain in a satiric musical would sing – a wicked song that’s secretly in a good mood. Peter Cat Recording Co manage to encapsulate a noir moment from the ’50s, setting themselves apart from most Indian bands by playing an uncommon brand of orchestral folk/gypsy cabaret. This track incorporates playfully soulful vocals tiptoeing over sneaky jazz drum rhythms and burbling television-newsreader samples, to create one of the most cinematically dramatic songs on this list.
Stream ‘The Clown on the 22nd Floor’
‘Chakna For Church’
Bhayanak Maut
In an interview with Indiecision earlier this year, the members of Mumbai metal act Bhayanak Maut told us about how their approach to songwriting had evolved on the Metastasis EP. Featuring drum contributions by Jai Row Kavi, the EP saw the task of songwriting shared between different members. The key for the band was to consciously write new material and yet go loony in the process. So where the band’s 2009 untitled album saw an assault that was a lot more intense, Metastasis is more about trying something new. Consequently, the nuances of this EP are more pronounced. Metastasis hits hard, and ‘Chakna For Church’ hits hardest.
‘I’m The One’
Sridhar/Thayil
‘I’m The One’ could pass as part of the soundtrack to a ’70s Bollywood B-movie. Jeet Thayil lifts the refrain off Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’, combining it with trademark S/T MIDI-run filmi-ness. Suman Sridhar deliberately adds Bombaiyya to her accent, contributing further to the deliciously lush cheesiness of the track. Even the Garnier-all-day-nourishment-hair-shampoo way in which she delivers the “Yeah!” at the start of the song fits perfectly in this celluloid scheme of things. We totally dig it. Now, album please.
‘The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance’
Demonic Resurrection
It wouldn’t be an overestimation to say that ‘The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance’ will soon be, if not already, Demonic Resurrection’s most popular song. Discounting the fact that at the time of writing this its video has nearly 50,000 views on YouTube, the highlight of the band’s third studio release The Return To Darkness, ‘Vengeance’ is progressive death metal 101 nailed by the Mumbai quintet. Its popularity stems from it falling well within the DR melodic death MO, and yet pushing the band’s own boundaries of angular songwriting. Also, have you seen that girl from Kolkata pulling a vocal cover of this song? Mental.
Stream ‘The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance’
‘Circles’
The Bicycle Days
Think progressive psychedelic ‘Drunkship of Lanterns’-esque (The Mars Volta) soundscapes, with clenched-teeth-intense soaring vocals that lapse into android moments. There’s a good 30 seconds toward the end of this song where you’re compelled to entirely surrender your senses, an experience completely reinforced when they play live.’Circles’ begins on a riff so harmless you have no idea how far this song is going to go, until the urgency of the vocals and drums start building into an atmosphere that could swallow the listener whole.
‘Bula Raha’
Indian Ocean
When you hear ‘Bula Raha’, one of the seven tracks off Indian Ocean’s latest album 16/330 Khajoor Road, performed in concert, it has the power, like so many of the band’s songs, to uplift you. But when you hear the studio version, originally recorded for an as-yet-unreleased Hindi film Bhoomi, there’s an overwhelming bitter-sweetness that seems to encompass the tune, which features one of late percussionist-singer Asheem Chakvarty’s most poignant vocal contributions. Again, like so many of Indian Ocean’s songs, it’s seemingly simple but surprisingly intricate, with an almost Dire Straits-esque bluesy intro, a soaring chorus and a classical-sounding guitar solo courtesy Susmit Sen.
Download ‘Bula Raha’ (band website)
‘Daya’
Kaav
Kochi alt/prog/post rock act Kaav have done well with their eponymous debut EP. With their opening track ‘Daya’, the trio pack into three-and-a-half minutes an instrumental coastal journey, now inseparable from their internationally-featured stop-motion visuals of Cochin’s seascapes. ‘Daya’ carries simplistic guitar-driven riffs splayed out over a subtle, intermittent chorus of voices to create something effortlessly representative of their roots; making it one of the most unquestionably catchy and memorable songs this year.
‘Dum Hai To Aage Aah’
Scribe
‘Dum Hain To Aage Aah’ is Scribe’s biggest deviation yet. The disco-metal tune forms a surprisingly apt centerpiece for our album of the year and features several of the album’s lyrical highlights including – “Why, a choo choo train don’t have no reason to be polite. Uh-woh-uh-oh-uh-oh/Ah but then, to be a choo choo, you’d have to be on the right track!” If ever the word “ingenious” fit an Indian band, this would be it. The band’s zigzag musical style combined with frontman Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy’s quite literally inimitable vocal delivery makes for a track in which you find something new on every repeat. Chalo, dance.
‘My Roots’
Shaa’ir + Func
Shaa’ir + Func were always known to be eclectic. We’d heard everything from funk, jazz and drum n’ bass to ska, gospel and shuffle in their songs, but perhaps no one was expecting them to find inspiration in Maharashtrian folk rhythms. ‘My Roots’ combined irresistible beats with heartfelt lyrics about cultural identity that made you dance, and think at the same time.
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