Shaa’ir + Func are still going so strong and doing so well. In 2011, we received the Jack Daniel’s Rock Award. We completely reworked our set. A couple of our gigs were named gigs of the year by NH7 actually. We’ve got a whole new team of people that are working together. P-Man has kind of become a permanent fixture in Shaa’ir + Func and he’s been the greatest addition to the band. He has the most fantastic energy… We’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best drummers in the country, Jai Row Kavi being one of them. And so, I feel really lucky. Actually, there is a dearth of drummers. You have to be a very good band in order to get somebody like Jai to play with you.

Of course, Randolph and I are feeling it in terms of how much we write together and how much we tour together. Personally, I did The Dewarists so that was huge for me. And, I also feel like we’ve headlined the NH7 Weekender. I mean, I know that is a word that nobody wants to use but we’re a young band and we closed the festival on the last day on the Eristoff dance stage (here is a recap of the Eristoff Wolves Den on day three at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender here), which is brilliant, because we are a female-fronted band and only been a band for five years. So that was a really really huge honour. And, we also headlined in Shillong. We’re starting to headline! Before, we weren’t. Last year we were playing sunset sets. This year we are playing last. So that tells me that our fans… I mean we actually have fans that know every single lyric of every single song. For me, that’s the dream. That is the dream. And when that happens, it makes you feel like, ‘Oh my God,’ we better work super hard to keep this going and not take it for granted for a single second.

Here are my favourite albums that I heard in 2011.

SBTRKT
SBTRKT

The Weeknd
House of Balloons

The Dead Weather
Sea of Cowards

Made in Heights
Aporia: In These §Streets

Yeasayer
Odd Blood

Imogen Heap
Heapsongs

The xx
xx

Zero 7
Record 

Check out what 2011 was like for other scenesters here.

Shaa’ir + Func put a brand new version of ‘Together Again’ under our Christmas Tree.

Randolph Correia (Func) tells us about this version ‘Together Again’

With ‘Together Again’ for Shaa’ir + Func, it was a special for the live set. It was basically that the words and the beats were done totally independent of ‘Together Again’. I don’t know, I just started humming out all the Shaa’ir + Func songs that would go with that beat and ‘Together Again’ seemed to go with it fine. And then I brought in that riff in the beginning that everybody recognizes, the vocal tracks and then we recorded it and it sounded good, so we kept it. And now you guys have it first.

Download ‘Together Again 2012′ here.

The real surprise here has to be the absolutely bizarre Shiva theme that the show seems to have. Watching the promo video has quite a lot of kvlt value since the video seems to be an over-the-top affair which has various images flashing quickly on-screen (the video should come with a seizure warning). The images that are flashed on-screen the most are those of Shiva in various poses and it never seems to be explained why he’s involved in the Rockathon at all. For some reason it comes across as a comically bad attempt at subliminal messaging. Aside from the completely disconnected Shiva theme, the random images and priceless messages such as “Be there or get left out” make this kvlt gold. Check out the lineup of the gig below.

Mahadev Rockathon Lineup
Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Euphoria
Agnee
Shaa’ir + Func
Indus Creed
Salim Sulaiman
Kailash Kher
Shilpa Rao

Watch the kvlt promo video for Mahadev Rockathon below.

Sofia Jannok
Starting the proceedings was diva numero uno, Sofia Jannok who hails from the land of Ikea, Absolut Vodka and Abba, ie, Sweden. She gave the punters of Blue Frog a rendition of her traditional Lapland singing style – yoiking – which sounds like melodic yelping, trilling and quite yodel-esque. It was very similar to traditional Native American singing (example below).

Along with her band, she blended this acapella-style with a her own jazz-pop trappings. Though it was an education listening to this 29-year old Sami singer, she failed to captivate, and the novelty wore off after her first three songs.

Indiecision: C+

Sofia Jannok at Divas of Rock @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Love Kamikaze
Honestly, there was more kamikaze than love when this band performed at the Lower Parel venue. Vocalist Sudeepta Sanyal had barely a smidge of stage presence compared to the other three divas that took the stage that night. She seemed awkward, would stare vaguely in to the distance and it looked like she didn’t know what to do on stage most of the time. Her pitch was off, harmonies were weak, and at times she struggled to keep time and still sing her garbled lyrics. “Most of our songs are about love and hate and everything in between,” she chimed… oh dear, have we stepped into a Kelly Clarkson wet dream? The Divas of Rock event slipped in to a karaoke nightmare at this point.

Indiecision: D

Love Kamikaze at Divas of Rock @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

3 Guys and A Girl
Pulling me from the brink of suicide was Shazneen Arethna, and her steaming hot compadres of  cool – Sidd Coutto (Tough on Tobacco, Zero) on drummers, Vinay Lobo (Airport) on lead guitar, and Johan Pais (Tough On Tobacco, Helga’s Fun Castle) on bass. If Alanis Morrisette and Alannah Myles had a love-child, her name would be Shazneen Arethna. Mainly playing songs penned by Arethna herself, the stand-out songs of their set were power ballad ‘Stay’ (and oh yes, you obeyed), the country-blues number ‘After’, as well as their very cabaret and big band covers of  ’My Favourite Things’ and ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’. Listening to this band was like being in the middle of an orgy – from Arethna’s face-melting vocals, and Coutto’s body-vibrating drumming to Lobo’s tight guitar solos, and Pais’ laid-back bass tickling – you didn’t know where to look and who to do. After an underwhelming start to the gig, 3 Guys and A Girl were the perfect foreplay to the climax of Shaa’ir + Func.

Indiecision: B

Shazneen Arethna of 3 Guys And A Girl at Divas of Rock @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Shaa’ir + Func
After their last outing at the Lower Parel venue, Mumbai electro-rock duo Shaa’ir +Func, along with bassist Rohit ‘P-Man’ Pereira (Khiladi, Pin Drop Violence) and drummer Jai Row Kavi (Indus Creed) brought the signature Shaa’ir + Func gig experience to Blue Frog once again, with added zeal.

Randolph Correia of Shaa'ir + Func at Divas of Rock @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

The band kicked off their set with our Song Of The Year 2010 ’My Roots’, from their third studio album Mantis and played almost a medley-esque first half of the set. The medley roped in popular tracks from their sophomore album Light Tribe like ’Embrace’ and ‘Light Tribe’  With an exceptional mid-set rendition of ‘Freeze You’ and surprise set inclusion ‘Hit’ (from the debut album, New Day: The Love Album), it was almost certain that this was going to be one of the best gigs we’ve attended this year. With now-regular gig closer, their excellent cover of Santigold‘s ‘The Creator’ featuring bassist P-Man on vocals, exhausting any energy the crowd had left, we were reassured yet again, why Shaa’ir + Func are one of the best live acts in the country today.

Indiecision: B+

Monica Dogra of Shaa'ir + Func at Divas of Rock @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Sofia Jannok, Love Kamikaze and 3 Guys and a Girl reviewed by Mariyam Thomas. Shaa’ir + Func reviewed, and photos, by Naman Saraiya.

The eighth episode of the show features New Delhi electro-fusion pioneers Midival Punditz who collaborate with Sikh-Canadian rapper Humble The Poet and the show’s host, Monica Dogra (aka Shaa’ir of Shaa’ir + Func). This is the second song in the series to feature a vocal contribution by Dogra, the first being ‘Changing World’ from the fifth episode of the show. The episode is shot in Goa, and produces the track ‘No ID Required’ (download here). The song was performed live at the Eristoff Wolves Den on day one of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender during the Punditz’ excellent set (details).

The episode is now available for streaming in its entirety and in full HD. Watch ‘No ID Required’ below.

The first episode of the show featured Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Imogen Heap who collaborated with Bollywood music producing giants Vishal-Shekhar for the track ‘Minds Without Fear’ (watch here). The second episode featured Pakistani singer-songwriter duo Zeb & Haniya who collaborated with singers Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire for the track ‘Kya Khayaal Hai’ (watch here). The third episode featured New Delhi rock giants Indian Ocean who collaborate with singer Mohit Chauhan to create the track ‘Maaya’ (watch here). The fourth episode featured rock acts Agnee and Parikrama who collaborate with singer Shilpa Rao to create the song ‘I Believe’. The fifth episode of the series features breakbeat performer Shri, singer-songwriter Monica Dogra, and folk collective Rajasthan Roots in a collaboration titled ‘Changing World’ (watch here). Assamese singer Angaraag ‘Papon’ Mahanta (of Papon & The East India Company) collaborates with Punjabi singer-songwriter Rabbi Shergill in the sixth episode to write and perform the song ‘Khule Da Rabb’ (watch here). The seventh episode of the show features Bangalore folk rockers Swarathma who collaborate with Hindustani classical chanteuse Shubha Mudgal to write the song ‘Duur Kinara’ (watch here).

To know more about the show, read this post.