Indiecision: Music Magazine: Indian indie music News, MP3s, Interviews, Videos, Giveaways, Awesomeness » The Supersonics

The split of Kolkata post punksters The Supersonics in 2010 left a dent in the Indian rock scene, one that over the last five years has seen a creative renaissance that’s Indian in root and international in outlook. Put simply, The Supersonics were a fantastic young talent, and it was a shame they disbanded (over creative differences) when they did.

The quartet released one studio album in their short career; Maby Baking was a remarkable 11-track album, and a release that garnered much praise from us including the Best Song of ’09 and the Best Album of ’09, both of which made it to our top 25 songs and album lists of the decade. The band however performed much material exclusive of the album, some of which was demoed for a second album that never was. One of these songs is ‘Mundane Sunday’.

Frontman Ananda Sen says of the song

It’s really just a demo and is still incomplete but since the album is never going to happen I thought it should reach all the people who supported the band and be given away for free. With The Supersonics, I always wanted the music to be free. Unfortunately to actually get the music out of Kolkata we had to sign to a label and in many ways I attribute that as one of the biggest reasons we could not stick around. It suddenly became a battle between the big corporate wheels of death against artistic principles and we all know how that usually turns out.

Anyway, this song is about life in Kolkata which is forever on this mundane loop (think of the movie Groundhog Day) and really the utter frustration of not having a more meaningful existence. Once you hear the song you will notice it’s quite different from the stuff on Maby Baking. This was the new direction the band had taken and one which was really what kept me going and enthusiastic about making music in a place where its extremely difficult to be yourself and create the art that you want to create.

Download: ‘Mundane Sunday’ – The Supersonics
Stream ‘Mundane Sunday’ on our The Supersonics page.

2010: The Year in Photos

Kunal Kakodkar — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:02:06 +0000

We’ve picked some of the best live photos from gigs we attended in 2010. Check them out below!

February: Bhayanak Maut @ Club Marimba, Mumbai. An eight-inch-high stage, Tuborg-fueled moshers and static green lighting - you gotta love metal gigs. With practically zero distance between audience and band, it was a rare opportunity to frame the two together.

February: Swarathma @ Poona Blind School, Pune. This was one of Swarathma's first 'Action Replay' gigs, held the day after they played Baajaa Gaajaa '10. It was, for me, the most memorable gig of 2010. Read our coverage at http://nh7.in/x/acjzl.

March: Susheela Raman @ Blue Frog, Mumbai. Our pick for Best Gig International '10. Ms. Raman was sublime on the night; from our coverage (http://nh7.in/x/uzlyv): "We were moved. Music is not dead. It’s alive. God bless Susheela Raman."

March: Junkyard Groove @ RGIT, Mumbai. Big-budget college festivals => excellent lighting rigs. This was taken at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology's poorly-named 'GIGANT GIG', featuring Split and Avial along with the Chennai-based JYG. Front-lighting #ftw.

April: Pentagram @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai. This was taken at an OML gala event which also featured Swarathma and Tough on Tobacco. With moving heads placed right above eye-level on stage, saturated color channels were unavoidable. The stairs alongside the stage (or dining area, depending on when you visit) provided this opportunity to catch Papal Mane, Vishal Dadlani and Randolph Correia in profile.

April: The Supersonics @ Blue Frog, Mumbai. A stellar gig, it made our list of the top five gigs by Indian bands in 2010. Sadly, they disbanded a few months later, making this the last gig they'd ever play in Mumbai.

August: Low Majaw @ Blue Frog, Mumbai. Geriatric Khasi rock at its finest. This was taken on the second of his two-day stint at the Frog this year. After dispensing with the customary Dylan set on day one, he played his own brand of Dylan-esque classic rock on day two. Always fun to shoot, he may the most likeable person in Indian indie.

September: Shaa'ir + Func @ Blue Frog, Mumbai. This was taken at the Mantis album launch, and was our pick for the best gig by an Indian band in 2010. Although lighting wasn't particularly great, it's incredibly difficult to shoot the lovely Monica Dogra (aka Shaa'ir) and not walk away with at least a handful of keepers.Check out our coverage: http://nh7.in/x/ignln

November: Sridhar/Thayil @ Blue Frog, Mumbai. Taken at a rare S/T gig in the city, the lyrical pop duo both make for exceptionally interesting subjects. Hope to see more of them in Mumbai in 2011.

November: DJ Marky @ Wink, Mumbai. Drum 'n' bass pioneer Marky played a short set in the city last month. Part of his schtick is flipping a turntable while its still spinning, pretty wowsome stuff.

December: Demonic Resurrection @ Independence Rock XXV, Mumbai. The scaled-down, sponsor-free I-Rock was a major success, with close to 6,000 in attendance. Check out our massive photo gallery from the show: http://nh7.in/x/ttfjm

December: Zero @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Pune. Determined to get some band profile shots out of Weekender, Team Indiecision improvised a two-light setup backstage at the Bacardi Black Rock Arena. Zero was one of several bands we accosted pre or post-gig that weekend. Expect to see a full set of these 2011!

December: Indian Ocean @ Bandra Fort Amphitheatre, Mumbai. Another one of our picks for Indiecision '10: Best Gig Indian. The cozy venue and superlative light setup made for some excellent shooting. More pics from the set: http://nh7.in/x/rjjzh

The Indiecision ’10: Best Gig Indian

Indiecision — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:12:00 +0000

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 Gig Indian was the best concert by an Indian artist attended by the Indiecision staff. The nominees for the Best Gig Indian are

If you’ve watched Kochi nu-metal act Avial perform at a venue north of Bangalore (or outside Dubai), you haven’t really watched Avial perform. On home-ish turf, the Mallu band’s act becomes a collosal monster fueled by the undying, unequivocal support of an adoring audience. The Kyra theatre was packed with about 300 punters (a feat achieved by removing the tables and chairs at the venue), most mildly inebriated and ready to rock out to their heroes’ Korn-ish-sample-based-nu-metal-to-Malayalam-lyrics-and-Rex-Vijayan-guitar-kvlt-ness jams. Avial did not disappoint.

The term “music festival” is much overused in India these days. Anything from a garden party with a couple of DJs to a Backstreet Boys gig gets assigned this title. And while the ambiguity of its definition is cause for some concern, we’re pretty sure its essence stems from more than just the music. Of all the charlatans claiming to be festivals, Fireflies perhaps comes pretty damn close to the real thing. While the musical highlight of the February festival was local heroes Lounge Piranha’s set, it’s the fantastic festival vibe that’ll bring us back next year.

Indian Ocean were in a generous mood that night. Why wouldn’t they be? This was a bonus Sunday night gig, for over 200 fans who had returned home disappointed because they couldn’t be accommodated in their packed-to-capacity concert at the Lower Club venue the past Wednesday. The band played all the hits from their two-decade spanning career, and a handful of new songs including the soon-to-be-massive ‘Des Mera’ from the soundtrack of Peepli [Live]. There’s no such thing as a bad Indian Ocean gig, but this one-which had gubgubi solos, tabla players-turning-bassists and backstories aplenty-was different. It wasn’t just the spontaneous jam with Kailash Kher, this was a band that was feeling loved, and gave love in return.

The Supersonics disbanding was easily the biggest hit that Indian indie took in 2010. Between the solid rhythm section, Ananda Sen’s hauntingly unique vocal delivery and the just-absolutely-gorgeous guitar parts, we had a band that essentially exceeded the sum of its parts. The gig that April night was a leisurely stroll through their brilliant first album Maby Baking (Indiecision’s ’09 Album of the Year) and assorted unreleased material. Backed by the always-excellent Blue Frog PA, there was an inkling that we were witness to something special that night. It was, sadly, the last time they’d ever play Mumbai.

It’s perhaps noteworthy that Shaa’ir + Func played just two songs from Mantis in their opening 10 at the album’s launch at the Blue Frog. This is a band that has released three quality records in just four years (no mean feat, especially for an Indian band), is one of the most popular live acts in the scene (the south Mumbai venue was packed, like at the launch of Light Tribe, two years ago), and continually reinvents itself both musically and on stage. They don’t need to showcase new material. As the scene patois goes, it’s all good. This set was unrelenting in its mission to keep us grooving. Shaa’ir + Func is one of the most important bands in Indian indie music today. This gig showed us just why.

And the Best Gig Indian ‘10 was

Shaa’ir + Func at the Blue Frog.

(Note: We have excluded from consideration any gigs that Indiecision was associated with in 2010. This includes the Bacardi NH7 Weekender.)

Honourable Mentions
Zero @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai
The Great Indian Octoberfest @ Palace Grounds, Bangalore

Indigo Children Reunite

Indiecision — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:00:48 +0000

Delhi indie rockers Indigo Children are back in action. While no formal breakup was ever announced, the Soundpad winners have been on a lengthy hiatus, with no gig updates or news on their Facebook page since August last year. In that time, bassist Nikhil Rufus Raj has remained active with Another Vertigo Rush and last month, frontman Sanchal Malhar played a solo acoustic set in New Delhi recently.

IC will reunite at a free gig on December 4 in Delhi, marking the culmination of Harley Davidson’s nationwide ‘Rock Riders’ tour. The concert will be held at the Hamsadhwani theatre, and will also feature menwhopause from Delhi, and Split and Indus Creed from Mumbai. It remains to be seen if this reunion will be limited to this one gig, or if we can expect to see more from Indigo Children in the future. We’re still broken up about The Supersonics, so fingers crossed.