Raghu Dixit views himself as a self styled balladeer who sings songs with a strong folksy accent in English, Kannada, and Hindi. For his first album on the Counter Culture Record label, Dixit and his producers seem to have kept in mind that folk music per se does not sell, and that they would have to cater to the musical “sensibilities” of the urban middle class yuppie (deafened as they are by Bollywood and remixes) to generate sales. So what we get are folk based melodies gleaned from various corners of the country with spiffy up-tempo rhythms, backed up by an assemblage of the finest musicians available in the South, namely from Namma Bengalooru. The album kicks off with Hey Bhagwan, a reggae based composition, and closes with a song in Kannada, Sorithudu Maneya Maligi, by Shishunala Sherif, a 19 century saint poet from Haveri, in Karnataka. This song has a laid back bluesy feel, riding on a Latin rhythm which appears very close to the rustic Dhappankuthu beat of Tamil Nadu. In between, the album traipses through Western Rajasthan, the Malnadu region of Karnataka, and a very Hariharanesque ballad – Ambar. Raghu sings and plays acoustic guitar on all the songs. Raghu has a voice which is reasonably large hearted and slightly frayed around the edges, imparting the necessary rustic touch to the singing. Given this, the album would have remained just a cut above the ordinary, but it is the superlative ensemble of musicians who animate and elevate the music to exhilarating heights. |
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| The Roll Call of Honour is as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | H N Bhaskar, the young Carnatic violinist with a distinct melodic style and longtime accompanist of Aruna Sairam. Just listen to his rambunctious, rustic, playing on Mysore Se Aayi Re. |
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| • | Manoj George, a violinist trained in the Western Classical style, and currently faculty member at the Bangalore School of Music. He plays funk on Hey Bhagwan, a slow, ardent, deeply felt interlude on No Man Will Ever Love You, and a spirited jig on Mumbai Waiting for a Miracle. |
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| • | Prakash Sontakke, a virtuoso on slide guitar in the Hindustani gayaki style. Immerse yourself and soak up his playing on Ambar, as he spirals amidst melancholy, complaint, and longing, each note drenched in an emotion that can only can be felt, and not described. |
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| • | And Ladies and Gentlemen, let me proudly present, Bruce Lee Mani, guitarist, musician, and frontman for arguably the best rock band in the country, Thermal and a Quarter. Be it on Electric guitar, nylon stringed guitar, or the mandolin, Bruce has contributed immensely to the feel of the album. Check out his Moorsingham sound in the intro of Hey Bhagwan segueing into a mean Wah Wah later in the song, his exquisite nylon string guitar on Gudigudiya Sedi Nodu, his delicate mandolin on No Man Will Ever Love You, and bluesy lead on Sorutihudu. |
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One of the hottest genres today is World Music, which seems to be a lot of thumping danceable bass grooves interspersed with voice and instruments in some folk style, gleaned from all around the globe. This album promotes itself as Indo World Folk Rock (whatever that means, and you can switch the words around anyway you like to create more genres!). Raghu Dixit has done a good thing by choosing to sing folk based tunes but whether he would be able to sustain it is another matter, as folk music arises out of an intricate connection of land, living, and the seasons. For now, we just have to wait and see. For those who would like a more direct introduction to folk music, I would recommend the songs of Salil Chowdhary and S B Burman to start with, or one could try Swarn Noora, Reshma, the early songs of Gurudas Mann, and the songs of Poorna Chandra Das Baul. |
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| An article by - Anand Sukumaran | |||||||||||||||||||||||
