Mishthi Music

Q&A with Songstress Raveena Aurora

mutinousmindstate — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:29 -0700

Q&A with Songstress Raveena Aurora: Interview w/ Raveena Aurora over at The Aerogram. You often...

I love everything that Mad Decent puts out and I love everything...

mutinousmindstate — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:30:46 -0700

I love everything that Mad Decent puts out and I love everything that Major Lazer puts out and I love every song on the new Major Lazer album Free the Universe. Especially this song Get Free.

Can’t find a Desi angle. IDGAF. Cuz it’s AMAZING. Full stop.

A few weeks ago I was told about a...

mutinousmindstate — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:30:35 -0700

A few weeks ago I was told about a Bangladeshi-transplanted-to-Boston singer songwriter Armeen Musa. This song is from the Bangladeshi Film Looks like she’s a graduate of the Berklee School of Music (who isn’t, amiright?) which makes her immigrant story that much more interesting.

Singer/songwriter Armeen Musa represents a 21st century Bangladeshi and Global musician connecting her Bengali roots of lyrics and melodies, various languages and sounds from the places she has lived in with those of her new home USA; blues, soul and jazz to create a non genre effect, that she likes to call “music.”

From my scouring of the internets, her sound is mellow and soft, sadly beautiful. Almost all are Bangla lyrics. Her album came highly recommended via a friend which is what turned me onto her. It also seems like she’s involved in the Shahbag Movement and contributed a track to this benefit album. You can listen to her music on SoundCloud, find her on Facebook, and follow her on ReverbNation. And twitter.

Is it just me or is Cumbia the latest rage and has hip bumped...

mutinousmindstate — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:30:37 -0700

Is it just me or is Cumbia the latest rage and has hip bumped the obnoxious trend of dubstep to the curb in the global bass scene? Or is it because I’m in L.A. that Cumbia chords are inherently embedded in all beats? I ain’t complaining! The music is fun and has some of the same chord sequences found in motherland music, leading to some really cool fusion mixes.

JazzyRani put me on to San Antonio based DJ Sonora who is dropping some amazing beats on his SoundCloud and as I I stumbled onto this Cumbia en La India remix. Are you kidding me? This song was MADE for Mishthi Music. Listen, enjoy, and dance in your office cubicle like I will

A couple of weeks ago I was in DC and got to reconnect with an...

mutinousmindstate — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:30:48 -0700

A couple of weeks ago I was in DC and got to reconnect with an old friend from the “let’s travel cross country playing music and mosh together” days of 2009. Omar Waqar was the fauxmohawked anti-Mullah with the sufi skills of a dervish manifested in music. After all these years, he’s still got musical magic in his fingers.

Omar’s gone through a re-birth: he’s got new band members, is working on a new set of songs, got new digs, new gigs and is reworking old Indian classic structures into new punk tunes. With a little “R&B” in there too. His new shit’s good - but this old song (reworked), Evil Eye, was my favorite crowd surfing lose my voice moment every time Sarmust took the stage. It’s not too bad as an acoustic song either and still makes me dance in my seat. I got the chance to hear some of beginnings of the new tracks and and it’ll be interesting to see how the shift from the youth punk energy of Diacritical into this more mature complex dance worthy sounding Sarmust translates into a live space. You’ll get the chance too - he’ll be taking his band on tour soon, and is looking for backup Qawalli singers too.

Punk kids be all growing up, believing they can fly and touch the sky.

The ladies of The Aerogram have been all about 19-year-old...

mutinousmindstate — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:30:45 -0700

The ladies of The Aerogram have been all about 19-year-old Mathai, who wowed crowds on “The Voice.” She just debuted this single Once Again, which is just lovely.

Grooving to the sounds of Sikh Knowledge. Again.

mutinousmindstate — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:30:47 -0700

Grooving to the sounds of Sikh Knowledge. Again.

When I was on the bus going from one gorgeous beach to another...

mutinousmindstate — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:30:53 -0700

When I was on the bus going from one gorgeous beach to another on the west side of it island of Sri Lanka, the best island music was playing through the intercoms. I had no idea what the songs were saying - but it was vaguely reminiscent of reggae music you hear in the Bahamas, beaches of Mexico, under palm trees in Hawaii. Maybe all island music was the same, no matter what island you were on.

This podcast from AfroPop Worldwide basically confirms that and digs into the roots of India & Sri Lanka’s international origin. It is an amazing history of sounds, and makes M.I.A.’s second and third album international sampling a little less “exotic” and more “inherent” to the musical styling of Sri Lankan music.

African Sounds of the Indian Subcontinent

In this Hip Deep program, we explore musical connections between Africa and the Indian subcontinent. First, we hear the story of the Afro-Indian Sidi community. Starting in the 13th century, Africans arrived in India as soldiers in the armies of Muslim conquerors. Some were able to rise through the ranks to become military leaders and even rulers in India. Their descendents continue to live in India today, performing African-influenced Sufi trance music at shrines of a black Muslim saint named Baba Gor. Next, we dive into the swinging jazz era of 1930s Bombay, when African-American jazz musicians arrived by the dozen to perform at the glitzy Taj Mahal Hotel. They trained a generation of Indian jazz musicians who would become instrumental in the rise of India’s Hindi film music industry. Then, we head south to Sri Lanka, where Africans have had a presence for almost 500 years. We explore their history through the groovy Afro-Indo-Portuguese pop music style known as baila, popularized by 1960s star Wally Bastiansz and still performed at parties around Sri Lanka today. Last, we speak with Deepak Ram, a Indian jazz flutist who recounts his experiences growing up Indian in apartheid South Africa. Throughout, we speak with leading experts, and of course, hear fantastic - and often unexpected - music.

Also - check out the blog on the same subject: Baila for Dummies: A Quick Guide to Sri Lanka’s Afro-Portugese Pop Music.

Raja Ram’s newest album, Pipe Dreams, dropped in March...

jugalbandhi — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:30:32 -0700

Raja Ram’s newest album, Pipe Dreams, dropped in March 2013. Don’t know if anything about this artist is South Asian except his name but the album might be the perfect soundtrack for your next trip.

TIP RECORDS PRESENTS - RAJA RAM´S PIPE DREAMS (by TipWorldRecords)

Top Ten List of All The Reasons Why Iggy Azalea’s Bounce...

mutinousmindstate — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:30:32 -0700

Top Ten List of All The Reasons Why Iggy Azalea’s Bounce Video is Terrible

There’s the obvious culture vulture-ism, exotification of the other, buying into fetishization, disrespect of religion, going on in this video. But let’s really dissect this, shall we?

Only M.I.A. can ride an elephant with seduction, successfully.
White sari and no rain? What kind of white sari Bollywood symbolism is this? Wait - this isn’t pulpy Bollywood?
Did she just say, “Iggy Iggy, gettin’ ‘em tipsy, Tippin’ in brah, to hundreds and fifties, Pullin’ up, NASCAR, black car, Shittin’ on everyone, sippin’ whatever we feelin’”??? No.
Her song has nothing to do with being in India. Like, zero. It’s a song about bouncing. Even her desi dance moves are stretching on the bounces.
Someone fix her sari. Her belly is showing.
WHY is she in front of the sadhus?!?! Blasphemous.
Did she just morph herself out of the Taj Mahal?
The kids covered in holi colors - the kids are cute, but what does that have to do with “bouncing” at all? And how come with all that color flying, she still remains White?
Uh. This.
Hari Kondabolu said it best, “Just saw Iggy Azalea’s “Bounce” video. Finally something that can unite the Indian-American & African-American community in mutual hatred.”

Punk in Burma: Cultural Appropriation & Resistance » Sociological Images

mutinousmindstate — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:30:34 -0700

Punk in Burma: Cultural Appropriation & Resistance » Sociological Images

Killian Martin freestyle skating through India. It’s a...

mutinousmindstate — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:30:59 -0700

Killian Martin freestyle skating through India. It’s a little culture vulture but some great skating shots in a really pretty place.

Riz Ahmed: actor, rapper, ranter

mutinousmindstate — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:30:43 -0700

Riz Ahmed: actor, rapper, ranter

I finally got to meet Brooklyn Shanti a couple of weeks ago when...

mutinousmindstate — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:30:30 -0700

I finally got to meet Brooklyn Shanti a couple of weeks ago when he was on a L.A. tour … and I think we almost convinced him to change his name to Angeleno Shanti. Very fusion-y. I’m pretty sure it’s not the last we’ve seen of him in our city, and he gave me a preview of his next Bangla lyric track that I’m sure you are going to love if you loved his hit Rani, Rani. I’m looking forward to interviewing him for the pages of this blog, but in the meantime, let me share with you the acoustic track that has my heart beating today. She (acoustic) by Brooklyn Shanti

Lil Wil - My Dougie (video)

tacotruckasaurus — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:31:37 -0700

DJ Quik sampling Bappi Lahiri's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on Truth Hurts' "So Addictive" The 25 Most Notorious Uncleared Samples In Rap History

mutinousmindstate — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:30:42 -0700

DJ Quik sampling Bappi Lahiri's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on Truth Hurts' "So Addictive" The 25 Most Notorious Uncleared Samples In Rap History

What a great piece on DJ Ushka, activist and DJ extraordinaire...

mutinousmindstate — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:30:49 -0700

What a great piece on DJ Ushka, activist and DJ extraordinaire based out of NYC. Her mixtape was one of Mishthi Music’s most retumbled blogs, and how great is this interview on Thanu Yakupitiyage on the show ZirZameen? Work it. Thanks Sahar Sarshar for collecting these amazing stories an follow Zir Zameen on YouTube for more.

At this weekend’s 7th Annual Mr. Hyphen competition in San...

mutinousmindstate — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:30:47 -0700

At this weekend’s 7th Annual Mr. Hyphen competition in San Francisco, this guy - Toshio Hirano - a small unassuming skinny bald Japanese immigrant man walked out on stage underneath one spotlight, and then blew everyone’s pants off. Or knocked their socks off. Same thing. You should listen - and hang on to your pants and socks.

There is even a documentary about him!

jugalbandhi: TAPE DECK PROPHETS….Rock!! I’m totally convinced...

jugalbandhi — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:08:22 -0700

jugalbandhi:

TAPE DECK PROPHETS….Rock!!

I’m totally convinced that Brooklyn Shanti is the hardest working man in the world. Every time I’m looking for a musical pick-me-up lately I find another great sound and collaboration. This time he and vocalist Sierra Carrère become Tape Deck Prophets. Check out their album here.

I’m so bummed I missed Brooklyn Shanti perform on a recent trip to LA but am hoping that he’ll make another trip to Cali soon.

I have new eyeliner inspiration in this video. Why do I love...

mutinousmindstate — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:30:55 -0700

I have new eyeliner inspiration in this video. Why do I love this? I think because I had a big thing for the Austin Powers genre in the 90s. And this is like that but you know, Bollywood-fied. Hat tip to DJ Rekha. This is song is You Me Bullets Love is off the album of the same name and is by the UK based The Bombay Royale. You can listen (and purchase) the whole album here.