With a heavy heart I bid farewell to my friend, the founder of IndianRockMp3, Santhosh Lobo. After a prolonged battle with cancer, Santhosh – the independent promoter of Indian music scene, is no more. Santhosh touched thousands of lives by simply setting up a website that would provide you every information about any Indian band you could possibly name. Be it articles, interviews or collaborations, he did everything selflessly, with a glee in his eyes which is what made him a special person in the Indian music scene.
With his passion aside, I knew this man for his candor, the motivation he provided me and the ease with which he took everything in his stride. I’ve lost someone I was close to, I’m devastated and my heart goes out to his family. I know we all move on with things in life, but this one’s definitely going to be a hard one. Rest in peace, Santhosh. I’ll miss you. Or rather, we all will.
Three years of associations with the people from the music fraternity, selflessly writing and promoting all that is underground and more than two years of friendship with me. This is all it took Santhosh Lobo (owner, IndianRockMp3) to make a family away from his own. When the site completed two years there came Indiean Volume one, so on account of his website turning three we have part two of the compilation.
The compilation contains nine tracks, touches upon as much as seven genres and sub-genres combined together. Not something that happens all the time. Well, I think it’s a wonderful idea to join acts from across the country and merge them on a single playlist. And, then give it out for free download just to make sure everyone listens to it. You can get it here.
1. As Soon As it is Over by Barefaced Liar – This varied band from Delhi is taking giant steps towards acceptance on an altogether different level. This track As Soon As It Is Over is kind enough to touch you, but there are slippages which go unnoticed.
2. Jihad by Motherjane – This track somehow makes me go, ‘dude, I really love old-Motherjane man‘. Those first two albums by this above par band traveled through my senses, very slowly. Jihad, for that matter, did not live up to my expectations.
3. Polymorphic Infection by Amogh Symphony – Bands make music, but Amogh Symphony adds several dimensions to their songs. State of the art production with the most intricate musical values imbibed together make up tracks from this band. Polymorphic Infection is from their second album, The Quantum Hack Code.
4. Visionary by Goddess Gagged – Progressive Post-Hardcore is what Bombay-based Goddess Gagged has been committed to. But, before they got to this genre there was something else they played which too was welcomed with arms wide open. A band to watch out for with a debut album and a music video scheduled.
Goddess Gagged, Bombay
5. Need for Sleep by Noiseware – Holy mother of all! Noiseware is loud and they have every reason to feel proud. Their jam laboratory would be equipped with every complexity there is and they aren’t wrong when they call their music experimental metal. This is what avant garde stuff is made of!
6. De Engineer by Eccentric Pendulum – I have always maintained that if a band can write a track like Cut Through the Light, they are capable of everything. Well almost. De Engineer is not one of the best ones by the band but it has its signature Pendulum moments.
7. Dear <Name> by Bhayanak Maut – Metastasis was a dangerous Ep that was give out by Bhayanak Maut for free, because it was so brutal, so metal that it’ll chase you till you accept your defeat. They are established, they know what they are doing, so only good things coming our way now. I had fun penning down my thoughts about Metastasis.
8. All That Is by Exhumation – Whether it is writing riffs that nobody else around can, or playing death metal with vigor, Exhumation has been doing the right things for eight years. Consider This was a laid back effort, yet had death metal content with accuracy and speed.
Barefaced Liar, Delhi
9. Xenophobe by Undying Inc – Delhi-based metallers have their own story to tell, are merciless when it comes to making the speakers feel attacked and the listeners feel harassed. All for a good cause, and Undying Inc bless you with a lot of metal. If you think this is exactly what you look for in your metal then they have a full-length that was out this year, go get it.
The compilation even has an album art for the front and back cover, and I think I have a thing for this art. It is apt, and if you look closely, it is detailed too. Done by Akhila Shankar who handles most of the things at IRMP3 now.
Here’s wishing the entire crew of IRMP3 (which includes me, but I have no hand in this compilation) the very best of everything. After all, trolling got a new meaning through this website. Jests aside, even I write and doing this apart from the normal shit you do is tough. Balancing is one of the things we humans are definitely bad at, and if IRMP3 has been doing this for three years and still continues doing it then there is a better tomorrow for the ‘scene’.
Rating : 4/5
I’ve said what I had to, now you vote for your favorite tracks –
All those of you who wanted to support Indian music scene but could not for some reason, here is your chance to do so. Friend and IndianRockMp3 owner Santhosh Lobo along with his crew has come up with an initiative to release an online compilation album gathering together tracks by some of the best metal/rock/alterative acts India has produced, and all this to celebrate the second anniversary of IRMP3. With the most original name I have heard in a long time the compilation is named Indiean – Volume 1.
Now we all know what the website IndianRockMp3 has been doing for the scene, so this is payback time. There is no buying involved here and that should be enough to get most of you going. The compilation was scheduled to release today but due to heavy demand and the compilation being given out for free as stated before the release was pre-poned by a couple of hours. So all you need to do is to go download it and spread the word regarding the same. Click here to get to the download page. Get going.
The tracklist as given below also doubles up as a poll and there should not be any trouble figuring out that its the trackname followed by bandname. Vote for the tracks that would be your reason to download this compilation. Multiple choice as always.
Absurd History 