When did Junkyard Groove start?

JYG started in the year of 2005. I think May and we played our first gig in June, a competition which we lost because we abused too much. We got a consolation prize of 2nd place. We normally keep JYG’s birthday on the same day as Craig’s, which is on June 20th.

How did you guys come up with the name?

Siddharth and me came up with the name even before Craig and ex drummer Jerry joined. We where walking around his house thinking of a name and I was hell bent on junkyard Tribe and suddenly Sid said groove. It just sounded good. Therefore Junkyard Groove

What was the original inspiration for starting Junkyard Groove?
I had stopped playing music for a year and a half so did Craig. I was seeing bands that where not all that great getting hyped (ex band mates). That’s when I decided fuck this I need to get back into the scene and form a band that I will love playing with and a band of friends that just love music with their lives. That’s when I reached out to Sid, Craig and Jerry…. unfortunately Jerry left the band. This has made the bond between Sid, Craig and me much more stronger because we realized we couldn’t take things for granted. (At least this is what I think)

Why did JYG decide to keep “Nicer in a minute” for free download?
We where signed to a label Creative Kingdom who kind of fucked us over and we where deciding what to do as a band. In this time we decided to give the people who love us who and have been waiting for 2 yrs for an album. So the free E.P. Our fans come first

Tell us something about your debut album “11:11”

The album 11:11 and E.P have been a strange journey because some of the songs were written by me a very long time ago as in the basic skeleton of songs like Say Goodbye, please don’t wake me up, Folk you, Save me and Feel like a knife. As we got older as a band there where others, which the whole band wrote together, which include Rock and Roll, Its ok, Hold, Been so long, Twinkle, Thank you, Imagine and Let you go.

Here is what each song means to me

Imagine: This is a about a person in my life who lived in a messed up world but never showed it. Only when I really got to know her, I found out unbelievable things in her life. People always look at you from the outside and think they know it all.
Rock and Roll: The lyrics explain its self . It’s just about love for music and party
Been so long: The music was kind of finished but not the lyrics. I finished the song only when we went to Dubai. It questions where home is because we are wanderers searching for a place where we feel wanted. This is true for all people.

Folk You: This is basically a stupid fun love song, which I think will fit perfect in a Bollywood or Kollywood movie. LOL! The chorus was inspired by a Malayalam fisherman’s song

It’s Ok: Lyrically, The song is about two people who wanted different things from each other. Musically, I love playing the song live because it’s a crowd favorite.

Twinkle: This is another stupid love song basically when you’re in love and drunk at the same time. Sid and me wrote it when we were drunk one night and in love (not with each other please note)
Let you go: I think this song took the longest time to write musically. Lyrically, when I wrote the song, it really did not apply in my life at time. But it took a whole new meaning when a person I was in love with left me. Every time I sing that song I think of her.
Thank you: This song is about being thankful the things you have.
Feel Like a knife: Its an upbeat song about high sprits , but not alcohol, although we love it… (laughs)
Hold: This is a song we always end our set with. It’s about keeping things that are close to you safe as in relationships in our lives.

How does the song writing process go about?
It all begins with a fight. We have to go through 6 songs we don’t like till we get one we all like. There is no fixed pattern in the way we write.

By the way, the album is up for free download:  www.gimmesound.com/JunkyardGroove/

Every time you download we get paid!!

Tell us one of the funniest JYG moments ever?
Here are some:
Craig was on his bike with his wife and this guy kept staring at him on the road (Craig kind of got freaked). After a little more stalking, the guy slowed down next too him and said “I’m listening to you on my Ipod”.

The other day Sid had gone had gone kite flying with his friends to the beach and met this bunch of school kids. They asked him what he does and he said he plays for JYG. They began laughing and said “Yeah right and I am Tom Cruise”.

As usual when my weekend comes, I need my drink (Whiskey) and the wine shops had closed. There is this after hour bootleg shop that I know so went there to pick up my stock for the night. Suddenly this guy comes out of the dark and asks me “can I take a picture with you?” I was kind of zapped and asked him “you know me from?” he said “you don’t know me but I’m a fan and know JYG”

This one is a bit of an old story. The band had just started out I think we where a year old and we had just headlined NLS and was on a high. The next day we went out to eat lunch and 2 guys saw us with our guitars and asked us which band we play for? So we said JYG. Then the guy pulls out his phone and he had all our demos on his phone. They then went on to offer us weed and booze. LOL!!
It always zaps me how much reach music actually has. The songs we write are very personal and make us happy. But once we put it out there for people to listen, you realize you are not alone.

What are your views about online distribution of music?

I think its great but music is becoming free. That is why we realized we need to do things differently so we decided to excrement with our distribution method and joined http://www.gimmesound.com where the artists gets paid for every download. The money is shared by the site with the artists 50/50 from add revenue. Our Cd’s are still on sale because our hardcore fans like the physical Cd. We do door to door cash on delivery: http://junkyardgroove.net.

Where was the best gig you guys played?
IIT Chennai and Desert Rock festival Dubai

What would you guys like to tell your fans?
Thank you so much for the support because without you we are nothing. You guys come first. Please do download our music free. We get paid for every download. Spread the love!!

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*A special thanks to Ameeth Thomas & Junkyard Groove for doing this Interview on such short notice. Thank you Junkyard groove for the music!!

nice collection of indian rock bands songs,,

http://indianrockmp3.com/rock/

http://www.indianrocket.blogspot.com/

http://in.myspace.com/musiccentral

and a list of songs too,,

http://www.gigpad.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=77&action=printpage;topic=14851.0

a great new song by blisslogic, band from mumbai with a naga front man.YEAH go northeast !!! good stuff.

Here is a lil info bout the band.

The seeds of Bliss Logic were planted in 2002, when Yanger’s current band mates drummer Lindsay D’Mello and bassist JD Thirumalai produced two tracks for Sleeping Buddha’s self-titled debut album. “Almost a year later, JD and I met up and, over a couple of beers, decided to record a track,” said Yanger. “Lindsay also got involved and we ended up spending a couple of recording sessions holed up in his music room, furiously crafting the track that was to be ‘Spill’. The computer crashed after the last session and we ended up with a rough and unfinished mix that we had created the day earlier… that is the mix you will hear in the album. Anyway, somewhere along the line, I guess we all kinda gravitated towards writing more songs, jamming, hanging, recording, drinking, smoking, etc and four-to-fiver years later, we have The Big Thaw!!’” You may not find a lot of logic in the music of Bliss Logic but you will hopefully obtain a considerable amount of musical bliss. “The tracks are just explorations of ideas, thoughts, moods, feelings… it’s intensely personal in that sense,” said Yanger. “But I’ve been told that it makes sense to a lot of people. So if it works… great.” Yanger’s lyrics are frequently abstract, but in the hands of D’Mello and Thirumalai –two formidable names in the Indian music scene – his diary entries are transformed into the kind of dreamy, ethereal rock that you could cosy up to a rainy night but just as easily chill out to a sun-kissed summer afternoon. “The music is pretty easy listening with bursts at parts of elements of electro, drum n’ bass, rock, jazz and blues, which create a mood of their own and have a subtle message of their own too, which is totally open to the listener’s perception,” said D’Mello. “We all grew up in the ’80s so you might hear a little bit of that too.” The many contributions add an additional dimension to Bliss Logic’s distinctive sound that’s inherently mellow yet musically muscular. It’s also “indie” in the truest sense. The Big Thaw is a self-produced album, something that has enabled the group to take risks they would not have been able to otherwise. “Being an independent effort, we have the freedom to do what the fuck we want… nobody telling us ‘No, this solo doesn’t work etc,” said D’Mello. The Big Thaw is one of those rare records that move seamlessly from one track to another. But the band’s members don’t believe in overanalysing the creative process that goes into song-making. “My general philosophy is simple,” said Yanger. “Does it sound good? Does it make sense? If I fulfil these two criteria, I generally feel like I’m on the right track. Story… meaning… chords… techniques… angles… shoo shaa… it’s all shite mate.”

Enjoy!

Right. It’s time for another desi band to be reviewed. I’ll admit though, that this is a bad time to do it. My head is full to the brim with a throbbing headache, and im not sure I want to listen to a metal album. But I guess, duty calls. I didn’t know anything about Blood & Iron until a friend tipped me off. Well, I’ve listened to them now, and I think they are pretty good by all means.

A good band. Great potential.

This album (their second) has a really grandiose start with ‘A Promised Land’, with a fantastic sounding chant. And then it breaks into something reminiscent of a mixture of Manowar, Children of Bodom and Iron Maiden. This general feel continues pretty much all throughout the album. That might sound dull, but the band manages to keep it interesting right till the end. Not once did I think, “bloody hell, when will this end”?

There is evidently much effort given to an epic sounding feel. In that way, its quite successful, and- shock and awe- they successfully manage to avoid the extra thick layers of cheesiness that plague something like, say, Manowar. This is probably the best gothic/keyboard-y sounding Indian band I’ve come across. Speaking of keyboards, the keyboard player is EXCELLENT. Really memorable soloing and excellent use of patches and atmosphere, reminiscent of Janne Wirman and Richard Andersson. He fits the band very well. 5 stars, boss!

Guitar players are also very good, the dual attack is well executed, especially the coordinated runs. The singer again, has great range, though I think his voice is mixed too low, and the drums (especially) mixed a little high. Unfortunately, in this sonic torrent, Mr. Bass Player is lost, essentially providing a halo to the sound. Next album, though, I’m hoping to hear a bit more from the bassist of this highly capable sextet. Also the drumming is really good, with awesome double bass pedalling, though I wouldn’t say it always fits the groove the songs demand.

If they were in Scandinavia, they would be a popular band in those countries, playing music which sounds somewhat like erm….Viking Metal. It’s just a tag that I just invented. It’s sad to see how such good bands, which could really have been big in the Scandinavian scene (if they were there), are stuck here, where their music can’t be appreciated fully. Pity.

This isn’t try-once-and-then-throw music that I’ve heard from most Indian bands. This is worth downloading and listening to over and over again (though not necessarily in one sitting). My picks would be the first and last tracks, both of which are unique, not in the least because of their use of non-pentatonic scales, chants, and what not.

Flaws? A couple, I guess. The most major one is that the chord changes are familiar and don’t usually change from song to song. So using more unfamiliar chord changes would vastly alleviate the overall sound of the band. Further, a mix of influences that identifies the sound immediately as Blood & Iron is needed. Even so, as a step in the evolution of a good band, this sounds right.

- El Bajista

Yes, we are patriots! Get more DESI ROCK reviews HERE.

Proves you can enjoy music even if you have no fuckin’ idea what the song means! Here’s Avial who call themselves an Alternative Malayali Rock band with their song Nada Nada. Brilliant!!

So lately I’ve been on this Indian rock music spree and have been scouting around for good music by Indian bands, both the famous and the not so famous. And I found this gem by the popular band from Cochin (though their website says they’re based in Bangalore now..not sure!) Motherjane (love the name! ). Broken is one hell of a song with a pretty neat video. Really love the way they infuse Carnatic music into their guitaring (loved the veena-like guitar patch on the solo!). Explains why they mention their genre as Rock/Progressive/Carnatic Rock on their website. Really lookin forward to lay my hands on more songs from their album Maktub which seems to have got great reviews from The Rolling Stones magazine. And I really hope I can catch them live at the October fest in Bangalore on the 25th!  :) Learn more about the band at www.motherjane.in.  Peace out..

Look at the album cover. Looks like an Alternative Band.

Look at the name of the band. Looks Alternative.

Look at the song titles. Looks Alternative.

Well…they are Progressive.

So what we got here, with Alternative looks and Progressive sounds? A completely original band with songs which will grip you and will not let go. The jams in each of the four songs in the EP will remind anyone of the Allman Brothers Band…but the beginning and the ends will remind you: that its more than a “southern jam”.

Sodium Trail is a fully developed EP which has little space of improvement in any department. With roping in almost 25 minutes…the songs show the band’s strengths, ideas, ambitions and weaknesses.

Ananth Menon’s guitar work is like an explorer. On beautiful soundscapes, the guitar walks slowly, sometimes run, sometimes wobble, sometimes stammer but all the while…going forward. Without his guitar, simply, cant imagine this EP. His voice though, sounds familiar. You have heard that voice and vocal delivery before in other bands (like “Galeej Gurus”? ). But again, who cares?

Ganesh K’s bass riffs are easier to spot and far more groovier than its allowed to be in a progressive band. Which is good…no…great actually. The boringness which the progressive bands brought in the 70s which led to birth of punk and hard rock, is easily cured here by the riffs. The “Krptos” experience helped.

And the drums. Will a jam ever be energetic without the drums? Sachin Moogi knows it. He shows it. Whats amazing is the way the drums share the same urgency with the guitars. It simply amazing.

“Walk : Rewind” starts with a bang…goes on showing promise and ends with leaving you wanting more. “60 Watt Sun” picks up on your thirst, takes you on an optimistic joyride with subtle hints that not everything is alright. “05/04″ is a slow tempo number. Midway, it picks up pace. (Which was weirdly predictable..not a good thing!). “Mobius Trip” is exactly what it says. A trip. Listen to it with the lights out. You will be seeing things.

Apart from the voice, the only other concern is the words. Though the outlook is way different than the rest..the words are not strong enough as the music.

Like I said in the beginning, the Alternative outlook helped.  They have kept the experimental factor alive, mixed it with southern rock and chose the channel of progressive. And gave us a stunning debut EP.

Rating: 3.9/5

You can download the album for free from their website. You can check them out on myspace too.

Desi RAAAAAAAWWKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!

Guitar wizard Warren Mendoza

There is not much dispute as to the fact that rock’n’roll originated and developed mainly in England and USA. Rocks finest and most enduring traditions of punk, metal, psychedelia all developed and flourished there. These styles did spread all over the globe though, and by everywhere I mean everywhere. Lots of metal sub-genres are engrained in the gloomy hills of Scandinavia, and streets of Germany; progressive rock has been quite the rage in France. The influence of rock’n’rollah didn’t contain itself to the west, fortunately, it spread to the subcontinent.

With that incoherent opening, That Doesn’t Sound Right, with much pleasure would like to introduce you to the great Indian Rock Scene, with a review of one of the most popular bands on the college and pub circuit of India in recent times, Zero. They broke up in 2005 unfortunately, but not before they produced some stellar originals on the couple of albums that got released on an independent Indian label, Counter Culture records.

Smooth and Classy hard rock. If I had only four words to describe them, then those are my four words. (Not counting the “and”) The sound is extremely clean in a good sense (not the sense of it being overproduced and unnecessarily glossy), in the sense that you can hear each instrument separately, without the sound getting unnecessarily distorted or mixed into the “wall of sound”. This especially helps the bass lines, since these are the driving force behind most of the songs, and quite the highlight of the album. The lead is classy and only used when required, the solos are memorable and thankfully never descend into the unnecessary and unmemorable wah-wah but softly and without making much of a fuss about their presence, complement the catchy and powerful bass lines.

An extremely solid album, all the way through, and has an extremely cool vibe all the way through. My gripes with it are very petty, namely that it doesn’t have anything as intense or catchy as PSP 12 (a song that comes on a later album), and sometimes the vocalist should have been higher in the mix, his voice often gets obscured by the guitars. His voice though, is suited to the sound of the band, he doesn’t hit high notes, cause he’s not meant to hit them, it would sound out of place. He stays within his range and its quite a narrow range, but again complements the overall sound and that’s all I ask. This is highly recommended to jaded rock music fans all over the world, tired of the stupid alternative rock scene prevailing in the west at the moment. The rock music of US sounds tired partner, its time for the new age of rock to take place in a new place. The bands of India, as you will see, bring a whole new vibe to rock, and reinvent it with their own Indian sensibilities and traditions of music we have here. Yay!!!!

This sounds extremely right. And I am not saying this just because I am from India. I am saying this as an extremely devoted rock music fan.

Baba T

P.S-Get their whole discography on http://indianrockmp3.com/2009/02/20/download-zero-discography/

P.P.S-My picks, which you should download first, to get into them would be “Not My Kind of Girl”, and “Found” from this album and “PSP 12” from their 2005 outing Procastination.

Thank Me!!!

With RSJ’s Pub Rock Fest just a week away, Grey and Saurian are happy to annouce that EIGHT of our bands will be playing at a total of ELEVEN gigs in the months of August and September!

Chronologically, here’s how it’s going to be:

Scribe – Sunday, August 2 – The Mezz (New Delhi)
Undying Inc – Sunday, August 2 – The Mezz (New Delhi)
The Circus – Wednesday, August 5 – Turquoise Cottage (Gurgaon)
Undying Inc – Friday, August 14 – Chicane (Noida)
Bhayanak Maut – Friday, August 14 – Chicane (Noida) – ALBUM LAUNCH GIG!!
Constellation Project – Wednesday, September 2 – Urban Cafe (Gurgaon)
Undying Inc – Friday, September 4 – Valley View (Manipal)
Prestorika – Wednesday, September 9 – Chicane (Noida)
IIIrd Sovereign – Wednesday, September 9 – Chicane (Noida)
The Circus – Thursday, September 10 – Firangi Pani (Mumbai)
The Circus – Saturday, September 12 – Not Just Jazz By The Bay (Pune)
Acrid Semblance – Sunday, September 13 – Superstars (Noida)
The Circus – Friday, October 9 – Ritz Cineplex (Shimla)
The Circus – Sunday, October 11 – Score (Chandigarh)
Come and watch some of the finest rock and metal bands from the country at the RSJ Pub Rock Fest 2009!

Also visit our website – www.greyandsaurian.com.

Okke.. so MTV came out with this already tried out idea of bringing reality TV in Rock Band concept. And who is better to promote than the girlfriend of a self proclaimed rock star. At least thats what MTV thinks.

Now the name itself is an amalgam of two cliches: “Desi Beats” and “Rock On”. But considering its MTV, and how their creative output dropped at a staggering rate during the last decade, its our fault if we expected more.

Now its too early to judge anything, but you know the reality shows on MTV. They suck. Hopefully, the bands and their music will be able to salvage this one.

In case you want to know more, check their site.

Check out the video of Kareena breaking a drum… and wonder why you are not suprised.

More precisely, The Circus are right here at the Grey and Saurian office. Quite easily one of the most interesting new bands on the scene, this incorrigible 4-piece never fail to amaze at their shows. Don’t forget to catch their next gig. Yes, we’ll keep you posted about when that’ll be. To subscribe to our updates, just send a message to saurian@greyandsaurian.com saying you’d like to be kept abreast of the latest developments.

And don’t forget to visit www.greyandsaurian.com.

Once I decided to officially be a tourist in Calaveras County, sans the camera, sunblock  and Hawaiian shirt, the universe opened up and has put me in some places, with some people, that amaze me! This week was no exception.

Being a newly appointed Angels Camp Museum Commissioner I was cordially invited to a dinner meeting to discuss a really cool upcoming fundraiser ( more about that later). The location; the 1890’s  Adams Ranch on Pennsylvania Gulch Rd in Murphys, across from Indian Rock Vineyards, also known as Table Mountain Ranch.

Table Mountain Ranch - February 2009

This has been the home of my gracious hostess, historian Judith Marvin, for over 35 years.  The location itself is magical with vineyard views, atop a knoll overlooking the foothills, a large pond, and a huge garden. The home is a complete step back in time.  Mostly original walls, floors, rooms, and ceilings, and filled with antiques from around the world, the home invited me back in time – really I felt like I was in the  book “Little Women”.  As it turns out, the home was used to film the series “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.

Being a passionate historian, my hostess proceeds to tell the many stories about her home, including the knowledge that persons have lived on the site of the home for over 10,000 years!! Various homes have been built here, burned and were replaced, until this final now standing estate remains.  The photos in the home tell a story as well, a relative of President John Adams, Ethel Adams settled there to raise cattle, farm and enjoy the country life.  She even grew some grapes!  After the Adams family left, the Kinney family came until this lovely home finally rested in the hands of Judith Marvin who raised her family there and emulates its style, history and beauty.

The home is like a museum with oak walls, ceilings and doors.  The walk in pantry is still intact, pie safes, flour and sugar bins, the whole nine yards.  The kitchen is modern now, but created with wood from other parts of the home to maintain the continuity. Only 2 fireplaces adorn the home, but Judith tells of wood stoves that have been removed from some rooms. Judith’s bedroom was a treat! One of the second floor rooms with a real fireplace, her bay windows frame an amazing view of the south/western foothills and the vineyard below. Her poster bed, softly laced with tulle, is positioned in that bay,  facing out! Mornings are always good here.

We enjoyed dinner in what was Mrs. Adams bedroom, now the dining room, on the main floor with bay windows overlooking the gardens.  True to the rest of the home the room is filled with antiques, old lighting, candles and a feeling of times gone by. I could almost see us all dressed in taffeta and crinoline and the men in vests with pocket watches.

We stayed late, laughed much and enjoyed the experience thoroughly.  I have driven by that old home many times, with only a nod and a small curiosity. Now I will smile, reminisce and adore that old home with a fond memory and a grown appreciation for the treasures we have here in Calaveras County.

For more information on the History of Murphys see Judith’s book “Around Murphys” available here:  (click photo of book to order)

Around Murphys by Judith Marvin

Just came back from the Them Clones show in Bucks Theatre, YMCA in Chennai. Kickass man!! They also gave away their new single free of cost!! They also informed that they have 17 songs ready for their new album titled ‘Love. Hate. Heroes’ out of which 10 will make the album. Now the interesting part-all their 17 songs are out there in their website, themclones.com. We can listen to all of them and suggest 10 songs which we think should be on their upcoming album. So,while I am writing this post, I am also listening to their songs and shortlisting 10 songs.

So guys, if you support good original Indian Rock music, go ahead and listen to their music and help them select the tracks!!! Keep Rocking!!!

P.S.- JunkYard Groove, one of Chennai’s best bands also played in the show, but I couldn’t stick around. But they did give their new album ‘11:11(Bootleg)’ free with the tickets. I am yet to listen to the album. Will post a review soon!!!

Another Vertigo Rush releases their new EP, Murphy’s Law through RSJ Records. Buy the April-May 2009 issue of RSJ, on stands now, and get the album with it. The music is a nice blend of metal and alternative rock.

Tracklist-

Drop

The Vibe

Om

Conclave

Phase II

Prevail

Anger Management

Prologue

Master producer Anupam Roy has engineered the album. Except for the vocals here and there, the overall sound of the album is good.

Buy the album guys and support Indian original music!!

While browsing for Indian original rock music, I stumbled upon Ashish Ddavidd aka Chuddy Buddy Ashish’s podcast. Ashish is known as the flamboyant host of shows like ‘The Weekend Powerhouse’ and ‘The Wicked Hour’ on Rainbow India. The podcast (10 episodes till now) features original Indian Underground music with genres ranging from rock, alternative, metal to blues and jazz and eberything else in between. Go and listen to the music and support original Indian music!!!!! Cheers!!!!

Soulmate, India’s best blues rock band from Shillong is releasing their new album on June 11 at the Blue Frog, Mumbai. Blue Frog Records will be launching the new album, titled “Moving On”.
Over the past few years, Soulmate has really created a name in the Indian rock music circuit by playing raunchy original blues music. Their debut album, titled “Shillong” is one of the best rock albums to come out in India. The band features veteran Rudy Wallang on guitars and vocals and Tripti on vocalls and guitars.

I can’t wait to get my hands on the new album!!!!

Latest acquisition brings nature preserve to approximately 5,700 acres

Working steadily over the years, the Open Space Institute (OSI) is gradually assembling one of the largest nature preserves in the Hudson River Valley on the highest reaches of the Shawangunk Ridge. The Sam’s Point Preserve, as it is now known, is a globally unique ecosystem that protects thousands of acres of pristine ridge-top land and pumps vital tourist dollars into local economies every year.

Earlier this month, OSI acquired 35 additional acres of undeveloped mountainous land on the eastern side of the ridge, as the conservation group chips away at its goal of a 7,500-acre Sam’s Point Preserve. Consisting of two separate purchases from two of the preserve’s neighbors, the parcels protect the headwaters of the Verkeederkill Stream and the eastern escarpment of the Ridge as it looks out over the town of Shawangunk.

Tens of thousands of people visit the Sam’s Point Preserve each year for a variety of recreational opportunities, including hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting and other pursuits. The recent acquisitions will protect scenic views from the hiking trail to Verkeederkill Falls, and contain extensive rock-walled crevices, slabrock and pitch pines. OSI will eventually add the land to the adjacent Minnewaska State Park Preserve.

OSI’s land acquisition affiliate, the Open Space Conservancy, made the acquisitions with funds from the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment, a permanent fund that was transferred to the Open Space Conservancy in 2001.

“The big picture here is that we started assembling the Sam’s Point Preserve in 1991, and over the years, and through ten subsequent acquisitions, it’s grown to about 5,700 acres,” said Joe Martens, OSI’s president. “We’ve kept adding to it over the years, and we think in the next 15 to 20 years this is going to be one of the flagship preserves of the Hudson River Valley.”

After conserving a handful of smaller, adjacent parcels in the early 1990s, OSI officially created the Sam’s Point Preserve in 1997 with a breakthrough purchase of 4,780 acres from the Village of Ellenville. Formerly known as Ice Caves Mountain, the area had been owned by the village and used for a variety of purposes for almost a century. It was named one of the “75 Great Places in the Western Hemisphere” by The Nature Conservancy, which partnered with OSI on the Ellenville acquisition and helps manage the properties today as a publicly-supported nature preserve.

The OSI purchases have protected Sam’s Point, the highest summit in the Shawangunks; Indian Rock; deep, glaciated ice caves; the Verkeederkill Stream; and an immense, globally rare pitch pine barrens. OSI anticipates that it will be able to purchase enough adjacent land from willing sellers over the next two decades to bring the preserve to as much as 7,500 acres, protecting important plant and animal habitat and increasing access for recreation in the Shawangunks.

In 2007 OSI transferred a 4,000-acre portion of Sam’s Point, consisting of rare dwarf pitch pine barrens, stark quartz cliffs and underground ice caves, to the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. This property had been off the tax rolls for nearly a century as village-held watershed land, but with the transfer to the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, New York State is now paying local real property taxes to the Village of Ellenville, Ellenville Central school district, and other local taxing jurisdictions.

In addition to its rare ecological features, Sam’s Point is flanked by tens of thousands of acres of conserved land—Minnewaska State Park Preserve and Mohonk Preserve to the north, and several thousands of acres of state forest preserve land stretching along the spine of the Shawangunk Ridge as it winds its way through Sullivan and Orange counties to the New Jersey border near Port Jervis.

“The protection of the Shawangunk Ridge is one of OSI’s core programs, along with the protection of the Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Mountains and other important jewels in and around the Hudson River Valley and the Capitol District,” Martens said. “It is a strikingly pretty and ecologically important landscape which hopefully will be enjoyed by the residents of the Hudson River Valley for many generations.”

The Open Space Institute protects scenic, natural, and historic landscapes to ensure public enjoyment, conserve habitats, and sustain community character. OSI achieves its goals through land acquisition, conservation easements, regional loan programs, fiscal sponsorship, creative partnerships, and analytical research. OSI has protected more than 100,000 acres in New York State. Through its Northern Forest Protection Fund and Conservation Finance Program, OSI has assisted in the protection of an additional 1.7 million acres in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Georgia. Please visit www.osiny.org for more information.

Indian acts had it good. 4 awards altogether. And the winning in “Most Mind Blowing Music Video”  and “Best Rock Act (Group/duo)” should have particularly benign effects on the evolving music scene.

The winners:

Best Pop Song – Naino Sey by Sanjay Divecha

Best Rock Act (Group/duo) – Motherjane

Most Mind Blowing Music Video – Vivek Rajagopalan’s video for Snake in the City (to see the video click here)

Best Genre Bending Track – Together again by Shaair and Func

This feels good, isnt it ?

In case you want to improve the ties between the countries of this region, you can start with this site:

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/101262

P.S. : Here is the cover of the album “Ports of Lima” by Indonesian band Sore, which won “Best Album/ EP cover of the year”. Photoshop freaks who design the album covers of our bands and are fixated with B grade horror flicks, could learn a few things. Could.

Well, I must say I am addicted to Motherjane’s new album Maktub. After their awesome first album Insane Biography, which I think is one of the best Indian Rock albums in the recent past, I was eagerly waiting for the next one. Meanwhile I attended one of their concerts where they played the full first album interspersed with Metallica, Iron Maiden and other covers. They played non-stop for over 3 hours. They were quite tight on stage and Baiju impressed with his solos.

Maktub was released a month ago. They also released three videos, Fields of Sound, Chasing the Sun and Broken. The new album is one of the most original rock albums by an Indian band ever. Their music can be truly called the Motherjane sound. Hard rock riffs with carnatic influenced vocals and guitar solos define their quintessential sound. One of the most rocking albums of the year. Also watch a rockumentary of the band here.
Support the band. Support original Indian rock music. You can order the album from their site. Cheers!!!!

Downloaded the sample of Parikrama’s new single ‘One’ from their website. Recently, Parikrama has changed their sound to heavy metal and I absolutely love it. But I personally feel their old sound was more close to their influences whose covers they used to play a lot. The new song, however, reminds me a lot of a band they used to cover with delight, Pink Floyd- the atmosphere, the slide guitar, Nitin’s vocals. Waiting eagerly for them to upload the whole song.

             Murphy’s Law states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

             Is it the chords?? Or the guitar tones?? Barring few bands, everytime I listen to a song by an Indian band, the first reaction is, “Hey..the guitar sounds like that band we heard live last week..in that pub..you know..the one with exorbitant prices..” Its distinctly Indian..which should be a good thing…only that it isn’t….

            Offering the album for free download is bold. An album which is better than a collection of “misjudged musical arrangements mistakenly assumed to be experimentation” (read Scribe’s Confect) makes this gesture even more laudable. Another Vertigo Rush sounds like a band who has already made it. The production is at par with any other studio album by a major label. In fact, the intelligent use of production is one of the freshest things in this album.

            While listening to the Murphy’s Law, if suddenly you remember the now forgotten “Significant Other” by Limp Bizkit, no one can blame you. Consciously or not, Akhil Sood’s guitar playing and Viraj Mohan’s vocal delivery do sound inspired by Wes Borland and Fred Durst (but with far better lyrics than Durst ever could). But it has become so uncool now to get inspired by Limp Bizkit.

            Om is the song which is regarded as their signature sound. The nomination of the song in the Best Rock Song Category at AVIMA 2009 should put all criticisms at rest. Well..as it turns out, there are better songs than Om in the album. Drop, The Vibe and Anger Management are songs which are better composed and fresher sounding than Om. Nikhil Rufus Raj’s bass sounds cannot be overlooked. They sound melodic and heavy. And it’s little doubt that Akshat Nauriyal and his drums are the reasons for their energy.

            The two experiments “Connect” and “Disconnect” do sound unlike anything we have heard, but one must remember, experiments which don’t end in fruitful results are called failures.

            This album is less of an album, but more of a glimpse of the interesting things which we can expect from Another Vertigo Rush. They do sound different. And keep a close watch on these guys. You might as well get rewarded. Musically.

Murphy’s Law by Another Vertigo Rush: 3/5

You can download the album here   Myspace

Another fusion group, I came across.  Pretty good.

  The most promising and talked about stage for Indian Rock bands is on a weird road this year.

   Why weird?…Because of the bands….Of course it will be idiotic to expect a superfuzz..sorry..indigo children to delight every time…but the bands may be indie..but the sounds are…for lack of a better word “safe”….

    In the first round, all the bands were asked to do covers….ummmm why? As it is, originals (though catching up) are a rarity..and to decide a fate of a band on covers is unfair and inaccurate…many great bands in the world sucked at covers…it cant be a basis of judgement…it was flawed at the very beginning…

     And the bands who are left: Faridkot, Cassini’s Division, Reverse Polarity, Workshop and The Circus. 

     People are putting their money on Cassini’s Division. Frankly, they sound a bit clueless. Faridkot scores cause of the language. Whatever be the music, the use of vernacular language will make it sound like they are different than the rest. 

      Out of these five, I would like to see The Circus to be the winner. Surely, their sound is not something which we have not heard before, but at least they know what they are doing and the fans enjoy what they are doing.

      The problem which persists is..the bands do not instill confidence in us. May be its my problem, so I better stop here.

No ideas now.. so I’m posting this video.. song we did back in college …

Vocals    :    Me )

Guitar     : Sam

Bass         : Denny

Drums    : Ajay

The theme “paying taxes” was Sam’s idea. Says how we end up( or rather ought to)  paying taxes for all the good things we’ve taken from the world around us. But the final lyrics ended up as something else ( don’t even ask me what it means) !!!  Lyrics courtesy Vishal Abraham(check out Touchwood)  and Sam with a li’l bit popped in by me. Music by Sam & Vishal.

It was a Friday evening and we just pulled out all the instruments, and played right outside the music room. Hence, the bad lighting (of a single tubelight) .  Hope you enjoy:)Below -gibberish at CMC Vellore.