The Brilliance of The Dewarists
The slow dance of dust particles, exposed in the sun rays through the gap in the curtains, reminds you of the moment. The air of laziness permeates through your skin, defying your tendencies that speak of otherwise. The bed seems like a tempting place to be, the round bump in the pillow reminding you of where you were a minute ago. You look down at your feet, little podgy toes popping out of your ever-comfortable pyjama.
Reluctantly, you turn around. It’s morning. The time when everyone gets up. The maid has to come, teeth have to be brushed, newspaper and milk to be picked up before things get awry.
But …
You navigate your room with the 2D vision of one eye. The other one refuses to get up, especially on Sunday. You fumble, hands outstretched to break breakable things instead of avoiding the chair. You press a switch, tap a button, turn a knob and stop.
Music from The Dewarists slowly fills the room. Smooth, delectable. You take a few steps back and – in a subtle movement – slip into the still-warm bed. While your body rests, your mind races. The sounds, the layers, the fleeting note. Mixing, merging, forming new sounds, new experiences.
This is what music should be.
If you haven’t already, head over to thedewarists.com and download all 10 tracks from the first season. I’ve been listening to them after they were aired, but still haven’t been able to “move on” to other music for the past few months.
Especially when you went on the special journey behind the music, behind the faces, behind the riffs and taals. You can judge the nuances of each artist, measuring the blend of different philosophies towards music and revel at the energy, effort and excellence behind every bar.
This is what music should be.
This is the thought which came to my mind a few weeks ago.
“Why this Kolaveri Di” was like the hot girl from the other college visiting yours during the cult fest. Talk of the town for the first few weeks and will always be mentioned whenever the cult fest is discussed in the future. Like, “Remember the time when Why this Kolaveri Di was the rage..”. Songs from The Dewarists on the other hand are like the girl in your college – might never be the rage Kolaveri was, but a couple of dates and you know the association is going to last a lifetime. A big thumbs up to first season of The Dewarists!
Haha! Don’t you think The Dewarists have made indie music more mainstream? I hope it helps promote the careers of all those involved: Raghu Dixit, Monica Dogra, etc!
aptly said!
Wow K. The way you speak of this music makes me want to rush to that download link. I agree with the definition though – music (and I will not use that ‘good music’ phrase) is about new experiences, memories and moments. These tracks sound totally worth the while.
And, please, please, do download it if you haven’t already! Aand watch the entire episode on Youtube (for all 10 shows!). Awesomeness!
By the by, you’ve a blogging award!
Whoa woha whooooo! Party time!
I sooo agree!! I loved The Dewarists. Although the concept seems age old, where musicians of different arenas come together to jam, and make music, this show took the way they did it to an all new level. They mixed musicians very smartly, knowing the outcome would be fabulous.
They killed it. Kya Khayal hai, I say?
I know you did
. It’s true: music has always been about jamming and fusing new sounds to create new ones. In fact your greatest classical singers were the ones who perfected improvisation – making it a new mesmerizing experience everytime!
It’s not about the music and yet, it’s all about it. It talks about the struggles but also about the triumphs. It shows the pain that they grow through in creating the tracks and also the exhilaration at the end. It’s mainstream and still indie, still Indian…and to quote from my favorite lines from Sacred Science:
“Bhogangal ellam kshanaprabha chanchalam
Vegena Nashtamam Ayussumorkkaka née”
Music posses the power of expression: something money can’t buy!
Of course, Sacred Science is your favourite!
I love this but I hate Monica Dogra…they should have Jon Stewart host it
NO.
What are you talking about? Monica Dogra did an amazing job.
Agreed. She got very annoying by the end of the season.
I guess this debate will never end
I am one of the minorities who is with Adi on this one. While Monica was brilliant in some episodes, her presence was irritating in most. And then again a lot has to do with the script writer of each of these episodes and not to mention the editor, who was demonstrating his/her skills on the editing table.
episode 2 (kya khayal hai) episode 9 (sacred science) and episode 10 ( Shillong) episode were the highlights.
episode 1 was the first experience of the concept hence memorable.
But then there were other episodes that were patchy, good example is the one with Indian ocean.
As an unabashed Indian Ocean fan, I was frankly not happy to see Indian ocean running away with show and producing the song was essentially rip off of a nirgun bhajan which can be heard on “koi sunta hai” documentary – http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2833
Ouch! That is an interesting – and damaging – observation! Thanks for dropping by, Unsui!
totally agree about the Dewarists… all the songs trickled in… and stuck… i especially like Sacred Science and Kya Khayal Hai…
Very true very true! By the way, you should listen to Zeb&Haniya’s other songs as well – Zeb has a brilliant voice!
I thought Monica’s narration had a big role in making the show classy… Kya Khayal Hai was indeed an amazing song.. the spontaneity of the show added a very honest feel to it..
I completely agree with you, Sanjay! Monica was central to the show – without it it would have been a different beast altogether.
Thanks for dropping by!
Were you me this Sunday? Exact thing happened to me except that instead of slipping back into covers i started playing with the sun rays.
Hahahaha! All hail the laziness club!
awesome post!
Danke!
I love the Dewarists music too. Its very, for a lack of better word refreshing and unpretentious. I also love the music on Coke Studio Pakistan. Have you listened to Kangna by Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad or Ae ve chori chori by Misha Shafi or Jugni by Arif Lohar and Misha Shafi?
Exactly! I haven’t heard much of Coke Studio (I manage to listen to the odd video that appears on my Facebook stream) but will look up these songs right away!
Thanks for dropping by, Sudhagee!
Aw Karthi, totally agree! In fact, for a person like me who really needs some push to ‘explore’ other music, this has been a boon! So addicted that I actually went and met Zeb and Haniya at Chennai Public School when they’d come over to Chennai!
REALLLYY!! Wowalapuzaa! What all songs did they sing?
They sang Paimona, Chup, Bibi Sanam and a couple old Bolly numbers. Sadly, Kya Khayaal hai wasn’t one of the songs. But trust me, sitting like two rows away from them in a conference room is like fuckitalltohellandback awesome! Btw, tell me you atleast went to the Music Academy to listen to ‘em..
Music Academy? I’m presuming this is in Chennai. I’m not based there
Haha alright! I thought Sherlock Holmes (ref: Who is this local tea party… ) woulda guessed that when I said ‘chennai public school’