Category Archives: Reviews

CD Review: ZOO (India)…making the caged primordial instinct of humanity into something beautiful

ZOOArtist: ZOO
Title: Atoms & Combinations
Label: Metal Postcard  Rec
Genre: trip hop/electronics/alternative rock

CD review by Dawoud Kringle

When one thinks of Calcutta, trip hop, electronica, and alternative rock somehow don’t spring to mind. Yet, ZOO, the Calcutta based quartet featuring Tanya Sen (vocals, live triggers), Bodhisattwa Ghosh (programming, synthesizers, guitars, vocals), Prosanto Mahato (bass), and Rohit Nandi (drums & interference) provide an intriguing example of a shattered stereotype.

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CD Review: The Bombay Royale… a musical romp through the mythology of cinema music born of the blending of eastern and western subcultures

The Bombay RoyaleArtist: The Bombay Royale
Title: The Island of Dr. Electro
Label: HopeStreet Recordings
Genre: synthesizing Indian classical and folk music with Western styles such as surf, rock and disco/soundtrack

CD Review by Dawoud Kringle

Formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2010 by musical director and saxophonist Andy Williamson, The Bombay Royale is an 11-piece Australian band fronted by singers Parvyn Kaur Singh and Shourov Bhattacharya. Taking soundtracks of 1960’s and 1970’s Bollywood movies as their main source of inspiration, their music synthesizes Indian classical and folk music with Western styles such as surf, rock and disco. In their beginning, they played covers of popular Hindi songs from the 60s and 70s. They have since composed and performed original music.

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Concert Review: X…The (Wild) Gift That Keeps On Giving

Date: Friday, August 22, 2014
Venue: City Winery (NY)

Concert Review by Joe Yanosik

Photo by Joe Yanosik

Photo by Joe Yanosik

It was a packed house on the evening of August 22 at the City Winery for the second night of legendary L.A. punk band X‘s 4-night run at the Soho establishment. Young punks, old fans and foodies all came together for wine, dinner and song. I arrived around 7:00 pm in time to have an excellent burger and a glass of Cabernet while the venue played Elvis and Carl Perkins music before the band came on stage promptly at 8:00 pm, looking very similar to how they looked (can it be) 30 years ago, with the only major differences being singer Exene Cervenka‘s added pounds and guitarist Billy Zoom‘s reading glasses (so he can see the frets on his guitar I’d imagine). But drummer DJ Bonebrake and singer-bassist John Doe looked almost indistinguishable from their heyday in the early 80s when their unique west coast hippie punk band enthralled fans and critics alike with one great album after another: their four-album run from 1980’s Los Angeles and 1981’s Wild Gift (both produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek) to 1982’s Under the Big Black Sun and 1983’s More Fun in the New World ranks up there with the other great punk album runs from the Ramones, the Clash and Sleater-Kinney.

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