A ______is a journey. It always has been. And will be.

     "It is not about the destination my friend, but about the journey"

      People love destinations. Bottom-lines, deadlines, timelines and goals. Businesses run on these factors. People, including me, run on the rat race with these end-games in mind. Everyone wants to get to the carrot and bite it off in one massive chunk, not thinking for a minute to savor the madly orange Vitamin A juices pouring out. And then, we chase after the next carrot which is even bigger and even tougher to get. Sometimes, it reminds me of that ever-so-stressed-out Italian plumber with whom you set out to save the princess. By the end of Level 4, when you beat the dragon and are happy that you are done, you realize that the princess is afar, alone and another level away, albeit tougher. Class 10, Class 12. Degree. Work. Advanced Degree. Whatever-other-carrot-exists.

      One thing that you do learn is that journeys are never-ending. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every year and the biggest daddy of them all, life, is a journey. It is easy to forget about the journey and worry about the destination too soon. And people tend to commit that sacrilege with something that I cherish in my life, music. People tend to listen to the best of albums and then crow loudly in a bar, that has to play best ofs because you, my dear friend, know not much else. Commercial music exists for the best-of-album fan and the best-of-album fan exists for commercial music.

     While I do not particularly favor the gentlemen and ladies of this particular bent-of-mind, I cannot blame them as music may not be a big part of their lives, because of a lack of time, priority, passion or commitment. What I can do however is guide people through the journey of a few songs that I listen to, and tell you the emotions that I experience with each of them, and why it is so enriching to feel those emotions as a person, and as a connoisseur (I most certainly hope) of rock music.

Song 1: Lazarus - Porcupine Tree

     Lazarus generally brings out the best in me. It's almost a fairy tale song for me, and some of my friends. It brings out bursts of joy, latent layers of hope and a voice that gushes like a river, as she brightens everyone's path. It is a song that can make anyone feel better, about themselves, about the people around them and of life. It is like oxygen, like water, it is happiness, it just is lazarus.

Song 2: Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

     Kashmir is special because it is different. Kashmir is a celebration of being different. It is the Mohawk in the boardroom, and I relate to it because I like to believe that I am different from most other people. It is a ballad of uniqueness right from it's eclectic riff to the overlaying keyboard sequence. Kashmir is also a contradiction in itself. It is a song that claims to be a place that it wasn't written about. I feel that way sometimes, being someone from somewhere at sometime where I might never have been.

Song 3: Eclipse - Pink Floyd

     Eclipse captures the irrelevance of what sometimes I consider important and brings me to see better the bigger picture.  Eclipse makes me feel small. It makes me feel inconsequential, irrelevant and ignorant in the grander scheme, the bigger picture and the answer to life and the universe. It is a  jolt back to reality, to ground zero and to get my feet back on the ground. And every once in a while, it is good to be stripped bare and laid down with no one but you to contemplate and understand each of these feelings that you feel.

So my dear best-of friend, my dear plumber and my dear rat, take some time off. Experience these emotions and learn. Feel them and express them in action, thought or word. Take some time off, listen.


Note to self: This is actually a fairly accurate note-to-self.

That hits the spot. Just about.

     Ever since I started listening to music, with my 90s Bollywood cassette collection consisting of hits like Baazigar, Dil Se and some more SRK man-love related stuff, I've always known that if I'm feeling good about myself, my taste in music elevates, or at least in my eyes, it does. Moving on over the years, it is these good phases that has helped me get where I am today musically. This correlation is one that works both ways. I am feeling good, therefore I listen to more challenging music, therefore I am feeling good.

     There was this one phase in my first year at college, when I was just experimenting with some music of the Rasmus, some good alternative rock in the form of Creed and Breaking Benjamin, and trying to understand much of Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth. Well, most of those bands lived on in my playlists over the years and although don't form part of my staple diet of music, do bring back good memories. This was a time when I was feeling good in college, working as the class representative for my class ( and actually being appreciated for it. ;) ) and let us say, attracting the attention of a good number of attractive women. This was a phase of opportunities for effecting change and for some closure, and it felt good.

      The phase that followed was quite horrible. Having a tough time in my second year in college, I sunk back into a little bit of a shell. And my comforts included a collection of Bollywood music, with cringy lyrics mind, and some very mainstream pop. This was probably the worst phase of my life musically, because that is how I felt everyday. Not wanting to get to class much, not wanting to work much and wanting to devote myself to the ever-so-engaging DOTA chestnut.

      Floyd, Zeppelin and Indie rock bands followed soon after, with my life seemingly elated. Being part of NITK Racing and Secretary in college, made me feel brilliant about life, and the phase that followed led me to experiment even more. The discovery of Mazzy Star, Joanne Jett, Deep Purple, Dave Mathews, William Fitzsimmons, John Mayer and many more occurred during this golden age for me and my music. Meeting someone special always helps as well, and I've carried on feeling better and better ever since. Honestly speaking, I've never been happier in my whole life than from that time. However, this phase stopped me from going beyond my comfort zone of harmony based music. I would love music that followed a metronomic beat, and a harmony or a tune. I blame this on a severe dearth of time to take time off for my music. Listening itself was a restricted activity accounting mainly for the walks to the Dean's office.

     A few months ago, as I stayed in my own home in Pune, introspection and curiosity, along with an abundance of time on my hands, struck, and I was very hazy about what I wanted to listen to. A couple of months of Grooveshark had not piqued my curiosity, and I needed some structure to my musical me. I was feeling a little lost with where I was amongst new people that I did not really get or understand, and probably still don't. Along came John Covach's course on the History of Rock and my music transformed over night.

Along came a phase of exploring an artist for days, sometimes months on end, listening to all of their albums in chronological order, separating the psychedelic from the A-A-B-A, and the Syd Barret era from the Dave Gilmour era. It also made me appreciate the chaos of non-harmonious music. Sometimes, a metronome is just not enough. Sometimes, you need sitars and horns, and virtuoso guitar solos, and destruction, and masks and androgeny. Sometimes, ordinary is just not good enough. I write this as I listen to Sgt Peppers, an iconic album, that I never would have appreciated if not for Covach, if not for time, if not for being alone and if not for introspection. And now, I have lined up ahead of me 10 great years of Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, David Bowie and many many more. I'm feeling great musically, and boy, that just about hits the spot.

The Legend of Elvis: Revisited

A friend of mine said that I should be writing about how Elvis became who he is today. And six weeks later, here I am writing this small piece on the bits of Elvis that I missed out on. A lot has changed over the past 6 weeks, as I listen to the music of the 60s, them legends like The Beatles, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Rolling Stones, the folksy Kingston Trio, the Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Lovin' Spoonful and the Byrds, Elvis seems a little further back musically, doesn't he?

He doesn't seem to match up musically or technically to the other bands, nor does have major concept albums based on a sexy sadie, or a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar or girls surfing on a beach. No LSD. No Acid Trip. No Avalon Ballroom. No bacon being cooked on stage. So, why does he stand so tall among his illustrious peers?

Sometimes, keeping it simple is all it takes.

When one thinks of the late 60s and the early 70s, all the psychedelia led to all kinds of rock forms appearing from Progressive Rock to Theatrical Rock. Amidst all this chaos and Alice Cooper dying every time on stage, there was an old school star singing good ol' rockabilly, rock'n'roll and gospel. And that was Elvis. Sometimes, good clean music on the ear is a source of joy that is quite underrated.

He was a machine, a hard-worker and he kept churning out album after album.

Elvis, after his successful 1968 TV appearances, went on a spree of making album after album, be it in gospel, rockabilly or country rock. He had 9 albums, including compilations and live albums between 1969 and 1975. He worked extremely hard on tour as well, taking on a ton of shows and performing live across the country. He may not have put on his best musically, or mentally, but the sheer volume of it all just begs for some respect.

Has Elvis left the building?

Elvis' death in 1977 was due to a chronic abbaration, a heart attack or more recently, a theory says chronic constipation. Other sightings say otherwise. There's also the Lloyds of London insurance conspiracy, but all in all, this conspiracy just kept the legend alive, and we've had impersonators all the around the world keeping Elvis' flame alive.

So, what of Elvis after 1968? Let's just say, he walked into the Hall of Fame, and into the hearts and souls of music lovers.

Viva, vivaaaa, Las Vegaaaaaassssssssssss..........

Some ol' fashioned Southern Comfort, y'all.

Southern Rock is quite the eclectic combination of music, isn't it? As per Wikipedia, it consists of the veritable ZZtop, Lynrd Synkrd and the Allman Brothers band. The wikipedia page also suggests that recent additions such as Kid Rock can be classified under Southern Rock. But let us take a moment to consider that Southern Rock, if analysed geographically, is the rock of the ol' fashioned south, mainly influenced by the country (South-East) and Western (South-West and California) styles of music. This old hillbilly style soon moved towards rock'n'roll, and then followed the trend followed by electric blues. So, to put it simply, Southern Rock, is rock'n'roll, country and western, mixed with blues and topped with some electric guitars.
But enough about that kind of Southern Rock, shall we? Let's get into the kind that's really interesting.

There are institutions, and then there are institutions. I like institutions, especially the kind that are old, and have something old school about them. You can see that straight through in my choice of football club, favourite cricket bowler and favourite football player. And the most respectable amongst many institutions dedicated to the listening of rock'n'roll music and drenching our ever-parched throats with nectar is Hard Rock Cafe. I like Hard Rock Cafe. No, actually, I love Hard Rock Cafe. I love the lighting, the decor, the all-American feeling of the place, the mustard and yes, the music. Every Hard Rock that I have been to has been good, if not brilliant. My most recent visit to an HRC was in Pune, and it brought back memories, not just because I met Siva and Anees, but I met with another old friend who shares his name with the respectable rock music that we talked about earlier.

It all started at a place as far away from warm Southern comfort as one could think of, in the USA at least, it all started at Niagara Falls, NY. The motley crew of NITK Racing were vacationing after FSAE Michigan and we reached the Hard Rock Cafe there, after a cold blustery day under the short and squat Niagara. The warmth in the cafe was a relief, and as we pursued the menu with vigor, I didn't know what to choose and I asked the waiter to recommend something delectable for me. And that was for the first time that I met my old friend. He had a hard and rough upbringing, but he had been coated by layers of education and sophistication, a touch of humor and some dry wit. You know his name, but his description reads, Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort, black raspberry liqueur and ABSOLUT Vodka, mixed with sweet & sour and topped with lemon-lime soda. My old friend was a keeper (literally ;) ) and I cherished every moment that I had with him though it was too fleeting, and much much too early that we retired for the night. I did not meet him for a year.

The next time that I met him was at a more exotic locale, if ever Eastern Europe can ever claim to be exotic. In the wide and crowded streets of the Pest half of Budapest, I was there with the next generation of FSAE. And we met again, my old friend and I. The best part of an hour and a half I spent with him, was something else altogether. I thought as I drank the last sip that this might be the end for a while, as I was soon going to be out of college and out of the FSAE team that travels every year. I sighed, and gulped him down, all the while thinking of Jim Morrisson crooning, "This is the end, my friend, the end!".

Fast forward six months and I found myself in an HRC in Hyderabad, chilling with an altogether new crowd. Tom Petty was singin' Free Fallin' in the background while I hunted the menu with a vigor for my old friend, but alas, I was struck by a thunder-thriker-bastard. He was not there, he had disappeared, he was gone forever. And I had to make new friends. Despite my bloated Facebook friends' list, I don't like meeting new people that much anymore, at least people who don't get it. And this new friend didn't get it. I made do with what I had, and left, thinking of that Doors' song, rueing that I didn't get to say a better goodbye...

So, fast forward another 6 months, and I find myself in another HRC, in my adopted (cringe) city of Pune. I walk in and am surprised to get a pleasant reception. And as I pursue my menu again..., and as I pursue the menu again, he's not there. My old friend seems to have left me for the gorgeous Hungarian women and the ridiculously cheap JD at Pest. But I take a deep breath, a leap of faith and I ask the enthusiastic bartender, "Do you have a Southern Rock?".... "Jack Daniels...". He smiles and says "ABSOLUT Vodka and ....". My heart beats faster, my world grows a little brighter and all seems better. I say, yes, yes, you fool, make me one, pronto. And as I wait feverishly for the next two minutes, he pops it in my hand. I say hello to my ol' friend. He smiles back, a gruff smile, reflecting thoughts and memories untold. Though I am dying to take that first sip, I offer it to another old friend that I met by chance that night. Siva takes his sip and the memories take hold of him. I sip that first sip of holy nectar and it feels blissful, it feels like nirvana, it feels like a thunder-thriker-bastard. I tell the bartender, it's perfect. My friends acknowledge gruffly in approval.

This is the end, my friend, the end....

The Emperor's New Clothes

It has been a while since I wrote anything on this piece of useless clutter on the internet, but here I am, typically, at 1 am in the morning trying to conjure up something worthwhile to read, like, retweet, pin, you get my drift. As many of you already know, I'm trying to educate myself on the dying art of rock 'n' roll, not by going out there and getting a guitar, but by taking this edgy course on coursera called the History of Rock- Part I.

It has been about four weeks since the course began and we have traversed through the roaring twenties, the mildly depressing thirties and the war-struck forties. We have spoken about the three broad genres of music; Pop, R & B and Country and Western, and about how Bing Crosby became America's favorite uncle. We also heard about Frank Sinatra's crooning excited the girls of the 40s, so much so, that they went from muttering a barely comprehensible "Oh Golly!" to shriek at his very presence. a trend that hasn't stopped since. But that flutter in their hearts would be barely a missed beat compared to what was to follow in the next decade.

The New Clothes first, shall we?

Elvis came. He saw. He didn't like it and did everything his own way, paving the way for the mainstreaming of rock 'n' roll (in a good way). I'm not going to give you a history of Elvis Presley ( Born in Tupelo, moved to Memphis, signed with Sun, and then signed by Col. Tom Parker for RCA) but to give you an idea of why he is hailed as one of the best in the world. 

Now, when we think of Elvis, what's the first image that pops up in our head?

This. 

Or this. 

The massive sideburns, the oh-so-garish-but-only-Elvis-can-pull-it-off costume on stage and the crooning of clean pop music by a nearly middle-aged man, who sometimes slurs his way through songs, and has to carry a .45 on stage to protect himself from any over-enthusiastic fans. This Elvis, though widely popular and a commercial dream, was not even a patch on the Elvis of the late 50s and the late 60s (The comeback special). Why do I feel that way? Multiple Reasons:

The King

1. That's all Right (Mama): Elvis announced himself to the world with this nifty little single covering Crudup ( as was the convention then, with the song being more important than the artist). You can hear him here in the Lousiana Hayride (with the screaming girls in the background and notice - near-nothing-sideburns), a popular country and western radio show.

Immediately noticable is the quality of his voice and also, it's depth. We hear him and say, this guy is not going to be some mainstream pop crooner, he's different. (Listen to Bing Crosby or Sinatra- they are generally more melodious and sing safe songs with sappy lyrics)

2. His live uncensored brilliance (till it was uncensored anyhow):

Elvis in the 1950s was Elvis uncut, unmoulded and un-mainstreamed and commercialized. He was playing because he loved to play and sing the music that he sung. Tom Parker was raking in the money without thinking beyond TV and Elvis was on the rise. His live performances on TV were considered evil, grotesque and even devil's music by some parents, but the kids loved it, and the kid-in-me does too. His performances were raw and full of energy and reflected a new rise in youth power and the teenage movement in America. 

Heartbreak Hotel on the Milton Berle Show with gyrations that were deemed inappropriate for the 50s. ;)

And Hound Dog on the same show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJnVQDA9rHA

The hilarious bit is that he's shafted into the comedy section.

The most ridiculous performance of his career. ;)

3. The Comeback Special (1968): Elvis went off to fight in the war between 58-60 and then was forced to act in a bunch of sappy movies between 1960-67. Consider this the Yeh-Jawaani-yeh-diwaani moments of his career. Cringe. 

But then he came back in 68 to sing in a bunch of live performances to a small audience where he felt relaxed, and we finally experienced Elvis at his absolute, magical and enchanting best. 

In this whole section, we see Elvis play like a footballer in his peak years, playing for fun and the joy of playing. This is probably the last time that we see Elvis at his best. Soon after this, he was commercialized and started singing clean pop, broke his marriage and died due to overdosing on medication.

But let us take a moment to the rock 'n' roll phenomenon that was Elvis. I would see it this way. Today, we enjoy the brilliance of Pink Floyd, the eclectic magnificence of Led Zeppelin, the magic of the Beatles and are more than satisfied by The Rolling Stones, but all these bands would probably have never been as popular and some might never even have seen the light of day in popular American music, but for Elvis. Elvis came over in 1954, rocked the world, changed the perception of rock 'n' roll to something that was more a revolution than a fad, and took it all the way, not to the next level, but to an almost iconic status in American history. He became the face of America to the world as a pop star but his roots were deeper and ingrained in R & B and Country, the thankfully-not-so-forgotten brothers of mainstream pop. 

So, to Elvis Presley, the King, a moment or a few. 

And to my favorite performance.