World music is a genre that is completely filled with magical musical traditions and practices, but its perception to the Western world is genuinely absurd to me. I am an ardent champion of the genre- but even that statement itself is absurd too, don’t you think? The genre basically acts as a metaphorical black hole to too many different musical styles and subgenres, making me recoil with a bit of guilt and feelings of inappropriateness to even refer to it as that. Its one of those genres that is a genre but doesn’t necessarily feel like one. It’s like categorizing the cultures of Earth as just the culture of Earth- while nitpicking that North America and Northern Europe is a distinct culture of its own. Whatever it may be, today’s review will zoom into the vast scope of world music and focus primarily on South Asian music.
Met Avra Banerjee, a seasoned classical Indian musician with over 15 years of training. He is also a composer and sarod player, specialising in what would be considered world music. He has collaborated with musicians from all over the world, with 35 singles to his name. He has a long list of prestigious nominations and awards, such as the: InterContinental Music Awards, Global Music Awards, Clef Music Award, LIT Music Awards, Indie Music Channel Awards, OneEarth Award Festival Award, X-Pose-Ing Awards, Josie Music Awards, World Entertainment Awards, Independent Music Awards and Global Indian Music Awards in categories such as World, Fusion, and Instrumental music.
He has also founded two bands: ‘Ragamorphism’ in India and ‘SwaraSynthesis’ in Australia. His role in these bands are primarily to perform, compose and arrange music. Within his own artistry and the umbrella of World music, his involvement in various genres include Indian classical, Fusion, Rock & Pop, Ghazals as well as Sufi music. Some of his works also include vocal pieces in languages such as Hindi, Urdu, English and Bengali. His proficiency also translates to authority, being part of The Recording Academy as a voting member. He also describes music as an art form rather than mere entertainment, which drives him to create compositions that are intricate and musically challenging, yet melodious and contemplative for the listener. He frequently experiments with multimodal melodies and unconventional rhythmic patterns in his work.
In this instance, we will review his latest body of work, titled ‘Chasing the Unknown’
Upon listening to this album, you will be greeted by a very cinematic flair when it comes to exploring the world of world music. Let’s put the production and the mastering aside- the timbre of the instruments and the microtonality as well as the scales will immediately pop up to you. Instantly, I can detect an instrument that almost sounds like a santoor, combined with influences of the hijaz scale. Each track speaks out like a landscape to a different world, accented by the initiative to let each ethnic instrument shine all while making a cohesive piece of music. Even though the influences throughout the album are quite direct, I can hear a lot of interlap with other musical cultures as well, such as the folk music of Eastern Europe- a coincidental aspect that speaks to the universality of music.
Within this album there are also undertones of rock through the syncopation of the percussion, as well as some melas (systems of Indian scales) to enhance the soundscape of the album. None of the songs are ‘stereotypically’ or sticking to merely one culture per se, but rather, it forces you to think and embrace what you’re hearing itself. You are one with the instrument, or instruments, rather. I can also hear undertones of jazz, ambient and blues being the connecting factor between blending the ethnic modes and scales with Western-scale backings, in order to let the compositions flow.
There are also some exciting nuances to this album, such as the use of interesting time signatures. For once, I have never heard anyone attempt to use the Waltz time signature with an Indian and Arabic influence before. The offbeat gives these songs a unique flair that I think needs to be dwelled upon, and expanded upon for inspiration. As someone who also composes within the same framework and mindset, I do also think this album is monumental to any listener and composer. Think of the relationship between ‘The Man Machine’ and electronic music to electronic music aficionados- I think this is the world music equivalent. The quality of this body of work is so high, I have to almost equate its musical impact to that of Deep Forest’s debut album.
As a musician also trained in classical Indian music, I think Avra does a wonderful job of extending Indian influenced motifs to these songs. If you are aware, there are so many melas to the point where I have to state that a) if you think your musical scale is separate from Indian compositional scales, they probably have one for it. I know for a fact that certain Indonesian and African scales also have a mela monologue, and b) the way these notes express themselves beyond the typical tuning and mode of major and minor give it an extra flair that even I have to use within my own precompositional intents. It may sound off to the Western ear, but it gives you an extra dimension for emotion- emotions that you think do not exist, but actually exist in the space of music itself. This album is FULL of surprises like that. The notes oscillate between sa,re,ga,ma,pa,dha,ni,sa and I can definitely hear it.
It almost makes me wonder if this album was composed with a film scape or a cinematic intent itself. All of the songs have a definite classical flair to it and a very, very potent edge. It is beyond the surface level of most music that comes out these days. One of my most favourite tracks in this album is ‘Triraga Confluence’. I assume from the title that three forms of ragas are used, but there is just something about the mode of notes used and the time signature that literally made my head tingle in the form of an ASMR reaction. I also love the attention to detail with the cultural influence not only apparent in the melodic modes of these songs, but also within the percussive elements. This track definitely has the strong sense of a tabla in it, and it is played extremely competently- all with the mysticism and suaveness of jazz, shall I say.
Overall, this album truly changed my mood and my outlook on music itself. It is a very astute and musically competent album. Even if you’re familiar with the nuances of ‘world’ music, this album is different. It doesn’t present itself as merely an album that contains ethnic eccentricities. You’re living through the little accents and quirks that makes each cultural scale different from another in terms of music. You’re living through a musical story that has been delicately and ironically, intensively crafted at the same time.
A wonderful body of work.
Score/Outstanding: Avra Banerjee absolutely warps my mind with his latest release, ‘Chasing The Unknown’ with a brilliant combination of various melas, ragas and scales. The album is chock full with ethnic motifs glued together with a keen and astute eye for composition itself. This album doesn’t even play itself out like an album, instead, it is almost like an experience or entering a different dimension that forces you to think and feel all at the same time. This piece of art should not be overlooked, at all.
[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]
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