Now and Then.

Who the...?

Harendra Kapur.
Kyra Mathews.
Tejas Menon.

HRM

Friday, May 29, 2009


I have been living a different kind of life from last week onwards. I recently joined a radio station in Pune to do an internship, and it has overwhelmed me to say the least. Late nights, Page 3 type parties and a whole lot of experimentation with alcohol. But the main issue I have been facing is that after all these late nights, everyone still has to come back to work the next morning and continue as if nothing has happened. Now don't get me wrong I love my job, and it has been a complete revelation for me to understand how radio stations operate, but lets face it- its damn freaking hard to come to work and just work, when your hungover. I hope everyone doesn't think that I've become a thriving alcoholic, thats really not the case but rarely when I do indulge and I'll admit to it becoming a little more often than I initially thought it would be, its hard to get through the next morning.

I remember changing into my clothes, taking a shower and then catching a rick to work, all the while listening to music on my shuffle. As I kept changing song after song, it would keep going through KT Tunstall (nothing against her, I love her to death and beyond) Joss Stone, and John Mayer, who were all relatively mellow and subdued artists and with a bad headache I kept thinking "Man, where the f*ck is the heavy shit?!' I realized I didn't have much of what would and should be an integral part of any drinker's life: Hangover Remedial Music. (Note: how awesome is that its also Human Resources Management?)

That first morning was hard to get through. I needed the music to accesorize and accentuate. I needed to drown the headache is something loud. Now to each his own and HRM can be different for every individual, but for me I realized I had to go back to a band I had not listened to in a long time. They would proceed to become a part of my every morning since and are so damn awesome that its nothing less than a shame that they broke up.

"In with the early dawn / Moving right along / I couldn't buy an eye of sleep
And in the aching night / Under satellite / I was not recieved
With the stolen parts / A telephone in my heart / Someone get me a priest
To put my mind to bed / This ringing in my head
Is this a cure is or is this a disease?

Nail in my hand / From my creator
You gave me life now, Show me how to live!"


- Show Me How to Live, Audioslave

I swear for me personally, there has never been a band more fitting for my state of mind than Audioslave. The perfect combination of screaming screaching vocals by Chris Cornell mixed with the bass-heavy riffs of Tom Morello, to the endless pounding of drums crashing away. I grit my teeth and and bury myself in the sounds of pure hard rock. That's all.

And so the morning becomes bearable.

P.S.
Deccan Won, Man U lost, Baichung Won(!)...how sweet it is...and wait for it...Watchmen released in Pune TODAY. Still gonna see it again.

21st Century Broken down...

Thursday, May 28, 2009


Ello All
Before I get into this I must confess I've never done a music album review before.
When I showed up at my Grandparents and discovered WiFi I couldn't resist the urge to download and review the two hottest albums of the year. First one being Eminem's Relapse (it's coming along...) and the second being Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown.
Now if you read and believe most of the reviews out there, you'd probably imagine this is the defining album of the decade.
Honestly, I don't know about that. Radiohead have had a couple of albums and so many other really awesome albums have popped up as well so it's very hard to say. What I will say though, is that this is definitely one of the best albums of the last FEW decades.
Now for those of you who are expecting a typically punk rock approach to the album you're going to be disappointed. Not only is this the highest production value of any Green Day work, it's also the furthest they've ever gone from their punk roots.
Now before we have a needless debate let me elucidate that when I say Punk I mean type of music, not type of attitude. The fact is, with the lyrics and melodies these three have busted out, the album is likely to have a greater impact politically than almost any other punk album.
The songs this time are anthemic. As in bust-a-gut-rock-the-shit-out-of-wembley, arena rock. It is hard, it is edgy, and in the case of 21 guns and Last night on Earth, very moving.
The title track is the closest the band'll get to a Bohemian Rhapsody in terms of form and while it is a bit too preachy for my taste there's no denying it's awesome. Along with it, Christian Inferno and Viva La Gloria are the kind of songs you'd kill to see live. But without any doubt, for me atleast, the intensity and energy of this album can be summed up in East Jesus Nowhere (Ironically, it's the first time I even noticed Dernt on the album...hint hint).
Lyrically, Billy Joe's at his 'fuck authority' best and despite slight hypocrisies the band have most certainly drawn a line in the sand in terms of where they stand on what.
The fun mockery of American Idiot is 5 years gone and with this album they've replaced it with a gritty, far more serious attitude not too different from U2. Let's just hope that like U2 this doesn't signal any decline.
It's preachy at times and that does grind a bit, but for the most part I have to admit this is easily one of the best albums I've ever heard. Not only does it have a purpose, some of the tracks are just fucking awesome.
Recommended:
East Jesus Nowhere
21 Guns
21st Century Breakdown
Overall: 9/10

Paper to Celluloid

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Ive always been a reader first, a movie watcher second. Thus, watching a movie that has derived life from a book can sometimes be painful, often heart-wrenching. Many good books are massacred to make a good movie, descriptions and characters faded in the process of making the film a worthwhile one. On the other hand, many a character have been brought to life by celluloid in a way that paper never did justice to. The following is a list of the good and the ugly of paper becoming celluloid.

The Good:
1) The Godfather. The book was good, the movie was a classic. Marlon Brando gave life to Don Corleone in a way the book never fully did justice to. The book didn’t reek of power and vengeance the way the movie did. Brando was a true God.
2) Gone with the Wind. I had the good fortune of this being the first love story I ever read. As a result, all the men in my life are measured by Rhett Butler, i.e Clark Gable who spent years mastering the sneer that MADE him Rhett Butler. In Vivien Leigh, it was like Scarlett O’ Hara had stepped out of the pages of the book to act in the movie. The book was brilliant and the movie was a tribute to its brilliance. God help anyone who decides to remake it. There was only one Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in this lifetime, and Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were them. There is something very grammatically wrong with the previous sentence.
3) The Harry Potter Series. Books were awesome, movies are good. No, seriously. The special effects in the movies are a tribute to J.K Rowling’s imagination. There are times when I wonder about the casting, but to each his own. To some people, Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter, to others he’s very…”I don’t know…” Overall however, I think Transfiguration, Quidditch, Hagrid, and everything to do with wands, more than make up for the films shortcomings.
4) Bridget Jones’ Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Bridget Jones is one of my favourite characters in literary fiction and Renee Zellweger. The otherwise svelte actress, made herself put on pounds of weight, perfected her accent and her walk to become the life, soul and chocolate and cigarette consuming Bridget Jones. She is Bridget Jones in all her voluptuous flesh.

The Ugly:
1) Little Women. Oh My Good Lord. I have the misfortune of having this movie on tape. It was a 12th birthday present and it was so bad I cried. The book is one of the most beautiful examples of literature on the planet and Louisa May Alcott must have turned in her grave at Winona freaking Ryder playing Jo March, the girl whose only real beauty was her hair. Jo March is not physically attractive in any way. She’s downright plain. She’s got a temper, a personality, a talent. Looks, she does not have. Why would a pretty woman be cast as Jo March, the principal character of the book? The book REVOLVES around Jo March. Did the makers of this movie never READ the book?
2) Chocolat. This book should never have been made into a movie. The mesmerizing magical descriptions of chocolate that Joanne Harris weaved so beautifully into words didn’t show up on screen. With the book, the story took you places, with the movie, it just stayed flat. Disappointing. Also, a waste of Johnny Depp’s awesomeness.
3) Pride & Prejudice. With Lizzie Bennet posing the same casting problems as Jo March (interesting, intelligent, but not in-your-face attractive), Keira Knightley was a very okay choice. Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy was also a very okay choice. But. Aha, if youre smart, you knew that was coming. Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennet are two of the greatest, most enigmatic characters in English Literature. Okay doesnt do them justice.
4) The Da Vinci Code. Awesome book. Very average movie. Yes, that’s it.

The Opposite Effect: Movies so beautiful, I have to read the books.

1) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2) A Beautiful Mind
3) The Horse Whisperer
4) Forrest Gump
5) Horton hears a Who
6) Fast Times at Ridgemont High

The All of us.

The All of us.