Comments on: South Asian Classical Music

South Asian Classical Music

ferdydurke — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:42:42 -0800

Bonus youtube videos of Ashwini Bhide Deshpande , an extraordinary North Indian classical vocalist. Finally, one of the most ancient styles, dhrupad, by Ustad Wassifuddin Dagar

By: alexwoods

alexwoods — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:48:05 -0800

Bismillah Khan! Thank you so much. I haven't listened to this stuff in years.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:04:37 -0800

Wow neat. Can anyone who knows more about this stuff than I do [my knowledge is limited to "I like raga when I hear it and some people have sent me some stuff before..."] make suggestions as to what's good to start with.

By: digaman

digaman — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:29:11 -0800

I love the Dagar brothers -- primordial blues from the dawn of the world. If you dig classical Indian vocals, also check out this newly-unearthed astonishing recording by Pandit Pran Nath, teacher of composer/minimalist pioneer Terry Riley and trumpeter/ambient pioneer Jon Hassell. Both men launched entire genres in their own way (Hassell appears on many recordings by Eno and Talking Heads), but hearing Pran Nath's voice is an incredible experience. It's much more "modern" sounding than the Dagars, in a way that approaches jazz, but it's still ancient music. Thanks for this link.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:03:21 -0800

this is good

By: ferdydurke

ferdydurke — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:31:14 -0800

Jessamyn: If I had only a couple of hours to listen, and wanted to get a "feel" for the variety of Indian classical music, I'd do the following: Raga: Listen to the samples under Malkauns (they aren't full compositions, but really nice nevertheless), which is a raga with a nice "bluesy" feel to it. The approaches are very different. Pick at random a longer piece (45 minutes to an hour or more) because those are true improvisatory compositions, rather than samples. It's like a long drive through beautiful scenery, except you imperceptibly speed up each minute until you are speeding through a blur of green. There's remarkably little mediocre material in this archive, and I've listened to a bunch here. And finally, listen to Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, because she rocks the mic so hard. Of course, there's lifetimes worth of learning one could do to "understand" this music, but I don't think any of it is necessary to love it. Thanks for the recommendation, Digaman!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:23:56 -0800

Big thanks, ferdydurke! This great. jessamyn writes: Can anyone who knows more about this stuff than I do [my knowledge is limited to "I like raga when I hear it and some people have sent me some stuff before..."] make suggestions as to what's good to start with. I'm pretty partial to Carnatic vocal music myself, and here's a post (in case you missed it) I made a little while back featuring some great artists.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:35:39 -0800

Earlier. Sorta.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:13:15 -0800

Very nice, and quite cool. As an aside, I'm surprised to find an entrenched bias - I automatically think "European composers" when I hear the words, "classical music." Odd, and not a pleasant surprise.