Abhishek Dasgupta
Solo albums released by band members are an interesting concept. Working in bands can be an act in restraint, there might be lot of constraints in place. Truly great bands are never one act plays, where rest of the band contribute back ground score. Solo albums give the individual artists an opportunity to follow their own creative urges and can turn out to be a very rewarding experience. For a listener it is a chance to rediscover their favorite artist’s music in a new avatar.
Shor Bazaar, the quirky rock group from Mumbai shot to nationwide fame with their single “Savita Bhabhi”. The song is a tribute to India’s favorite porn star Savita Bhabhi , a cartoon character. What a pity! In a country of one billion we don’t even have a porn star of our own. It is actually an ode of sorts to the average Indian urban male’s frustrations and desperations. It is an outright funny song which I think is a attribute of the band. The song has a very catch riff and is built around it.
This review though, is of the first solo EP released by one of the guitarists of the band, Abhishek Dasgupta.
Balram
ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – BALRAM by Abhishek_DG
The song seems to be about a staple b-grade daku movie sequence. It was a dark and stormy night, the damsel was in distress. The baddies were after her chaddie and the just before the defilement happens the hero appears. He beats up the thugs are rescues the fair maiden and saves her honor. The way Dasgupta has pieced this song together is quite brilliant. The lines are hilarious, I especially like way he has sung this line “Yeh Ghinoune Iraade bane Chinta ke Mudde “ It basically a guitar driven song and Dasgupta being a guitarist has flaunted his skills on this track. There are two guitar interludes in this 2:27 minutes long song and they are very pleasing to the ear.
Chor
ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – CHOR by Abhishek_DG
This starts with a blues-like rhythm and then shifts to create a very interesting strumming pattern. In the song you hear a frustrated soul lamenting his misfortune of having to share his dwelling with his treacherous mischievous room-mates, which is something I can totally relate to (my tongue is in cheek). Dasgupta has used sliding guitar to devastating effect in this song and when you finish listening, the sound remains in your head. I also liked the way he has sung the song, it lends it a certain lazy, bored feeling.
Chandramukhi
ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – CHANDRAMUKHI by Abhishek_DG
This stoner track is a song about a heart breaker, which some of us can relate to. This song has some very cool turns of phrase and is written in the same vein as the other two songs in the EP. What I didn’t understand was the inclusion of the bhajan “Raghupati Raghav Rajaram” in the song. It’s another matter that I really loved the way Dasgupta inserted the Vishnu Digambar Paluskar hymn into a doper song.
Even though all the songs came be slotted into comedy rock genre that shouldn’t dilute any serious effort gone into this impressive EP. It is almost composed in the form of a well-written CV and I hope it will take Dasgupta to greater heights.
You can download the songs from his facebook page or from his reverbnation page.
