Sony Project Resound Season 2. A review.

When it comes to marketing strategy Sony’s Project Resound is very straight forward. What is the best way to market your new headphones? Make some music which will help the listeners experience the superior quality of the head phones. And thats what Sony set out to do. Actually they had tried doing this earlier with Shreya Goshal and Kailash Kher. This time around they decided to tap into the Indie music scene in the country. The result was four really cool tracks featuring some of the coolest musicians in the country at the moment. Sony send us a pair of awesome MDRZX750BN headphones to so that we know what they mean when they say “purity of sound“. The songs below are reviewed using these headphones.

Nucleya and Benny Dayal channels music from various cultures to create this very unique track. The fact that  the fusion of (what I think is) Nadaswaram with Reggaeton beats works wonders in this track is testimony to the fact that language of beats cuts across different cultures. Our bodies respond to rhythm no matter wherever it’s provenance is. Tamil street music culture is one of a kind, dance is integral to this sort of music. People of Tamil Nadu dance with the slightest of provocation, they even dance when someone dies, which is probably the best way to deal with grief. This song derives its core from this culture, the lyrics come from there, the main melody as well.

This song is from Karsh Kale featuring Ankita Joshi and the Sarangi player Sabir. Incidentally Sabir is the son of the great Sultan Khan. Set in Raag Shivaranjini the alaap and the Sarangi together form the core of the song. And if I am right, Shivaranjini being a night raag gives the song a very eerie feel. Karsh Kale’s signature break beats infused Tabla rhythm gives the song an urbane feel. The lovely understated guitar licks brings richness to the whole arrangement. But it is the clinging of those bells which appear like ripples on a pond  I loved the most. This being such a layered track demands a lot from the listening equipment to appreciate it fully, thanks to Sony I had the right accessory.

The song is built around a song Kutle Khan brought to the table, with the  Midival Punditz providing the platform Kutle Khan steals the show. When he sings I am sure you won’t notice anything else such is the power of his voice. The Punditz knows this and builds the song around him.

This song is testimony to the fact that why Pentagram is such a class act. Also tells us that it’s high time Pentagram release a new album.
Randolph Correa does an amazing job in composing and arranging this song.  Extremely catchy, the first time you listen the main refrain it  gets stuck in your head.  The song might sound very simplistic first time, but it’s during the subsequent listens that you start appreciating the nuances. This song belongs to the Electro-Rock genre popularized by Pentagram in India. And in that way connects with all the other songs released by Sony as part of Project Resound. But if you ask me I will file it close to Kasabian etc.

I have only one more thing to say. Sony, give us more!