Archive for June, 2012

Sirphire is set to premier in cinemas on the 13th of July 2012 and will feature a fair mixture of new and more experienced actors on its bill. One name who will perform the now common role that exists within Panjabi cinema of taking a main acting role as well as vocalling on the OST is the Heart Hacker Roshan Prince. Singing thoughout the album, Roshan delivered a real sweet, catchy number in Look Lak which features him returning to his typical story telling mode and is definitely one of our favourites from the OST. The melody feels common almost like you’ve heard it before but the smooth beat production compliments the acoustic guitar chords filtered throughout the whole track so well that it’s pretty hard to keep this one off repeat even it does include a slight element of cheese and some very interesting high pitched backing vocals. To better that, an unplugged version of the track is also featured on the album which is equally as good if not edging slightly better! Take a listen below of the unplugged gem.

The album also features vocals from Master Saleem, Preet Harpal and Lehmber Hussainpuri and has been musically directed by Jatinder Shah.

Beware, Haneri (Storm) is set to cause widespread chaos and leave a path of destruction in its wake!

An ominous rumble in the air lingers as swirling winds charge forth and a volatile surge in pressure closes in… A STORM of unparalleled magnitude is brewing! Prepare for your senses to be engulfed by the colossal vocal chords of one Avtar Maniac; the raw, undiluted force behind Folk You and 2 Extreme. Following a uncharacteristic quiet spell on the sidelines apart from a brief yet significant appearance on Popsy’s Hyper (Khanda (Punjabi Di Pehchaan) and Nach Bhabiye Ni), the mercurial folk specialist has called upon illustrious producer and modern-age musical marvel Ravi Bal to provide the canvas for Haneri – a 4-track EP releasing via Moviebox that ought to come with a safety disclaimer such is the intensity of the sounds unleashed by the duo!

Holding nothing in reserve, Dhann Kaur (Ravi Bal Mix) is a signal of intent, a white-knuckle adrenaline rush that is set on its way in smouldering fashion by mighty Maniac over an equally forceful and unrestrained backing courtesy of Ravi Bal that is full of bold, sweeping percussion and extravagant sarangi pieces. The explosive vocals alongside an animated and compelling composition prove an overwhelming blend that builds up to a crescendo for Maniac to wax lyrical about the eye of the storm, the dominant Dhan Kaur herself!

Producer Ravi Bal opts to stay in the folk fast-lane with Aaja Makhana and Maniac is all too happy to oblige as his razor-sharp vocals gel in fine style on this signature offering from RBP. Keen to show that he can adapt to different musical styles, Avtar Maniac takes to the less conventional, more contemporary Pashaan Mitro with similar gusto and effortlessly negotiates the engaging rhythm inextricably crafted by Bal.

The singer further brings his folk A-game to Anakhi Punjabi and demonstrates his astonishing range, clarity and natural vocal ferocity on this hearty number. With the tempo cranked up a notch, Ravi Bal maintains an all-important bite to the percussion and produces a masterclass on keys on this pride-fuelled track which Maniac thrives upon.

The Maniac-RBP powerhouse ensures there is no let-up throughout proceedings. Beware, Haneri (Storm) is set to cause widespread chaos and leave a path of destruction in its wake!

Watch Dhann Kaur wreak havoc upon the masses as director Parmod Sharma Rana applies his touch on the visuals for the blistering Dhann Kaur (Ravi Bal Mix).

Haneri (Storm) will be available to purchase digitally on iTunes and on CD from your local Asian music store from 28th June 2012.

Released under RealTone Records, Banger follows up his debut single (Soorma) with his second offering which comes in the form of a duet with the lively female vocalist Jaswinder Jassi. With production by Suki Chand, Patandra is an upbeat fiery number which adds a little modern production feel to the typical folk duet which used few instruments and generally recorded in one take. Reworking sections taken from Chamkila tracks, Chand produces quite a catchy number that appears to be going fairly viral and deservedly so. Click below to purchase the track from iTunes.

Remiss of us not to show such an amazing impassioned singer sooner but it would take something special for us to keep you away from Sid Sriram. Hailing from the United States, Sid has something raw and delivers a tone that emanates pure unadulterated soul. Spread throughout the world of YouTube, his covers have been delighting us for some months now and with his newest offering which is free to download from SidSriram.com, Conscious Mind (Live Sessions) is deserved of time from a true soul appreciator.

This session track Talk To Me was our pick of the bunch from the whole recording, check out the others at his YouTube channel here.

RDB Remember Brother Kuly With Special Memorial Song: Yaadan – RDB feat. Harjog Singh.

In a final poignant farewell to their beloved brother Kuly, who passed away on the 22nd of May 2012 from a brain tumour, his family and record label Three Records will release a special song and memorial video to remember the international musician.

The song, entitled ‘Yaadan’ (Memories) has been written by Kuly’s father Harjog Singh and sung by Kuly’s brothers Manj and Surj along with a verse sung by their father. The music and production of the track was composed by Kuly last year.

In a further tribute to international producer Kuly, Urban Bhangra songstress Nindy Kaur will release a track featuring Kuly’s vocal and a hook line produced for her by Kuly before he passed away.

Speaking about the recording of the emotional song ‘Yaadan’, Manj said: “This song was the hardest one we have ever had to sing, and was very emotional for us all. Dad would tear at every line he would sing. This song is from the heart and we hope the world appreciates it.”

As a lasting legacy to Kuly, his family and friends have set up a ‘Just Giving’ Memorial Page, so that those who wish to can visit the page and pledge what they can to BrainTumour UK, which works tirelessly to fund research and raise awareness of brain cancer (http://www.justgiving.com/Kulyrdb).

Click here to download Yaadan.

The international music fraternity has faced a saddening loss with Kuly of music band RDB, passing away on 22nd May 2012 in Houston, Texas, USA. The popular music group member sadly lost his battle with cancer at the young age of 35 years old.

Kuly was diagnosed with a brain tumour in April 2011 and underwent radio and chemotherapy. He was receiving treatment at a specialised clinic in Houston at the time of his death.

Kuly was an intrinsic part of RDB, a leading international music group, famed for their contribution to globalising Bhangra and Indian music. His legacy will remain with RDB and their super-hit tracks such as Aaja Mahi, Singh is Kinng, Aloo Chaat and Shera di Kaum.

Today, 5 June marks the birthday of Kuldeep Singh Ral, one third of the imperious musical outfit RDB. Kuly was the catalyst, the all-important spark and very much the driving force behind the group’s burst into the public’s consciousness. Their breakthrough was spectacular; their image and branding a rank improvement on virtually everyone else at the time of their debut and in one fell swoop took the scene by storm.

This was a cohesive, eyes-on-the-prize unit that made accessible music which certainly hooked us in from the get-go with their flair for producing anthems that combined inspired sampling, plenty of speaker-shaking bass allied with desi rhythms. They had the exceptional capacity and musical nous to switch from a blistering garage or drum & bass beat to a hardcore desi smothering at a drop of a dime, such was their comfort and creativity across genres to formulate the RDB sound which we grew to love.

Once they had Bhangra conquered here in the UK, Kuly sought to take the RDB show worldwide and so off they headed into the Bollywood razzle-dazzle. Sure some observers may argue that the band appeared to neglect the UK Bhangra scene but they took several artists under their wing and to this day continue to contribute towards the songs we play over and over again on our iPods. Even the sceptics cannot knock them for their confidence in treading new waters and indeed making a good fist of it with a string of hits under their belt and many more we suspect in the pipeline.

Like others have mentioned, our fondness of Kuly goes way back to the advent of the RDBtv video blog that was the brainchild of and presented by Kuly himself. This was groundbreaking content for the mainstream let alone the Asian scene and he was the life of the online party as it were. We would eagerly anticipate each new episode like nothing before as we knew Kuly would have something entertaining up his sleeve to reward our patience.

Such a sincere, remarkably hard-working and all-around good guy has left us far too early but we will never forget the name he forged with so much dedication and continue to appreciate the amazing musical memories.

As a tribute to the pioneering man himself, T-Minus’ very own @HarkBhambra has put together an 80 minute mixtape that celebrates the work of RDB and particularly their early years wreaking havoc on the UK Asian market. RIP Kuly.

The freedom on this blog sometimes allow us to step away from the norm of showcasing music that already has PR backing and highlight some music which wouldn’t typically get pushed forward.

What caught our eye on this cover was the beauty that exists within Jonita’s vocals. Complimenting with some powering dholak, sweet flute pieces and keys provided by Aakash Gandhi, the cover contains some small imperfections like sound mixing and timing issues but we still felt that this was still worthy of highlighting and deserved of a little forefront exposure.

If you like this cover, check out their YouTube channel which contains some really ear opening covers, well worth a browsing.

Falling off one of the most exceptional albums of 2012 Headliner 2, Teri Jugni is the one of the pinnacle tracks off of the CD. With Babu Singh Maan penning hard hitting, effective lyrics and Ravi Bal providing the catalyst with deep and almost hypnotising electric production, Surjit Khan delivers what we described in our review of the album as vocal fireworks. Explosive, rampant and eruptive.

Tasked with providing the visuals was the popular Sandeep Sharma who delivered some really eye-opening and picturesque frames but were overshadowed by some moments of over-production accompanied with a few ‘cheesy moment’s which seems to be concurrent within his work. That aside, the story within the video is visually descriptive and depicts the nature of the song pretty well.

If you have yet to purchase this album, we strongly recommend you to do so by clicking the iTunes link below.