February 2009 - Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) - Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ)

This Is *Finally* It at Jakarta Java Jazz 09

Amit Heri, Jazz Yuppies Double Bill, kannada, kickbackistan, YouTube | February 28, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

Only Bijoy Venugopal, our tireless penman, could put it better:

“And finally, the news that makes all other news pale in contrast. The curtains – which have been playing peek-a-boo with you for well over a year – are up on This Is It.

Dear TAAQ fanatic, we are pleased to inform you of the official launch of the one-of-a-kind superalbum (that Rolling Stone India placed at #5 even though it hasn’t yet been actually released). This Is It, the elusive-on-CD fourth album that you have been previewing and pre-hearing and being pre-promised like never before until you very nearly, or quite completely in some cases, pre-gave up on us, will be released at Jakarta Java Jazz 09.

Be there if you can – there’s nothing we’d love like a home crowd. Or, if you can’t, you can come to the airport with garlands when we return. Vayu Vajra tickets are on us! ”

So, people, we hope you’ll be rooting for us. Of course, you’ll get to buy the CDs too. Get them at CDBaby.com (if you are outside India) and on MusicYogi.com (in India).

And there’s more big news coming… so stay tuned!
TAAQ off to Jakarta for Java Jazz ’09

kannada, kick out corruption, Kirtana Kumar, valentine's day, world music day | February 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

It’s all happening, folks.

Yes, we’ve been invited to play at the Java Jazz Festival ’09, Jakarta’s prestigious international Jazz festival. Also on the bill, as you’ll see when you click on that link, are folks like Dave Weckl, Simon Phillips, Jason Mraz, Harvey Mason, Mike Stern, Prasanna, Brian McKnight, Dianne Reeves, and oh, did we mention, Thermal And A Quarter!

We will play pre-festival gigs on March 4 and 5 at the Sultan Hotel, Jakarta. Here, we will be joined by special guest Prasanna. Our festival appearance is on March 6, where renowned jazz guitar virtuoso Vinny Valentino will appear as a special guest on TAAQ material.

Enough name dropping… but we’re quite delirious about it all you see! Us apart, there is, of course, significant representation in terms of fusion and crossover styles – there’s Moon Arra (with Jagadeesh, Prakash Sontakke, Karthik Mani and others from good ole Bangalore). Prakash Sontakke, heard so wonderfully on Plan B’s ‘Dead Inside’ on Hindustani vocal and slide guitar, will join us on stage for a few tracks.
Urulunna Kallugal*

Guns N' Roses, jaagore, live jazz, mallu, maoists, martin d'souza, music journalism, Music Strip, ndtv 24x7, pink floyd, Ravi Kulur | February 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

*For what the intriguing title means (in Mallu), read on…

If Led Zep was a Hindi rock band, and “Chandrande irritu bhagam” was that great Floyd album and “Sakkaray magu nanna” or something like that, was the biggest Tamil/Kannada hit by Guns n Roses, if only it had happened like that, it would have helped me learn all our beautiful languages so much more easily. It’s difficult for me to catch up now… at this ripe age. I repent bunking all those tuition classes for 2nd 3rd and 4th language in school. I’m part of a pathetic hopeless minority, and it’s lonely here. Obviously, you must have figured by now, i bunked most English classes also

So that’s no Eng, no Mallu, no Hindi, no Kannada, no French..wow (and when it comes to math and physics and chem… just forget it boss..it’s a hopeless scene).

Some people say we ape the west…Bijoy says we are the apes here.. and that mixed with being a hard core Nirvana fan makes it the full circle of life, evolution existence, sociopsycho whatever etc.

Speaking of Nirvana, that reminds me of what happened at a tribute concert in Kozhikode (Calicut) Kerala, when Kurt Kobain died. Why a tribute gig happened in Kozhikode??? I don’t know, blame it on Vasco da Gama.

Anyways, some Calicut buddies (the drugstore cowboys) who were devastated at Kurt’s death got plastered, and were screaming out all the lyrics of Nirvana songs…and that’s when the cops landed up.

And the mallu cops pull up the boys and ask them whats happening?

So my friends replied “Kurt marichu saaray, Kurt marichu sniff sniff”

Cop is very surprised and replies – “endhu keatu marichu???”

hehehe…sorry that was a bad private mallu joke

But i guess in the end its all about how you mean things and not about how its said … remember that Moody Blues song that went…

“Its not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
Its more the way you really mean it
When you tell me what will be.”

Spot quiz – name the song.

So I guess, in a sense, if the heart is in the right place then language skills are not that critical

In any case I would like to catch up with the Indian vernacular rock and I hope in a few years we will see the Delhi release of Patthar Gully Akhbaar (Rock Street Journal) and Urulunna kallu (rolling stone) for our beloved Keralites.

Had a quick beer with a good friend of TAAQ + eminent journo (not a paper puli, she). She interviewed Mick Jagger once and asked him a pretty pertinent question… why they sang ‘Satisfaction’ in such an American accent. “i Cain’t get no saaatisfaaaction” as opposed to “i Kaant get no satisfaction”. For that matter even the sentence construction is completely non British. In propah English it should have been “I cant get ANY satisfaction”…. ‘i cant get NO satisfaction’ is so wrong.

Obviously, even Jagger was aping someone from further west.

I think there’s no education like rock education – we don’t need no education.

Or to put it in correct English – we don’t need “any” education period (meaning bunk all classes)

Cheers,

Rajeev

PS:

Here’s my favorite Nirvana lyric. The way he meant it can never be translated. Listening to it right now … long live Kurt

Dumb

I’m not like them
But I can pretend
The sun is gone
But I have a light
The day is done
But I’m having fun
I think I’m dumb
Or maybe just happy

Think I’m just happy [repeat 3x]

My heart is broke
But I have some glue
Help me inhale
And mend it with you
Well float around
And hang out on clouds
Then well come down
And I have a hangover

Have a hangover [repeat 3x]

Skin the sun
Fall asleep
Wish away
The soul is cheap
Lesson learned
Wish me luck
Soothe the burn
Wake me up

[repeat first verse and chorus]

I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
I think I’m dumb
Buying a New Axe…

chennai, Highland Nectar | February 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

Got this for the Dr. recently:

“Hey, I saw you guys at mood indigo 07 and it was an awesome experience!had..ahem..never heard of you till then but since , ive bin going TAAAAAQ TAAAQ TAAAAAAQ to all my friends. Anyhoo, the diddly-o is this..im going to (finally) learn how to play the guitar. I think i`m committed enough, yada yada.I really really want to. Now since this is a big deal for me, I want to make sure I buy the first guitar right. An acoustic. I`ve been saving up for this. Umm about 5K :p ADVICE PLEASE!I live in mumbai by the way.so if you recommend any shops here (other than furtados) /brands/what I should look for etc. ALSO my friends who DO play the guitar tell me I have peasant hands, they have long fingers, hence I should not pick up string instruments cuz I wont go too far. >_<. what do you say?as in my friends have long fingers. I have short ones.” – Sagar

Sagar – first, don’t worry about ‘peasant’ fingers! You’ll probably fret y0ur first barre chord (usually an ‘F’, so you can tell your long-digited pals to ‘F’ off!) with surprising ease. Those long slender arty fingers usually struggle for weeks to get past the ‘pttthh’s, ‘pptthhhonk’s and ‘dongrlefraagle’s.

About buying a new acoustic: I’ve been thinking about putting a small video together on what to check for – that way I hope to answer yours and many other queries along similar lines. Will get around to that pretty soon I guess. If you’ve never played before, it helps to take along someone who can, when you go shopping.

Let’s try getting that vid up…

Cheerio
Thermal And A Quarter on 'We The People', NDTV 24×7

bassist, Delhi "3 wheels 9 lives" "Hard Rock", gig reviews, Mood Indigo, opus in the creek, Peavey, Prakash Belawadi, WFWDFD | February 17, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

TAAQ was invited to be in the audience (for once!) on the talk show, ‘We the People’ hosted by journalist Barkha Dutt on NDTV. The issue on the dissection table was ‘Culture Wars’, triggered by the recent attacks on women in a Mangalore pub by members a certain right-wing group, and the ensuing protests in Bangalore and across India.

Towards the end of the show, Bruce performed the first verse of One Small Love, our brand new single. The song was used in the show’s end titles, too.

Watch the video here

Thus, One Small Love was launched nationwide, officially. And it’s yours to keep. So, download it off our website now. Go to http://www.bangalorerock.com/, click on the ‘Wassup’ icon and fill in your email address. We’ll send you a link from where you can download it.

Go on, spread the love!
Jack up the volume, boys and girls!

downloads, Fanspeak, in memoriam, jakarta java jazz 09 | February 14, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

First off, our hearty congratulations to all the winners of the various awards at the JD Rock Awards. You, well, rock!

Overheard after Bruce Lee Mani won ‘Best Guitarist of the Year’:

“What da, only this year, uh? He’s been playing bestly all these years, no?”

Happy birthday, Bruce! One more in the kitty, bro. Time for some extra-jolly saapaad!

About the JD Rock Awards, hearsay has it that in inimitable Mumbai ishtyle, all the glitterati descended upon this gala event. Now, now… what should we make of that? We asked the boys what they thought of an Indian rock awards program, and got some surprisingly cerebral answers…

Keep your tongue firmly in cheek, and enjoy!
Between the Rock and the Hard Place…

happy birthday, nostalgica, That Day This Morning, Uncategorized | February 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

Before you start getting any clever ideas after reading that nifty headline up there, this is about our recent gig at the Hard Rock Café, Bengalooru.

Of course, we couldn’t let anyone know about the gig (really let ’em know) because we might’ve been busted. Bangalore denizens are of course aware of our wonderfully evolved government – stuck firmly, ostrich-style, in the dark ages… you know, those times with random acts of senseless violence against women, curfew, feudal overlords, and guys wearing metal underpants (jetties!) caroming off to slay non-believers. Hmmm, now why does that sound so familiar?? Gawrsh. But to think – they actually had live music and dancing in places that served hooch back then! Now that’s evolved.

Anyway – back to the gig. Hush-hush as it was, quite a few TAAQies did show up – thanks, people! For braving the traffic, thumbing your nose to the MP (moral police), and for singing along.

The Hard Rock Café here is at a great address – 1, MG Road (hotly contested by the Police Station across the street, which also calls itself 1, MG Road – glad our TAAQies found the right one!). Stage-wise, it’s the same as Mumbai, with the musicians playing on a high platform above the bar. Local hitch – no lights! Seriously, these guys didn’t have lights for the band. Talk about the dark ages. Our super-roadies actually had to scram off to get some small halogens from somewhere for the second half of the gig.

Played a bunch of new material – Rajeev’s Sold and Ordinary Affair (lyrics here), the fresh-off-the-hotplate One Small Love, Surrender, our little blues Grab Me (lyrics – see footnote) and more. All this seems to be going down rather well with our regulars – and the newbies – so I guess we’re doing something right.

Wrapped up punctually at 2300 hours. Ate a bunch of American Hard Rock cuisine (read tasty cholesterol bombs), drank some Hard Rock beer and gawked at Eric Clapton’s Strat, Elton John’s, er, Jammies, Paul McCartney’s picks and Madonna’s pointy underthings.

Back to the hard place now…

Footnote (as promised above):

New Songs

Here’s some brand-new TAAQ stuff. Live testing in progress… Welcome all ye lab rats! Leave yer footprints behind, please.

One Small Love

One small breath
One small word
One small man
One small space
Can be everything
In a tired world

One small glimpse
One small truth
One small cry
One small change
The leaves they turn
And slowly I learn

It’s such a big deal
Oh a pretty balloon
Blow it up make the steal
We’re all in
We’re all in
And there’s no getting out

I’m such a big man
Take a look at my shadow
I’ll make my last stand
It’s all right
It’s all right

Cause suddenly I know
How

One small time
One small kindness
One small light
One small darkness
Can be everything
In a tired world

We made a big splash
But the well ran dry
We smoked the big cash
Light it up
Light it up
At least we didn’t lie

And it’s

One small breath
One small word
One small step
One small love
That’s everything
In this tired world

Grab Me

It’s one thirty o clock in the morning
Woke up late last night
If that isn’t right
To start the blues bar
Then the sorry girls are winning the fight

Feeling mighty high and low
Just like I did some crooked lines
Funny because I’m clean and dry
Never needed any joy juice to get high

I play in a cool smart rock n roll band
It’s like the only thing that makes it go round
Been everywhere but the big time lover
Somewhere this ruby yacht ran aground

Grab me by my fingertips and take me off this page
Dance me to the ground it’s lover-ly
How lots of chocolates can mystify the mage
I’m not about to shake my cage
Losing my mind with the daily wage

I get home early, shut off my head
And fire all my synapse slaves
It’s pleasant and even mildly euphoric
Oh these after-burner polychrome waves

Rise up with the sorry sunlight
That bleeds all over the floor
The shadows shrink as I pour my first drink
It’s a Boost in the mug with no happy encore

Grab me by my fingertips and take me off this ride
Dance me to the ceiling it’s lover-ly
How honest work can crucify my pride
I’m just about to set aside
A modicum of love and a paisa-worth of bromide

Surrender

Stepping over, stepping light
I’ll discover, I don’t need to fight
The mantras chanted, the rite complete
There’re only ashes at my feet
It’s out of my hands now

I’ll hand over, I’ll let go
What’s forever, I’ll never know
Give it all up, give it away
Don’t take it back, that’s what they say
And it’s out of my hands now

Worry, it’s scary
Too much care
Losing my hair
Trying to prepare
For something I can’t see or hear or smell or even know…
There’s only now
Only this note
Only this moment, take a bow
Or should I surrender

Is there chaos, is there a plan
Random patterns for every man
Invisible wires and a safety net
Or only freefall space cadets, freefall
And gravity always wins

I know the G word, I know it well
They say it’ll keep me for going to hell
Whatever works, makes you content
Lets you deal with how insignificant, you are, we are, we all are
And suddenly we’re gone

Worry, it’s scary
Too much care
Losing my hair
Trying to prepare
For something I can’t see or hear or smell or even know
There’s only now
Only this note
Only this moment, take a bow
Should I surrender
Brokeback Janata Party

Gear review, That Day This Morning | February 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments Off

Boy Boy, girl girl… that’s all right
boy girl, girl boy… get out of sight
mono-sexual is ok
stereo-sexual only if you are gay
homo-sexual is fine for today
so better be gay, on Valentines day

India’s saffron culture’s not funny
San Francisco’s getting a run for its money
Deepa Mehta and her “Fire”
in Mangalore can only backfire
don’t ask a girl out for a drink
Brokeback is the only way to think

Justice for gays in India will be administered
what with at least one suspect President
and one Prime Minister

man on man
hand in hand,
palm on palm
…ram ram

DIS (AND DAT) CLAIMER: TAAQ respects your right to choose – be it your gender, your orientation, your music or your beer. What we do not respect are people who don’t respect your right to choose.