Post from: New Age Vibe

One of the frequently visited blog post on New Age Vibe is The Bolo Hari Craze: Dance of Shakti to Dakini Lounge. I wrote it when I began blogging at New Age Vibe and it was about the track Bolo Hari by Prem Joshua which was first featured in his album Dance of Shakti and later remixed in many other albums. The beauty of the post is that it talked not just about the track but went a little behind the scene by narrating some gossiping stories about Radha, the eternal lover of Krishna.

In the same line of Bola Hari, Rasa’s album Shelter captures this love mood of Radha and Krishna in a very enchanting way and I am just falling in love listening to it. I personally love to have pictures of Radha and Krishna (like the one above in the album cover) in my room for the symbolism that they both represent: LOVE — Love that doesn’t know the boundary of sensuality and devotion. Now I have added this music album to my collection for creating a beautiful personal atmosphere. More about Rasa’s Shetler will be discussed soon. Stay tuned Midos….

Post from: New Age Vibe

Remixed Tracks of Mudra in Shiva Moon:

Shiva Moon I (The Crescent Mood Mudra)

Shiva Moon II (The Ocean Mudra)

Dabari N.Y.C (The Merging Mudra)

Saffron Dreams (The Night Mudra)

Sandhya Sanjana, female singer, is known well for her sultry voice that mixes naturally with jazz and loungy music and has voiced for the remix of Darbari. Maneesh De Moor’s lounge remix of these Mudra tracks add a new dimension to the composition of Prem Joshua. Shiva Moon I & II as appeared in Mudra take a new form here yet preserve the mood and solacing nature of Prem Joshua’s Original composition. Saffron Dreams is yet another track in which Sandhya Sanjana’s sultry voice captures attention. I personally felt little disappointed to see my favorite (you could say very very…) track Road to Solaia not being remixed in Shiva Moon. I’d love to listen how Maneesh would remix this one, as I have a feeling that Road to Solaia can be made no better.

If you have listened to Mudra, Shiva Moon would compliment it and vice versa.

Buy Shiva Moon

Buy Mudra

Post from: New Age Vibe

Night Rain of the album the Sky Kisses the Earth gives a glimpse of a Romantic Rain, Lethargic Rain and the Tired Rain. Sitar and Flute, as mostly in albums of Prem Joshua, take up the stage and move the listeners to a mixture of moods. The track is on a slow tempo making it sound like a  lethargic pleasure of waking up late in the morning and at times sounds like a romantic exchange of lovers on a rainy night.

Mido, I like this track so much that, I never miss an opportunity to  listen to this track on a rainy night. It’s such a pleasure to listen to! I recommend this track for my Midos who like to listen to some multi-shade romantic track.

Post from: New Age Vibe

Then there arose in the midst of the company a large, grave cat and looked upon them and said, “Brethren, pray ye; and when ye have prayed again and yet again, nothing doubting, verily then it shall rain mice.”

And when the dog heard this he laughed in his heart and turned from them saying, “O blind and foolish cats, has it not been written and have I not known and my fathers before me, that that which raineth for prayer and faith and supplication is not mice but bones.”

Enter me, “Foolish dogs and cats, that which raineth for prayer and faith and supplication is not mice nor bones but MANGOES!”

Is that joke (supposedly one) very dry? But what would you expect of a crazy Gibran reader, like me, to think of when Prem Joshua tunes a track by name Mango Rain? I imagined myself as a greedy mango-eater and listened to track on a non-mango-raining-day.

Mango Rain, apart from the fun that it carries in its name, is a wonderful track of Joshua with a highly Reflective Mood. I often listen to this track on my ipod while travelling in my car or my office bus and enjoy the most when i chance to get a window seat.

Mango rain is a perfect travel companion and if you are lucky, Nature may complement your music system with a rain (don’t think of mangoes anyway, that is too much a thought!)

Post from: New Age Vibe

The track is Morning Rain NYC from the album No Goal But The Path. This track is different in the sense, it is a fresh “Western” Morning Rain, while the other post in the same mood is a hybrid of Eastern and Western Mornings. Virtually, Joshua of Mudra, Ahir, or Dance of Sakthi is “absent” in this track (on the album as such) for this is the very first music album of his career (and much of the then Joshua traveled so far to become what is the Joshua seen now).

Despite these, Morning Rain NYC has a place in our Rain Mood Celebration for he musicrizes (Mido, a crazy thought thought not to write picturizes) a beautiful morning rain in guitar and Sax ( I always thought, earlier, none other than flute can best musicrize a morning Scene).

If you are a Sax and guitar lover (and not a flute lover) then Morning Rain NYC takes up the place of Rain of Ekatman. You can sense a little water dripping, too, if you are very receptive to the music (oh don’t fear, it wont drench you anyway, its all hallucination! ).

Post from: New Age Vibe

Post from: New Age Vibe

What Prem Joshua feels about Ravi Shankar’s music?

“I had never heard anything like this before. This was beyond my musical grasp and experience but was something of such immense beauty and depth. It felt unfamiliar and mysterious – yet at the same time like a remembrance of something I knew very well.”

Prem Joshua on meeting and being with Osho:

“This was really coming home! For the following years I did nothing but be around this man, go deeper in meditation and play, play, play music. Here I found the musical and spiritual nourishment and satisfaction that I had been looking for.” (source: http://www.premjoshua.com/bio.htm )

Prem Joshua on music:

“Our music IS a bridge between East and West, between the different cultures, between the ancient and the contemporary. This fusion of sounds happens naturally to me as I have lived in India altogether for more than 8 years. And then I travel all over the world, so I am a global citizen, no wonder my music sounds like that! It is world music! But the stupid politicians and religious leaders want to tell you that you are a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, that we are right and the others are wrong. Hate and power rules. World music unites! It creates bridges between the cultures and explores a totally new musical space and a totally new way of people living together in peace! In my band there is an Indian, a Persian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a German. We are having so much fun, there is no problem that we are coming from different backgrounds, on the contrary — that’s the fun! You can feel in our music that we are having fun!” (source: http://www.meditationfrance.com/dossiers/joshua-interview.htm )

Post from: New Age Vibe

BharataJazzyam is one of the 8 tracks in Yatri, by Prem Joshua. The track name and the music are a play upon(call it new thinking) on the word and dance form Bharatanatiyam. (Hold on Classic puritans! dont shed your tears now nor rage in anger. The worst is to come. Save your energy.) The 4.55 minute, jazz rendered track is a collage of jazz sax, drums with classical vocals and Sitar. The best part of the music is that it is still deeply rooted in classic spirit when Sitar takes up stage and very modern when Sax assumes the lead.

Yatra, which in Sanskrit means spiritual journey, is a very significant stage for any spiritual aspirant in India. And the one who is goes for a Yatra is Yatri. This music album goes well with this theme in new age context. Together with tracks that require silent listening, you also find tracks that tempts for a dance. One of which we discussed earlier. Now the second: Funky Guru (guru: spiritual master). Mido, doesn’t the name create a sense of laughter? Yes, the music does the same. It’s time now for the puritans! Let loose your saved energy… shed tears or rage in anger…. for Funky Guru dubs the age old mantra “Guru Brahma, guru vishnu, guru devo maheshwara” in a funky style. Intolerable for classic lovers, very adorable for new thinkers!

Joshua is not the first to make this kind of attempt. There are countless albums and cine tracks that attempt to remake Indian classics. Then what makes Joshua’s special? It is that Joshua never kills the soul of classics, howsoever modern, he renders them. It is like you want to look good in your photography: you do all make-ups and keep up with trends. But you may never distort your appearance so much that nobody identifies you. After all, you never want to get ‘lost’ in your new costume, rather, ‘found’ charming in it. Joshua does the same. He keeps the classic spirit alive in his album, makes it ‘charming’ in new costume.

Back to Funky Guru, the track created an imagery of a guru who holds Sitar like a Guitar (how rhyming!) and dances his way on a yatra, partly graceful, partly mad (your imageries are welcome.) I’m ready for a dance with this Funky Guru, the music is on and a guitar, too. Catch you later, Mido!

Post from: New Age Vibe

Bolo Hari: Instant Pudding Remix by Dharma Dogz. Wow! the name sounds good isn’t it? Yes. But the track doesn’t, as the track has little to adore. Except for the name “Instant Pudding” the remix has nothing to attract my attention . Dogz pitiably calms down the passion of Bolo Hari (original) and nosily mixes up vocal, flute and percussion towards the middle of the track.

Bolo Hari: Bombay Lounge Remix by Maneesh de Moor is featured in Shiva Moon. Maneesh worked with Joshua in the original release of Bolo Hari and maybe because of that he has very little NEW to contribute in this remix. However, I liked his increased tempo of sitar throughout the track.

Mido, ranking always gets tougher when you reach the top; so is the case here. Niraj Chaj’s Bolo Hari Blue God Comes to Town is the best remix (with no comparison to the previous two, for I don’t really rank them) But how best is this when compared to Joshua’s? Niraj’s remix wins! And I say this for two reasons: First Niraj replaces the dominance of Sitar with flute which is thematically a more suitable instrument (Hey, Hari plays flute not sitar!) and Second, he replaces the electronica-style rhythm with a native-feel percussion. The combination of these two gives Niraj Chaj’s remix the uniqueness.

Joshua’s original performance of Bolo Hari is good. Especially the way he brings out music from the strings of Sitar is unparalleled. We have seen this in Mudra and in Ahir (his other albums). But his obsession with Sitar could have been kept little away in Bolo Hari giving place for flute. If he had, I’m sure Niraj’s remix should go down in rank.

Post from: New Age Vibe