Out-of-the-Box Music. Review on Barson Huey - Sanjo and Chandrani

Those who have been reading the music reviews that I write will probably notice that this album certainly doesn't represent the stuff that I usually listen to and write about. They are absolutely right. Here's what happened. I share my room - and my music system - with my younger brother. Since our taste in music is quite similar, we listen to music together quite often, so there's no battle over the music system.

Unlike me, my brother is quite experimental and eclectic in his choice of music, because of which I get to hear a lot of diverse, offbeat stuff ranging from Pakistani rock bands to the current hip hop hits from the US.

A couple of days ago, my brother came back from a shopping spree with an armload of cassettes, audio CDs and VCDs. Among these was one cassette that he was really hooked on to. When that happens, he has a tendency to listen to the album, or a particular track, again and again. So all through Saturday evening and much of Sunday, I kept listening to a song called Barson Huey. I must have heard it more than fifteen or sixteen times!

The funny part is that I never got fed up of it. Every time my brother played it, I found myself putting my book/magazine aside and paying attention to the song. It starts with a punchy bass riff that really grabs your attention. Moments later with a perky roll of steel drums, a syncopated percussion rhythm sets in. Throughout the song, the band plays around cheekily with various subtle variations of the beat.

My brother drew my attention to the words of the song. Very interesting, well written and very down-to-earth in the feelings that they communicate. This was a long song spread across three stanzas, but they were so well crafted that it sounds short and tight - just right.

By Sunday night (because of the multiple listenings), I knew this song by heart and could sing along perfectly. It's a great feeling singing this song. The singer has used a series of elongations, compressions and inflexions that gives the song a unique feel and makes it very engaging to sing along.

This morning, as I left for work, I slipped the cassette into my pocket and played in my car during the long drive from my residence to my office (that's all the way from Noida to West Patel Nagar!). The good thing is that I got to listen to the entire album on a continuous basis, and that's when I discovered how phenomenally brilliant it is! Beyond this song that my brother and I were hooked on to, lies a set of nine more songs, each crafted with meticulous artistic zeal. The lyrics are the kind that make you think ''Aw, I wish I could write like that'', while the melodies make you feel good that you have an adventurous younger brother who goes around discovering such stuff!

In addition to Barson Huey, there are several other songs that I loved right from the first time I played them: Mujhe Tumse Kuch Kehna Hai, Palkon Pe Tha, Zindagi and Sapno Ka Shahar are some of the really noteworthy ones. But like I said, the entire album is great. There isn't a single song that you feel like fast-forwarding.

One other point I want to make here: this band does not sound like anyone else. Everything from the vocals to the instrumentation... even the overall style of the songs... sometimes even the structure of the songs... is completely different from the commonplace.

I just called my brother... and told him to pick up another copy of this album for me. I've got this feeling that I will be listening to it for a long time to come.