Carnatic Prog Rock/Fusion

I wasn't sure which thread this would fit in; doesn't quite seem to fit outernational, Indian classical, or attention deficit. (Maybe the intersection of the last two?) Anyway, apparently, there is an entire genre of this stuff in South India, fusing Carnatic raga-based melodies, vocal styles, and occasionally rhythms with rock instrumentation, which I didn't realize until yesterday, although it seems logical now. This Youtube playlist appears to be as good a source as any. You need to be able to tolerate Berklee aesthetics to an extent, which I can do.

My current favourites:
Some beautiful female vocals and slide guitar on this one, on the mellower side.
This one is maybe a bit Porcupine Tree?? A lot of 7/8
I don't totally know what to make of Agam. They seem like simultaneously the most shamelessly cheesy and bombastic but also the most dazzling of these bands? This one is actually structured like a kriti in pallavi-anupallavi-charanam form, while also recalling "YYZ" by Rush. The bit beginning around 3:05 gets spectacular. I like this one a little better as a tune, I think.

Agam obviously have the best drummer, which seems crucial to making this music work in a rock context

*best two drummers - that'll explain it haha

bookmarked, this is rad

man I am FEELING this stuff. is there still much of a market for physical media in India/Indian music abroad, does anybody know? I would like to buy some of this on the antiquated Compact Disc format.

Wow, that Agam video is amazing - and yeah, it's basically using "YYZ" as a springboard, but I'm fine with that.

This is most intriguing. And great to hear!

You know, since PT was mentioned earlier, IIRC Steven Wilson played some shows in India recently and was rapturously received. There's something clearly happening there!

B-b-but how does Prasanna fit in?

B-b-but how does Prasanna fit in?

(Apologies for zing double posting glitch)

Digging up some further things -- here's Agam's SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/agam-the-band

Neha Nair, meantime, sings in a variety of different projects from what I can tell -- not bad!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neha_Nair

Really liked the Eeran Megham (?) one. Was listening to the most recent Opeth, which is total prog, and every time they go into some sort of eastern thing - which prog tends to do - I actually did sort of think, huh, I wonder what people out that way think of that?

Didn't dig the Agam too much, but to be honest much of it was seeing the guy standing there ready to sing and expecting some sort of Dream Theatre shit, so there was massive relief when it was not. Was trying to figure out what the drummers were doing. One guy was sort of doing the groove, and the other handling percussion and fills?

every time they go into some sort of eastern thing - which prog tends to do - I actually did sort of think, huh, I wonder what people out that way think of that?

Heh, my early-20s prog/shred/metal-loving cousin in Chennai told me he never really got into Carnatic music until I recommended Mahavishnu Orchestra to him. It inspired him to go back.

iTunes has a couple of Agam's albums fairly cheap. I just picked up The Inner Self Awakens for $6.

Agam has some new Youtube clips up, apparently as a teaser for an upcoming album. This is my favourite of the new songs; dazzling at times. I nominated it in the EOY poll. The new songs seem to have a choir on them, which I'm on the fence about at times.

thanks for the heads up. i really liked "the inner self awakens".

thanks for bumping this, these guys rule. where do I get this album

The Inner Self Awakens is available on iTunes. I don't think the new one has been released in full yet.

I grabbed it and am listening to it now. This is really good. My only regret is that AGAM backwards is MAGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xqDRBVETDI

Prasad was really good but playing Carnatic music on a clean electric guitar with tambura and mrdangam is imo a different thing from what this thread was meant for. The standard Carnatic repertoire can really be played on any instrument capable of sustaining, bending, and sliding between pitches, as it is mostly based on vocal songs and is never scored for specific instruments: there are lots of good musicians who play the melodies on sax, electric guitar, electric mandolin, synth, etc. along with the traditional drone and percussion accompaniment instruments. This thread is for full rock bands from India who play progressive rock or fusion with Carnatic influences.

Having said that, thanks for this! There's a full concert from 1988 here: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/652254548215414784/sukumar-prasad-unknown-venue-houston-texas

Back on topic, I'm surprised I never mentioned Motherjane from Kerala. Maktub was a good album.

"This thread is for full rock bands from India who play progressive rock or fusion with Carnatic influences."

Thanks, yeah didn't know whether to put this here.

I'll download that gig later.