I heart Avril
Being the music freak that I am, I came here with a sponge like mind hoping to scoop up some Eastern tunes that I'd otherwise never hear. I really enjoy sitar and tablas (which are Indian instruments, you ignorant Americans) and already own some albums with fine representations of both. Thank god I brought my Ipod, because there is little to no evidence of either in the music that is popular up where we are. First, I think that the breed of people up here have a collective disdain for all things "Indian". As I have said before, the majority are Nepalis and have been actively pursuing secession from West Bengal for years (a la Quebec and as many of you may have not known, Vermont). With this sense of nationalism comes a culture that is much more noticable than most. Unfortunately, with this pride comes crappy pop music that is played virtually everywhere you go. I even saw a "rap" video of some Nepali dude beboppin' and scattin' in front of a Kawasaki Ninja (which I guess is as close to Lincoln Navigators as they got during the video shoot). It was very derivative of any American rap video you're likely to see on MTV, except anything by Juvenile which is pure genious.
Everything else is some watered down rendition of top 40 stuff you'd hear on any radio station in the US.
As for the rest of the subcontinent, it don't get much better. (OK, I should be fair. All of this ballyhoo is based on the 30 minutes of TV I watch per day and whatever music that the jeep driver that is driving us into town is listening to at the time). The song of the year by far has a chorus that rings "Just Chill Chill" for like 6 minutes. I guess this has had a long shelflife too, says Dinesh. It's been around for a year.
I've heard that Calcutta is really the place to be for live music and music in general, and we'll be there in a month for several days. As for the American music that has made landfall, well, let's just say that if Avril Lavigne ever performed here it would be like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan for the first time. Her mug is on posters aplenty. She doesn't get the t-shirt representation that rappers get though. 50 Cent is everywhere. So much so that one would be lead to believe that the shirts were issued by the government as some sort of cross culturalization experiment. What crosses borders from American shouldn't really come as a surprise to me considering all the money that goes into popular artists nowadays, but it's disconcerting nonetheless. There is so much other music that I'd like to share with these people that only know America as the place that spawned the G-Unit.
Not all hope is lost from my end. There has been a "80's metal renaissance" which is totally awesome. I feel like I'm 9 years old again. One of the cousins in my family tossed in "Be Quick or Be Dead" by Iron Maiden at our family function on one of the holiest days of the year!!! It didn't last long as the elders quickly nixed it, but that "metal attitude" is still alive and well in the Far East.
Rock on.
Everything else is some watered down rendition of top 40 stuff you'd hear on any radio station in the US.
As for the rest of the subcontinent, it don't get much better. (OK, I should be fair. All of this ballyhoo is based on the 30 minutes of TV I watch per day and whatever music that the jeep driver that is driving us into town is listening to at the time). The song of the year by far has a chorus that rings "Just Chill Chill" for like 6 minutes. I guess this has had a long shelflife too, says Dinesh. It's been around for a year.
I've heard that Calcutta is really the place to be for live music and music in general, and we'll be there in a month for several days. As for the American music that has made landfall, well, let's just say that if Avril Lavigne ever performed here it would be like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan for the first time. Her mug is on posters aplenty. She doesn't get the t-shirt representation that rappers get though. 50 Cent is everywhere. So much so that one would be lead to believe that the shirts were issued by the government as some sort of cross culturalization experiment. What crosses borders from American shouldn't really come as a surprise to me considering all the money that goes into popular artists nowadays, but it's disconcerting nonetheless. There is so much other music that I'd like to share with these people that only know America as the place that spawned the G-Unit.
Not all hope is lost from my end. There has been a "80's metal renaissance" which is totally awesome. I feel like I'm 9 years old again. One of the cousins in my family tossed in "Be Quick or Be Dead" by Iron Maiden at our family function on one of the holiest days of the year!!! It didn't last long as the elders quickly nixed it, but that "metal attitude" is still alive and well in the Far East.
Rock on.
posted by Matt at 5:17 AM
2 Comments:
RUUUUUUNNNN TO THE HIIIIIILLLLLLLSSSSSSSSS!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIIIIIFFFFEEEEEE!!!!
Makes sense that the Nepalese wouldn't want much to do with Indian music etc. Also, it sounds somewhat similar to the situation in the United Staes where for years our very best and most talented jazz musicians couldn't make a living ( or just got tired of drinking out of the "colored" water fountain) in the USA and were forced to relocate to Europe where they lived like kings...
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