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BEAT STREET

Rise: Anoushka Shankar

Angel, CD, Rs. 295

Hype, we have come to believe, is the force that keeps the world on its axis. All big launches — books, music, films — are preceded by a barrage of publicity exercises. But all this can actually turn out counterproductive too. Hype can put you off, prejudice you or make you expect too much, and so make you feel let down at the end of it all.

This might just happen with Anoushka Shankar's world music album Rise, which has been nominated for Grammy and seen many promotional tours. But beyond the chimera of PR build-up, there are a few things about Rise that demand attention. The most important among them being that this might be the 24-year-old's effort to break away — somewhat tentatively, though — from the shadow of her towering father Ravishankar. "It's very much my own music and my journey and who I am right now. I felt like I was rising into that. On a personal level, Rise signifies growth," observes Anoushka. Unlike her earlier three albums which stuck to the genre of Indian classical music, Rise takes a leap to experiment with a range of new sounds. This album is composed, produced, arranged and co-edited by Anoushka herself.

The nine-song album has Anoushka playing sitar along with a variety of traditional Indian as well as Western instruments. And there is a deliberate sequencing of pieces, from the dawn of day to the setting of sun, as the titles and the mood of pieces suggest.

The opening "Prayer in Passing" allows the album to take off gracefully on notes of the mohanveena and sitar, with strains of flute slowly joining in. The movement of music brings to mind soft ripples on a river that reflects the rays of the rising sun. The mood grows palpably vibrant with "Red Sun", with energetic rendering of tabla bols by Tanmoy Bose and Bikram Ghosh pacing up the album — quite a breath-taking metaphor for the scorching sun. But quite surprisingly, the piece ends on the soft notes of a flute.

"Mahadeva" is Anoushka's interpretation of Ravishankar's old composition, and quite predictably, has a thandava tempo to it, overlaid with alap by Ritesh Mishra and Rajesh Mishra. Next comes Anoushka's pensive solo piece "Naked" with her playing both keyboard and sitar. Nothing stunning there or in the following "Solea", but for some unusual play of rhythm patterns.

"Beloved" is an evocative composition, with a gopika (rendered by Swarnima Gusain) making a soulful plea to Krishna to appear before her. All instruments go hush to let the voice take over. The emphasis is on the voice (sung by Sanjiv Chimmalji) in "Sinister Grains" too, with a shehnai adding to the mood of a lonely late evening. The western vocal percussion sounds, which initially seem out of place, appeal after a while for the urban twist they give to the mood. "Voice of Moon", despite some nice Carnatic violin passages by Bhaskar, turns out to be quite a middling affair. In fact, lacking any serenity you might associate with the moon.

The last piece "Ancient Love" is soothing and lullaby-like for most parts. But the masculine sounds of pakhawaj, the feminine jingle of anklets and a spot of what sounds like eerie laughter hint at the other possibilities of night.

Rise, which brings together a range of musicians who are celebrities in their own right — Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on mohanveena, Ricardo Miño on piano, Pedro Eustache on flute, Bikram Ghosh and Tanmoy Bose on percussion and so on — will not send you into raptures. It can, in fact, get a little predictable and boring, like a lot of fusion pieces tend to be. But it has its elevating moments and the marriage of many systems of music seems workable for most parts. It isn't half as bad as the hype would push into believing.

BAGESHREE S.

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