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BEAT STREET

Mattafix: Signs Of A Struggle

EMI, CD, Rs. 350

Signs of A Struggle is Mattafix's debut attempt at an album after releasing the track "11:30" as a single in January 2005. The single was hailed as one of the best new sounds to hit the British music scene but sadly the album doesn't really comes close to the expectations that it created.

Mattafix is made up of West Indian Marlon Roudette and Preteesh Hirji, a person of Indian origin brought up in London's Harrow Road. As their names suggest, their origins are diverse and that results in their music having a mix of hip-hop, trip-hop, dub, soul, reggae, garage and R 'n' B, and the odd tabla mixed in by Hirji. The mix of genres is great but the first impression the album makes on a listener is — confusion.

Struggle is probably the best word to describe the way the duo has gone about completing the album. All the numbers sound uniformly similar with Hirji throwing in some beats and Roudette liberally using his voice. If I have to take a few numbers out for special mention, you can't go beyond the first three.

"Gangster Blues" is a nice start to the album, with its deep beats and the unknown female lead voice. It feels like a "chill out" number but the lyrics are quite serious. They warn youth to avoid choosing a life of crime. "Big City Life" managed to rise up to 15 on the British music charts but it is mainly because it has a new sound. It is a mix of soul, and old-school hip-hop and R 'n' B. "Passer By" sticks to same mix of heavy beats and soulful lyrics but is at least better than what is to follow.

The rest of the album is just varying permutations of the above mixture. There is not one number that can be singled out. The duo say they are coming out with a second album soon but they definitely need to work on getting their music a little more "mixed-up", if they want offer something truly new.

ANAND SANKAR

Jaipur Gharana

by Various Artistes

Sa Re Ga Ma,CD, Rs. 295

Talk of Jaipur gharana and you can't not think of Ustad Alladiya Khan saab. But this album by Sa Re Ga Ma, on Jaipur gharana music doesn't include the legendary vocalist, but the two prized possessions of the gharana — the Ustad's students Mogubai Kurdikar and Kesarbai Kerkar. Also, there is Lakshmibai Jadhav, Padmavathi Gokhale, and Padmavati Shaligram. This album, which has only women artistes of the gharana, almost seems like a celebration of the feminine spirit, which lived up to a rigour in the most trying circumstances.

This particular album is surely from the older LP versions, for, most of the pieces are short. So short that they end abruptly. When you prepare yourself for a journey into the good old past, what you get is just a sneak preview, and that is disappointing.

Mogubai, one of the finest exponents of the Jaipur gharana, sings a pleasing Alaiyya Bilawal. But it surely is not a representative piece, considering that she had such a fine mastery over laya. The story goes that her initial training in dance made her an expert in taal, like her guru Ustad Alladiya Khan.

Laxmibai Jadhav's Deshkar piece is outstanding. It is slightly longer than most other pieces. It is nuanced and the gamaks are torrential. Her voice is extremely flexible and the firats are amazing. Padmavati Shaligram's Poorvi and Tilak Kamod in her mellifluous voice are engaging.

For someone like Kesarbai Kerkar who had a performing career that lasted over four decades, the sole piece in Multani hardly suffices. In fact, it is said that in every aspect of her singing, she bore the stamp of her guru, Ustad Alladiya Khan.

Also, one wonders why the compiler overlooked the fact that Ustad Khan Saheb was fondly known as "ajab gawaiyya", because he mostly sang unheard of ragas. This is also one of the most important features of the Jaipur gharana. The album has no traces of any such rendition and takes you through the usual Bhairavi, Pilu, Kafi and the rest.

As usual, the sleeve notes, which could have thrown light on the time and ethos in which these were singing, are conspicuous by their absence.

Despite its shortcomings, the album serves the purpose of introducing you to the music of the popular, the not-so-popular and the forgotten voices of the Jaipur gharana.

D. G.

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