Someone gifted me this CD on my recent visit to India and i have been hooked onto it ever since. Kandisa is a brilliant album by the rock group Indian Ocean.
Quite honestly i am not much aware of the rock scene in india much of which has been over powered and dominated by bollywood music, quite unfairly so. If not for the overpowering presence of hindi film music, the alternative music scene would have flourished as it has been the case with our neighbours.
But coming back to the subject, this album is awesome...this is of course a personal opinion. What i liked about this album is that it doesn't seem forced or pretentious. There is this soul enriching quality to it. The music grows on you, the hymns - shlokas are not aimlesslessly scattered around to impress...hence the unpretentious feeling that one gets from it. The vocals and the intruments blend into each other perfectly.
My favourite track is of course 'Kandisa' which we are told is based on a Syrian Catholic hymn in the ancient language Armaic, interspersed with vocals in hindustani classical and the blending is flawless. I also like the track 'Leaving Home'.
It's great to come across such good work from the non-film section of the indian music scene or perhaps i have been totally out of touch in which case i shall have to make amends and be more aware of the music scene back home!
