This Music Musings feature is STD – a remarkable duo from Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil. Seems fitting as we’ve enjoyed listening to their CD with them at our recent dinner gathering – what fun!
ShridharThayil (Photo: STD MySpace)
Him – Jeet is an old friend of my partner – known for his edgy poetry, blistering guitar, funky offbeat and outrageous approach. His book Narcopolis was short-listed for the 2012 Man Booker prize and draws one into a different side of Bombay – its addictions, predilections and transformations in the 70s and early 80s.
Her – I first saw Suman on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2010) at an evening gathering of music and merriment in Bandra. Her quirky style and powerful talent blew everyone away – blues, jazz scatting, opera, Hindustani classical… she effortlessly slips between styles seducing and conquering them all.
Them – Together they are a combustible combination… flirting and bending musical styles, mocking and breeching boundaries of conventions, creating a sexy groovy sound that is uniquely theirs.
The CD – Before the final mixing, we first heard one track when Jeet popped home to wrestle with the balance between guitar and vocals… the sneak peak made me into a fan long before the official release.
The opera – Their mini opera-noire brings a lyrical conversation between a soprano and a ghost about God, murder and showbiz. (PS Try to ignore the ubiquitous street traffic sounds) “”
Check out the following for more… especially their music through their website…start with “In the Morning” and listen to the whole album!
- YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/sridharthayil
- MySpace https://myspace.com/sridharthayil
- FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/Sridhar.Thayil
- Website http://stincmusic.com/
Rolling Stone Magazine India calls them “two of the most uninhibited people that ever came together to play with music”. S/T has played at stages such as the Great Escape (Brighton), the Southbank Centre (London), Galle Literary Festival (Sri Lanka), the Prithvi Theatre Festival (Mumbai) etc. Their interviews and performances have aired on the Strand- BBC World Service, the Nikki Bedi Show- BBC Asian Network, FlyTV- Brighton etc.
What do you think?
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