VIVA LA MUSIC

WRITTEN BY: ANURAG SAHOO

As an avid lover of music, I couldn’t help myself from writing something about music. Music is a form of entertainment which has co-existed with or I must say within us for centuries. Music has evolved a long way. From the classic styles of MOZART, LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN or MIAN TANSEN to punk rock with heavy bass like METALLICA, AEROSMITH OR U2, music has been an entertaining journey which has the power to move human emotions.

Crippled by terrorism, Pakistani youths are finding solace by forming rock bands all over and I might add that the result has been simply awesome. Greek music composer YANNI has been the biggest philanthropist as majority of the money generated from his concerts are used as aid to downtrodden people. The MOZART OF MADRAS ALLAH RAKHA REHMAN’s BOMBAY THEME had made audiences at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON spellbound. LATA MANGESHKAR’S AAE MERE WATAN KE LOGON had brought tears in the eyes of PANDIT JAWAHAR LAL NEHRU, the then prime minister of INDIA. Such is the power of music that in spite of political indifferences, Pakistani and Indian musicians are performing together. Music has the power to dissolve all boundaries and it knows no language barriers. Otherwise why the entire world would have listened to RICKY MARTIN’S UN DOS TRES which is a Latin track. All the UK’s major nightspots are hitting BHANGRA tracks. MICHAEL or MIKHAEL JACKSON is a household name in INDIA. MICHEL LEARNS TO ROCK has performed in a remote place like SHILLONG as part of a CHANNEL V concert series.

Further, channels like MTV, VH1 and CHANNEL V have made sure that the entire becomes musically very informed and have varied the choices of people regarding music.

Coming to the global music scene, there has been a sea wave of change in music styles on every passing decade. Rock music has evolved from soft ones like CUTTING CREW, FOREIGNER to heavy guitar and bass combos like LINKIN PARK, LIMP BIZKIT. The sources of music are also fascinating. Take for example GANGSTA RAP which contains explicit language and often aimed to be a rebel to the system and society. It has its foundations from the streets of NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES. Latin music and IRISH violin based classic are from the pubs and taverns. ELECTRONIC DANCE is another genre which has emerged from nightclubs and the leaders are DJ TIESTO, PAUL VAN DYKE and ROBERT MILES. In India, the music scene is dominated by FILMY songs and there are many timeless classics of KISHORE KUMAR, UDIT NARAYAN, KUMAR SANU and now another breed of SINGERS like SHAAN, KK and KUNAL GANJAWALA are emerging towards the heart of peoples.

I can recount my own experience. Whenever I open my laptop, I locate the drive containing songs and then enter into the diversified yet closed world of music where I can travel miles away from my own place through my headphone. So VIVA LA MUSIC.