Eastern trade winds

(This post was updated on Oct. 13th 2006 to include the iTunes link)

Sunday’s Child is taking a little trip to the eastern lands of India. Well sort of. As you can hear, this song has undertones of that which would come from India. At first I was thinking of a couple of fairly recent movies. Can you think of two that were a bit of a breakout hit in America? One had a female actress who has gone on to become a mega huge star. Can you name her? I’ll give ya a few minutes to think about it…

(space above left blank on purpose to denote the few minutes I’ve given you to think)

The answer to the second half is: Keira Knightley. The answers to the first half is: Bend it Like Beckham, and The Guru. I’m not gonna sit here and write that these were outstanding cultural movies for India. I’m willing to bet its far from it. However, they did/do show good hints at the Indian culture – though I’m betting there are more than just a few stereotypes that are myth in each. I have both on DVD and I’ll admit that I’ve watched Bend it Like Beckham more than a few times. I guess that’s partly why I think I make that connection.

This song has elements of that culture, but it’s blended with so many seedlings of other styles, that it becomes fairly easy to digest for someone who isn’t used to traditional music of India. It’s probably also because I’m expanding my musical horizons with as much of an open mind that I can possibly have. The undertones of the drums strongly suggest that it’s almost capable of being a dance song. In fact, if I did have a suggestion for Jalebi, it would be to take the drums all the way into dance territory, don’t just hint and dance around it (pun intended) – nail it on the head. I feel if they did that it would give them a much wider audience for DJ’s.

I find the male speaking voice going on a little bit odd, but every time I hear I catch something new, so I guess in that respect it’s doing it’s job. The female singing here is too sparse for me. I’d like to hear her singing more than the chorus only because I really like her voice. I’m also digging the sitar sample, though I’m normally a purist for exotic instruments. Case in point, on my next CD I promise that I’ll be writing and recording a song that makes use of a hurdy gurdy. I may even attempt adding a sitar to the situation. Scratch that may, make it I will. Why the hell not, I want diversity.

Jalebi isn’t yet on iTunes, but I’ve been informed that they are currently working on getting their music onto it. I think it’s a wise choice. I also expect that as they grow a bit more, their production and writing will improve as well. Always a good thing. I’d recommend contacting them through their myspace page as I couldn’t find an official website. Support this group, they deserve it. Also, I will likely update this page with the link to the iTunes music when they inform me that it happens and I’ll updating this post to fix the link to their music when that happens. Sail off to an exotic land, enjoy and purchase.