Yesterday it was brought to my attention that a track featured in Transformers 3 (2011) called “Its our fight” by Steve Jablonskysounds EXTREMELY similar to a “Mind Heist” by Zack Hemsey featured in a trailer for Inception (2010).
Now it could be the case that this is mere coincidence or Steve Jablonsky was inspired by “Mind Heist” and other works from the past year. Either way to make sense of it all it is definitely worth reading Zack Hemsey‘s thoughts on the tracks on his blog:
A five-minute walk from Mumbai Central station, Sardar's Refreshments specialises in straight-from-the-streets, finger-licking pav bhaji. It's hidden behind white barriers, but mutter "Pav bhaji?" to any passerby and they will point you in the right direction. Two metal plates arrive within minutes: one containing thick vegetable masala straddled by a slab of butter, the other with fluffy rolls so well buttered the bread's yellow. Your arteries will tighten at the sight, but your stomach will thank you. Squeeze some lemon on top and dig in with your fingers. • Sardar's,166-A Tardeo Road Junction, Tulsiwadi, near Tardeo bus depot, +91 22 2494 0208, £1 a serving. Open noon-2am
Kebabs @ Sarvi
Photograph: Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis
Mohammed Ali Road is the benchmark for skewered kebabs, which hang from smoking stalls like sizzling curtains. But towards the north end, veer left on to Dimtimkar Road and head to Sarvi. It's been around for 90 years, has no sign, looks fire damaged, and grills the most tender beef seekh kebabs in the city. Crisp on the outside and melting in the middle, with a hint of mint – rumour has it they grind papaya into the meat. Get there early evening, as they sell out fast. • Sarvi, 184/196 Dimtimkar Road, opposite Nagpada Police Station, Byculla West, +91 98 3353 3305, from Rs78 (£1) for four kebabs. Open 9.30am-11.30pm
Vada Pav @ Anand
Photograph: ARKO DATTA/Reuters/Corbis
It's every Mumbaikar's grab-and-go snack. Potato patties mashed with garlic, chillies and coriander are dipped in chickpea flour, fried golden, then laid in "pav" – a springy white bap that's well buttered, spread with coriander chutney and sprinkled with garlic and chilli powder. Everyone from students to businessmen flock to the Anand stall, under a purple and green awning, which whips up more than a thousand a day. An added touch is a plate of rock-salted fried green chillies, which aren't nearly as fiery as you might think. Cool off with mini bottles of sweet lassi from the stall to the left. • Anand, opposite Mithibai College, Gulmohar Road, Vile Parle West, 20p a bap. Open 7.30am-11pm
The craft is part of the fun: vendors poke a thumb into a crisp fried sphere, fill it with potato, chickpeas, onion and sprouted lentils, then dunk it into a sweet-and-sour mix of tamarind and jaggery, then a liquid blend of coriander, mint and garam masala. Eat it whole, and unless you have a stomach of steel, don't go anywhere but Elco Pani Puri Centre, where they use mineral water. Pull up a red plastic stool and sit on the pavement with Bandra's locals, and the occasional Bollywood actress. • Elco Pani Puri Centre, 2/A Elco Market, 46 Hill Rd, Bandra West, +91 22 2645 7677, 50p for two. Open 10am-11.30pm
No Mumbaikar seems to have been to Bademiya before 3am – a testament to the late-night allure of its charcoaled, meaty goodness. A glorified open-air kitchen on wheels, Bademiya sits in a backstreet directly behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Waiters in red aprons appear from a cloud of smoke and hand over plastic menus, but the chicken tikka rolls are the best option. Slid off skewers, the meat is wrapped in a steaming roomali roti – as thin and soft as a handkerchief – and topped with strips of fried onion. No sauce required, its juices are enough. • Bademiya, Tulloch Rd, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, £1.50 a roll. Open 5pm-4am
Bhel puri @ Sharmajee's and Badshah's
Bhel puri is one of the most common all-day snacks: a crunchy, cold, sweet-and-sour mix of puffed rice, sev, chopped onion and potato, and tamarind chutney. It has to be mixed and eaten on the spot, and most vendors will concoct their own variations. Chowpatty Beach is the home of bhel puri, where it should be eaten while strolling along the shore. Try Sharmajee's (No 22) or Badshah's (No 11), amid the cluster of stalls opposite the Levi's Store, where rugs are spread out and bhel puri "touts" will bring it over to you. • Sharmajee's and Badshah's, Chowpatty Beach, near Charni Road station, 30p per plate. Open all day
Forget trawling Colaba's tourist spots for fry-ups and cereal, and try breakfast the way the locals do it – with a plate of fried minced meat and hunks of bread to mop it up. Directly opposite the infamous Leopold's, Olympia does saucers of delicious masala kheema – and don't forget, this is a coffee house, so top it off with a short, sweet cup. Olympia is a local Muslim haunt with not a female in sight, but female visitors shouldn't be put off: the waiters and customers are friendly, courteous and no one bats an eyelid. • Olympia Coffee House, Rahim Mansion, 1 SB Singh Rd, Colaba, +91 22 2202 1043, £1 a plate. Open 7am-midnight
As a rule, restaurants with laminated menus showing photos of their food aren't to be trusted. Cream Centre is an exception. It does a version of channa bhatura that's a bit on the oily side, but it's rated the best in Mumbai by the hordes of students, families and workers on breaks. Sit tight in your booth as a football-sized, deep-fried puri arrives alongside a bowl of creamy masala chickpeas, diced potatoes and onions. Poke a finger in the top and watch the puri deflate slowly into a chewy bread for scooping up the masala. • Cream Centre, Fulchand Niwas 25/B Chowpatty Sea Face, +91 22 2367 9222, £2 a serving. Open noon-11.30pm
Strictly not street food, but it's a sin to come to Mumbai and not eat crab. Trishna is excellent, but full of expats and tourists, so try Mahesh, around the corner from the Mocambo Café, in Fort. Order the jumbo butter garlic crab with a roomali roti to wipe up the crunchy bits of garlic and chilli. If you're unsure about portions, waiters will happily bring your crab to the table to wave a leg at you. There's only one way to eat it – with a bib and both hands, making as much mess as you like. • Mahesh Lunch Home, 8-B Cawasji Patel Street, Fort, +91 22 2287 0938, £10. Call for opening hours
Bachelorr's (yes, they've added an extra "r") is the definitive hangout for smoothies, shakes and juices. It's been in business since the 1940s and has generated a loyal following, who gather by the roadside kiosk during warm evenings, perched on car bonnets and in open boots. The cream-and-strawberry milkshake is a classic, but it also churns out numerous chocolate variations – from Classic Chocolate and Black Gold Premium to Liquid Marble – along with a host of fresh lime, coconut water and lychee juices. • Bachelorr's, Chowpatty Sea Face, opposite Birla Krida Kendra, near Charni Rd station, +91 22 2368 1408, from £1-2. Open 3pm-11pm
A guy writing a book asked me for 5 tips for musicians, today. Here are the 5 I gave off the top of my head:
1. Turn off your computer. Improve that unfinished song, without distractions. We’re drowning in a world of mouse-clickers. Stand apart from the pack by doing the focused work of improving your skills. The key that unlocks the door to success is not online, it’s in you.
2. Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever scares you, go do it. Whatever drains you or bores you, stop doing it immediately! Find someone else who loves it, instead.
3. Meet 3 new people each week who might help you. “Do it yourself” doesn’t mean do it all yourself. You need help. There are people who love booking gigs, love promoting, love building websites. Put a few hours a week into finding them. Let them help you. Email strangers, and suggest a phone call or lunch. Almost everyone says yes.
4. Keep in touch with people. The best connections always happen right after a recent contact. It’s always the person you talked to yesterday who will get you a gig or introduce you to a key contact, because you’re at the forefront of their mind. Just put aside 30 minutes every few days to call people who matter to you, and say hello. Send them something you think they’d like, whether a link, an article, a trinket, or a pizza.
5. Bring out your weird side. What’s great about the long tail is that there can be infinite niches. Be (and trumpet yourself as) the best at your tiny sharply-defined niche. Better to be the world’s leading songwriter of songs about seaweed, than yet-another normal-but-good rock band or folksinger.
Another fantastic album from one of my favourite record labels out there! … What can be classed as brilliance, No Stranger Hereintermixes diverse genres and music perspectives from at least three starkly different countries and cultures with deep secular grace, reiterating the timeless search for harmony, universal understanding and love.
Shubha Mudgal‘s rendition of the ancient poetry is the reference point for the poetry written by Ursula Rucker specifically for this album, and the cross-cultural global soundscape of the Business Class Refugees (Patrick Sebag & Yotam Agam) draw a deep, contemporary parallel.
This album is inspired by poetry written by Kabir, a poet of the Bhakti Movement (500 AD – 1700 AD) that swept across India as a rebellion against religious orthodoxy, caste distinctions and Brahmanic (High Priest) rituals. The movement propagated love, peace and harmony, an ancient movement that still has relevance today, against worldwide prevalence of religious bigotry and communal orthodoxy that fuel wars and unrest.
Lyrically, the track A Stranger Here / Pardesi is the pivot of the album’s concept: the poetry Shubha and Ursula render express being and feeling a stranger in this world, of being alone; not finding meaning, mooring or understanding. As prolifically expressed cross time by lovers, artists, saints and devotees – humanity is no stranger to spiritual emptiness, not belonging, intellectual questioning, and the contradiction of being a stranger in a familiar world. Balancing the elegant subtleties of Indian classical tradition, Western orchestral music, rich bursts of electronica, and Rucker’sinsistent words, No Stranger Here flows from the universal sense of strangerhood, that mysterious alienation that haunts both our contemporary lives and echoes in centuries-old poems. “None of us are strangers to that feeling,” remarks Sonya Mazumdar, EarthSync CEO and producer. “Yet it is the very feeling of not belonging that highlights the intensity of love.”
Even on paper - trust me this combination is breathtaking.
Yes -Niladri Kumar & Talvin Singh
This is an appealing and a delightful meeting of two noble musicians who have each set out to shake up the Asian music scene. The tabla percussionist, producer, and electronica exponent Talvin Singh won a Mercury prize more than a decade ago, and Niladri Kumar is a classically trained sitar player who also invented the zitar, a mix of sitar and guitar......together they bring you an album.
"Together"
With great difficulty living in the land of camels and sheesha, i managed to get the album from india - through a friend of mine. I am sure you would be wondering, why don't the chap just buy the CD from online.
Well, here goes another secret - i don't own a credit card, so i depend on my friends to get it from wherever they are travelling to. Seeing an original CD is more like a h_ _d on for me, b'coz i dont believe in downloading -as I collect my music.
Talvin Singh and Niladri Kumar combines their rooted Indian classical training, with their modern and contemporary background to create an exceptional sound. The very first week, i noticed something different about this album "Together". Yes, the album was carved to a whole new level of treatment. When i say treatment, i meant the treatment of Tabla in this album.
A Tabla is a percussion instrument which is mostly played in India. It is classical Indian instrument. Tabla is played with bare hands and produces a strong hollow sound. Tabla constitutes of two pieces - one which is called a Baayan (the bass) and the other dayaan.
I doubt, i will be able to express my excitement level when I heard about this album – reasons are many, as I’m sure a lot of you will understand - when u start listening to this.....I was left in pure sublime with the sounds that hit my ear drums. Truly Magical.
A "bayaan" or duggi some call it [the bass element of a tabla]- was so evident, out loud | in your face kind- in this album and i am sure Talvin Singh must have literally hard glided his left hand to create such an impact to the album. Some of the tracks in the album are very Bayaan oriented tracks, and you don't get to hear tracks like that on a daily basis. Couple of them are very boom-boxed rhythms, and slapped bass samples. Some of the threads, brings in a delightful exchange between the pair.
Many of the concords on this album sound deftly simple, but close listening reveals these tracks as complex arrangement. They are absolutely captivating tracks that can only come from strong chemistry between Talvin and Niladri. "Together" displays each musicians shocking talents and thrilling skills of expressing music.
A dear friend of mine who heard a track from this album even thought for a moment "maybe my cd is skipping"
