Music review: Black Friday

Music review: Black Friday
By: Narendra Kusnur
January 8, 2005
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*YUCK **WHATEVER ***GOOD ****SUPER *****AWESOME

Music review: Black Friday


BLACK FRIDAY *****
Music: Indian Ocean
Label and genre: Times Music, film soundtrack
Price: Cassettes Rs 75, CDs Rs 195

Fourteen years on the scene, Delhi band Indian Ocean has released incredibly brilliant albums like Desert Rain, Kandisa and Jhini. Blending jazz, rock, Indi-folk, Indian classical and various other elements, they have come out with a distinct sound.

The group has now worked on the original soundtrack of the Mid Day-presented, Anurag Kashyap-directed Black Friday, which is based on the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993.

Clearly, here’s a soundtrack that emulates Hollywood standards. Haunting and dark on the one hand, stylish and eclectic on the other, it grips you with its sheer power and depth.

The album begins with the marvellous Bandhey, where the band sings Piyush Mishra’s lines “Arrey neendein hain zakhmee, arrey sapne hain bhookhe, ki karvat phat padegi.” Expressive vocals (Asheem Chakravarty, joined by Rahul Ram and Amit Kalam) and a sizzling lead guitar line make this a beauty.

Badshah In Jail is filled with guilt, and the sudden pick-up of tempo towards the end gives it loads of energy Bharam Bhaap Ke starts with a moving guitar line and tight percussion, before the vocal lines ‘Bharam bhaap ke, sharam dhaap ke, karam naap ke, bhaaga re” take over.

The other tracks are by and large instrumental, with huge jazz influences and intricate Indian vocal patterns. In a way, they narrate the film’s sequence.

While Opening/ Pre-Blast and Bomb Planting are gripping, Memon House is a jazz-rock beauty with smart guitars and charming keyboards. Chase uses Indian percussion bols effectively.

Most of the music has been played by the Indian Ocean members — acoustic guitarist Susmit Sen, bassist Rahul Ram, tabla player percussionist Asheem Chakravraty and drummer Amit Kalam.

However, one finds some fabulous contributions by Raghav Sachar (saxophone, flute, clarinet), Paresh Kamath (electric guitar) and Dishad (sarangi).

While each composition hits you intensely, what’s also welcome is the flawless sound production (K J Singh, with Indian Ocean). In every sense, this album rocks.

And check out….

Those who loved Black Friday could also check out these Indian Ocean albums. The ratings are the ones given in earlier reviews published in Mid Day.

Desert Rain ****
Kandisa ****
Jhini *****