Desert Rain by Indian Ocean

Desert Rain, the Live and Debut album from one of India’s original rock bands, Indian Ocean.

This is my first live album review and it feels great that I am reviewing an album by a band from India.

Honestly the cover of the album sucks but I was in for a treat when I listened to the music. As of this writing one of the original band mates Asheem Chakravarty who used to play the Tabla, percussion and offer his vocals is no longer alive.

This is the debut album of one of India’s premier rock bands. They were fortunate to have their DAT recorder switched on while playing live on New Year’s Day 1997 at The SAHMAT concert at Mandi House, Delhi. In fact the band had to wait 7 hours before going on stage. The recording has become a record of sorts as there was no company to promote or sell the album. A company had to be formed to do so.

One gripe is the not-so-perfect quality of the recording. Another gripe is the singing which is more of the chant and bhajan type but the originality and the beauty of the music is undeniable. However the singing has improved considerably over the subsequent albums.

At the time of this recording the band comprised Rahul Ram (this guy has a PhD from Cornell University) on bass and vocals, Susmet Sen on guitar, Aseem Chakravarty on Tabla, percussion and vocals and Amit Kilam on drums and percussion.

Now a review of the songs –

Boll Weevil – 5.20 – Bass starts the song with tabla and guitar joining in soon. Drums join in and the song moves on beautifully. Susmet takes over and smoothly guides the guitar beautifully. At 2min.08sec vocals are heard and we are back with the music at 3.59 till its completion.

Desert rain – 5.36 – I wonder if it is the jew’s harp at the beginning or some other traditional Indian. Little singing and lyrics resembling more of chanting. Susmet does his bit on the guitar. Could have been a better song if only the singing was better with more lyrics than chants.

Euphoria – 6.02 – Till 2.35 till the vocals interrupt this is a beautiful song; some drums and percussion join in with the vocals and they go on for a while till u get sick of it; at 4.13 vocals disappear and we are back to the music. Again Susmet shines on his guitar.

From the ruins – 7.59 – Begins with a sad and dark music being played by guitar joined by bass. Susmet’s guitar playing is beautiful. At 3.49 the irritating vocals commence, this time chanting Hari Om and Sanskrit slokas; more drums heard during this time and beyond. At 6;10 vocals stops and we are back to the music with some more sloka shouting towards the end.

Going to Ito – 3.33 – Smallest of the songs but beautiful with lovely bass and guitar play and very little vocal.

Melancholic Ecstacy (7.58) – True to its name the song is a gem. The longest of the album at almost 8 minutes and Susmet lets the guitar sing and it is joy to listen to such a beautiful composition. You’ll be amazed at just what the guitar, tabla and bass can do. At 4 min the pace changes and quickens. Drums joins only sporadically but from 6 min onwards it can be heard more prominently.

Village Damsel 6.49 – Begins as a cheerful number. At 2.00 min singing starts. I think the language is Bengali (correct me if I am wrong). At 3.25 it is back to the music and vocals and then vocals gradually giving away to the music with Rahul’s bass taking the limelight. Music reminded me of Ananda Shankar’s instrumentals too.

My only complaint with the engineering behind the album is the quality of the recording which could have been made better. A little re-mastering would have bettered the recording in a long way.