Hans Mann is raw upcoming Canadian talent to watch out for. I predict 2010 will be his year and many of you will come to know of his name. He's a producer of many talents, plays all his own instruments and has his own band of like-minded individuals "Avalla". Here is a monster track he recently produced for "Deep Jandhu". Having met him once, he is also a very humble and down to earth dude. Enjoy...
Deep Jandu appears to a great vocalist as well, and the video of this track is on-point as well.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
2009 a Year of Duets
After a bit of a hiatus I'm back. I know I have not been posting as much as I did a year ago, however, this year, I've made a concious decision resolution to continue this blog- irrelavant of how many visitors I get. Every now and then I recieve compliments from the few who read it and ask me to continue it. So this is why I'm back. I promise to do at least 2 posts a week regarding bhangra or anything bhangra related. So without further adue...
One of the first things I want to talk about this year is the "Duets". I think everyone and their fathers had a duet song with Miss Pooja last year, you may have recorded one as well and not know it. Just google "[your name] feat Miss Pooja" to be sure.
I have talked about this "monkey see, monkey do" mentality before and yet year after year its the same thing - 'you have a duet song, well then i must do the same'. As much as pure desi heads rant about "UK Bhangra" and how the "UK singers don't know how to sing, etc.." Bhangra from the motherland hasn't gotten any better. The producers in India are using the same cookie-cutter template of beats, with same repeatative loops and the same song structure; where Miss Pooja, Sudesh Kumari, etc verses are cut and pasted with another aspiring "male star". And the videos, don't get me started on the videos...you will need to read my previous blog post for that.
Don't get me wrong, out of simple probability and mathematics, if you record 30 of these duets in a month, 1 or 2 song must become dancefloor hits. And "hits" are relative to who you ask. For instance "Chabbi" is huge hit in UK but rest of 'desi' Canada and India, nobody really wants to hear it.
A few years ago, UK scene was again pushing envelopes, experimenting with UK Garage, Drum n' Bass, etc. While at the same time, also producing the pure hardcore bhangra tracks (i.e. "Tharti Hildi"). At this time, just like Miss Pooja duets, it seemed Lehmber was 'rinsed' in the UK, but here is the difference, every UK producer gave him their own touch. Zues, Swami, PJD, RDB, etc all added unique flavours to Lehmber's voice. And this made for an interesting listen and healthy competition. This is also why my ears can still tolerate Lehmber to this day, while hearing another duet from India makes me cringe. With current duets you cannot tell one song apart from the other, unless if they are really distinct, its like finding a sui in a haystack or you just have to be totally drunk at a wedding to appreciate it.
I do understand and respect that duets have been part of punjabi folk culture, from likes of Didar Sandhu & Amar Noori, Mohammed Saddiq & Ranjit Kaur, Chamkila & Amarjot, but these 'jodis' had a history together, whereas nowadays, if you have the money, you could probably have someone like Miss Pooja feature with you, no kidding. Nowadays, there is no connection between the 2 duet singers, very rarely will you feel the chemistry between the two, and when you do, I guess those are the songs which are considered "hits".
How long will this trend last? I do not really have an answer to this but I do know that the scene is currently over-saturated. I would have prefered duets in moderation, as they say "too much of anything is never a good thing". Hopefully this year we see a decline in some of these duets and the UK scene picks up.
One of the first things I want to talk about this year is the "Duets". I think everyone and their fathers had a duet song with Miss Pooja last year, you may have recorded one as well and not know it. Just google "[your name] feat Miss Pooja" to be sure.
I have talked about this "monkey see, monkey do" mentality before and yet year after year its the same thing - 'you have a duet song, well then i must do the same'. As much as pure desi heads rant about "UK Bhangra" and how the "UK singers don't know how to sing, etc.." Bhangra from the motherland hasn't gotten any better. The producers in India are using the same cookie-cutter template of beats, with same repeatative loops and the same song structure; where Miss Pooja, Sudesh Kumari, etc verses are cut and pasted with another aspiring "male star". And the videos, don't get me started on the videos...you will need to read my previous blog post for that.
Don't get me wrong, out of simple probability and mathematics, if you record 30 of these duets in a month, 1 or 2 song must become dancefloor hits. And "hits" are relative to who you ask. For instance "Chabbi" is huge hit in UK but rest of 'desi' Canada and India, nobody really wants to hear it.
A few years ago, UK scene was again pushing envelopes, experimenting with UK Garage, Drum n' Bass, etc. While at the same time, also producing the pure hardcore bhangra tracks (i.e. "Tharti Hildi"). At this time, just like Miss Pooja duets, it seemed Lehmber was 'rinsed' in the UK, but here is the difference, every UK producer gave him their own touch. Zues, Swami, PJD, RDB, etc all added unique flavours to Lehmber's voice. And this made for an interesting listen and healthy competition. This is also why my ears can still tolerate Lehmber to this day, while hearing another duet from India makes me cringe. With current duets you cannot tell one song apart from the other, unless if they are really distinct, its like finding a sui in a haystack or you just have to be totally drunk at a wedding to appreciate it.
I do understand and respect that duets have been part of punjabi folk culture, from likes of Didar Sandhu & Amar Noori, Mohammed Saddiq & Ranjit Kaur, Chamkila & Amarjot, but these 'jodis' had a history together, whereas nowadays, if you have the money, you could probably have someone like Miss Pooja feature with you, no kidding. Nowadays, there is no connection between the 2 duet singers, very rarely will you feel the chemistry between the two, and when you do, I guess those are the songs which are considered "hits".
How long will this trend last? I do not really have an answer to this but I do know that the scene is currently over-saturated. I would have prefered duets in moderation, as they say "too much of anything is never a good thing". Hopefully this year we see a decline in some of these duets and the UK scene picks up.
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