Schwindy's indie music spotlight: Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon

When I say soul music, probably a certain sound or certain great artists like Marvin Gaye or Al Green come to mind. Well, loyal reader, there is soul music that goes beyond what would be filed under soul in a record store. While you'd never find Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon in the soul section of your local record store, she certainly knows how to make music for the soul. What do I mean by that? Well, when I listen to her music, somehow it just makes me feel better. It's an interesting phenomenon especially because I don't understand any of the lyrics.

This album is based on a chant sung by people who walked with Mahatma Gandhi in the Salt March, but Soul March is a bit different than her previous album Soul Call. That album was based on an ancient chant and was filled with mostly Indian sounds. Soul March still has a mostly Indian influence, but it's also a little more jazzy. "Jog" especially has a Latin jazz feel in the piano and the percussion.

There is also a sort of orchestral feel in some of these songs. The string arrangements in some of the songs like "Behag" and "Misra Ghara" give the music a real richness. On this album, the variety of sounds seem to come from all directions. I don't know about you, but I never think that swimming in sound is a bad thing.

I could sit here and give you more details of this album, but this is something you need to experience. Like I said, I'm not sure how she does it, but Chandrika makes music that is good for the soul. I'm going to give you a challenge, and I hope you'll take me up on it. Disconnect from all your devices except your stereo. (I know. Quieting the mind is not easy.) Put on this CD and just soak it in. Think of it as a musical meditation. I'm willing to bet you'll feel better after the 56 minutes of Soul March.