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Sample Track 1:
"Raah Nihaaroon" from Monologues
Sample Track 2:
"Mai Kya Hoon" from Monologues
Layer 2
Album Review

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Perceptive Travel, Album Review >>

Monologues Vandana Vishwas We say: Contemporary Indian ghazals from downtown Toronto. Who'd have thought it: traditional Indian music from Canada? As a girl in India, Vandana Vishwas had hopes of becoming a Bollywood singer but, despite winning singing competitions and appearing on radio and television in the country of her birth, she ended up an architect. After working in Dubai for years she moved to Toronto and it was here that she restarted her musical career, recording Meera—The Lover about seven years ago. Monologues is Vishwas's second recording and consists entirely of original compositions by her, with lyrics by her instrumentalist husband Vishwas Thoke. As with most Indian vocal music, this recording has the signature high-pitched glissando to the fore, but Monologues is surprisingly varied and generally user-friendly to those not familiar with the form. As well as traditional Indian music, there are jazz influences at work too, and unexpected instrumentation that includes saxophone on "Des Se Door (Away From Motherland)" and Japanese koto on "Aaye Zubaan Pe (Unspoken Love)". There is even a ghazal (an Indian poetic form that originates from Arabic verse) sung to a backing of overdrive guitar in the case of "Mai Kya Hoon (What Am I?)," the closing track. Some songs like "Yahi Ek Lamha (This One Very Moment)" sound almost like contemporary singer-songwriter material, while others like "Bas Baahon Mein (Obsession)" are a bit more Bollywood in feel. The subtitle of Monologues is "A Bouquet of Indian Melodies…" and this seems a fair assessment of what is on offer here. 02/01/13 >> go there
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