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2 months ago | 
tinnitist.com | Neko Case |Tanya Pearson |Deepa Ganesh
I haven’t spoken to Neko Case in more than 20 years, but I can still vividly recall our last telephone chat. She was in the back of a car, bombing down some rural U.S. roadway with a bunch of people who were trying to find an antique store. Needless to say, it was not the optimal setting for an in-depth chat about whatever album or tour she was promoting. But it did seem to be an accurate reflection of the whirlwind rollercoaster that constituted her life at that time.
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Aug 15, 2024 | 
thehindu.com | Deepa Ganesh
Violin maestro L. Subramaniam recently published his doctoral thesis as a book, Raga Harmony (Westland). The book explains how he integrated the Indian raga system with the harmonic structure of Western classical music. Subramaniam proposes a path-breaking 36-scale concept, which will make it possible for the Indian ragas to be played by western orchestras.
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Aug 2, 2024 | 
deccanherald.com | Deepa Ganesh
Narasimhachar was not only a passionate and committed musician, but also a fine human being. His gentle, self-effacing ways were a testament to his conviction that art should speak for itself. However, in a world that was fast changing, Narasimhachar was quite an anomaly. In a 1986 interview to a Kannada daily, Narasimhachar laments the negative influence of politics and commercialisation on music.
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Feb 1, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Purushottam Agrawal |Vaishna Roy |Deepa Ganesh
Ustad Rashid Khan’s artistry, a contemporary embrace of tradition, resonated with a generation of music enthusiasts. Hindustani music will feel his absence forever.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anando Bhakto |T.K. Rajalakshmi |V. Venkatesan |Deepa Ganesh
Unannounced rain had turned the magnificent natural surroundings of Uri ominously dull and colder than usual. It formed an apt setting for a group of traders who had assembled outside an eatery at the town’s main market to talk about their ruined businesses and the immitigable impact on all aspects of their lives, a fallout of an abrupt embargo imposed on trade across the Line of Control (LoC) in April 2019.
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Jan 22, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Purushottam Agrawal |Deepa Ganesh |Amey Tirodkar |Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay
The word “Ram” as an adjective means soothing and pleasing in Sanskrit. For millennia it has been so for millions in India and beyond, not in a frivolous, hedonistic way but in a sublime sense. As a proper noun, as the name of a person, it refers to the king of Ayodhya, who as the crown prince willingly suffered unjust banishment for 14 years as he chose to uphold the sanctity of the “word” given by his father, King Dashrath, in a moment of weakness to his youngest wife, Kaikeyi.
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Jan 22, 2024 | 
thehindu.com | Deepa Ganesh
Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna and Tamil writer-teacher Perumal Murugan have been collaborators for some years now. Together, their attempt has been to broaden the horizons of the Carnatic music thinkscape — a poetic effort to infuse the socio-political and more. When Murugan wrote the song on the chittukuruvi (sparrow) as a metaphor for joyous tidings, Krishna sang it in raga Mohana Kalyani. When he composed the aandhai (owl) keertana, he sang it in raga Reetigowla.
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Jan 13, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Deepa Ganesh |Rakesh Sood |Vaishna Roy
“I’m crying because out there he’s gone, but he’s not gone inside me”.(Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 14, 1987: On the little raccoon’s death.)Is it ever possible to reconcile the opposing ideas of mortality and immortality? Ustad Rashid Khan is no more. But is he no more? I asked myself this question several times; a question I have asked on other occasions as well.
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Dec 20, 2023 | 
thehindu.com | Deepa Ganesh
Ramakrishnan Murthy’s concert featured two mridangists - Delhi Sairam and N.C. Bharadwaj - belonging to different schools of thought. The question about the use of two mridangams has been around for long. And, after this concert, I decided to find answers to it. The concert opened with the Patnam Subramanya Iyer composition, the Navaragamalika varnam ‘Valachi vacchi’. This tana varnam has a strong and pulsating rhythmic structure, which lends a majestic aura to the performance.
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Sep 6, 2023 | 
thehindu.com | Deepa Ganesh
India’s singing superstar Asha Bhosle is 90. Could this be a statement of her age? With a voice that belies it, and a spirit so young, Asha Bhosle 90 is more a statement of the age of all her listeners. We have been listening to her for three decades or over six decades is an indication of how years have added to our lives, and yet, we continue to listen to her. She sang for a new film, Hari-Om; recently President Draupadi Murmu requested her to sing at a public event.
