The
Sensational Sound of Nitin
Sawhney
Compiled
by Sabrina F Ahmed
There's
something to be said about music piracy…it's actually brought us face-to-face
to some real talent. When the pirated compilation First Prize hit
the stands in the local market, it boosted the music producer Habib
into overnight superstardom. It also introduced us to the genius that
is Nitin Sawhney. This week, we take a closer look at the man who
brought us "The Sunset Song", "Nadiya" and other
hits.
There
is no disputing the fact that Nitin Sawhney is widely regarded as
one of the most influential and versatile creative talents alive today
Firmly
established as a world-class producer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist,
orchestral composer, and cultural pioneer, Sawhney has become a latter-day
Renaissance man in the worlds of music, dance, theatre, and film.
An acclaimed flamenco
guitarist and classical/jazz pianist (Sawhney will be performing with
the Britten Sinfonia at London's Royal Festival Hall later this year),
he entered the professional world of recorded music approximately
ten years ago, and has since released 6 studio albums - each one garnering
critical acclaim. London's Outcaste Records released the breakthrough
Beyond Skin in '99, which took a prestigious Technics Mercury
Music Prize nomination and won Sawhney the coveted South Bank Show
Award. Subsequently Richard Branson's V2 Records signed Sawhney to
a six-album deal, and released the millennial epic Prophesy
in 2001 (winning a MOBO Award as well as the BBC Radio 3 Music Award).
This year will see the release of All Mixed Up the definitive
Nitin Sawhney remix collection (including mixes of Sawhney's seminal
works by MJ Cole, Bugz in the Attic, Nasha, Joe Clausell, London Elektricity,
KV5, Fink, Ojos de Brujo, and Sei-ji). Sawhney's seventh studio album
will follow shortly thereafter in the early part of 2005. He has toured
each of his albums extensively around the world (single-handedly selling
out London's Royal Albert Hall a month in advance), with the latest
DJ performances being at the Lincoln Center Festival (NYC), the 9:30
Club (D.C.) and the Hollywood Bowl (LA) in July 2004.
Sawhney
has either written, remixed, played, or produced for a host of world-class
artists, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Sinead O'Connor, A R
Rahman, Jeff Beck, and countless others. Currently, Sawhney is writing
with Will Young (signed to Simon Cowell's 19 Mgmt, and whose debut
album sold over 1.5m records worldwide) for Young's second studio
album.
Sawhney's
skills as producer and composer were called upon in 2000 when Cirque
du Soleil approached him to produce the studio album of Varekai,
which brought his unique sound to an even-wider audience. In 2002
he worked with Akram Khan and Anish Kapoor, scoring the music to Khan's
critically acclaimed choreographed work Kaash, which toured
worldwide between 2002 2003. Sawhney has since been commissioned to
score the forthcoming Mahabharata adaptation by Olivier-award
winning writer Stephen Clarke, as well as Khan's forthcoming new piece
in 2005.
To
date, Sawhney has scored over twenty-five films from his London-based
Spirit Dance studios (six in the last twelve months), as well as having
scored TV ads for the likes of Nike and Sephora . His music for Channel
Four's Second Generation saw him nominated for the prestigious
Ivor Novello Award for Film and TV Composition (2004), and his music
has accompanied everything from dark, high-tension drama to light-hearted
animatronics. Known for his incredible degree of versatility and exceptional
standards of excellence, Sawhney has established himself as one of
the UK's leading scorers for film and television.
This
year, Sawhney has been commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra , the Britten Sinfonia , and the Nuance Ensemble to compose
several new performance works. Past commissions include 2000's Urban
Prophecies for The Proms, as well as 2001's Neural Circuits
for the Britten Sinfonia and leading British pianist, Joanna MacGregor.
He is also currently in discussion with London's Royal National Theatre
to stage a new production, written and scored by himself.
Much
of Sawhney's attention remains focused on the areas of education and
community building, accepting the role of Artist in Residence for
no less than 5 separate performing arts organisations across Great
Britain and Asia. This year Sawhney joined Sir George Martin as a
patron for the British Government's Access-to-Music program (which
brings non-traditional music education programs to inner-city kids),
and is also patron of the Raindance East Film Festival and the British
Independent Film Awards. Sawhney also appears regularly as an arts
and current affairs commentator on topical discussion and news programs
such as the BBC's Newsnight, Newsnight Review, Channel Four News,
and HardTalk . He has also written for UK national broadsheets:
The
Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, and The Observer.
Collateral
Review
by Gokhra
Collateral opens
with Tom Cruise exchanging briefcases with a stranger in an airport.
Then, intriguingly, it seems to turn into another movie. It opens
with a deliciously well-written flirtation between a cabbie named
Max (Jamie Foxx) and a fare named Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), a pretty,
stressed-out lawyer who marvels at Max's ability to bring out her
playful side. She's all business rattling off the streets he should
take to get her to downtown Los Angeles. He says he knows a faster
route. They end up making a bet: The ride will be free if he doesn't
get them downtown faster.
The
scene continues. It's not about flirtation. Sometimes you only need
to have a few words with a person to know you would like to have many
more. They open up. She's a federal prosecutor who confesses she's
so nervous the night before a big case that she cries. He says he
plans to own his own limousine service. They like each other. He lets
her get out of the cab and knows he should have asked for her number.
Then she taps on the window and gives him her card.
But then Annie
gets out and Vincent (Cruise) gets in.
Vincent has five contracts--people he has to kill before 6 a.m. and
his departing plane. To him, a reliable pro like Max is a godsend.
Vincent
is dressed in a tailored silver suit, with gray hair and gray stubble;
even his eyebrows don't commit to color. He barks questions at Max,
pretending an interest that doesn't exist, then impulsively decides
to hire the driver for his appointed nightly rounds. The first stop
results in a body flying out a window and landing on the roof of Max's
cab. "You killed him," gasps the stunned cabbie. "No,
I shot him," deadpans Vincent. "The bullets and the fall
killed him." Vincent now has to cope with Max as well as the
fine details of each murder.
Max is now a chauffeur
with a gun to his head and a body in his trunk. Meanwhile, two hip
L.A. cops, Fanning (Mark Ruffalo) and Weidner (Peter Berg of "The
Last Seduction") are following the trail of murders.
Collateral is
essentially a long conversation between a killer and a man who fears
for his life. This long scene at the beginning of a thriller establishes
two important characters. It is also good on its own terms, like a
self-contained short film.
There's a lot
of dialogue in this movie which is a cool digression form the usual
wall-to-wall action flicks.
Collateral
is directed beautifully throughout. Of course in the last bit the
producers let loose on the typical stuff instead of carrying on with
drama. The movie does have a few improbable scees for exaple in one
they turn up at a night-club and you're wondering what the link is.
Overall Collateral is an expertly-made thriller that is taut, terrific
and realistic with high-tech extravaganza echoing John Woo moves.
Anime
Review
Macross Plus
By Lancer
Before
I get down to actually reviewing this particular anime, a little bit
of introduction seems due to the original series this is based on.
Any anime follower must've heard of
Macross, but the series has a special place with me... it was THE
series that got this reviewer hooked on to anime eight years ago...
we knew it as Robotech and would wake up at 6AM to catch the early
morning runs on Star Plus in days before the current waves of Hindi
TV drowned out some of the most entertaining TV programming it was
ever our luck to watch...
Robotech:
The Macross Saga revolved around the crew and inhabitants of an alien
spaceship that had been repaired with the concerted efforts of humankind
after its crash landing on Earth ended the third world war... and
the alien race came along to reclaim "their" ship and eradicate
mankind in the process.
Macross
Plus is a considerable period afterwards, and is the story (on the
surface) of two test pilots for prototype transforming fighter planes
competing for the post of miltary approval and replacement of the
previous generation's mainstream fighter. However, it seems the pilots
have a common and rather rocky past, and a third person from that
past is also present at the scene...
This
anime (4-part mini series or single movie depending on how you get
it) features a storyline that is far from grand, but gripping and
beautiful because every character you meet is BRILLIANTLY conceived.
Each of them has their flaws... Isamu Dyson is a hothead and a showoff
(think Tom Cruise from Top Gun), Guld Bowman is a cold, calculating
and rather wicked character throughout, Myung (third person mentioned
above) is a singer-turned-producer with her own secrets and a great
bleeding LUMP of insecurity, and so on. Animation is some of the best
I've seen, with battling mecha swooping by really quickly and with
enough style to give you an adrenaline rush like a fire-hose, and
the music is sublime. Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, etc) is
at her very best here, and it shows...
This anime stands out on its own,
and managed to live up to the expectations of a die-hard Macross fan
like me. Even if you've never seen anime before, this is a treat you
have no right to miss. It's probably on Kazaa and/or Ares, though
I'm not sure and maybe you could bug the people at Rifles Square into
getting you the movie edition..
(Rated Teen)
Sites
Unseen
By Niloy
Nothing
much has been happening lately, and I haven't got much to say. So
let's dive into the virtual abyss of the Widely Weird Web.
Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by
actual spam subject lines!
http://www.spamusement.com/
Ever wondered how silly spammers could be to use subject lines like
"Bet you never seen this before…" and "Instant money
for free!" This site takes a truly evil step towards blasting
them. The result? Some of the best cartoons I've ever seen. Trust
me, they are awesome when I say they are. And don't worry, none of
cartoons contains anything you won't like.
How the great companies of today were
named!
http://www.factindex.com/l/li/list_of_company_name_etymologies.html
Did you how the giant companies of today named themselves, where companies
like Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony… got their titles? I liked what
the site has to tell, especially the bit about how Apple got named.
Apparently, Steve Jobs was furious in a meeting when the executives
failed to come up with a good name for the company (the company was
expanding and it needed a new name). Enraged, he threatened to name
the company with a silly name like "Apple" (he liked apples)
if the executives fail to come up with a better name by 5:00 pm. It
seems now that the executives failed.
The "Good" wife's guide
http://www.robinsweb.com/humor/good_wife.html
Ah! This one's always nice to read. First researched and published
for guiding the American women in the 1950s, the guide is now digitized
and available online for everyone to cherish!
Proper phone etiquettes
http://contactsheet.org/junk/telephone1.html
Are you sure you know everything about phone etiquette? Then consult
Uncle Sam's ultimate guide for making friends over the phone! Another
publication from the 1950s, this guide is a real deal. Funnily illustrated
and written, it's nice to read.
Did
you know Drugs are bad?
http://www.freevibe.com/
Well, this site tells you that they are, but it does so in style.
It's not like the boring drone-like lectures about drugs, but something
you'd feel like pursuing. It's about teenagers from across the globe
fighting against the addiction, against its effects and against anything
that glamorises drugs. Check out the information section while you
are visiting the site.
You send it
http://s4.yousendit.com/
This site's great for sending large attachments, and it send files
sized up to 1 GB. Although you would probably never need to send anything
that large, this site is great for sending files that are too big
for sending via Hotmail or Yahoo. Just type in the target email address,
select the file to attach and press "send".
The dullest blog in the world!
http://www.wibsite.com/wiblog/dull/
If you are somewhat experienced with the weird internet world, then
you would have known about blogs (websites, used for voicing opinions
or as open diaries). A huge number of people use blogs… by 2003, 7
percent of America was blogging! With that amount of blogs, it's obvious
that there are some really, really awful blogs. This site mockingly
bashes those extremely dull blogs that makes you want to weep silently
for humanity.
That's it for this Sites Unseen. I hope you enjoyed it as much as
I did. If you need to contact me about something, mail me at niloy.me@gmail.com
