Kaila Hawai'i

We are totally digging this live clip from our favorite pa’umotu rock band, Tikahiri. It was shot during the band’s multimedia, laser-injected spectacular that rocked La Maison de la Culture – Te Fare Tauhiti Nui in Tahiti this past spring.  We think of it as a foreshadowing good things to come – namely, a kick-ass concert in Hawai’i nei in 2011. (And guess who is helping?)

P.S. In case you were wondering about the name of the song. It’s called “Penetration”, off Tikahiri’s latest album Merahi Kerekere, or Black Angel – now available on iTunes

Tags: Merahi Kerekere, rock, Tahiti, Tikahiri

In keep with the South Asian theme of yesterday, we just discovered this sweet track from Apache Indian (he’s not Native American) entitled “Om Numah Shivaya”.  Produced a few years backs, it combines reggae and the sacred mantra of Shiva, “Om Namah Shivaya”. (Yes, the song name is spelled differently.) Not only is the song haunting, but the lyrics carry a message appropriate for the vehicle. But instead of posting them here, you can let them speak for themselves.

Tags: Apache Indian, mantra, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Numah Shivaya, reggae, Shiva

Back in my college days on the East Coast, I always had Talvin Singh’s compilation Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground playing in the background. It was one of those discs that heralded the arrival of the Asian sound into electronica and the greater mainstream music consciousness. Just think it would only be one year later that Madonna ended up worshipping “the guru’s lotus feet” on Ray of Light’s “Shanti/Ashtangi” produced by William Orbit. (On a digressive note, I recently realized that her VMA performance of “Shanti” – - was probably the first time any thing in Sanskrit was broadcasted on MTV. Unfortunately, though replete with bharata natyam dancers and projections of Hindu deities, the performance was vocally far from Ms. Ciccone’s best.)

In any case, more than a decade had passed since I originally chilled out to Mr. Singh’s fine selections brewing organic Chai in college housing when I ended up coming across the original clip for Mr. Singh’s “Jaan”. Directed by Mr. Rob Howard, “Jaan” feels likes a step back into a recent but far different time. (One more digression: is this how people feel when they look back at the sixties?) One thing for certain is that “Jaan” is certifiably one tripped out video: lots of soft-focus close ups of a statue of Buddha merging with Mr. Singh’s eyes, then long haired women in flowing fabrics, and finally feeding of farm animals. I think this would be a textbook example of what could be called an impressionistic non-narrative. Perhaps, knowledge of Hindi (I hope I’m not making a linguistic faux-pas) would help understand the context, but at least the vast intellectual storehosue of the Internet has left me with no answers.

Here is Mr. Singh’s in more recent times in a stunning tabla performance entitled “Devotion”. I can’t help but think that Hawai’i is in need of more tabla-injected dance parties.

Tags: electronica, Jaan, Madonna, tabla, Talvin Singh