Atul Karmarkar.Com» Music

WorldSpace to exit India

Atul Karmarkar — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:46:00 +0000

It was pretty disappointing to hear that WorldSpace was discontinuing its operations in India at the end of this year.

This was not entirely unexpected as the parent company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in 2008. At the time however, it was presumed that the Indian ops would continue but apparently that is not the case.

If you’ve paid for services beyond Dec-09, it is quite likely that a long wait is in store for you to get your money back, as according to the bankruptcy proceedings, you will be treated like any other creditor.

WorldSpace operated 36 channels, encompassing a wide range of music, but without any ads. A statistic I found truly amazing was that WorldSpace has a subscriber base of almost 4.5 lakh in India, unbelievable when you consider Indians in general like things for “free”! India also happened to be WorldSpace’s biggest market, accounting for more than 90% of its subscriber base.

Given all this, it is so ironic that India is also where the company stumbled over almost every regulatory hurdle there was, as India just doesn’t have a satellite radio policy, thereby disallowing WorldSpace from setting up a call centre and a digital recording studio in India, or even to stream music through its website.

Hopefully, there is some way in which this closure can be avoided and fingers are crossed on this one !

U2 live at the Pasadena Rose Bowl and YouTube

Atul Karmarkar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:52:40 +0000

Wow!!! Even though we’re now living in the age of music being freely available, I’d never ever imagined a band like U2 would actually stream a performance live. In fact, when I first heard about it, it seemed too good to be true, and I headed over to the site still thinking it was some kind of hoax.

However, lo and behold, it was true, and though initially the quality was pretty bad, it improved considerably later on. Fans across 16 countries, including the US, UK and India watched the Irishmen perform live at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California.

Almost 96,000 fans attended the event, with an estimated 7 million watching it live on YouTube. The band had disclosed last week that they had entered into a tie-up with YouTube to do this.

Overall, it was a pretty nice experience, though I had to cut it short as I was leaving for work. Saw it later, though..

Prime Circle at Hard Rock Cafe, Pune

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:19:32 +0000

It all started with an inocuous message saying that a South African band called Prime Circle were to play at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pune on Sunday (09-Aug) night.

The initial mirth at this geometric sounding name soon gave way to curiosity and then some animated discussions about who were keen to come along. We initially had a shortlist of 10 who seemed good to go, but eventually this came down to 8 of us, all “primed” and raring.

I had to meet up with an old friend prior to this and reached HRC around 8.45 pm, being the third person to arrive. There was an entry charge of Rs.500, which included a Tuborg on the house. I quickly settled down, and within minutes, our friend had even won a contest !

Hmm.. and what was the contest? Basically, a couple of stewardesses approached our table for participation in a game and the idea was to recognise the correct brand of whiskey while being blindfolded. The first peg was some other whiskey and the second one was THE one, Jim Beam, who by the way seemed to be the sponsors as it turned out.

By then our party had increased to 5 members and we were wondering when the live music was going to start. Come 9.30 pm and the other 3 also trooped in and we were all set. The band came on stage, and just then… another contest.

They had a Jim Beam guitar to give away to the person who could play it the best from the gathered crowd that night. Since it seemed to be a lucky night for our group, we prodded our ex-drummer buddy to give it a shot. After a bit of tuning and stuff, he began, and played quite decently for someone who had only been learning for 4 months. Two other guys also played, each for a minute and the time came to announce the winner. Popular opinion quite clearly pegged # 3 as the chosen one and he got the guitar.

Finally, the band began their stuff and overall, I’d say they were decent, nothing great, atleast as a first impression. It could be the kind of music that grows on you the more you listen to it, but till then I rate them a 3 on 5. Of course, there were some in our group who felt the sound was too loud. Well, that it certainly was, and wasn’t helped by somewhat poor acoustics at the venue. By the way, the food was ok too, though I’ve had better elsewhere.

As the proceedings wound down, the reunion thingy from earlier in the evening seemed to go on, as I met another friend… He grabbed my shoulder as we crossed paths and for a split second, I was wondering if it was some Mr.Tipsy even as I turned to see his face. Luckily, we’re connected on FaceBook so I had an idea of how he looked, but even then….. 18 years is a loooooong time huh !!

We all left just short of midnight. It was a friend’s birthday the next day so I sent her a message and then moved on to meet up some other friends who were close to the end of another party. A bit of hi’s n hellos here n there, before we all decided to call it a night… and then followed by a quick drive back to home sweet home.

Super end to a nice evening !

Oh jeez, its only Lez Zeppelin…

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:19:39 +0000

Did a double take while reading the Sunday Mid-Day a while ago…

Saw an article that seemed to say Led Zeppelin were gonna play in Mumbai and my excitement levels knew no bounds, especially after Def Leppard cancelled their concert, and then……… I read the article again, and suddenly all that excitement came crashing down…

The reason: It wasn’t Led Zeppelin that was gonna play, but Lez Zeppelin, an all girl LedZep cover band, along with Mass Ensemble, who are helping Citizens for Justice and Peace raise money for more ambulances, so that in the event of a calamity like 26/11, victims are not left to die for want of immediate medical attention.

In case you’d like to see them in action, head to Shanmukhananda Hall on March 21, 7 pm onwards, tickets available at Rhythm House or www.bookmyshow.com

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il champs – disappointing end

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:03:25 +0000

I’m usually quite critical of reality shows in general and when Zee Marathi SaReGaMaPa L’il Champs was being telecast everyday, I pretty much had the same reaction. Over the past few weeks, my watching frequency increased and I actually enjoyed watching some of the performances and repertoire of these young kids.

As this competition drew to a close, five contestants were vying for top honours, each one at their very best, and there was a general feeling among people for the award to be shared among all five. However, as we watched the finals or ‘maha antim pheri’ on Sunday, there was a palpable sense of disappointment, firstly because the songs were hardly upto expectations and certainly not in sync with the kids’ voices, and then after Kartiki Gaikwad was announced as the winner.

No doubt she was good, but it seemed a bit unfair, considering two others – Arya Ambekar and Prathamesh Laghate were far superior and had a wider range. The organisers of the show could so easily have kept public sentiment in mind and declared all of them as joint winners. It will be hard on young Kartiki now, especially with tongues wagging and she could’ve certainly done without this.

The Day The Music Died

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:35:03 +0000

Five decades ago, a single engine plane crashed into a snow covered field in Iowa, instantly killing three men whose names would become enshrined in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.

February 03, 1959 was the day when Buddy Holly (22), J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (28), and Ritchie Valens (17), performed in Clear Lake and then boarded the plane for a planned 300-mile flight that lasted only minutes.

Songwriter Don McLean referred to this incident as ”the day the music died.”

Starting Wednesday, thousands of people are expected to gather in the small northern Iowa town where the rock pioneers gave their last performance, as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame designates the building as its ninth national landmark.

Quite poignant, and I’ve heard some of their music on and off, the introduction of course coming after I’d read about Valens’ rendition of La Bamba, made popular by Los Lobos in the 1987 soundtrack by the same name.

Bose finally opens a store in Pune

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:17:20 +0000

Audiophiles in Pune can rejoice as Bose Corporation finally opened a store in the city, which is also their 22nd in India. The store, which was launched yesterday, will showcase the entire range of Bose products; Lifestyle systems, wave systems, speaker systems et al. You can look up the corporate blurb on their site.

Till now, Bose had stores in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ludhiana & Mumbai.

At Pune, the store is located on the airport road at Yerwada, in the Ishanya Mall, which is opposite the Golf Course. You can give them a buzz on +91 20 4128 0141/42. As is the norm with most malls now, The Bose Store is also open on all days of the week, from 12 pm – 8 pm. Wow… 12 pm !! Pretty odd time to open shop, eh ?

Personally though, when it comes to headphones, I find myself leaning towards Sennheiser… More on that some other time, though.

Strawberry Fields 2008 at Bangalore

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:33:07 +0000

Yup, time to let your hair down and rock !!!

The Times of India Strawberry Fields 2008 is set for masti and magic in Bangalore over the weekend with 60 rock bands letting it rip, and five finalists will get to perform along with Pentagram ! I’ll be in Bangalore only next weekend, so guess it’s strike out for this one.

This gig will be held at the National Law School, Nagarbhavi, Bangalore, and passes will be availabe at the TOI office on M.G Road. Incidentally, I’ve seen parts of Nagarbhavi some years ago and they were pretty awful, and the roads even more so. Apparently things seem have to have improved enough to host this event !!

Def Leppard concerts cancelled

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:51:01 +0000

Well, this one was a real bummer. Some of us were planning to attend the Def Leppard concert at Mumbai next weekend, on October 19.

However, all those plans went down the tube as the group have cancelled their concerts at Bangalore and Mumbai in view of the prevailing scenario in India. (ie. our bomb per weekend schedule). The organisers of the show felt the situation was pretty unsafe, given the massive crowd that would have gathered at these concerts.

A statement on the Def Leppard website said, ”We are sorry to report that due to unforeseen circumstances, the two shows in India (scheduled to take place on October 17 and 19 in Bangalore and Mumbai, resp.) have been cancelled. We apologize to our Indian fans and we hope to be able to make up for it in the future.”

The Indian gig was to be the second leg of the world tour to promote their latest album, ’Songs from the Sparkle Lounge’.

Let’s hope we can see them here in 2009 !

The Great Gig In The Sky comes to an end

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:50:49 +0000

Yup, the gig is over ! After a short battle with cancer, Pink Floyd keyboard wizard Richard Wright died on Monday at the age of 65. He was among the founder members of the band along with fellow students Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, all studying at Regent Street Polytechnic College of Architecture at the time.

Some all time classics associated with him forever would be songs like “The Great Gig In the Sky” and “Us And Them” from the album, ”Dark Side of the Moon”, released in 1973 and one of the top selling albums ever; “Echoes”, and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.

He fell out with Roger Waters during the making of the ‘The Wall’ and had to leave the band, before rejoining in 1987.

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed Pink Floyd’s music but never really found myself focussing on any particular member from the band, like it usually is with most music groups, the lead vocalist being the “face” or identity of the band.

R.I.P Richard Wright, and thanks for some wonderful moments !

Atul Karmarkar.Com» Music

WorldSpace to exit India

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