Our Picks From Pune NH7 Weekender Day 1

Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2011’s Black Rock Arena. Photo: Shiv Ahuja

Six stages, over 80 bands and a couple of visits to the bar call for some nifty footwork and planning at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender. The best part about any festival is being able to catch as many acts as possible and every new act that you can. If you’re a festival glut, that is. In this primer, we include a schedule for Weekender first-timers with a day-by-day breakdown of the must-watch acts and a bonus sched for those who don’t mind some manic stage hopping.

Day 1 ”“ November 2^nd

Talvin Singh - 6.20-7.20pm - Eristoff Wolves Den

The last time he was in India in 2010, UK-based tabla artist Talvin Singh performed a somber, yet, by no means conventional, sit down set at the Jazz Utsav at NCPA with Mexican electronica artist Murcof and French trumpter Erik Truffaz. While we hope that his performance at the Eristoff Wolves Den, which has previously hosted explosive sets by the likes of Asian Dub Foundation, will retain the remarkable finesse and restraint that he displayed at Jazz Utsav, we also know that Singh’s sets can get hooky enough to drive an audience that’s looking to kick off the dance party early. Think Anokha nights that were at the centre of the Asian Underground Movement in the UK in the Nineties. Singh plans to use acoustic tablas [no Tablatronix on this set] and rope in vocalist Ramya Iyer for a chilled out set.

Swarathma and Friends - 6.30-7.20pm - The Other Stage

The Bengaluru folk rock band that made it to the cover of ROLLING STONE INDIA earlier this year have upped the game with every show, be it with the use of indigenous folk instruments [Pavan Kumar CJ used Channapatna toys to add to his percussion section on the track “Ghum” when they launched Topiwalleh in Mumbai] or by collaborating with a variety of artists including metal band Scribe’s lead vocalist Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy and Hindustani classical music vocalist Shubha Mudgal.

Watch Swarathma collaborate with Shubha Mudgal on The Dewarists Season 1

Dualist Inquiry and Friends - 8.10-9.00pm - The Other Stage

As you read this, Dualist Inquiry’s Sahej Bakshi is wrapping up a remix of “Naane Daari,” the disco-powered track from Swarathma’s second album Topiwalleh. Bakshi, who has a soft spot for the Eighties video game character Mario, has some cool collaborations lined up as well. There’s Sidd Coutto who will jam on a track that Coutto and Bakshi wrote together, Ox7Gen percussionist Aditya Ashok, guitarist and producer Randolph Correia on “Gravitat” and Swarathma on “Naane Daari.”

 Watch  “Gravitat”

 

The Raghu Dixit Project - 9.00-10.00pm - The Dewarists

You’ve got to be living under a rock if you don’t know that The Raghu Dixit Project from Bengaluru has impressed audiences at the biggest music festivals including Glastonbury and WOMAD. TRDP has aced every gig we’ve been to and turned into a festival highlight every year. Just when you think they can’t outdo themselves, they’ve lined up some guests including Advaita sarangi player and vocalist Suhail Khan. Also on the line-up is a jam with Delhi electronica vets, MIDIval Punditz ”“ now this is an atypical guest spot that we’re really keen to check out.

Check out TRDP On Later”¦with Jools Holland

Pentagram + R.O.T.W. - 9.00-10.00pm - Eristoff’s Wolves Den

It’s Pentagram with the Rest Of The World, make what you will of that. Besides thousands of fans who will sing along, this set could go anywhere and even end up being the first All Stars set of the fest.

 Watch “Lovedrug Climbdown” from their album Bloodywood that released in 2011

 

Jahcoozi –  9.00-10.00pm - Pepsi Dub Station

In an interview with indie music blog Deftune, Jahcoozi’s Sri Lankan lead vocalist, songwriter and trumpet player Sasha Perera described the Berlin-based band’s music as “soothing harmonics for cough syrup addicts to be played loud at home or at your local disco!” The bass-loving electronica act has a collaboration lined up with the Delhi audio visual collective, B.L.O.T. The three-member Jahcoozi, which also includes producers and musicians Teuton Robot Koch and Oren Gerlitz, toured India in 2011 and previously collaborated with B.L.OT. in 2012 on a project named SoundCamp in Sri Lanka.

Watch Jahcoozi’s “Barefoot Dub” on MTV Roots

Go to the next page for the Ed’s all-you-can-catch sched