Wake up to virtual music
Wake up to virtual music
Of late there has been much ado about going “viral”. Odes and paeans have been scripted in tribute to the Kolaveri phenomenon, which became an online sensation. But even as our television presenters babbled on blithely about the viral track of the year, the online medium crept determinedly towards the finishing line, finally emerging victorious in more ways than one. If diversity is what you are looking for, then online music shows are what you need to be bookmarking.
Balcony TV isn’t the only one of its kind. There is a rapid mushrooming of online music shows, and another show that might interest music lovers is on www.sofarsounds.com, which features music performances in living rooms. The Sofar website describes its events as “pop-up gigs” because the venue, always a living room, is kept secret, with the date, time and venue announced only to its community of subscribers. Of course, the videos from the pop-up gigs are later uploaded on their website, so if you can’t be present at the gig, you can always watch the video online. I watched a neat video of Shaa’ir + Func performing Embrace at what was described as the first Songs from a Room session in Asia.
What I find most admirable about these online shows is that they are often led and supported by people who are passionate about music and are, therefore, able to come together as a community or a loosely organized collective to enjoy music in simple, unpretentious surroundings. These are no-frills music sessions where the music remains in sharp focus, and creates that special bond between the performer and the listener. It doesn’t matter then that the stage is so small that the bass player in the band has to position himself on a step leading up to the landing. It doesn’t matter that there are no smokescreens, confetti showers and fireworks, or the glittery garish stage décor that is so much a part of music shows on television.
To be fair, there is a downside to the shows too. At times, the music can be amateurish and mediocre or just way too startlingly different to be immediately palatable.
But at least it isn’t the same fare that is served up day after day, night after night, on Indian television, mindlessly, and with fairly predictable histrionics thrown in now and again. Now if only our desi community of music lovers could come together to create one or more online shows that do justice to the immense diversity of musical expressions to be found in our amazing country!
Write to Shubha at musicmatters@livemint.com
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First Published:20 Jan 2012, 08:32 PM IST
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