lifestyle WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014

Music & Movies

Director of the Al-Jaber University of Music Dr Salman Al-Balushi Prof Mavelikkara P Subramaniam presents Carnatic music concert. addresses the audience. Rooted in classical purity Subramaniam regales Carnatic music lovers

By Sajeev K Peter interlocutors between Almighty God depending on the phrases of the raga. and ordinary people. Director of Al- Rejecting a popular notion that pure rof Mavelikkara P Subramaniam Jaber University of Music Dr Salman Al- classical music has lost its mass appeal, regaled Carnatic music connois- Balushi, Head of the computer section Subramaniam said musical legends Pseurs in Kuwait with his alluring at the Higher Education Department such as Shemmangudi, Madhurai Mani classical rendition during a two-hour and percussion artist Amid Hassan, Iyer, Alathur Brothers and Ariakkudi concert at the Indian Community Head of the Department, Education Ramnajuam Iyengar never compro- School (Junior) auditorium in Salmiya. Ministry, Dr Asma Al-Eid, music teachers mised on classical purity, yet they The concert was organized by Sabha at the Al-Jaber University of Music Prof appealed to the masses. “They inter- Kuwait, marking the finale of the nine- Alfred Gameel, Dr Sahar Malham, preted music to give it a higher level of day ‘Navaratri’ celebrations. The musical Heston and senior engineer Kannan beauty and sensibility. At the same evening came alive after five music stu- honored the musicians. time, they never compromised the val- dents lighted the traditional lamp to “Indian music must not be confined ues of classical purity,” he said. inaugurate the program. The students to Indian audiences alone in Kuwait. It “Experiment does not always result in rendered ‘Guruvandanam’ as a musical must be presented before Kuwaiti audi- quality. Similarly, creativity does not tribute to the gurus Prof Subramaniam ences as well who are ardent lovers of always mean new as well. Every raga and violin maestro Prof Thiruvizha Ullas. Indian music,” said Balushi, who was the calls for a certain propriety that must be Subramaniam, whose music is root- chief guest of the event. He said Al- maintained,” he pointed out. ed in strict classical purity, created a Jaber University would invite Indian Subramaniam, who has been a soothing ambiance in the auditorium musicians to present Indian programs singer and a music teacher for the last Dr Asma Al-Eid presents a memento to Thiruvizha Ullas. with his delightful rendition. His con- at the university. 35 years, felt that nuances and inner cert resonated with raga and rhythm, beauties of classical music are better among their disciples. There are certain fusion of music and dance (jugalband- and took music lovers to a world of Classical purity enjoyed in the state of Tamil Nadu hidden beauties of music. Tune to them hi) of Carnatic and Hindustani music pure classical music and its sensibilities. Earlier, in a brief conversation, which has a strong base and rich tradi- to realize and enjoy it. Otherwise, it and Bharatanatyam and Odissi dances, He was accompanied on the violin by Subramaniam said, “Good knowledge in tion. Subramaniam said, “Learning won’t be possible to pass on the classi- said Sabha’s Chief Coordinator Madhu Ullas and on the mridangam by Carnatic music will help one interpret Carnatic music is painstaking. Its foun- cal purity to the next generation of Nair. Sabha Kuwait is a no-profit associ- Perunna Harikumar. Ragesh and enjoy any genre of music, be it dation must be correct because it is a singers in its true sense,” he added. ation that seeks to propagate Indian Ramakrishnan provided ghadam sup- Indian, Eastern or Western”. He said very complex art and a student has to Lakshmi Suresh and Pushpa classical and traditional art forms in port. every raga has a certain grammar. It learn all the details and nuances of each Subramaniam anchored the event. Kuwait. Sabha Chairman Vijay Karayil in his also has certain modulations. It has to song. While teachers have to be careful, Sabha will present its fifth program on brief address said musicians are the be presented in its right tempo gurus must create a passion for music Dec 12, 2014 at the ICSK, Salmiya - a

Reese Witherspoon says film ‘Wild’ hardest of career

scar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon said her new film “Wild” was the hardest Orole of her career, at the biopic’s premiere at the London Film Festival on Monday. Witherspoon plays the role of Cheryl Strayed, a woman who trecked across a vast tract of wilder- ness in the United States for three months to recover from the death of her mother, a marriage breakup and heroin abuse. “It was more chal- lenging in a way that I’ve never had before,” Witherspoon said. “It’s definitely the hardest movie I’ve ever made, physically, emotionally, mentally, but when I got through it I was so happy.” Initially, Punk turned lecturer Witherspoon had carried a backpack filled with newspaper for filming, but this was replaced by a US singer Pharrell Williams performs on the stage of the Zenith in Paris, on October Iggy Pop: Take bag packed with weights by Jean-Marc Vallee to 13, 2014. Williams released “G I R L”, his last album, on March 2014.—AFP make her walk more realistically. “I’ve never been money out of music as strong as I was after that movie. I had some back problems.” unk godfather Iggy Pop on Monday urged young The film also depicts drug taking and explicit performers to relax about industry changes and set sex scenes, which Witherspoon admitted she Review: OK Go’s ‘Hungry Ptheir financial expectations low, saying that music struggled with. The actress, who also produced was never meant to make money. The hard-charging US the film, was joined in London by the real life singer, who captured the punk era’s energy with 1977’s Strayed, whose memoir was adapted by novelist Ghosts’ doesn’t satisfy album and song “Lust for Life,” made his first foray into Nick Hornby for the film. The film was highly scholarship as he delivered an annual BBC lecture named acclaimed at the Toronto Film Festival and has lt-rock band OK Go’s fourth full-length album, “Hungry Ghosts,” is heavy on for late DJ legend John Peel. As streaming services height- been tipped for Oscar success. The 38-year-old hooks and a curious electro music approach, but musically falls well short of en artists’ complaints that they cannot earn a living, the 67- Reese Witherspoon poses for pictures won the Oscar for best actress in 2006 for her Athe type of innovation OK Go is capable of. For all the applause OK Go has year-old said that such concerns were nothing new, and as she arrives at the BFI London Film role in another biopic, “Walk the Line”, the tale of grown accustomed to for their mind-bending music videos that quickly go viral, the that he has seen throughout his career that the industry Festival’s premiere of ‘Wild’ in US singer-songwriter Johnny Cash.—AFP songs here peak as passably interesting. Tracks like “Turn Up the Radio” and “The will always put profit over artists. London’s Leicester Square.—AFP Writing’s on the Wall” are by-the-numbers fodder at best. “If I had to depend on what I actually get from sales, I’d They band succeeds at recreating a late 1980s homage sound, cavernous with an be tending bar between sets,” Iggy Pop said in his plainspo- abundance of ghostly synth work. But OK Go fails to back up the novel production ken Midwestern accent in a lecture full of casual asides and with lyrics or a message worth remembering. OK Go makes great sounds on “Hungry biting one-liners. “Personally, I don’t worry too much about Ghosts.” They just have no good songs to attach them to.—AP how much I get paid for any given thing, because I never Mark Bell, electronica expected much in the first place and the whole industry has become bloated in its expectations,” he told a live audi- ence at a radio festival in Salford near Manchester. pioneer with Bjork, dies at 43 The frontman of Iggy and the Stooges, famous at con- ark Bell, a trailblazer in develop- synthesizer effects that are frequent in certs for working his bare chest into a flowing sweat, said ing electronic music who club music. that musicians should remember that they have a “dream job” by entertaining the public. “If you’re an entertainer, helped define Bjork’s sound in The band LFO became identified in M your god is the public. They’ll take care of you somehow,” the 1990s, has died at age 43, his label the early 1990s with the so-called IDM, he said. “But while you’re waiting for god to show up, try to said Monday. The British music producer or intelligence dance music, movement, find a good entertainment lawyer.” died last week during complications which fine-tuned Detroit-born techno Iggy Pop said that music had largely become a “patron- from an operation, Warp Records, the and brought in synthesized vocal sam- age system” in which someone else-including filmmakers influential electronic label, said in a brief ples, longer breaks and cleanly concise or advertisers-were paying musicians for their tunes. “If I statement. Bell and bandmate Gez Varley melodies. Bell later joined forces with want to make money, well, how about selling car insur- became known as innovators in electron- pop singer Bjork to produce her critically ance? At least I’m honest-it’s an ad, and that’s all it is,” he ic music through their act LFO-which acclaimed 1997 album “Homogenic,” said. stands for low-frequency oscillators, the which gently mixed electronic beats with string orchestrations on songs such as Preserving non-Western artists “Joga” and “Hunter” and goes further into Musicians and labels, for all their disagreements, have an IDM sound on “Pluto.” generally united in seeking to end outright piracy. Iggy Bell became a frequent collaborator Pop, while opposing theft, said that the entertainment with Bjork, working with her on her world was misguided in its “general atmosphere of resent- ambitious 2011 multimedia album ment” towards fans who seek free access. “I think that pros- “Biophilia” and even appearing on a wall ecuting some college kid because she or he shared a file is playing a stringed instrument that has a lot like sending somebody to Australia a couple hundred turned into a loom on Bjork’s video for years ago for poaching his lordship’s rabbit,” he said. “That’s “Declare Independence.” Bjork paid trib- what it must seem like to poor people who just want to watch a crappy movie for free after they’ve been working ute to Bell on Facebook and Twitter, link- themselves to death all day,” he said. ing to the LFO track, “Love Is The Instead, Iggy Pop said that independent labels played a Message.” Bell also produced the 2001 vital role in producing “new talent outside the Mickey album “Exciter” for Depeche Mode, Mouse club.” Iggy Pop in particular praised Peter Gabriel for bringing a sparser sound to the band 25 years ago starting Real World Records, which gives com- This November 6, 2008 file photo shows known for arena synthpop.—AFP mercial space to artists outside their home regions, saying Icelandic singer Bjork, UN campaigner that such global musicians had the most to lose from the for the environment at the European mainstream music industry. —AFP headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.—AFP This CD cover image released by Paracadute shows “Hungry Ghosts” by Ok Go.—AP