Lost in the New World, pt 1

A travel essay


We arrive in Delhi – it is eight o’clock at night, it is summer, it is dark. The security getting through is strict, and guards stand by the exits with rifles. I stock up on bottled water from WH Smith, flick through The Economist: jobs are scarce, India is failing its youth. It feels just like home.

Leaving Indira Gandhi International, it is like a museum or an arts school, murals of dancers and elephants in orange and yellow are plastered over charcoal grey columns. It is clean. It is crisp.

The drive from the airport introduces a new face of the city. It is scary – not from broken roads or brazen pedestrians, the scary that I am used to and that was often documented with a ‘Whee’ as I swung around the back of rickshaws as a child. No, this scary is from an urban jungle built up in the form of multi-lane highways, thousands of cars, crossroads and a driver running every red light we meet. I am reminded of how big Delhi actually is, and how small London is in comparison.

We enter into a private complex around eleven, and a personal tailor has stayed open late for us. Satya Paul pieces litter her rails, and she talks to me about Arcadia brand – she does work for them too. She quotes my sister Rs. 800 for each post-wedding outfit she is getting made – around £10 each. She takes credit cards. As our trip continues, it seems everywhere takes credit card.

We stay with family friends for the night – both are corporate, both in finance, both achieving post-graduate certificates. The stay is comfortable, there is wifi, we WhatsApp, we Skype home – we are here! It smells like India! We will take a flight to Amritsar in the morning.

Between the mainstream and the indie scene

As the title suggests, I am taking a minute to talk about some artists that are between the indie scene and mainstream. I love a good band or solo artist, and I am big believer in sharing good music. There are of course some very talented people out there who hover between internet fame but no so much with traditional outlets, so let me introduce you to some wonderful artists worth knowing:

1) Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox

What it says on the tin! Bradlee, a composer and pianist, has taken to adapting popular music to big band style tunes with Postmodern Jukebox. Perfect for anyone who wishes they were born in the first half of the 1900s. Listening to SB&PJ you'll want to start organising prohibition parties and shopping for flapper dresses. However, the best part of their covers is they vary their style. Mainly known for big band, they have also covered songs in country, Yiddish, and 1950's sock hop style.

Covers to note: 'Drunk in Love' (big band style) and 'Talk Dirty to Me' (Yiddish style)

2) Dead Cat Bounce

The band split last year but they are definitely worth the mention! Consider The Lonely Island. Now imagine they were Irish. Yes, that. I mention them because, although they are disbanded, you can listen to them over and over on YouTube and enjoy their special brand of comedy music. The lads are said to still work together on writing films, so who knows, maybe they shall grace our lives with their music once again.

Songs to play on repeat: 'Rugby' and 'Christians in Love'

3) Birdeatsbaby

This wonderful orchestral-rock-pop quartet are quirk and talent personified. They sound big - epic in a way - and wonderfully dark. Care to see what I mean? Listen and learn more here.

Songs to note: 'The Trouble' and 'Rosary'

Hinterland

It is a strange kind of euphony: passionate but mellow, like a whisper bellowed, echoed, sending vibrations through our feet, up to our hearts and all over. That is the best way I can describe something so wonderfully indescribable.

We've been waiting for this album - Heart will Haunt was the first track featured on Thewonderwound - and The Bedroom Hour have not disappointed. There is that little sound reminiscent of Kings of Leon but with a distinct British edge; it is fuller, younger, smoother.

It is quiet, but packed with talent - the drums, keys, strings and vocals are balanced throughout so that no single aspect overwhelms or is lost, and it is this that gives Hinterland a gorgeous, smooth quality. You could listen to this album again and again just for that smoothness in sound, but you will be taken by the talent and the psychedelically nostalgic melodies they promised us.

The album drops tomorrow, and you are in for a treat.

Songs to watch out for: Nocturnal and Heart will Haunt.

Urban Decay

Dead space converted into an art garage, sheets clipped onto the ceiling separated a messy work space from the displays. It was split in two; the words 'Acid House' and 'Girl on Fire' split the respective displays. Kush Chorlie on one side - her trippy pieces offering insight to her generation's relationship with music, and by extension, the influence of acid house on music today. On the other side, Joanna Thompson's recreations of sixties inspired culture: sex, drugs and politics.

Like her inspiration, Chorlie's collection was disjointed but wonderful: a throwaway bench salvaged, restored with images of the Beatles and starfish; an empty gas canister, remodelled into a Native American deadmau5 display; the Marlboro man. It was odd, to say the least, but it came together like the minimalistic aesthetic of house with psychedelic drugs - a pairing that works, creating something new, colourful, exciting.

Thompson's collection was based on sixties culture -  Edie Sedgwick, Andy Worhol, Christine Keeler and John Profumo formed the basis of her work. The most stunning of her pieces, her take on the famous Lewis Morley shot which was taken amidst the scandal of the Profumo affair. The image was re-shot with Chorlie in place of Keeler, and then painted on red velvet with the words "Nothing has been proved..."

To see more images from Chorlie and Thompson's art show, follow on.

Art Show

This is an opportunity to see an artist, destined for fame, in her early years. Flicking through her portfolio, you wouldn't believe Kush Chorlie is just eighteen. Her skills are polished, her talent, raw. A bright spark, her knowledge of art and culture informs her personal style - making it not only an extension of herself but a script to gen Y's perspective of life and art and everything worth paying attention to.

Date/Time/Location: 09/07/14, 16:30-onwards, Burnham Upper.

Cape Open Submissions: 1-30th June 2014

Writers, novelists! It's time to get those manuscripts polished and ready, because Jonathan Cape are on the wo/man hunt and have open submissions for fiction in June.

So, get those drafts ready... If you've got a finished work, brilliant! If not, unfinished work are still accepted. Novellas, novels and shorts are all fine, so there is a lot of scope for talented writers. Good luck!

Check out all you need to know here.

The Elephont in the Room

What a glorious day, our favourite bluesy-rock band, RBRisers, are planning to drop their new EP, The Elephont in the Room, in days upcoming. If you haven't checked out their brand-spanking-new video on YouTube, go, it is a wonderful distraction or see below. Also available for a listen is my favourite track from the album, Same Old Road, over to the other side.

Physically copies will be out shortly after the digital release, but you can follow the boys on twitter and Facebook for updates.In the meanwhile, enjoy the music!