Tag Archives: peter cat

The Top Five Albums of 2019

31 Dec

Another year of great music closes out today. Read on to see our editor’s picks for the best albums of the year – and be sure to let us know if you agree!

5. Peter Cat Recording Company – Bismillah

Delhi’s own Peter Cat Recording Company has been a mainstay of Indian music for a while now, but it’s with new album Bismillah – and a new record label – that they have started receiving the praise they deserve. Bismillah is, in its way, a slice of Indian life, from the glitz and glamor to the corruption and chaos, set to a dizzying array of musical styles. The album is packed with biting criticism of Modi’s India; the band personally encouraged Delhiites earlier this year to vote for an opposition party, on a music video release note no less. But even beyond the political, Bismillah is truly, wholly Indian.

Read our full review here.

4. slowthai – Nothing Great About Britain

Some art – whether it’s movies, music, and so on – truly captures the ethos of a specific place, time and people to a tee; a zeitgeist, in short. For 2019’s United Kingdom, roiling through a nation-splitting Brexit crisis, that zeitgeist is the debut album from a 25-year-old Northampton rapper, called, succinctly, Nothing Great About Britain. The album is intense, personal, and nearly flawless – a perfect slice-of-life from the wrong side of the tracks of today’s UK.

Read our full review here.

3. Fontaines DC – Dogrel

Dogrel, the debut album from Irish band Fontaines DC, is a middle-finger to those who think rock – and punk rock in particular – is dead. Over a tight, 40-minute runtime, the lads take us through Dublin life like only locals can. There’s anti-British sentiment (“He spits out, ‘Brits out’, only smokes Carrolls”); Irish legends (“With a face like sin and a heart like a James Joyce novel”); tales of cabbie woes – and that’s all on just one song. Dogrel is almost a perfect package from start to finish, and we are heartened to hear that there’s already more incoming from Fontaines DC.

Read our full review here.

2. Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 2

2019 may have officially been the Year of the Pig, but for us it was the year of Foals. With two astounding, back-to-back albums over the course of seven months, the Oxford lads knocked it out of the park this year. Although Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 1 had some great hits – “Exits” being chief among them – Foals really stuck their landing with Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 2. The entire double album is built around the idea of an apocalypse: the emotions and the music that would come out in that not-so-far-away scenario. One thing’s for sure: when that day comes, we’ll be sure to have this record handy to soundtrack us there.

Read our full review here.

1. Ariana Grande – thank u, next

At this point, Ariana Grande is pretty much pop’s reigning queen. More importantly, she rules for all the right reasons. It’s an understatement to say that she has the voice for it; but she also offers a playful and positive view of the world despite the tragedies in her life. Like any savvy pop star, she of course sells the idea of herself to her legions of fans – the high ponytail, the thigh-high boots, the oversized sweatshirts – but unlike many others, she sells something else too: self-love. Amazingly, that self-love seems to come from within – not manufactured by some marketing execs over at her record label. With thank u, next, Ariana Grande finally takes over as her authentic, spirited, wholesome self – and turns out, a lot of people dig it. Oh, and it helps that the music is just pop gold, too.

Read our full review here.

-NP

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Peter Cat Recording Company – Bismillah

21 Oct

Over the past decade and a half, India has seen a remarkable growth in the sheer number of independent, non-Bollywood music. From electronica to indie rock to hip-hop, we now have it all. But as the scene develops, many homegrown artists understandably sound a lot like the global artists they’re trying to emulate. There are a few exceptions, of course – artists who are truly, unmistakably, confidently homegrown; and Peter Cat Recording Company easily rules over them all.

Delhi-based quintet Peter Cat have been a beloved part of the Indian music scene for nearly a decade; Sinema (2011) especially was all the rage for a particular cross-section of indie fans that came of age in that era. They’ve always been ahead of the curve, but perhaps by too much – fully-formed and original in a nascent and sometimes derivative industry. In many people’s opinions (including ours), they deserved so much more than the tiny listening audience and a four-city gig circuit that the country could afford them.

Luckily for all of us, Peter Cat seemed to have been thinking along the same lines. Recently, they signed on to French label Panache Records, which promptly released a nine-song anthology of the band’s greatest hits (Portrait of a Time, 2018). Happier still was the news this year that the band would be releasing a full-length album – the official “debut” – with Panache. Peter Cat were finally getting the management and international exposure that their brilliance deserved. Would they live up to it?

The short answer is: yes.

Peter Cat Recording Company is not just a great band; they’re a great Indian band. Their sound blends easily across jazz, gypsy, disco, you name it – but at their core, Peter Cat is undeniably desi. On Bismillah, that thankfully doesn’t change.

Take, for example, “Where the Money Flows”, which opens the album with diegetic sounds of the homeland – the birds, the distant honks, a spluttering engine. Between gentle guitar strums and handclaps, the lyrics paint a picture of trade-offs between money (bad) and love (good). But the music video makes their intent much more explicit: they’re talking specifically about that great Indian experiment, demonetization. The fact that the music video was released days before the final stretch of India’s historical general election made the link even clearer.

Other songs on Bismillah reference India in decidedly less political terms. With its Technicolor throwback and old-world croon, “Heera” could be an erstwhile filmi hit (barring the English-language lyrics). Disco jam “Memory Box” is would fit right in on a best-of-Bappi-Lahiri special issue with the busy guitars and dramatic violins. “Floated By” is a nod to the celebrated big-brass sounds of Indian weddings; you could almost imagine the trumpets and the melancholy vocals serenading the wee hours of a wedding reception somewhere. Indeed, the music video is set in a real wedding – Sawhney’s own, in fact.

Of course, the brilliance of Peter Cat lies in their ability to seamlessly fuse their Indian sensibilities with great music from elsewhere. One touch-point, especially, is the minimalist vibe espoused by the likes of the xx. “Remain in Me” is built mostly on the Sawhney’s lilting voice and a sparse drum-guitar line, joined by forlorn horns in the chorus. “Vishnu ❤” is a hypnotic, chillwave gem, interspersed again by Peter Cat’s signature brass. Moody psychedelia, a la Tame Impala, is another key influence, especially on the expansive album closer “Shit I’m Dreaming”.

Peter Cat’s strongest suit, however, is Sawhney’s rich, emotive voice. He is fully in control of his considerable talent: perfectly complementary to the instruments in one moment, a sublime falsetto on the next, and maybe a quick aalap here and there. His voice sways, croons, reaches and swoons; but always adding to that iconic Peter Cat sound.

Bismillah is a kaleidoscopic journey through genres and time periods; experimental, creative but always on brand. It’s their best work yet and, honestly, one of the best albums we’ve heard all year (Indian or otherwise).

Best tracks: “Where the Money Flows”, “Heera”, “Floated By”

Check out Peter Cat Recording Company’s website for more information.

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Monthly Playlist: Jun. 2019

2 Jul

And just like that, we’re halfway through 2019. So far, the year has given us some great music already. There have been some fantastic albums from well-established bands (Vampire Weekend, Foals) and break-out debuts from true diamonds-in-the-rough (see: slowthai). Read on for our picks this month – spanning old-school indie rock, beautiful folk-pop, and two of the best tracks all year from the Indian subcontinent.

Read on below for the goods:

5. “No Bullets Spent” by Spoon

As our readers know well, we at Top Five Records are huge fans of Austin-based indie rock veterans Spoon. Their 2017 album, Hot Thoughts, made it onto our year-end list that year, and “No Bullets Spent” perfectly espouses all we love about this band. In spades are the laid-back vibes undeniably sourced from their hometown of Austin, TX; lead singer Britt Daniel’s lackadaisical lyrics; the unmistakably subtle-yet-groovy Spoon chorus; and so much more. “No Bullets Spent” was released to hype up the release of the band’s greatest hits album (Everything Hits at Once) on July 26th. Whether you’re already a Spoon fan or not, we encourage you to check out this track, and of course the greatest-hits compilation when it’s out.

4. “Love Yourself” by Sufjan Stevens

“Love Yourself” is an electronic-tinged slowjam that works in two ways: one, as a plea to your lover to appreciate themselves more (“Love, can you love yourself”); two, as a note-to-self with the same message. Either way, it’s a gorgeous, lushly-produced song that perfectly features Sufjan’s emotive pipes. Sufjan Stevens has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity, in part due to the vital inclusion of a couple of his songs on Call Me By Your Name, 2017’s sleeper art film hit. With “Love Yourself” – released as part of a four-song Pride Month EP – Sufjan fans both new and old are likely to be more than satisfied. We sure are!

3. “My Baby’s Beak” by the F16s

In the early part of this decade, something magical was happening in Chennai’s indie music scene. There were suddenly a swathe of very good, very unique and very closely-knit artists coming out of the southern port city. Everyone seemed to know each other. Everyone wanted everyone else to succeed. Everyone came out to each other’s shows. Was there something in the Chennai water?

Over the years, we’ve spoken to and closely covered several of these bands, and what we’ve gleaned is the following. The city’s strong musical streak, combined with the centering of the Indian indie music away from Chennai to other metros (Mumbai, Bangalore) and the piteous lack of venues in town, meant that Chennai’s independent musicians had a truly DIY approach to their craft. People practiced in home spaces. Bands shared band members. And there was a strong support system that helped bands thrive and maintain their wholly unique sounds.

One of these bands is the F16s. For many of us at Top Five Records, songs like “Light Bulbs” and “Avalanche” (from 2013’s Kaleidoscope) exemplified the careful balance between restraint and decadence of our millennial existences back in the day. The band’s follow-up album, 2016’s Triggerpunkte, had a few stand-out tracks, but it felt like a stepping stone to the F16s’ next great output: and WKND FRNDS is it.

All four of the songs on this crisp new EP are great, but “My Baby’s Beak” really clicked with us. We can best describe the song as the soundtrack one might choose while writing desperate love letters, from a tropical island, pina colada in hand – in the 1980s. “Oh mama, can you tell me if I made it / My ego gets inflated with you,” croons lead singer Josh Fernandes, complementing the luxurious sounds from the rest of the band. The song’s a true treat for fans eagerly awaiting new F16s music, and for new listeners alike. P.S. If you liked this one, we’ll also take this time to recommend the EP’s eponymous track as a follow-up.

2. “Speedway” by black midi

The four young members of black midi met at BRIT School, the UK’s premier music school that has produced legends such as Amy Winehouse and Adele. Centered somewhere between the Foals’ math-rock and Animal Collective’s asymmetric ethos, black midi enthralls with a ridiculously ready-out-of-the-gate sound. Our favorite track off their debut album Schlagenheim is “Speedway” – a pulsing, hypnotic song filled with feverish stops and starts. Slightly nerve-wracking and more than slightly ominous, “Speedway” is testament to what the lads can pull off in a mere three minutes. If you like this song, check out “953” from the same album for some bewilderingly good punk rock.

1. “Floated By” by Peter Cat Recording Co

There is no other way to say this: Peter Cat Recording Co is one of the best bands to ever come out of the Indian subcontinent. With meticulous detailing and inimitable style, the Delhi-based gypsy / jazz band has long excited us here at Top Five Records. The band’s new album, Bismillah, dropped earlier this month, and suffice it to say, we cannot get enough of it.

Bismillah’s stand-out, in our opinion, is “Floated By”; a song so good that we wrote the rest of this list with it in a firm #1. “Floated By” finds the band in their element – a melancholic wedding band letting loose after a drink too many in hand and an hour too long on stage. (The twist here, as seen in the song’s music video, is that the wedding in question is lead singer Suryakant Sawhney’s own, real nuptials.)

As with most Peter Cat songs, the real star of the song is Sawhney’s powerful voice. In between the wedding-procession drums and slightly off-kilter horns, his voice rings out: true, wistful and imbued with astonishing range. A simple line (“I know that I should / I know that I would”) takes him ages to enunciate, as his voice floats across the vocal spectrum.

Simply put, “Floated By” is one of the best songs we’ve heard all year. Look for a full review of Bismillah soon – and until then, please give the album a listen.

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Pushing the Envelope: An Interview with LIFAFA

23 Jan

LIFAFA is the solo electronic project from Suryakant Sawhney, the lead singer of famed New Delhi indie / jazz outfit Peter Cat Recording Co. While Peter Cat’s music is often a dizzying mishmash of influences ranging from cabaret to psychedelia, LIFAFA is more focused in its palette: desi, electronic, nostalgic, intimate – yet danceable, too.

After a well-received debut EP (In Hi Ko) in 2014, Sawhney released a follow-up EP, Jaago, this month. Our favorite song from the album is the title track. With its harmonium-based intro and Sawhney’s wistful vocals, the listener is immediately pulled back into a Technicolor yesteryear. About halfway through, however, the song melds seamlessly into a dance track that references the same old-timey tones – cinematic swirls, dramatic embellishments – but in a fresh, modern way.

We recently sat down with LIFAFA for a quick chat about the new music, artistic influences, and much more. Read on:

Top Five Records: On Soundcloud, you describe your new track “Jaago” as Bhajan EDM, and honestly we could not put it any other way. How would you describe the LIFAFA sound overall?

LIFAFA: It’s a place where I’d like to imagine I have a completely blank infinitely large canvas to try whatever I like, however niche an idea  and attempt to refine it till its limit before wiping it all clean and starting again on something else. So I guess right now what I’m working on is the sort of Hindi music I wish I heard playing around me. I’ve been driven insane by the fucking awful shit I hear playing outside on radios and giant tower speakers and I hope people steal or buy my music just so some of those speakers are tranquilized.

TFR: Where does Peter Cat end and LIFAFA begin? For example, are there some snippets that you shelve away because they have a more “LIFAFA” sound to them?

LIFAFA: For one, I’ve generally tried to steer those songs which require the precision of dance music production towards LIFAFA. I don’t necessarily separate on the basis of language or quality. But most importantly I’m never in both mind frames simultaneously anyway. It’s a switch I have tried to build slowly which allows me oscillate between a human who thinks and feels in English and one who thinks and feels in Hindi. It takes a bit of time to turn into either person again and everybody must suffer.

TFR: As with Peter Cat, your solo music has a dreamscape kind of feel – it’s often like listening to a lucid dream. How would you describe your creative process? Do you land on the mood of the track first, or is it something else?

LIFAFA: My music all hinges on there being one definite moment where the initial melody, beat or combination struck home. It’s important to remember why you fell in love with a song or were attracted to it and then later down the road, the real test is in trying to recreate that moment in time while upgrading its general production (without losing what give it that soul). I can generally remember the exact moment a song was born. That’s a large reason I made more lo-fi music, because I also felt that, during the process of cleaning it up or re-recording, something vanishes.

TFR: Your music references so many types of art – other genres of music, the Technicolor drama of old Hindi films, and so on. What would you say are your key influences as a musician?

LIFAFA: It’s an ever growing list, starting from my childhood or my memories and tragedies, to neoclassical American music, to jazz, to Vrindavan, to physics, to YouTube, to Jordan Peterson and the Internet. Ultimately in time, I’d like to reference reality and not other art which is just somebody else’s reference to reality. There is no key influence, just the desire to keep re-informing myself and constantly changing.

TFR: You just had your new album launch in early January. Congratulations! Tell us a little about the album. What’s different this time around? What inspired you on this one?

LIFAFA: Well, for one, it’s better produced than my older work. It’s all in Hindi or Hindustani. It’s hard for me to answer this. I think a lot of what I said in the first question is relevant here. I was certainly driven by the idea of attempting to push Indian culture forward, in its own way, and ingest global ideas without become one. Blah, blah, blah. Also, I grew tired of making deeply personal music which I do in English and attempted to find a place where I responded more to my external environment, being Delhi and India, rather than just my own inner psyche.

TFR: Very interesting, thank you. Before we wrap up this interview, we have a few quick-fire questions for you. Here goes!

TFR: What are some album(s) on constant rotation recently?

LIFAFA: Pavilion of Dreams by Harold Budd (can’t get enough). However, I generally listen to tracks and not albums. I’m obsessed with “After the Rain” by John Coltrane these days. “Jamuna Kinare Mora gaon” by Prabha Atre has become a favorite, thanks to a friend.

TFR: What’s your favorite Hindi movie of all time?

LIFAFA: Muqaddar ka Sikander for its music, dialogue and beautiful approach to morality and tragedy. Everything about it is sublime and it never ceases to be accessible, which is the real achievement.

TFR: Drink of choice?

LIFAFA: Bourbon. Bailey’s.

TFR: What’s been your best gig so far?

LIFAFA: So far – at a particular show at the Serralves festival in Portugal, a couple decided to get married while I played “Irradon” and asked me to announce it for them.

TFR: And finally, who would you say is an Indian artist you love? (Not necessarily a musician)

LIFAFA: Amit Dutta, a filmmaker. I only saw fragments of his work and instantly knew he was on a another level. Yet to watch anything by him completely because I keep forgetting to. Some people just frighten me.

You can listen to LIFAFA on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube. Check out the official website for more information.

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