FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Meso, or “middle” was the name we landed on when we had to reach middle ground while trying to name an album that had no common ground to begin with. From a song inspired off a cup of filter coffee to a song based on changing seasons, to our own gut-punch reimagination of an ancient Carnatic composition, each song uses different soundscapes and core ideas, with little to no regard for coherence across the tracks. The absence of a single thread across our songs ended up being the glue that held it together. Mishram's target aesthetic all along is that there is none.
VIDEOS
"After several listens to the six-track record, you know that unpredictability is a badge that Project MishraM wear proudly, whether they’re sprinting between hip-hop and metal on “Loco Coko,” improvising konnakol vocals over a glorious horn section on “Nivaasa” or stomping around with impunity on groove-laden tracks like “Sakura” and 'Kanakana'."
" ‘Meso’ is exactly the culturally diverse, weird but not too avant-garde fusion album I’ve been craving for in a while and I can’t wait to hear what more MishraM has to offer. It also made me realise how limited my knowledge about India is and sparked some interest in their history and culture, hopefully it will have the same effect on you too."
"I rate ‘Meso’ as one of the best albums I have heard this year for the rare, sheer brilliance of the rest of the album. It is unfettered and fearless, experimenting with scant regard for norms but with utmost reverence for the quality of the artists’ craft."
ABOUT
Project MishraM are a seven-piece Progressive Carnatic fusion outfit based out of Bangalore. MishraM’s sound is characterized by a sharp blend of genres ranging from modern progressive metal, djent, funk, jazz and electronic, centered around the intricacies of Ragas and syncopation rooted in Indian classical music. In Sanskrit, Mishram means ‘Mix’ and also denotes the number ‘Seven’.
MishraM toured the United Kingdom through July 2019, with prominent performances and masterclasses at the renowned UK Tech-Metal Fest 2019 in Nottinghamshire, where they received unanimous critical acclaim. They shared the stage with some of the biggest progressive metal acts, including Leprous, Vildhjarta and Monuments. The tour was topped off with nine shows across Leeds, London and Cardiff. MishraM have also made appearances in national media, notably winning Maruti Suzuki’s Colors of Youth, a popular reality television competition.
MishraM have had a prominent run in the local circuits, accompanying acts like Modern Day Babylon from Czech Republic, Underside from Nepal and Indian artistes like Benny Dayal and Thaikkudam Bridge. With three singles under their belt, Meso is MishraM’s first full-length album that explores their brobdingnagian influences, funneling it into a single densely-packed listening experience.
NOTES
Sakura tells the story of a girl recovering from an injury ovet the course of a year split into four seasons. It spans spring, when she's not able to stand yet, summer, when she's wistful, autumn when she despairs over the lack of change and winter when the challenge is at its worst. Sakura was titled so because the song is in a rather positive, uplifting raga and we thought the theme correlated to a flower blooming.
Loco Coko is a smorgasbord that delves into Hip-Hop, South Indian folk, Djent, Indian classical and EDM all in one go, while primarily being about over-indulgence in a regional variant of coffee. Featuring a slew of Indian instruments and vocals smashed into rap over quintuplets, breakdowns and foley from Indian households, Loco Coko is progressive fusion firing full tilt.
'spring' is a short and sweet track that provides a lyrical ending to Sakura.
Kanakana is MishraM's take on the 18th Carnatic composition 'Kanakanaruchira' by the legendary composer Thyagaraja. Featuring Kmac2021, Kanakana infuses the Flute, Violin, Veena and Indian vocals with progressive motifs.
Anirudh Koushik - Flute, Vocals
Pranav Swaroop B N - Violin, Vocals
Ram Srinivas - Bass, Rap Vocals
Sanath Shanbhogue Manikkara - Drums, Mridangam, Vocals
Shivaraj Natraj - Vocals, Mridangam, Konnakol, Synths and Programming, Beatbox
Srishankar Sundar - Guitars, Rap Vocals
Sumant Nemmani - Guitars
Arun Luthra - Tenor Saxophone on “Nivaasa”
Nadje Noordhuis - Trumpet on “Nivaasa”
Dion Tucker - Trombone on “Nivaasa”
M K Sridevi - Veena on “Kanakana”
Kieran ‘Kmac’ McLaughlin - Gutturals on “Kanakana”
M Ananth Shanbhogue - Additional Vocals on “Kanakana”
Natraj Pushpavanam - Additional Vocals on “Kanakana”
Vid. A C Rajashekar - Nadaswaram on “Loco Coko”
Sohail Nawaz Khan (The Nautilus Shell) - Designs & Concepts, Media Content
Rahul Menon - Digital Marketing
Nivaasa - Composed, Arranged and Written by Arun Luthra and Project Mishram
Meso - Composed, Arranged and Written by Project Mishram
Produced, Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Thejus Nair at Eleven Gauge Recordings
Special Thanks to - K S Sundaresan, Lara Ward,
M Gowrishchandra Shanbhogue, Parthasarathy Nemmani, Parvathi Natraj
Nivaasa is a jazz-fusion track that combines Carnatic music with jazz motifs and sections featuring Arun Luthra, Nadje Noordhuis and Dion Tucker in the horns.
Mangalam is inspired by a type of Carnatic composition that goes by the same name, traditionally sung at the end of a Carnatic concert. Mangalam is our way of closing out this album.
CREDITS
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