Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Delhi Recording Session

More details are soon to follow, but we have another round of Stateless coming to you Friday, 2/24/06 @ Amnesia. We again feature DJ Tomas (XLR8R) as the guest DJ. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will also drop serious beats, with Ferhan on tabla and MC Frank on the mic. L'emire (Alex from Lemonade) will be playing kit drum and electronics over D. Wurker's and the special agent k's sets. The special agent k will continue to drop rootsical samples, play the siren unit and dub his set live on the board...

Get ready for another evening of raw, bass-heavy, experimental (yet dance-floor friendly) sounds from the Stateless/Roots and Wires Hi-Fi crew... Be sure and check it.

On with the blog posting... The special agent k was married this winter in India. The joyous occasion was itself full of music, with live dholak and bhangra a constant pulse throughout the several days of ceremony...

The last day in India was a perfect conclusion to the trip, a significant sonic thread that wove together as part of the larger, synchronistic tapestry of events. We had a full-night recording session with some of India's finest classical musicians... In 2006, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi will be coming to you with original tracks that incorporate dubstep, grime, breakbeat, UK steppers, and dubwise elements - organized around virtuosic classical Indian compositions... This won't be any lightweight business (e.g. the usual sample of an instrument looped ad naseum), but will instead aspire to highlight the classical compositions in a deeper manner...

The recording experience itself was a truly wicked experience. My tabla guruji, Vishal (above, on the right), and I have been dialoguing about this project for a few years. I've introduced him to everything from Asian Massive artists such as Karsh Kale, to UK steppers artists like Jah Warrior, and even grime/dubstep/sublow producers such as Vex'd and Skream. These sounds have been percolating between us and led to the selection of specific musicians to create the mood we're aiming for with this project. Vishal picked a truly gifted selection of musicians - I felt deeply honored to be in their company and will introduce them now (though wait until you hear the recordings)... We were blessed to have Ghanshyam Sisodia (above, left) record sarangi with us (over dark and gritty grime beats!)...

Preetam Ghosal (above), a top disciple of Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, brought tears to our eyes with his sarod work. Stay tuned for some wicked jugalbandi between Preetam and Ghanshyam floating over two-step drum and bass breaks...

Finally, Ujwal Nagar, brother to Vishal Nagar recorded some moving classical vocals. Prepare for the next step in classical vocal vs. breakbeat riddims...

As well, I definitely have to give mad props to sound engineers Dhiman Bhattacharya (above) and Tapan Roy for staying strong until 4 AM!

Anyway, stay tuned for the first Roots and Wires Hi-Fi dubplates. I will probably drop some at the March edition of Stateless... If all goes well, we will then shop the tracks around to various labels afterward... Soon come!