Indian Ocean- Pure, earthy, unadulterated music

The song ‘Maa Rewa’ captured the imagination of youngsters, especially college students. It is a perfect combination of traditional lyric and music composed with traditional and Western musical instruments. Indian Ocean, the band that composed the song was started in the early 90’s and is one of the best Indian fusion bands.

The band has a unique style of composition and the lyrics of the songs, range from conventional to shlokas and traditional ones. ‘Hille Le’, a song from the album ‘Kandisa’ has lyrics that are traditional and were written by Gorakh Pande, a renowned poet. Other songs of the album include ‘Maa Rewa’, ‘Kandisa’ (a song in Aramaic, a language spoken by the Jews),’ Leaving Home’, ‘Khajuraho’ and others. 

There are few albums composed by Indian bands with such a variety in terms of lyrics and style of music. Jhini, another album whose title song was based on Kabir’s verses, was similar in terms of experimentation. The band also released a live album called Desert Rain, which was moderately successful.

The band has composed a few tracks and the background score for the controversial film, ‘Black Friday’. The song ‘Bandeh’ from the album was a huge hit. They have also composed a couple of songs for the highly acclaimed film, ‘Peepli Live’. Remember, ‘Desh Mera Rangrezia Babu’.  

Rahul Ram, the vocalist, is a dynamic personality and has a degree in Environmental Toxicology from Cornell University, USA. He is also an ornithologist. As a social activist, he is actively involved in the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’. His diverse experience reflects on the style of music of the band. He, along with Asheem Chakravarty, composed a song, ‘Yaara Maula’ for Anurag Kashyap’s film ‘Gulaal’, which is a satire on regional and caste-based politics. Asheem died in 2009 after a heart attack.

The band released ‘16/330 Khajoor Road’ recently. It is a free online album. The band members were frustrated with label contracts and as a sign of protest released it in this unusual format. ‘The Best of Indian Ocean’, as the name suggests, is a compilation album comprising their greatest hits.