It's rather unique experience in my practice to review a compilation of Indian electronic music. Deep Cuts is the annual compilation of 15 tracks, recorded by artists from different parts of India and released by ONNO COLLECTIVE from Kolkata. ONNO is not only a label, but Audiovisual Collective. Moreover, all income from this compilation will be donated to Anahad Foundation, an India-based NGO that has set up the Anahad Artist Relief Fund to provide support for local folk musicians to secure their financial stability.
I've never heard of any of the artists participating at this compilation and I guess that not so many people in other countries are familiar with the Indian electronic scene. At the same time, it's really interesting to discover new music from countries previously never associated with electronic music.
The current selection represents quite a wide spectrum of styles. From one side, there are many tracks of so-called "ambient", flavored by beautiful environmental sounds, nice harmonies and rhythms. And of course, Indian melodic and rhythmical traditions are also represented in some tracks. From the other side, we could discover something more abstract and experimental, even radical at some point. It looks like local musicians are very much into modern electronics, as well as noise, glitch, psychedelia and all other trends, widespread on the international electronic music scene. But at the same time, you could feel some influences of local rich musical traditions, which makes this compilation rather exceptional and valuable. So, if you would like to start the acquaintance with modern electronic music from India, Deep Cut is the perfect compilation for introduction.
Author: Alexei Borisov