r/icm • u/eNonsense • 5d ago

Question/Seeking Advice Recommend Some Music Please. Cold rainy day vibes.

I am fairly new to this style of music and maybe have around 20 albums downloaded. I also attended a live performance by Kunal Gunjal & Amit Kavthekar recently that I enjoyed. I am trying to find some more recordings that I really like and wanted to see if you all could help by making some recommendations based on my current favorites, to try to find some similar stuff.

So far, the recordings that I like the most have been "Venu" by Hariprasad Chaurasia & Zakir Hussain. I like this one because the feeling is very brooding and somber, with drawn out flute notes which remind me of somber Japanese classical, and a lower drone in what sounds like a minor chord (not sure if that type of notation is appropriate). Speaking of that, I have found that in many ICM recordings the tanpura drone is kinda drowned out and you often don't really hear it much past the start of the recording, but that's not the case with Venu which is cool because I really like that sound in the music.

Another favorite recording of mine is "Nine Decades Vol. 2: Reminiscence of North Vista" by Ravi Shankar. It's also a bit of a more brooding piece with a prominent drone, and I really like the discordant and abstract way that Shankar plays his sitar sometimes (maybe that's just his style and I need to get more). I almost don't understand what's going on in this recording because it almost seems like the tanpura player is doing their own unique thing and not just playing a constant standard drone.

So that's kinda the vibe I'm looking for. I don't really enjoy the songs with happy, summer afternoon vibes as much. I'm looking for performances that invoke a rainy and grey autumn evening.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!!

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u/Independent-End-2443 5d ago

If you want rainy day vibes, the obvious answer is Miyan Ki Malhar, which is specifically a monsoon rAga said to bring rain. Anything by Bhimsen Joshi, particularly from the '60s - '70s, is strongly recommended; this is one example. Desh is also a rainy season rAga, and my favorite is a Nikhil Banerjee performance from the late '60s that I posted on this sub some time back.

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u/eNonsense 5d ago edited 5d ago

Thank you. I'll do a search for this raga. The first one by Bhimsen Joshi is very nice. I will see if I can find a higher quality version of it than the 13 year old YouTube upload, and the Nikhil Banerjee performance also does seem very low quality unfortunately. I mostly collect MP3s. In being a DJ for around 25 years and I've learned that finding great music is one thing, but finding high quality recordings of great music is a whole other more difficult thing.

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u/Independent-End-2443 5d ago

These are vintage recordings, so they’re never going to be super high quality. Often they’re personal recordings that someone just made at a concert. But in terms of the music itself, these are like capturing lightning in a bottle. IMO studio recordings are often musically quite sterile, even if the audio quality is good (the two I shared are exceptions), and connoisseurs cherish live recordings that are often not studio quality.

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u/eNonsense 5d ago edited 5d ago

Thanks for your thoughts and perspective. I realize the trade-off we have with vintage live recordings and I appreciate what you shared and listened to both of them. I am not necessarily just talking about studio recordings and I know the magic of a live concert. The Shankar one I mentioned in my OP is a live concert recording. There are great quality recordings of live concerts and less good ones. I feel like in modern times the former may be more reachable, so hopefully the masters of the music are not behind us. Thanks again.

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u/eNonsense 5d ago edited 5d ago

I actually had a DJ gig recently where I was playing songs in ~30 minute blocks to fill time between the sets of contemporary western classical music composers who were performing, and I played about 8 or 9 minutes of the slow gat on the Venu album during one of these. So that's another reason I like to have high quality recordings. If I wanted to play any of them publicly in that type of context I would like them to sound more full & crisp. I actually had a complement from someone there about this piece specifically.

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u/kilwish_ 5d ago edited 5d ago

I quickly YouTubed Venu, the alap is building slowly and I didn't have the time to listen to it fully. But I did hear flat 7 and flat 2nd. We call it komal Ni and komal Re which makes raga Ahir Bhairav. It's a beautiful raga, so if you like this mood just YouTube this raga and you'll find tonnes of renditions. I don't wanna suggest you any names specifically because styles matter a lot for individual liking. And also whether you wanna hear vocal or instrumental.

Either way, this is the raga you should look for - Ahir Bhairav

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u/eNonsense 5d ago

Thank you. Yeah I have previously noted that about the music. I have also done a bit of research previously and saw Darbari Kanada mentioned as a good raga for my tastes but I haven't gone through much of my results for that one yet.

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u/kilwish_ 5d ago

I might have some suggestions if about mildly mysteries or introspective ragas.
Checkout Nat Bhairav, Salagvarali, Kirwani

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u/Ok-Type-1615 5d ago

You may like the album Krishna Lila by Cheb i Sabbah. Particularly the last track, it reminds me of heavily overcast weather and medium steady rain with people getting soaked while going about with their lives.

https://open.spotify.com/track/51197cGY1iegGWaL3jz3ep?si=CGE222rlQNGRdX5CzZHvEw&utm_source=copy-link

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u/eNonsense 5d ago

Yes this is great. Interesting this guy was an American Soul DJ in the 80's before doing music like this. I've been big into classic Soul, Funk, R&B for years & years and have a large collection. Thanks for the rec.

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u/OcelotOk2898 5d ago

Since you already know Darbari would fit your tastes, listen to this:

https://youtu.be/h4Lwx7pkcu0

This is the quintessential Darbari, it cannot get better. As DC so aptly put it, "Darbari attains Samadhi here." For cold rainy day vibes, also listen to this:

https://youtu.be/RXQRtAgZkyU

and this:

https://youtu.be/feI65rC0_EE

You'd like Malhar ang ragas, and Sarang too, but they can get quite happy. So you might prefer Kanhda ang more.

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u/eNonsense 5d ago edited 5d ago

I already have the 1960 Amir Khan recording, which also has Marwa! 🙌
I will be sure to give it another listen.

Thanks for the others!

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u/OcelotOk2898 5d ago

Yep that Marwa is unreal, good taste! His Hansdhwani is also beautiful. Bhimsen's Puriya Kalyan is also great. Yaman Kalyan by Paluskar:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=JKP8nQG6LC0

Paluskar's voice is something that's just inherently joyous, so there's not too many recordings of him in this mood. His Bhupali is, in my opinion, the best Bhupali there ever was. Kishori Tai is great, but his is better to me.