5 Ravish Sitar Raga Rock Masterpieces!! Chapter 8 INDIE ROCK/ALTERNATIVE ROCK

To my dear few readers!
Thank you for reading my blogs conveying the enjoyment of music every time. The Ravish Sitar effector from Electric Harmonics transforms the sound of a guitar into the sound of Indian stringed instruments like the sitar and the tambura, and this series, which introduces Raga Rock songs that will make you want to reach for your the guitar and pedal just by hearing the tune, has finally reached its 8th installment.
In this edition, I’d like to look at some 90’s Raga Rock tunes from Indie Rock/Alternative Rock genre.
Many of the hits from the 80’s were mainly digital music.
And from the latter half of 80’s, psychedelic-like rock was being released in England by bands like Primal Scream. And there was youth culture adopting hip older music.

So this time I take you back to the Raga Rock world of the 90’s for some rock classics.

Recently, many people have started playing guitar at home. So this time I’d like to introduce some slightly Raga Rock style songs too.

To the Ravish Sitar! It’s very easy to use. Turn on the power, step the pedal and rotate the knobs to find a sound you like. I explained how to use the pedal in Installment 1. But roughly speaking, when you play a melody line, it sounds like the sitar and when you play chords it sounds like the tambura. You can hear the sound here. https://youtu.be/g6Tub1ll-mQ This time I selected songs on a whim as I was writing, but you can listen to others on YouTube. Let’s enter the Raga Rock World.  

A Raga tune from the album “Odelay”, which included the sober but fantastic big hit single, “Devils Haircut”. You can hear a raga tune on the previous album「Mellow Gold」,but this time I like to use this song from this album, which left a deep impact.

A funky tune with a brilliant bass line. From the break in the middle, you can hear the beat of Indian percussion drums called tabla.　I recommend this tune for warming up.

◆ Beck / Derelict (1996)

The next tune is by a group from the Madchester Scene, featuring Shaun Ryder and Bez, based in Manchester England.　This is deep Raga Rave Music. A Raga dance tune led by an electric sitar sound in the intro. It has a pleasant feeling, and you’ll want to buy the Ravish Sitar just so you can play this song. One of the top raga tunes！ Try it out！

◆ Black Grape/In The Name Of The Father(1995)

Kula Shaker, a band that covered George Harrison’s Raga music from the film soundtrack. This song, released in 1996 as a B side, leads in with the tambura leads and sounds Shamanic. When the vocals start, a distorted guitar sound takes over. So I recommend for those who want to get a slight feel for raga rock. It’s nice to hear tambura sound again in the outro.

◆ Kula Shaker / Another Life(1996)

Brian Jonestown Massacre, a cult psychedelic band from the 90’s released albums with a feeling of respect for the late ‘60s psychedelic love Rolling Stones era. This is the 1ST solo album by Joel Gion, a member of Brian Jonestown Massacre. You can enjoy psychedelic pop similar to The Beatles. And the last song of the album has a psyche pop tastes like that of The Jesus and Mary Chain It features a beautiful raga melody byplayed on the electric　 sitar.

◆ Joel Gion / Don't Let The F◯ckers Bring You Down（2014）

Indie pop band Corner Shop formed by India-based Brit, Tjinder Singh. I chose the last song from their 1995 album. Their Indian roots explode in this song, which is a reprise of the opening song and a long trance version of raga groove like a big circle. It’s good to hear the sounds of the tambura and melody sitar.

◆ Coner Shop / 7:20 am Jullandar Share (1995)

Indie pop band Corner Shop formed by India-based Brit, Tjinder Singh. I chose the last song from their 1995 album. Their Indian roots explode in this song, which is a reprise of the opening song and a long trance version of raga groove like a big circle. It’s good to hear the sounds of the tambura and melody sitar.

Well, there you have five Raga Rock songs this time. Furthermore, for those who want to delve even deeper, please read the past blogs in this series.  And next time I’d like to introduce Raga Rock songs from movie soundtracks. See you next time.