Tallinn Music Weeki maailmamuusika õhtul esineb India indierocki täht Alluri

India Hyderabadi linnast pärit Shriram Alluri loomingus kohtuvad Arcade Fire väärilised eufoorilised meloodiad ja spagetivesternide heliribadele omane vunk. Lapsena klassikalise klaveri- ja viiulimängu koolituse läbinud Alluri muusikaline eneseleidmine toimus teismeeas koos The Smithsi, Joy Divisioni ja Dovesi lugudest innustunud kitarrimängu õpingutega. Nüüd jagab ta oma aega India, Ühendkuningriigi ja Itaalia vahel ning loob Briti vintage indiest mõjutatud muusikat oma kodulinna kohalikus telugu keeles. Muusikaspetsialistide hinnangul on Alluri muusika ühtagu tuttavlik ja algupärane ning seda on pea võimatu paigutada rangesse žanrilisse lahtrisse.

Alluri debüütalbum „Man Of Truth“ (2015) pälvis kiitust nii muusiku kodumaal Indias kui ka üleilma muusipressis. Käesoleval aastal ilmub Briti sõltumatu plaadimärgi Killing Moon alt tema teine täispikk album, mille valmimisel on võtmerolli mänginud Grammy nominendist produtsent Tommasso Colliva (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Muse, Franz Ferdinand) ja italo-funki bändi Calibro 35 liige Massimo Martelotta.

Peagi ilmuva uue albumi kohta ütleb Alluri Postimehes ilmunud intervjuus järgmist:
„Pärast esikplaadi valmimist tundsin, et ma ei saa inglise keeles kirjutatud lugusid oma pere ja sõpradega tõeliselt jagada. Tundsin, et pean lugusid telugu keeles kirjutama, et tugevdada oma identiteeti, mille olin unarusse jätnud. Kõik albumi lood sündisid plahvatusliku hooga.“

Sütitava kontsertesinejana on Alluri üles astunud nii Inglismaal Cambridge´i folgifestivalil kui ka Prantsusmaal Trans Musicales festivalil. Viimasel esitatas ta ka Sex Pistolsi „Anarchy in the UK“ töötlust, mille salvestust jagas Twitteris ka Pistolsi bassimees Glen Matlock isiklikult. Nüüdseks on Matlock ja Alluri plaani võtnud lausa ühise singli salvestamise.

Alluri india-rocki kuuleb 7. aprillil algusega kell 23.40 TMW maailmamuusika õhtul Erinevate Tubade Klubis. Nimele kohaselt toob maailmamuusika lava artiste kokku igast ilma otsast – lisaks Indiale Portugalist ja Israelist, ent ka siitsamast Läänemere kallastelt. Kogeda saab nii Balkani muusikat kui ka afrobiiti ning malestrateegiate ja eksootiliste rütmide põrkumisest sündinud elektroonikat.

 http://publik.delfi.ee/news/muusika/tallinn-music-weeki-maailmamuusika-ohtul-esineb-india-indierocki-taht-alluri?id=81567783

Catch the Indian indie rock sensation Alluri live at Tallinn Music Week 2018 World Music Stage

After the release of latest single ‘Naato Vastavaa’, Indian indie rock sensation Alluri is ready to unleash his music at TMW where he will be playing at the World Music Stage at Erinevate Tubade Klubi on Saturday 7th April.

Alluri is a musician from Hyderabad, India whose unique brand of indie rock is taking the music world by storm, one continent at a time. His music is as grand and euphoric as anything you’d find from Arcade Fire and has a touch of Morricone too.

Now working between India, the UK and Italy, Alluri has teamed up with producer/mixer Tommasso Colliva (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Franz Ferdinand, Muse) and Italian musician Massimo Martelotta, from cult ‘cinematic Italo-funk’ band Calibro 35, on powerful and unique music sung in the local Telugu language of Hyderabad.

Alluri’s latest single ‘Naato Vastavaa’ (‘A Trip’ in English) boasts his powerful vocals sung in his mother tongue Telugu and is led by a thumping drum beat with a euphoric brass section and retro keyboard sounds. Since its release, the track has been added to Apple Music’s A List: Indian Pop playlist and Apple Music France’s Rock playlist, as well as enjoying radio play from BBC Asian Network and Amazing Radio.

Alluri’s forthcoming album is set for release later this year. “My second album is very different from my first album in many ways and it was emotionally inspired by the first album,” says the musician. “After making the first album I felt as if I couldn’t truly share songs written in English with family and friends back home. I felt I needed to write songs in Telugu to re-infoce my Telugu idenity which I had neglected till then. All the songs came out in a burst.”

Live, Alluri is a force to be reckoned with. He blew everyone away at the Trans Musicales festival in France with his stellar cover of ‘Anarchy in the UK’ by the Sex Pistols. The cover got approval by the one and only Glen Matlock – bass guitarist for the Pistols – who shared the video on Twitter.

 https://tmw.ee/2018/03/catch-the-indian-indie-rock-sensation-alluri-live-at-tallinn-music-week-2018-world-music-stage/

ShriramAlluri: the revolutionary of Telugu rock

The singer is breaking out of the English mould by taking his native language from the Indian city of Hyderabad to the world through his infectious indie pop

History is about to be made at the Viru Keskus centre in downtown Tallinn, Estonia. “Thank you for having us!” shouts Shriram Alluri, in English, to the audience, before launching into his first song. And with that, he becomes almost certainly the first Indian indie-rocker to sing in his native language, Telugu, onstage at an Estonian shopping mall. In fact, Alluri – as he is known professionally – believes himself to be one of the first indie-rockers to sing in that language at all.

Telugu is the native tongue of about 75 million people across several Indian states, but making an impact in his native Hyderabad, and beyond, will take time. “It’s still not part of our culture, nobody goes to gigs,” he says. “I tell people very excitedly, ‘come watch me play’, and they’ll say, ‘what film did you make the music for?’”

The Brit pop-influenced singer has undergone a musical transformation in recent years. His first album, Man of Truth, was performed in English, emulating “Lennon, Bowie, Morrissey,” he says. But something was missing. “I was passionate about this work, but I thought ‘I can’t genuinely share this with anyone back home’. So I felt I had to try. And then nine songs all came in one go.”

That shopping-mall appearance was part of Tallinn Music Week, one of Europe’s many talent showcases, where future stars perform for important industry people by night, and for the public by day. Many passing shoppers clearly enjoyed his catchy compositions, and even danced, despite presumably understanding none of the lyrics. Which raises the question: does the language really matter?

Some of the world’s biggest pop acts have switched, over the years, and the results vary dramatically.

Helping to arrange Alluri’s Estonian adventure was Stephen Budd, who is something of an expert in this area. Budd is probably best known as the co-founder of the Damon Albarn-fronted Africa Express project, and the successful promoter of numerous crossover acts: his most notable discovery is Songhoy Blues, who sing in various West African dialects, but are regulars on western pop-rock stages. Does the English-or-not question often crop up?

“Yes, we’ve had a few discussions over the years, sometimes with non-English speaking artists who wanted to include English lyrics when I didn’t feel it was appropriate,” says Budd. “But recently we had the discussion with Songhoy Blues for their second album, and they wanted to do a couple of songs with some English lyrics involved, and actually it worked very well.”

Mixing it up linguistically can keep things interesting, and the fan base happy; if not always the record label. Perhaps the highest-profile bilingual performer is Shakira, who followed Gloria Estefan’s pioneering path, releasing both English and Spanish albums at the peak of their powers. Whereas when Ricky Martin suddenly sprang a Spanish record on his label after a long break, “they went berserk”, said the singer.

Singing in your native language is not necessarily easy. Nina Persson from Swedish rockers The Cardigans recently released her first single in Swedish, 21 years after the song Lovefool rocketed her band to global success. Recording Var ligger Sverige? (Where is Sweden?) was a “challenge” she revealed recently, and slightly disconcerting: singing those lyrics suddenly reawakened her old Swedish-countryside accent.

Persson’s single was released on a Swedish label, Adrian Recordings, whose back catalogue features “about 50 per cent music sung in Swedish,” says label manager Magnus Bjerkert. Many pop-rock acts prefer English, but he leans toward the mother tongue. “I really like music in Swedish, it ‘gets’ me a little bit more,” he says. “And it’s good business too.”

Bjerkert also attended that Tallinn festival, which featured artists from about 30 nations, although the host country makes perhaps the most intriguing case study. A former Soviet state with strong Scandinavian influences, Estonia’s aspiring pop, rock and rap stars are also split fairly evenly between those who perform in English or Estonian. But the latter currently do better abroad.

Distinctive folk-pop artists such as Maarja Nuut, Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun have all enjoyed international acclaim while singing in old Estonian dialects; particularly magical and mysterious is Kalkun’s new album, Ilmamotsan (In the Wood of the World). Certain languages conjure up unique moods.

The kings of minority-language success are Sigur Ros, who usually sing in either their native Icelandic or an invented dialect, Hopelandic. That may sound wilfully uncommercial, but those enigmatic songs are eagerly sought-after by soundtrack-compilers and advertisers. Their website even has a page dedicated to ads featuring bad Sigur Ros soundalikes.

Some languages are less obviously lyrical, but still have their moments. Take the 1984 single 99 Red Balloons by Nena, from Germany. The English version was a huge hit in Britain and Canada, while the German original – 99 Luftballons – was massive in the US and Australia. Great songs traverse borders. Back in the 1960s, British and American pop acts would often rerecord their hits for foreign markets. The Beatles and Beach Boys remade several hits in German, while numerous Motown stars – Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes – recorded versions in Italian, Spanish and German. The results are often splendidly awkward.

Alluri actually conversed mostly in English after changing schools at about 12 years old, so was not 100 per cent confident in Telugu when it came to recording his new songs. “I went to this lyricist who writes professionally for films, and he was like, ‘mate, these are fine’,” says the singer. “He helped me smooth a few of them.”

The finished tracks will emerge on his second album this year, but the switch to Telugu is already yielding unforeseen rewards. His main show in Tallinn was on the World Music stage, a genre that previously seemed off-limits. “I don’t think I would have been on there in English,” he admits. “I’m getting much more attention now.”

That could also be due to a more open-minded culture generally, with music from across the world now popping up on people’s streaming playlists. “I think times have changed,” agrees Stephen Budd. “In previous decades, outside of the ‘world music’ circuit, it was nearly always imperative for the acts to sing in English.”

In 2018 “people don’t mind,” he says, “as long as the feeling of the artists is communicated when they sing.”

That said, several people still advised Alluri to write songs featuring both languages, which he ignored, apart from one unlikely exception. His live set includes an excellent cover of the punk classic Anarchy in the UK, with Telugu verses. That version was then retweeted by the track’s original bassist, Glen Matlock, and the pair recently recorded together.

Meanwhile, the Italian producer Tommaso Colliva (Franz Ferdinand, Muse) is manning the decks on that second album, and there are linguistic links. “When the British came to India they heard Telugu and called it ‘the Italian of the east’, because all words end with a vowel, not a consonant,” says Alluri. “These new songs, melodically, they’re influenced so much by the language.”

Europe may be Alluri’s second home – he moved to Britain to study before his music career kicked off – but he now resides in India again. And students may be key to getting his hybrid sound established.

“I need to focus on playing at universities around my state, get people young enough, and say ‘look, you can do this too’,” he says. “Start a cultural revolution.”

Look out: the Telugu indie-rock scene starts here.

 https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/shriramalluri-the-revolutionary-of-telugu-rock-1.720409

PREMIERE: ALLURI RELEASES NEW SINGLE ‘NAA TO VASTAVAA’

Great music is made everywhere in the world. Language is no barrier when you hear a song that offers some emotional or melodic connection. Alluri is a musician from Hyderabad, India who’s impossible to categorise, but his music is as grand and euphoric as anything you’d find from Arcade Fire and has a touch of Morricone too. Classical music was absorbed in his teens then he learnt guitar whilst listening to acts like Doves and Morrissey during his UK studies. Now working between India, the UK and Italy, he’s teamed up with Muse producer/mixer TommassoColliva and Italian musician Massimo Martelotta, from cult ‘cinematic Italo-funk’ band Calibro 35, on this powerful and unique music sung in the local Telugu language of Hyderabad.

After the release of ‘Endukala’, Alluri is back with his new single ‘Naa To Vastavaa’ . The track – called ‘A Trip’ in English – boasts Alluri’s powerful vocals sung in his mother tongue Telugu and is led by a thumping drum beat with a euphoric brass section and retro keyboard sounds.

Naato Vastavaa : నాతో వస్తావా (A Trip)[Official Music Lyric Video]

With support from the likes of BBC Asian Network, Subcltr London, Smashed Vinyl, Fame Magazine, Gigslutz, and Bestival co-founder Rob Da Bank, Alluri’s unique brand of indie rock is taking the music world by storm, one continent at a time.

Live, Alluri is a force to be reckoned with. He blew everyone away at the Trans Musicales festival in France with his stellar cover of ‘Anarchy in the UK‘ by the Sex Pistols. The cover got approval by the one and only Glen Matlock – bass guitarist for the Sex Pistols – who shared the video on Twitter.

He also played the NH7 Bacardi Weekender Festival in Pune, India as well as performing further shows in India in preparation for the second album release.

‘Naa To Vastavaa’ will be out on the 21st of February 2018 via Killing Moon

 http://ventsmagazine.com/2018/03/08/premiere-alluri-releases-new-single-naa-vastavaa/#wEc7uZmftlQjmEIz.99

Le rock indé d’Alluri aux Trans Musicales de Rennes 2017

Alluri livre sa pop aux reflets de rock indé au festival dénicheur des Trans Musicales de Rennes !

Musique indienne, look de James Dean à la veste en jean, le tout mélangé à du rock indé britannique, Redd Alluri est aux Trans Musicales pour un concert live !

Entre Inde et Angleterre, Alluri trouve un terrain de jeu pour ses titres saisissants avec une pointe de sonorités épiques. À l’écoute, on retrouve des influences de bande-son américaine, sorte de voyage en plein western avec John Wayne. Plus les titres s’enchainent plus les scènes défilent. Alluri livre un rock indé britannique, pop avec une voix claire qui n’a pas peur de chanter tantôt en télougou (langue du Sud-Est de l’Inde) tantôt en anglais ! Dernier titre sorti, son single « Evari Kosam » rempli de piano et de cuivres pour une chevauchée aux côtés d’Alluri dans les déserts américains… en télougou.

Alluri – Evari Kosam (For Whose Sake)

 https://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/musique/rock/trans-musicales-de-rennes-2017/le-rock-inde-d-alluri-aux-trans-musicales-de-rennes-2017-265467

Alluri a de l’allure et m’ahurit

Alluri Music Promo Shot

Direction le Parc Expo, pour un voyage entre Inde et Occident, avec Alluri, un projet musical, lequel comme son nom l’indique ne manque pas d’allure. Que dire , sinon que c’est la grande classe musicale, avec des musiciens hors pair, qui maîtrisent leurs instruments à la perfection avec un feeling illimité. Le chanteur vocalise dans un étrange dialecte indien, le Télougou, et un peu en Anglais. Musicalement, c’est déjà plus classique : de la pop et du rock made in UK, voire in USA, tant parfois le groupe fait penser au… E Street Band de Bruce Springsteen. De la grâce mélodique, de la pop psychédélique avec flûte ou saxophone et des claviers somptueux. C’est beau, bon et doux, mais parfois même, cela sait jouer plus musclé, comme  avec cette reprise aussi couillue que dantesque du légendaire « God Save The Queen des Sex Pistols chanté en Anglais et Télougou, par un Alluri,  qui sait manifestement foncer à toute…allure 

 https://gonzomusic.fr/jeudi-je-dis-en-jedi-vive-les-trans-episode-1.html

Music-news.com

Having been a music lover for most of my life, the most frequent and difficult question I’ve always had to deal with is the one and only: “What kind of music are you into?” now, I think you can all relate when I say this is the most difficult question one could ever ask, but I found out I manage to get away with it pretty easily simply by generalising my way too long list of bands with “I’m into indie rock”.

I wish I could say this helped a lot, but it generated the same result every single time, with people either misunderstanding or voluntarily trying to be funny (not) by saying “Oh, so you mean, like, Indian music?”
Well well. Turns out, Indian indie rock is a thing, and I had the pleasure to discover it in the first place with an amazing artist going by the name of Alluri.

Hailing from Hyderabad, India, his music is almost impossible to categorise into a specific genre thanks to his multiple influences, including classical music which was absorbed in his teens and acts of the likes of Morrissey, Doves and Joy Division, which he’s been listening to while learning to play guitar during his studies in the UK. If Arcade Fire and Ennio Morricone had a musical child, Alluri’s triumphant and euphoric tunes are probably what it would sound like.

Now working between India, the UK and Italy, the singer-songwriter has spent the last summer recording his latest album in his native language (Telugu) in Milan, teaming up with Muse producer/mixer Tommaso Colliva and Italian musician Massimo Martelotta, from cult cinematic Italo-funk band Calibro 35.
He then went on forming a brand new touring band with the artists who feature on the album, and after a number of performances in London and also at The Cambridge Folk Festival he eventually brought his vivacious live show to The Islington, London, last week, for an exclusive showcase of tunes from his upcoming release, which is due for next year.

Alluri played a quite short but intense show for a packed and enthusiastic crowd which kicked off with Naa Tow Raa (Come With Me), its musical crescendo and reverberating lyrics being the perfect intro for the whole set. Malinyudu (Gutter Man) and Baalyam (The Lost Irredeemable Magical Weirdness of Childhood) followed, the latter being one of the highlights of the evening: a cheerful, carefree song with a touch of melancholy, about childhood memories and how they shape us into the grown-ups we eventually become.
Next on was Puttamu (The World), an almost entirely instrumental track bearing an almost jazzy feel with its gentle sax in the background, followed by Beatles-esque Emi Chestunamu (What Are We Doing?) with its bright and ever-increasing brass section.

The closing tracks coincided with Alluri’s two latest lead singles, Evari Kosam (For Whose Sake) and Endukala (Lovers No More), which was described by the artist himself as a “happy break up song”, referring to its cheerful and catchy musical tone opposed to the sadness of the lyrics, describing the recurring drama following the end of a relationship.

In conclusion, although singing in a foreign language, Alluri positively engaged the crowd at The Islington with his genderless, joyous tunes, demonstrating an important point: great music is made everywhere in the world, and language is no barrier when you hear songs that offer a strong emotional and melodic connection.

 http://www.music-news.com/review/UK/12918

FMS- Fashion Music Style

If you’ve ever fancied learning Telugu – an Indian language similar to Italian (allegedly) – then here’s your chance, as Hyderabad’s Alluri releases the kitsch cat-fight visuals for his second single, ‘Endukala’ (Lovers No More).

The ‘happy break up song’ combines simple lyrics and melodies with a euphoric brass section, giving the track a retro feel, and signalling a new, larger sound for the Indian born artist. Alluri absorbed classical music in his teens before learning guitar and bingeing on the likes of Doves and Morrissey during his UK studies.

Now working between India, the UK and Italy, he’s teamed up with Muse producer/mixer, Tommasso Colliva, and Italian musician, Massimo Martelotta, from cult ‘cinematic Italo-funk’ band Calibro 35, on this powerful and unique music sung in the local Telugu language of Hyderabad.

‘Endukala’ follows on from 2016’s ‘Evari Kosam’, and after spending the summer recording a new album entirely in Telugu, with Colliva and Martelotta, Alluri formed a new touring band with the artists who feature on the album, performing in London and at The Cambridge Folk Festival in August 2017.

Alluri returns to London on November 7th to play The Islington.

Video Premiere: Alluri’s Kitsch Cat-Fight Visuals for Second Single, ‘Endukala’ (Lovers No More)