The Essential Billy Joel - CD coverBilly Joel once spat, "Have you listened to the radio lately? Have you heard the canned, frozen and processed product being dished up to the world as American popular music today?"

Today he might as well clench his fists and ask, "Have you listened to Justin Bieber?"

When he was Bieber's age, William Martin Joel boxed welterweight and broke his nose in a bout. Though he started taking piano lessons at five, Joel pursued a full-time career in music only after watching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The next year, aged 16, he began recording.

With the Long Island band The Hassles, the boy from the Bronx cut two commercially doomed albums. In 1970 he formed Attila, an organ-and-drums rock outfit with Hassles drummer Jon Small and, through a creatively trying time where he carried on with Small's wife Elizabeth Weber (whom he later married), recorded an album that sank on impact.

There was only so much battering even a young pugilist from a broken home could take. Joel bailed

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The Great Indian Octoberfest, Bangalore's answer to the German beer carnival Oktoberfest, honors Indian Standard Time by taking place in November. Scheduling apart, it promises an extravaganza of entertainment. The festival has served as a platform for many artists and rock bands. In past years Indian Ocean, Thermal And A Quarter and Motherjane have performed. This year, the festival has an official anthem, "Come On Over", performed by Delhi band Eka (exclusive preview on Yahoo! India).

 Theme songs are in. After A R Rahman's anthem rescued the beleaguered Commonwealth Games last year, Bollywood's composer triumvirate Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy bowled over 2011 ICC World Cup fans in January. Daler Mehndi shook a leg (and both arms) for the Indian Grand Prix. An Art of Living volunteer penned a theme song for Anna Hazare's nation-stirring campaign.

So why shouldn't a festival in

Read More »from Eka’s theme song for Bangalore’s beerfest

HumDrum
A band called HumDrum is presenting Kannada poetry to new audiences, but refuses to be dubbed a 'rock' group.

"We don't want to be doing dark, angry songs," says lead singer MD Pallavi. "I know there is pressure to fit into some category, but 'classical poetry presented contemporarily' is what we started out with."

Pallavi is well-known on the bhavageete circuit, and also sings film songs in Kannada. (The bhavageete form has largely been defined as 'sugama sangeeta' since the 1980s). Her foray into the band style isn't new either: she has performed with guitarists Amit Heri and Konarak Reddy, whose music is steeped in Western influences. She resists the term 'rock' because it brings expectations her band has no intentions of meeting.

The band was formed when, with husband Arun, Pallavi roped in three other musicians, who together arrived at the name of HumDrum. The emphasis on 'drum' is justified: Arun is a drummer whose virtuosity has won him admirers both among Carnatic musicians

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Here are some CDs I picked up at a sale at a chain store in Bangalore. They have an ongoing sale to clear their stocks of books, DVDs and CDs, and I found they offer the best deals on Indian classical music CDs. Here are some I picked up at 70 per cent off. If you are a classical music buff, this is a good time to grab some Diwali bargains. The sale ends October 31. (I've mentioned prices before discount).

Veenai Jayanthi Kumaresh (Shrutilaya, Rs 180): This two-CD compilation features Jayanthi, arguably the best veena player performing in Karnatik music today. The recording comes from a live concert in Sydney. The compilation is marketed by a little Chennai-based label called Sruthilaya. CD 1 begins with a varnam in raga Natta Kurinji, and features six tracks, including concert standards such as Aparadhamula (Thyagaraja) and Siddhi Vinayakam (Muthuswami Dikshitar). CD 2 offers an elaborate raga Pantuvarali (Raghuvara, Thyagaraja) and a pleasantly dancy thillana in raga Maand (Lalgudi

Read More »from Bargains on classical music CDs