Monthly Archive for March, 2011

Album Review: 22º Beatitude (Tarun Nayar)

Vancouver-based DJ/producer Tarun Nayar is a member and producer of Delhi 2 Dublin, which we wrote about a couple years ago. While D2D gives us a unique brand of Indian and Celtic fusion, Tarun’s musical endeavors reach far beyond welding together two rich genres.

His creative outpourings are driven by a humanitarian need to cross cultural boundaries and bring people together. As a founding member of Beats Without Borders, it’s no surprise that his music ranges from Angolan Kuduro to Punjabi Bhangra to Jamaican Dancehall to UK bass music.

On March 1, 2011 Tarun released his first solo album, 22º Beatitude, which is comprised of 10 years worth of material collected from travels and recordings around the world. On the album, which he describes as his most personal work, Tarun eschews the use of sample libraries and instead includes a plethora of live sounds (ocean, voices, etc) blended in with traditional indian and other asian instruments and upbeat dance beats.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the album is that each song is based on a chapter of his life. The listener is not simply left to use their imagination, however, as the album comes with archival photos and videos providing them with a dynamic audiovisual experience.

World music inhabits an interesting part of the musical spectrum, especially those subgenres that combine traditional cultural sounds with more contemporary electronic beats. The results are not always as seamless and complementary as they were perhaps intended to be. However, when done well these kinds of songs can be incredibly powerful.

On 22º Beatitude, a few of the songs pass through your ears without leaving much of an impression.  The majority of the songs, however, manage to find that sweet spot. Beats, bass, and culture come together to create something that both pleases the ears and stirs the heart.

Songs not to miss: “Rising Up,” “Turkish Spice,” “Mamaji,” and “Water.” Definitely check those out. Overall, the live samples of sounds like cars honking, people talking and kids laughing give the album a very human and very global feel.

Tarun Nayar seems to be accomplishing what he’s setting out to do and will certainly continue to be a force to be reckoned with on the global fusion scene.

Tila Tequila Launches iPhone App Via MobBase

Tila Tequila prepares to fully dominate the digital world with the launch of her very own Miss Tila iPhone app, powered by MobBase. The official Miss Tila app will allow fans into Tila’s various social media properties including her blog, her merch store, videos, photos, twitter and music. All things Tila…on-the-go!

“Tila is a great example of an artist who is passionate about using all of the tools at her disposal to connect and engage with fans online and on their mobile devices, without having to know how to program a mobile app ,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer. “A custom MobBase mobile app is an essential part of that mix, with the high value content that fuels the artist-fan connection. We are very excited to be working with Tila on her official mobile app!”

To download Tila’s official iPhone app, click here!

Get Your Music Heard With Jango Airplay

We often write about the importance of musicians having to engage and involve casual listeners in order to build deep and lasting connections with them, and to convert them to loyal fans.  These connections are what drive sales of the concert tickets, band merchandise and music artists need to pay the rent and put gas in the van.

While just getting your music discovered is no longer enough, it is extremely important that you get as many people to hear your music as possible. Obviously. The more people that hear your music, the more potential fans you have to convert into loyal fans. And while not every person who hears your music will like it (sorry), it’s a numbers game and maximizing exposure is critical in order to succeed.

Enter Jango Airplay. Jango Airplay gives you access to millions of active music fans that listen to their favorite artists on Jango.com, a vibrant social music service that lets fans create and share custom radio stations. Your music is guaranteed to play right alongside the artists that you choose in Jango’s custom radio stations, from Jay Z to Arcade Fire to Bella Fleck. Jango Airplay plays your music to their fans, who are likely to dig it. Based on what we’ve heard from many artists, this is a very cheap and effective way for you to get your music heard!

Jango is offering Evolving Music readers a special deal, where you can set up a Jango Airplay account (if you don’t already have one) and receive 100 guaranteed spins on Jango.com for FREE. Then, you can choose how much more you want to be played (packages start at as little as $10 for 250 plays) and where with basic geo-targeting. You’ll also get detailed actionable reports and data about your new fan base so that you can find out who likes you, where they live, how old they are and what other types of music they like. You got nothing to lose, so give this a try! Click here to get started.