Sridhar - Transcend

Over the past decade, the Indian underground music scene has developed a strong liking for solid no nonsense instrumental music owing largely to the greater accessibility to talented musicians via the internet. The departure of the Grunge era has given rise to a tide of young and talented artists tipping their hats of to the likes of Satriani and Paul Gilbert. One such versatile artist is the Chennai born Sridhar who recently launched his full-length debut album “Transcend”. The all-instrumental album, combines elements of Rock, Blues, Country and Jazz all with a little Indian flavour scattered in places.

The album kicks off with the funky and high-spirited track “Trippin” set aside from the following tracks by its wah-wah play. “India” sees Sridhar recreating the slide effects of the Sitar, thus justifying the track name to an extent. “Degree Kapi” is an easy laid back blues track and turns out to be extremely light when measured against the next track “Dark Sands” which is sluggish and heavy in nature.

The most interesting track on the album is the sleepy “Blue Memories” reminiscent of Danny Gaton’s version of “Sleepwalk”. The minimalistic aspect of the song is perhaps most challenging in consideration of correct choice of notes. “Delusia” is another track that is sure to grab some serious attention. Sridhar’s control of all the effects running in and out of the song is quite commendable and reflects the hand of a well-seasoned guitarist.

“Innocent Wisodom” the only acoustic track on the album is easily the weakest. Lacking in structure and direction, the tunes gets dull soon in spite of being only a minute and a half long. “Stepping Stones” too was a bit of a let down, as it sounds much like what’s already out there. The title track is a well-balanced number, with the excesses done away with. The tension that Sridhar creates on the build up to the solo is fantastic.

Overall the album speaks volumes of the maturity of the artist and his control over the instrument, one of the most sort after techniques on the electric guitar. With regards to notes Sridhar has clearly chosen quality over quantity, which is definitely a breath of fresh air.

For most of the tracks Sridhar has opted for a slow introduction, which on the one hand helps bifurcate the contrasting tracks spaciously over the album, but it also kills the flow of the album on the other. The well-rounded minimalistic approach to the album would go down extremely well with mature listeners and musicians. But with hindsight Sridhar too would have probably inserted some speedy licks to catch the interests of a younger audience.

Setting the cons aside, which are sparse as it is, one can really enjoy the album in its entirety and look forward to many more albums from the Sridhar catalogue.

Sridhar’s Page on Chordvine Social

Transcend - Free Download