Janet bares more in lyrics

Janet Jackson’s new album has mature music. But one can’t say that of its lyrics

Janet Jackson: unnecessarily explicit

THE YOUNGEST among the nine Jacksons, she is 38 and has been around in the music scene since the early ’80s.

Janet began with her chart-topping 1986 album, Control, and unlike her older siblings who stuck together as Jackson 5, she decided to go solo right from her first album.

Though she was not as popular as Michael, the other big Jackson, she slowly climbed the popularly charts and was soon known as the “quiet achiever” Jackson.

Niche audience

By the time her albums Rhythm Nation and Janet were released, she created a niche audience for her music — a sophisticated mix of mainstream pop and mellowed down R&B. “That’s The Way Love Goes” and “Again” were the chart-toppers from Janet after which she collaborated with Michael’s song, “Scream”.

Though the vocal blend of Janet and her brother was innovative, the song disappointed her fans, who wanted her to stick to softer R&B music.

What followed in the next few years was a record-breaking series of world tours. Unlike other artistes who perform tours as part of an album release, Janet’s tours were meant to be thanksgiving.

This is reason why her latest album, Damita Jo, is appearing after a gap of more than three years.

For beginners, Janet’s full name is Janet Damita Jo Jackson, which is the inspiration behind her album title.

The album retains the polish and class of Janet’s vocals, but improvises on the music front.

Laidback rhythms

More of hip-hop and laidback rhythms stand out in tracks such as “All Nite” and “I Want You”.

Some critics describe Damita Jo as one of her most mature offerings, but not all.

The album has sparked off controversy about the nature of lyrics. According to certain U.S.-based music reviewers, the wordings of certain songs are explicit.

Janet explores facets of love and relationships in a “dare-and-bare” manner, but fails to draw the line where needed. On the one hand, the music is hugely impressive, but the lyrics just kill the music with their unwarranted bluntness.

Role offer

Indian fans, though, have something to cheer about. Janet has reportedly been approached by the producers of Bombay Dreams, a $14 million musical, to play the role of the central Indian character in the play.

If the deal materialises, this would probably be the first instance where an international music icon would feature in an Indian musical.

As far as the album goes, it remains a sad combination of top-class music that is mercilessly killed by provocative lyrics.

A. VISHNU

Hindu On Net

Musical criss-cross

Christopher Cross set high standards and strived to meet them

BORN CHRISTOPHER Geppert at San Antonio, Texas, on May 3, 1951, Christopher Cross’ debut and self-titled album went quadruple platinum when he wasn’t even 30. That opening offering produced four top 20 hits Sailing (No. 1 on the U.S. charts), Ride like the wind (#2), Never be the same (#15) and Say you’ll be mine (#20). Backing vocals were provided for Ride like the wind by Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, while Valerie Carter and Nicolette Larson lent support for other songs on the release.

In 1981, the album won five Grammys, including best song, best record and best new artiste. Even after a year, the LP was going strong on the charts. Not much later, Arthur’s Theme (The best that you can do) for the smash Dudley Moore comedy film, Arthur, which was written by Cross along with Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach and Peter Allen fetched him an Academy Award as well, for best original song. With such a start, expectations were bound to be sky-high. A brief hiatus from the industry had detractors wondering where he’d disappeared.

His second album Another Page was not a patch on the popularity of its predecessor. Think of Laura, a track frequently aired on popular daytime soap General Hospital, touched the top 40. Strangely, Cross never made the grade again. Waning sales of his work failed to deter his creativity, the touching A chance for heaven, that he wrote and sang at the Los Angeles Olympics being a case in point. Loving Strangers in Tom Hanks 1986 hit movie Nothing In Common only reiterated the fact. I will (take you forever) that he sang with Les Miserables star Frances Ruffelle a year later continues to enjoy air play even today and formed the theme of marriages all across the United States.

Rendezvous appeared in 1992, Window three years later, Walking in Avalon in 1998 and the Red Room in 1999.

Nearly a quarter century after he broke into the music scene, Christopher Cross comes across as an artiste open to innovation but reluctant to cast away the standards he has set for himself. His record speaks for itself; five Grammy, one Oscar, one Golden Globe awards, four No. 1 singles, nine top 20 hits, 71 songs composed and recorded and nine million albums sold worldwide.

A. GEORGE ANTONY

Hindu On Net

Tidak sampai sebulan lalu, seorang promoter konsert melahirkan hasrat untuk membawa penyanyi popular Indonesia, Iwan Fals ke negara ini. Di Indonesia, Iwan Fals dikenali sebagai penyanyi protes sosial sejak era rejim Suharto hingga Megawati.

Pengaruhnya di kalangan manusia gelandangan sangat besar. Iwan Fals menjadi suara mereka menghantarkan kritik terhadap pelaksana sistem yang bias kepada golongan hartawan. Lirik lagu yang diciptakan sendiri memang keras dan jelas.

Pada era akhir Suharto, kerajaan Indonesia pernah membatalkan permit 90 konsertnya di seluruh Indonesia. Sebabnya mudah saja, Iwan Fals dilihat sebagai pencetus kesedaran rakyat bertanyakan hak mereka kepada pemerintah.

Saya katakan kepada promoter itu, usaha membawa Iwan Fals mengadakan konsert di sini suatu yang baik. Iwan Fals seorang seniman yang menyanyikan lagu-lagu yang berjejak di bumi nyata sekelilingnya.

Kata promoter pula, dia bimbang tidak mendapat permit untuk mengadakan konsert Iwan Fals di negara ini kerana imejnya yang dianggap kiri oleh pihak Indonesia. Kirinya Iwan Fals kerana tidak menyanyikan lagu-lagu yang menipu jiwa lara di bawah rejim Suharto.

Malah kirinya Iwan Fals kerana dia bukan Kris Dayanti atau Desy Ratnasari yang menyanyikan hal-hal yang tidak berkaitan dengan realiti hidup di Indonesia. Maka sebenarnya Iwan Fals bukan kiri, sebaliknya memilih galur seni yang tidak banyak dilakukan oleh rakan-rakan senegaranya.

Kebimbangan terhadap Iwan Fals oleh pemerintah Indonesia sebenarnya tidak berasas. Hebat sangatkah pengaruh seorang seniman berbanding pemain politik yang lebih besar laluannya?

Saya cuba meyakinkan promoter itu kita tidak pernah melihat pengaruh besar seorang seniman terhadap masyarakat. Di Indonesia barangkali seniman ada pengaruh hingga Pramoedya dihantar ke Pulau Buru kerana bimbang ideologi komunisnya. Penyair Rendra berulang kali dihumban ke penjara hanya kerana puisi-puisinya.

Keadaan itu tidak pernah berlaku di negara ini. Golongan seniman bukan saja tidak ada pengaruh malah berada dalam kelas tiga. Buktinya mereka tidak digalakkan menghayati sastera dan seni yang berselera tinggi.

Belajar sastera tidak boleh makan gaji, kata seorang tokoh dan kemudian menjadi dasar untuk ketepikan hal-hal seni, sastera dan budaya daripada arus perdana. Kerana Iwan Fals seorang seniman, ia tentu tidak ada masalah untuk membuat persembahan di negara ini.

Tetapi saya mengingatkan promoter itu, jangan mengharapkan sambutan sehebat konsert Senario atau konsert percuma di Dataran Merdeka. Di negara ini penyanyi seperti Iwan Fals barangkali tersenarai paling bawah.

Bagaimana pun usaha untuk membawa Iwan Fals sangat bermakna sekurang-kurang mencetuskan satu aliran baru dalam seni muzik tempatan. Kita tidak banyak penyanyi yang peka kepada kemelut sosial seperti Iwan Fals. Kalau ada yang peka pun barangkali mereka tidak melahirkan dalam bentuk seni muzik.

E-mel: kuseman@pc.jaring.my

Utusan Malaysia

Exquisite embroidery

Students of costume design and fashion tried their hand at Kutch embroidery and mirror work in a workshop

MENTION THE Hindi movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and what comes to your mind is a splash of bright colours and Aishwarya Rai in her bright red ghagra choli, embellished with Kutch embroidery.

It was her heavily embroidered dreamy costumes in saffron, blue, red and green that created the larger-than-life aura around Aishwarya Rai in the movie.

Kutch embroidery is an evolving expression of the craft and textile traditions of the Rabaris, a nomadic tribe in Gujarat.

This folk embroidery is done using cotton or silk thread on cotton cloth. Certain styles use silk and a satin-like material too. Square chain, double buttonhole, pattern darning, running stitch, satin and straight stitches are used to create intricate patterns. Thanks to the liberal use of multi-shaped glass pieces, the garments literally glitter. And, every bold stitch and glass piece used is reflective of the rituals and folklore of the Rabaris.

The second year students of the department of Costume Design and Fashion of the CSI Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science got to know more about Kutch work at a workshop organised by the college recently.

“We learn about 27 types of hand embroidery in our curriculum. So it’s nice to learn traditional Kutch work as a bonus,” says Sofia, a second year student.

Kutch embroidery takes one into a world where colours explode in unique embroidery forms. “Kutch work is unique in the sense that a net is woven on a cloth using thread.

The net is then filled in using the same thread by intricate interlocking stitches. The patterns are usually built around geometric shapes,” explains K. Jijilla Mary, instructor.

This embroidery follows its own traditional design logic and juxtaposition of colours and motifs. “In Kutch embroidery, only when you learn the basic square stitch, can you master traditional patterns with your innovation.

The colourful tribal motifs lend vibrancy and modern designing a contemporary feel to the fabric,” explains K. Dhanasudha, tutor. “Mirrors, beads, sequins as well as tie and dye and appliqu
 are part of the vibrant embroidery, executed using the basic embroidery colours of red, black, green, yellow, white and orange,” says Sonia Elizabeth Thomas, department faculty.

K.JESHI

Hindu On Net

Savouring smoke

Cigars journeyed to Europe from Cuba, and have now made their way to Bangalore. You were talking of colonial hangover, were you?

Godfrey Phillips plans to introduce cigars into the social scene of Bangalore through promo nights

WINSTON CHURCHILL was famously inextricable from his Cuban cigars. As Britain’s Prime Minister during the Second World War, he was to take his first high altitude flight in an un-pressurised cabin. But fly without his trademark cigar? Churchill couldn’t dream of it. He apparently asked for a special oxygen mask to be made so he could use it while he was airborne, and the next day fully enjoyed his cigar, puffing it away at an altitude of 15,000 feet through a hole in his mask.

The cigar, a symbol of decadent capitalism and power since Columbus’ crew reportedly discovered it when they stumbled on Cuba in 1492, and brought it back to Europe, has now found its way to Bangalore. Cigarette company Godfrey Phillips, who have imported cigars from Altadis, USA to other metros such as Delhi and Mumbai, are now bringing a wide range of cigars to Bangalore.

The cigars are not from Spain, if you were thinking of Bizet’s opera of Carmen (the Spanish cigar factory worker). They’re not even from Cuba, that bastion of cigar production — but instead from the neighbouring Dominican Republic. This perhaps explains the frequent reassurances in Godfrey Phillips’ introductory brochure — that it was Dominican emigrants to Cuba who took the seeds and secrets of tobacco cultivation with them, and a reminder that the highest rating for a cigar by magazine Cigar Aficionado was to a Dominican, and not Cuban cigar.

Since cigars will be relatively new entrants to Bangalore’s social scene, Godfrey Phillips plans to introduce them through promo nights; combining cigar tasting sessions with alcohol (whisky or Scotch, presumably) tasting, and popularising the idea of languorous smokes to unwind at home.

The correct way to savour a cigar will also be conveyed — no quick coffee break smoke, this. Cigars are meant to have their ends clipped (but ever so slightly, you wouldn’t want to knock more than you can help off a Rs. 300 cigar!) just enough to reveal the tobacco. It is then lit, not with a petrol lighter which would spoil the taste, but with a gas lighter or a matchbox so that the end is charred for an even burn. More expensive cigars are lit through burning cedar wood, because match boxes can introduce an element of phosphorous. Then, the smoke is drawn into the mouth — no need to inhale — and allowed to slowly circulate, like wine. The ash is not tapped off, but instead allowed to collect on the cigar, till it starts to crack up (a clue to why Churchill’s suits needed constant mending and his wife made him a special bib for bedtime smokes so his silk pyjamas wouldn’t go up in flames). If you don’t have the time to linger over and relish your cigar, it can be put away and relit when you have more time.

Shakeel Savanur, the Sales Manager for Godfrey Phillips, explains that the company is targeting a wide range of customers, each of whom can find “their” cigar from the range now available. Company representatives recommend beginners try the Don Diego Prelude: these handmade cigars make for a smooth smoke and cost Rs. 100 each. There are the more premium hand-made cigars encased in handsome humidors, such as the Santa Damiana, but these can cost up to Rs. 550 each and are best savoured by the regular smoker.

Flavours like cognac and strawberry are intended to draw in the women as well — conjuring up images of Demi Moore and Madonna, just some of the women who’ve been seen sporting a cigar. But another, slightly more ominous, image inseparable from the leather armchair-scotch sipping world of the cigar smoker is that of psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. The line, “Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar” isn’t his only connection with the smoke; he also died of oral cancer after a lifetime of smoking nearly 20 cigars a day.

HEMANGINI GUPTA

Hindu On Net