My first visit to Sri Lanka – a long train ride from Madras Egmore to Rameswaram, a slow ferry crossing of the Strait and then another long train journey through the most resplendent countryside I’d ever seen – was in the winter of 1977. A couple of friends and I lived on $25 for 10 days. We lived with friendly locals and hitchhiked from the beaches to the tea fields and back over a couple of weeks.
Hikkaduwa was little more than a few thatch hippie cafes in those days. These were some of the words that seemed to describe the country I so fell for nearly 40 years ago: Sleepy. Stunning. Completely un-India-like. Paradise.
On that trip I discovered some great music, though sadly none of it was Sri Lankan. And the fault was entirely mine. Supertramp’s "Crime of the Century", introduced to me by a wiry lungi-wearing Frenchman, was what filled my ears over those two weeks.
In this week’s Sunday Sounds I’ll try to set the record straight, albeit many years too late. There is tremendous music in that verdant teardrop south of Kanyakumari. Let’s check some of it out.
Bathiya N Santhush
Kavikariye
Bathiya N Santhush were still in nappies when I made my first visit to their homeland. Sometimes referred to as a rap group, I would peg these two chaps as pure pop balladeers. Hugely popular in Sri Lanka and one of a small handful of local acts to land a major record deal (Sony BMG) their music is distinguished by warm harmonies and sweet melodies. This clip though filmed in and around Melbourne is pure island music: lush acoustic guitar runs and peppered percussion. The visuals, sure to connect with the contemporary WiFi generation, provide evidence that the boys have their fingers on the pulse of their audience.
Wayo
Api Sanasille
Sangeeth Wijesuriya, the glossy-pated leader of Wayo has long been a major performer in the Sri Lankan music scene. He established the current band to bring a new and fresh to sound in 2012. In that time Wayo has become, if the band’s Facebook page is to be believed, the most sought after live band in the country. This clip certainly wins me over with its catchy, foot-tapping melody and unusual visuals. Wijesuriya commands attention every bit as much as Pitbull does, an artist he bears an uncanny likeness to. But it is those succulent mini guitar solos by Rasika Maddegoda that make "Api Sanasille" rise just that little bit more!
Jaya Sri
Sheela
Laying Latin and African "riddims" on top of a baseload of reggae and dub, Jaya Sri have carved out a wide space for themselves on the international music circuit where they often open or share the stage with reggae giants such as Alpha Blondy, Ziggy Marley, Third World as well as West African chanteuse Angelique Kidjo. Two brothers, Rohitha and RohanJayalath, lead an international cohort through a catchy, driving love song reminiscent of the Gypsy Kings in this clip.
Agra Harawath
Ahasa
Lest we conclude that Sri Lankan music is all about soft rock and gorgeous melody making, rapping outfit Agra Harawath crash through with a strain of hiphop as full flavoured as a favourite aunty’s chicken curry. Sounding a little like Asian Dub Foundation this is rap music with a message delivered by multiple voices in rapid fire fashion. Very attractive also is the spare electronic strains and beats that frame the whole enterprise with a slightly ominous urgency. Excellent stuff.
DuckDog
Yaka
Electronic dance music or EDM is one of those contemporary musical styles that has spread across most nations with a speed unequalled by any other than perhaps hiphop. Sri Lanka has its share of DJs, all night-and-through-the-next-day beach chillout sessions and a growing underground club and dance scene. Among the more interesting groups I’ve come across is the peculiar but pleasingly named DuckDog. The group’s imagination and departure from the run of the mill DJ jam sessions is well illustrated in this intriguingly conceived video. It belts through the sonic space with unapologetic and unselfconscious intensity, throwing in traditional percussion along with the deep electronic thumps of the machines. And then it all suddenly grows quiet.
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Hikkaduwa was little more than a few thatch hippie cafes in those days. These were some of the words that seemed to describe the country I so fell for nearly 40 years ago: Sleepy. Stunning. Completely un-India-like. Paradise.
On that trip I discovered some great music, though sadly none of it was Sri Lankan. And the fault was entirely mine. Supertramp’s "Crime of the Century", introduced to me by a wiry lungi-wearing Frenchman, was what filled my ears over those two weeks.
In this week’s Sunday Sounds I’ll try to set the record straight, albeit many years too late. There is tremendous music in that verdant teardrop south of Kanyakumari. Let’s check some of it out.
Bathiya N Santhush
Kavikariye
Bathiya N Santhush were still in nappies when I made my first visit to their homeland. Sometimes referred to as a rap group, I would peg these two chaps as pure pop balladeers. Hugely popular in Sri Lanka and one of a small handful of local acts to land a major record deal (Sony BMG) their music is distinguished by warm harmonies and sweet melodies. This clip though filmed in and around Melbourne is pure island music: lush acoustic guitar runs and peppered percussion. The visuals, sure to connect with the contemporary WiFi generation, provide evidence that the boys have their fingers on the pulse of their audience.
Wayo
Api Sanasille
Sangeeth Wijesuriya, the glossy-pated leader of Wayo has long been a major performer in the Sri Lankan music scene. He established the current band to bring a new and fresh to sound in 2012. In that time Wayo has become, if the band’s Facebook page is to be believed, the most sought after live band in the country. This clip certainly wins me over with its catchy, foot-tapping melody and unusual visuals. Wijesuriya commands attention every bit as much as Pitbull does, an artist he bears an uncanny likeness to. But it is those succulent mini guitar solos by Rasika Maddegoda that make "Api Sanasille" rise just that little bit more!
Jaya Sri
Sheela
Laying Latin and African "riddims" on top of a baseload of reggae and dub, Jaya Sri have carved out a wide space for themselves on the international music circuit where they often open or share the stage with reggae giants such as Alpha Blondy, Ziggy Marley, Third World as well as West African chanteuse Angelique Kidjo. Two brothers, Rohitha and RohanJayalath, lead an international cohort through a catchy, driving love song reminiscent of the Gypsy Kings in this clip.
Agra Harawath
Ahasa
Lest we conclude that Sri Lankan music is all about soft rock and gorgeous melody making, rapping outfit Agra Harawath crash through with a strain of hiphop as full flavoured as a favourite aunty’s chicken curry. Sounding a little like Asian Dub Foundation this is rap music with a message delivered by multiple voices in rapid fire fashion. Very attractive also is the spare electronic strains and beats that frame the whole enterprise with a slightly ominous urgency. Excellent stuff.
DuckDog
Yaka
Electronic dance music or EDM is one of those contemporary musical styles that has spread across most nations with a speed unequalled by any other than perhaps hiphop. Sri Lanka has its share of DJs, all night-and-through-the-next-day beach chillout sessions and a growing underground club and dance scene. Among the more interesting groups I’ve come across is the peculiar but pleasingly named DuckDog. The group’s imagination and departure from the run of the mill DJ jam sessions is well illustrated in this intriguingly conceived video. It belts through the sonic space with unapologetic and unselfconscious intensity, throwing in traditional percussion along with the deep electronic thumps of the machines. And then it all suddenly grows quiet.
