Shillong and the North East
Considering this region to have one of the best music
scenes in India, we’ve got artists that have relatively more
complex vibes and intricate musicality. Hiatus Kaiyote’s
jazz funk and blended technicalities take you beyond
just easy listening, into the depths of the land and the
sounds that go with it. Weather Report for the old school
listeners, and probably dabble in Animals As Leaders,
August Burns Red and Bring Me The Horizon for the
more energetic youngsters. Your quintessential post rock
staples of God Is An Astronaut, Explosions In The Sky,
Mogwai and Tycho just sum up the vibes in this region.
Must haves on your playlist:
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Hoppipola by Sigur Ros
The Brain Dance by Animals As Leaders
Fragile by God Is An Astronaut
Nakamarra by Haitus Kaiyote
Drown by Bring Me The Horizon
The Western Coastline
Beaches and rocky coasts have always had a correlation
with lazy afternoons and bright, fuzzy mornings. Whether
it’s wasting away hours in a hammock or taking long
walks under a merciful Sun, the warm colours of the
west coast speak a language of their own. Angus and
Julia Stone match this warmth almost absolutely, and
so do a handful of indie folk bands. The Lumineers and
Hey Marseilles make for a heavy influence, and The
Decemberists ironically create the most summer-like
vibe of any band ever. Phillip Phillips, Switchfoot and
Avalanche City are the best pick-me-ups, and probably the
most influential coastline playlist would be dominated by
pretty much every single one of Kodaline’s songs.
Fundamentals in your playlist:
• All I Want, Talk and Love Like This by Kodaline
• A Beginning Song by The Decemberists
• Saltwater Heart, Love Alone Is Worth The Fight by
Switchfoot
• Gone, Gone, Gone by Phillip Phillips
• Ho Hey by The Lumineers
• Yellow Brick Road by Angus and Julia Stone
• Swells by Wylder
with their mellow yet happy and calm yet dynamic
compositions. Cool colours reflected by bands like Snow
Patrol are essential and if you think you’ve had enough
of calm and need some energy, there’s always Intervals,
Tesseract and Mutemath. A host of single artists or
random tracks made their way into our playlists, so we
thought we’d share those as well.
Here’s the aggregate:
• Slow and Steady, Mountain Song and Dirty Paws by Of
Monsters and Men
• Follow The Sun by Caroline Pennell
• Halcyon by Paper Kites
• Technicolour Beat, Heart Hope and Drive by Oh Wonder
• Breathe by Anna Nalick
• Lazarus by Porcupine Tree
• Plans by Birds of Tokyo
• All About Us by He Is We
• Solitary Shell by Dream Theater
• Libra by Intervals
• April by Tesseract
• If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It, by Snow Patrol
Rajasthan, Rann of Kutch and
Royal Palaces
Bringing history alive in the land of kings and royalty,
the desert is more than just a pretty tourist attraction.
Keeping up with the centuries of stories and themes
of the land, your playlist has got to have some exotic
and hopeful tracks that colour your visits just as
vividly as the region’s inherent fantasies. Probably
the perfect correlation with Rajasthan would be the
Gypsy Revolution and the styles of music that go with
it, since all of these movements originated right there. If
you’re looking for a more flavorful touch or feel wildly
adventurous, you could couple Godsmack’s Sully Erna
and the dark yet sublime Opeth with traditional sounds
that bring you home like Shakti and Parikrama. If these
dimensions aren’t enough, you could experiment with
combinations of Enigma, Kings of Leon, Muse and of
course, U2.
A not-so-comprehensive list would be:
Ooty, Hampi and the southern
retreats
People looking for a blend between lush nature and the
calm of solace always seek the sites of the south. The
songs to accompany you in these lands must reflect
that musical quiet, and the happiness that it invokes.
Oh Wonder and Of Monsters and Men are perfect fits,
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Finding The Way by Shakti
Atonement by Opeth
Avalon, Sinner’s Prayer by Sully Erna
Return To Innocence by Enigma
Where The Streets Have No Name by U2
United States of Eurasia by Muse
I Believe by Agnee, Parikrama and Shilpa Rao
The Sound of Muzak by Porcupine Tree
The
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