Hear The Track Here
2006 has been a bit of a quiet year for Prashant Vadhyar, or at least thats what it seems like from where I am sitting. Short Sojourn in Amsterdam is in fact from 2004 and, as Prash points out, his first attempt at production. No matter for this reviewer because I have had a Prash fixation ever since I reviewed Delusions of Grandeur (April 2004) which I would imagine is from the same period so why he kept this one back from me is anyone's guess. As as I know, there is a reason for the quietness of Prash's activity and that he is busy establishing himself as a musician in the real world in his native Mumbai, India. If you don't know what that might mean to a musician (especially an Indian one) I can sum it up in one word: Bollywood. So, let's see what the man has been keeping under the covers all this time eh?...On with a Short Sojourn in Amsterdam but let me just roll this little number first.... Ahhhhh, that's better....
I wonder what people would want to go to Amsterdamn for, he asks with innocent expression. Well, if Prash's musical version is anything to go by it's a fairly boisterous affair with plenty of booyahh, ooooyeaaahhbaby and a splendid dollop of dancerama to make it all go down with a nice fuzzy feeling about the earholes. When requesting this review, Prash mentioned that this was an early affair but other than a slight difference in individual samples it still sounds up to the standard I have come to expect from this accomplished musician. A little more on the sounds themselves; I think there is a tendency on this track to sound a bit tame, not the usual sounds I expect from this artist but hey it was early days and I never had to say that about any of his other tracks. It all sounds a bit either a) factory or; b) some kind of MIDI sound.
Even though it sounds like I'm a bit down on this track, that isn't the case. Because he pointed it out to me, I might be seeing things that aren't there (Ed: eh? I hope he says...), so to speak. At first glance, Amsterdam appears to be a fairly standard dance/electronica outing, but in very short order, Prash's innate skill as an arranger and his talent as a musician creeps up on you and hooks you in. I think Prash would agree with me that this is a bit of a throwaway (in the nicest possible way) track, but musically it's a little gem. Sure it's a bit noodly in places, and but it carries itself well except for an incredibly abrupt ending. Personally I'd advise you - if you were a new listener to Prash's work - to look a little further into this artist than this track although it's certainly a worthy introduction but this artist has so much more up his sleeve. Nevertheless...
Recommended electronica.
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