Review: Moving On

November 15, 2010 1 By Vinayak Gole

Soulmate
Album: Moving on
Artist: Soulmate
Genre: Blues
Released: June, 2009
Label: Blue Frog

Rating:

This review is a bit late and to all the Soulmate fans out there: my apologies. But it does take a while to unearth a gem. Started way back in 2001 by Rudy Wallang and Tipriti ‘Tips’ Kharbangar, the band is already living exemplification of soul. Their second album “Moving on” released in June 2009 is better than its predecessor “Shillong” in every single term. The music for one has matured, the sound is much more professional and the lyrics are stronger. The duo is aptly supported by Ferdy Dkhar on bass and Sam Shullai on drums.
“Moving on” begins with an aptly titled “Peace Prayer” and ends with a reprise of the same song. And in between the two prayers are 10 soulful masterpieces. Experimentation seems to be the central theme of the duo as the album takes the listeners over a smooth sail over pure honest music. Personally I never imagined soul could be this good.
The album features a couple of instrumentals “Kool Kat Strut” and “Remembering Rory”, again excellently lead on the guitar by Rudy. The rest of the songs are a tribute to the fantastic vocal abilities of Tipriti. To justify, I would suggest listening to “Set me Free” and “Smile at me”. “She is” is the longest track of the album but also the best. It is also one of the rare tracks where Rudy has lent his voice. The other interesting tracks are “Cup of tea” which describes how a day starts with that simple cup of tea and “Your sweet Loving” which is sweet and romantic.
Overall the album scores 4 fried eyes. It is a welcome change from the typical rock band perception of the bands from the Northeast.

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About the author

I am a nobody. In the Matrix, I am a software engineer, struggling to survive in the race to nowhere. I lead a normal happily married life, full of the usual hope and apprehensions. I worry about small things, I crib about low wages, I hate the politicians and their policies and wish I had a better life. Outside the Matrix, however, it is a different story. I put on my earphones, cut myself away from the fake world and let my fingers take me to a world of dreams and fantasy. I do not complain here, in this world of words and puntuations. I find divinty with the Almighty when I write.I write about life, my experiences, my hopes, my wishes and some stuff not at all related to me. And music is the blue pill which takes me out of this everyday life. It is the Bodhi Tree under which I stand enlightened. So this then is my world. I can also be found at: http://vinayakgole.blogspot.com/

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