Sunday, June 1, 2008


About Music - MIDIval PunditZ

The musical partnership of two guys from India, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj is responsible for the creation of MIDIval PunitZ. The two cemented their acquaintance in grade school, and reunited again in 1994. Both were veterans of India's dance club culture and shared a love of the classical music of their homeland. However, each bring their own unique talents to the music they intended to make.

Gaurav was a student of architecture who moonlighted as a radio DJ. And Tapan, an IT specialist by day, engineered at a New Delhi recording studio where Gaurav's station booked time.

By 1997 they had dedicated themselves to a fusion of their beloved classical ragas with the beats and loops of electronica. PunditZ's love for Indian classical music is obvious from the first notes of the CD. Bansuri flute melodies snake between sequencing, and echoing notes from a santur add depth to the rhythm.

MIDIval PunditZ reflects the extent to which younger generations of Indian music fans have allowed equal time for the past, present, and the future. Imprinted with traditional Indian music, this deep cultural programming somehow coexists with knowledge of the Internet and club culture. Since their Six Degrees Records self-titled debut in 2002—the first Indian electronica band to hit the international scene—the team has ushered in a new era of possibilities for the sound of 21st-century India. Their unique and expansive artistic vision marries the soulful elegance of South Asia's extraordinarily rich traditional and classical music heritage with the exuberance and limitless potential of modern Western electronic music.

One of the tracks from their first, eponymous album, "Fabric", was used on the soundtrack to Mira Nair's hit film "Monsoon Wedding". Now, with their newest Six Degrees release, "Midival Times", the duo, who work as producers, remixers, and club impresarios as well as live artists—document the musical, emotional, and intellectual journey of the past three years. Find out more about them at www.punditz.com