Life Of Navin

If you're from South India, then you probably know what Avial is..... Its a semi-dry curry made by mixing literally every single vegetable you can lay your hands upon..... sort of a medley of a hundred different tastes. Yet by the end of it all, you end up with a curry that is so complete, so clear, and so very yummy (You can check out the recipe of a traditional avial here).

But wait a minute, why is Navin talking bout some weird sounding south Indian food?? Guess what, this post ain't about food at all..... Its about the brilliant band from down south!! Unbelievable?? Read on my friend!!

With the amount of free time I've had over the last few days (Believe me, even a jobless call centre employee wouldn't have as much free time as me!!), I've been tuned into all sorts of extra curricular stuff like music, photography, novels, films,web designing, Orkutting and the rest!!

On the musical front, I've been experimenting with various obscure bands whose whose music is offbeat to say the least. But I've been hooked on to this new genre of neo-Indian rock/metal music. You're wondering how I said Indian and metal in the same sentence?? I thought it was impossible too, until I heard this brilliant band whose name is, you guessed it right, Avial!!

Note: These guys sing in malayalam, but all I can say is music crosses all boundries. Even though I don't understand their lyrics, I really really like their music.

Avial is a five member band based in Thrissur,Kerela. The bands line up is as follows

1. Tony John- Turntables
2. Rex Vijayan- Guitars
3. Anand Banjamin- Vocals
4. Naresh Kamath - Bass
5. Mithun Puthanveethil -Drums

These guys have sound amazing ..... and I certainly understand why they call themselves Avial: Their music is a blend of metal, classical music, rock, and flavours of many other "traditional" genres of music, just like the dish.

I've heard quite a few of their songs and all I can say is that they impress me more with every song I hear. Here are a few of their songs along with my personal ratings. Click on the songnames to download the songs.

Nada Nada (5 Stars)
Aranda (5 Stars)
Chekele (5 Stars)
Aadu Pambe (5 Stars)
Karukara (4 Stars)

They even have a Video of Nada Nada on YouTube.

For more on Avial, you can check out their official site.

You can also buy their album for the amazingly low price of Rs. 157 (Rs.180 with shipping) at MusicYogi. I've already ordered mine!! :) :)

If you like Avial, you can also check out the following bands, which are redefining the term "Indian Rock":

Slingshot
Indus Creed
Parikrama
The Circus (From Lauchpad 3 Fame)
Moksha
Pin Drop Violence
Workshop (Yeah, the band from Launchpad 3 .... Amazingly funny band!! Especially like the track "Bunty Aur Mallika Sherawath")

Enjoy all this yummy yummy music!!
cheers!!

PS: None of the download links or the video links are hosted by this blog..... I've simply copy-pasted these links off the web.