Week on Week: The VICE India Mixtape

Attempting to keep up with new releases is exhausting. And the never-ending quest to discover an act before they hit >1000 plays on Bandcamp is all but rewarding. Having given up full-time music writing a little while ago, more often than not, I find myself feeling a mix of FOMO and IDGAF about new local music while compiling my Spotify playlists. With this feature, we (that is I) aim to put together a weekly mixtape—without being (a) judgemental asshole(s).

For this week’s edition, I’ve got the peeps behind WAVLNGTH to recommend their fav tuuuuunes, as they get ready for Parra For Cuva’s Paspatou tour (tix here for Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi) across India this weekend, alongside Gently Altered. Between three of their team members, they’ve recommended two tunes each, making my work simpler.

“This tune is a nostalgic one, I heard of this when I was in school. To this date, whenever I hear this tune, it is on repeat. This is one of the tunes that give me a breeze through the harsh summer. The sound of this track is always so fresh, even though it’s almost a decade old now.”
—Samresh Shrivastava, Visual Artist

Such a groove-heavy tune, this one, with some real fun elements in it. The cover art for this also intrigued me so much. I think this is how I discovered Enchufada.
—Samresh Shrivastava, Visual Artist

“I really like the dream-like quality of the song. It sort of transports me to a comfortable space, especially if I'm feeling anxious, and Ramya's lyrics and voice go brilliantly with that. I think the song is produced well and the different layers that have been added to make the sound bigger make me feel like I'm floating.”
—Charita Arora, Event Coordinator @ WAVLNGTH

“WHAT. A. GROOVE! He took it to the next level with Jaago. "Mere Saath" is my favourite track from the album because the disco groove really transports you back in time. Really like the use of synth patches; such an easy listen! Absolutely love this entire album!”
—Charita Arora, Event Coordinator @ WAVLNGTH

“It was really really difficult to narrow down to two tunes for this piece as I have so many favourites out there. The reason I picked this Jamie XX joint is purely because the track name says enough. I have spent most of my weekends at a party, under one roof raving, having met some of the most amazing people. I owe a lot of what I do for a living to this fact as well. The transition from being a mere consumer to now working on the business side of things definitely has its fair share of pros and cons but I hope to never lose out the love for the dance floor. I highly doubt I would… once a raver, always a raver.”
—Aneesha Kotwani, Founder @ WAVLNGTH

“Since I’m more drawn towards electronic music which primarily consists of more beats than lyric, I connect a lot with sounds that evoke the feeling of love within me. When you spot me on the dance floor, you will mostly see me dancing by myself. It's always nice to have my friends around me as my safety blanket, but most times, I’m with the music. If a tune is able to evoke a fuzzy, warm, loved-up feeling in me then I'm sold and Stimming's ‘Window Shopping’ does exactly that!”
—Aneesha Kotwani, Founder @ WAVLNGTH

“There’s a few people I could trust with recommending legit, groovy, homegrown music and possibly topping that list is a certain DJ MoCity. Boxout.fm, the brainchild of Mo and a few others, recently dropped this album on their label, and I had earmarked it for later listening when it dropped, and I’ve got to say my cab ride to work this morning was pretty bouncy. Siva Baskaran’s wide range of influences and adept production and rap skills are on full display on his debut record, and honestly, I’m so excited to see where this project goes.”
—Naman Saraiya, Producer who is still trying to ‘support the scene,’ lol

Find previous editions here.