LAI HARAOBA, WOODY GUTHRIE, BOB DYLAN, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, BEAT GENERATION
Sounds Like
" ....sounds like scorpion being pushed
through a glass tube
like someone has just trod on a peacock
like wind howling in a coconut
like a rusty bible, like someone pulling barbed wire
across a stone courtyard, like a pig drowning,
a vattacka being fired
a bone shaking hands
a frog singing at Carnegie Hall ..."
---- Michael Ondaatje
(Sweet Like A Crow)
Imphal Talkies N The Howlers is the result of a very personal musical interaction between Akhu Chingangbam and Sachin Angom and their frequent discussion on contemporary issues of Manipur. They share a common interest not only in terms of music but also literature. The duo fervently believe their kind of music will at least make modest intervention in Manipur's landscape already splashed with serious political issues like the protests against the draconian law Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) and other socio-political movements. Besides, they also hope to chart out a path for youth angst via homegrown Rock Music bands and popularize progressive literature, which has been confined to the so-called academic atmosphere of the formal educational institutions like the university colleges. They are inspired by the American Beat Movement of 1950s, 60s and 70s and believe in the idea that poetry should be brought to people. Imphal Talkies believe that poetry can be beautifully rendered into music at the right time and space. Riki Chingangbam, a young talented singer who had no formal education in music like Akhu and Sachin, fits perfectly into the band with her taste for singers/artistes like Joan Baez and Janis Joplin. The band recorded their debut album "Tidim Road" in mid 2008. The album is yet to have a public release. Tidim Road is the road that leads to a place by the same name in Myanmar (Burma). To go to Moirang sub-division, famous for its epic Khamba Thoibi, one has to travel on this road. To the east of Tidim Road lies a memorial museum where Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA) cadres hoisted the tricolour. It was on this road, in Malom, less than 10 km from Imphal city where Indian Paramilitary Forces killed 12 civilians. The episode made Irom Sharmila begin her fast unto death protesting against all draconian laws that allows innocent people to be killed with impunity. The title song "Tidim Road" is a song about a young man going to Moirang to watch a festival. He comes back home disappointed after seeing Loktak Lake (in Moirang) dotted with armed security forces. The scene contradicts the Loktak Lake, which had been romanticized for ages for its connection to the epic of legendary lovers Khamba-Thoibi. Imphal Talkies takes its name from a small theatre, which was called Rupmahal Theater in post Second World War Imphal. The Imphal valley and the surrounding hills in Manipur witnessed some of the most fierce battles between the Allied and Axis forces in the summer of 1944. The theater had its share in shaping the contemporary Manipuri theater and performing arts. The recent joined member, Raju Athokpam completes the band with his highly amplified sounds. Akhu and Raju came up with the track "Ballad of Kishan" within a month after their first meeting on the day of Candle Light Vigil at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, against the killing of Dr. Th Kishan and his two official staffs. The band feels that its sound is a cry of hunger for justice that Manipur has been deprived of over the decades.
Their long awaited debut album “Tiddim Road” is out now
Hurry n grab your copies before it’s sold out!!
Contact:
Akhu Chingangbam 09911811139
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