MIDIVAL PUNDITZ
HELLO HELLO

Hello Hello by the Midival Punditz is perfect Asian music, Bollywood-style world dance music for yoga dance.

This past decade has been marked by the rise of the Indian electronica scene and no single band has had more influence on its growth than the Midival Punditz. Comprised of New Delhi based producers Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, the Punditz have been repeatedly heralded as pioneers of a scene that has ushered in some of the freshest global music out of India. On their new, third studio album Hello Hello, the duo has successfully documented their own personal journey as artists and brought their sound into the present. As India's influence on the world through music, film and fashion hits a new peak as evidenced by the worldwide popularity of the film Slumdog Millionaire, the Punditz have kept their hands on the wheel and helped steer this ship into a new century of sound and culture.

Raina and Raj realized that Western dance music wasn't connecting with them on the same emotional level as India's own classical and folk music – so they decided to do something about it. In 1997, after several years of work setting up their own studio in New Delhi, the two producers launched the Punditz. Gigs with Tabla Beat Science, the Indo-electronica act founded by producer Bill Laswell and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, put the duo on the map. They honed their vision with a series of events called Cyber Mehfil – a modern update on an ancient North Indian tradition of artistic gatherings. The original mehfil could include music, poetry, and/or dance. The Cyber Mehfil brought the sounds of modern electronica to the traditional music of the subcontinent, while adding visuals and incense to entice the other senses as well. In a span of eight years since the first Cyber Mehfil, the Midival Punditz have become the most in-demand producers and remixers in India, with remix credits for some of the biggest Bollywood soundtracks such as the 2008 blockbusters Don & Chake De. They have shattered attendance records of some of India's most venerable clubs such as Mumbai's Blue Frog and have become the foremost ambassadors of India's rapidly growing alternative and electronic music scene around the world.

Since releasing their first Six Degrees record in 2002, the Punditz have created a Bollywood film score, given tracks for a Hollywood film (Closer), collaborated with some of the greatest classical musicians of India, and contributed to several compilations. Their version of Zeppelin's 'Four Sticks,' reveals Raina and Raj's abiding love for classic rock. That affection colors much of Hello Hello. The song 'Atomizer,' for example, is a rollicking, stomping tune that looks back to 80s rock and also features an electronic 'vocal' track. And on 'Drifting,' one of the album's two instrumentals, Pandit Ajay Prasanna's bansuri flute weaves its way over a layer of guitars that suggest U2's, the Edge.

Of course, this all plays well in the clubs of Mumbai and New Delhi. But Midival Punditz have also become a genuinely international band, attracting critical acclaim in Europe and the States while performing their high-energy live show at festivals such as Glastonbury and selling out venues from New York to San Francisco. Collaborations with rising star Anoushka Shankar, 'it' Bollywood composers Salim & Sulaiman, Sting, Norah Jones, and countless others in India and abroad have cemented their reputation as both talented producers and musical visionaries. They are part of a remarkable infusion of Indian culture around the world. India's film industry has begun appealing to the global mainstream, and cross-cultural movies like Slumdog Millionaire have become worldwide success stories. The stage is set: it's a world on shuffle, and Midival Punditz are on the playlist.

If you enjoy the CD Hello Hello by Midival Punditz see below for more Asian Underground and Indian Fusion releases for yoga  dance.