vivek - luther (dallas,tx)
Hitting a happy medium for the kids these days can be tricky, not knowing if your audience grew up listening to Tupac or *N Sync, or more commonly both, can throw you for a loop if your not careful. So combining more than a couple of genres is not only a good idea, it's steadily becoming essential. And so enters the post bubblegum-pop indie rock. Fraught with the clean lines and clarity of turn of the century radio, but thematically and sonically more difficult, and ultimately much more satisfying than anything pumped through your local Clear Channel subsidiary. It's a bold area, with broad appeal and potential to pull in more of a fan base than any of the individual genres could on their own, if it's done right.
Well, Vivek Shraya seems to be doing something right, and it's potential is high. To be honest, I didn't know what to make of his clean vocals on top of overtly produced digital beats and synths at first. A little dirty, and still holding onto the elements that have kept groups like Younglove moving up the charts, the songs hold onto their aesthetic through musical themes and twists on the typical formula. Vivek, a Canadian, has recently released an EP by the name of If We're Not Talking this last month, so check it out if you like these tunes.
MP3: Vivek Shraya - Chemitry 
MP3: Vivek Shraya - Fevered