Ramesh is back with a website, EP & video +++ The Black are on tour (playing a show w/ Jared Van Fleet)
by Andrew Sacher
Ramesh
Ramesh Srivastava, formerly of Voxtrot who broke up in 2010, is now recording solo material as Ramesh. He’s recorded a short 3-song EP aptly titled EP1 which is streaming on his website. The first track, “The King” pretty much picks up where Voxtrot left off with their “Berlin Without Return” b/w “The Dream Lives of Ordinary People” single recorded the year before breaking up. Like those songs, “The King” features Ramesh’s earworm vocal melodies backed by simple mid-tempo drums and, catchy lighthearted strings. You can download “The King” for free at RCRDLBL.
The EP takes a complete 180 on the next track, “Romeo (Void)” and delves into polyrhythmic 80’s synth-pop with a much less relaxed vocal delivery than Ramesh had been delivering lately. The video for “Romeo (Void)”, directed by Elizabeth Skadden (Flaming Lips, No Age), can be watched below. EP1 then shortly ends after a brief instrumental track centered around a melancholic piano piece and accompanying string arrangements.
Ramesh’s rather intriguing website is fleshed out with more than just his music. The home page is a paragraph written in large letters that begins, “I wish I could have understood that the hardest part of becoming a man would not be the part where you had to find yourself, but rather the part where you had to lose your center, by walking away from everything that you love.” Continue reading. He also has an obscure photo montage that he’s titled Head Game.
Ramesh has also posted a podcast of him DJing the Radar Lisboa Radio Show. His set consisted of Nicolas Jaar (who plays Le Poisson Rouge tonight), Mary J. Blige, a demo of one of Ramesh’s non-EP tracks “Lux,” and others.
The Black
Unfortunately, Ramesh has no tour dates announced at the moment, but his ex-Voxtrot bandmate Jared Van Fleet (Sparrow House) plays Bruar Falls on Saturday (5/28) with The Black, the band in which Voxtrot’s Matt Simon plays drums. The Black, currently on tour through June 10th, also play a NYC show at Cake Shop on Sunday (5/29).
(Voxtrot’s Jason Chronis also played in The Black briefly, but now only focuses on his JC & Co project. Mitch is keeping busy with International Waters.)
Tour dates and videos below…
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Ramesh at the Mohawk in 2009 with Voxtrot (more)
Ramesh – “Romeo (Void)” Official Video
Ramesh – “Lux”
The Black — 2011 Tour Dates
May 27 Cafe Nola Frederick, MD
May 28 Bruar Falls Brooklyn, NY w/ Jared Van Fleet
May 29 Cake Shop New York, NY
May 31 Doo Wop House Pittsburgh, PA
Jun 02 The Berkley Front Berkley, MI
Jun 03 the Roche Port Huron, MI
Jun 04 The Beat Kitchen Chicago, IL
Jun 05 The Vollrath Indianapolis, IN
Jun 07 JR’s Fayetteville, AR
Jun 08 The Deli Norman, OK
Jun 09 Revolution Cafe Bryan, TX
Jun 10 Hole In The Wall Austin, TX
