News appeared in the renowned English Daily "The Rising Nepal"

Friday Supplement 26th March, 2010,

From The Aching Heart

-Arhan Sthapit

CD Album: Laxmi; Lyricist: Bishnu Gautam; Singer and Composer: Madan Gopal; Saxophone performance: Subha Bahadur; Run Time: 47 minutes 42 sec (net); Genre: Modern; No. of songs: 5 (+4 Saxophone performance tracks), Marketed by: Music Nepal (MN); Price: Not mentioned. SWEETEST songs are those that tell (you) of the saddest thought." English poet P. B. Shelly well said. He’s true to ‘Laxmi’, the latest music album that has come from a father’s aching heart. Bishnu Gautam is a father who was doomed to lose his two sons at the prime age of 28 and 26 years in recent times. He’d lost his eldest son Kumar in Kathmandu and second son Balaram in USA, both in identical road accidents. Many people in such extreme grief could get frustrated from life; but it’s really worth emulating that Bishnu Gautam and Laxmi Gautam, the parents of the deceased sons have drawn great inspiration of life from the grief and established Laxmi Pratisthan to serve the social cause: helping the underprivileged people in education and other humanitarian campaigns. Moreover, Bishnu has also penned lyrics as he’s struck by the shocking accidents of his sons. As a result, sweet songs have come from lyricist Gautam, as he’s teamed up with composer and singer Madan Gopal in their joint venture album. For the obvious reason, the songs in the album are all pathetic and sentimental. They are melodious too, by virtue of music of Madan Gopal who’d debuted April last year (2009) with modern song album ‘Akriti.’ ‘Mero mayalu-le’ casts a sad spell on listeners with its pathetic waves. Music-wise, it is based on semi-classical attributes elicited from Raga ‘Shivaranjani.’ Formatted in a rhythmic set of 6/8 beats known as ‘Khemta,’ the track is a touching number. ‘Nashwor timro’ is basically an elegy where the lyricist recalls the demise of his two ‘talented’ sons. Melodious soft chords are a property of this number. Its format belongs to the rhythmic pattern of 3/4 beats that is known as ‘Dadara’ in the Eastern music. The album contains this song in both male and female versions sung by Madan Gopal and new comer Jhuma Niroula respectively. ‘Jeevan mero’ sounds like a ballade full of narration of agonies caused by demise of the loved ones. Wrought in a common rhythmic set of 4/4 beats, or ‘Kaharuwa’ the track sounds like a narrative song of a ‘Gainey’ from Kaski district. Also in the rhythmic format of Kaharuwa, ‘Kina aayo’ offers sentimental music in minor-chords. Making it an experimental work, the album dishes out saxophone performance that play tunes of all four compositions. Remarkably, it is noted music guru and saxophonist Shubha Bahadur who’s performed the saxophone in the album. It’d be a good treat to listeners. The compositions carry good pathos and spirit of the songs as envisaged by the lyricist. Credit goes to Madan Gopal, one of the students at the Nepal Music Centre. He’s explored deep into the sentimental music on the mainstream music line, although the album ‘with resolve’ does not give him space to craft as diverse musical genres as in his previous album ‘Akriti.’ He is a good singer but may not notch up more impression as he’s sung only a limited genre in the album. Debutante female crooner Jhuma Niroula is just satisfactory. Use of acoustics of original music instruments in the album really deserves accolades, as plangent synthesisers and electronic gadgets have undesirably dominated most recordings in town. The songs have instead used acoustics of guitars, saxophone, sarangi, flute, violin, Israj, as well as percussion instruments like Tabala, Dhimey, Duff and Dholak. Printing the lyrics overleaf the cover flap has also facilitated the CD users. Works of music arrangers and cover designer are also appreciable. The makers of the album have also made a provision to channelize all the proceeds of the album-sales to the fund of Laxmi Pratisthan, the social organisation.