omnesia | anuj rastogi

During one of my regular excursions to ethnotechno.com I came across a review by Shree Sreenivasan on an album called Omnesia. Intrigued by the title and cover I read on and discovering a Toronto, Canada based producer, composer and musician by the name of Anuj Rastogi.

Founder of Omnesia Records, Anuj is representing a generation of music and bringing together of different cultures and rediscovering what sound means to him. Whether it be walking down the street or having a conversation with someone, inspiration is found everywhere and Anuj has started to capture and articulate it back to us in the form of music.

2007 saw the release of Anuj’s debut album, fourteen tracks with a multitude of styles from stunning Hindi vocals provided by Falitaa Chhabra to Celtic and Slavic lyrics all wrapped up in electronica and organic instruments – a bold fusion of traditional and modern!

Omnesia-Live – a project that Anuj is working on that will bring together Indian classical influences, soul, r&b, rock, together with a cinematic and electronic feel to the performances. Working with artists like: Cassius Khan, Sandra Chibuluzo, Falitaa Chhabra, Jay Banerjee, Sunny Ray and many more!

This gave me goosebumps the first time I watched it – electrifying!

As some of you may know, I don’t listen to much mainstream commercial music, tracks played over and over again with very little or no positive message. Things like sex, drug and violence are easy to sell, but what about opening one mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking about things?

Anuj has definitely started to fill that void, creating a positive vibe through his work. Producing and composing tracks that make people stop and think, even if it’s just for a moment.

I think a brilliant example of this “187 Candles” a track Anuj produced as a tribute to the Mumbai bombings in 2008 – intelligent music, carefully planned and engineered.

187 Candles:

In 2009 Anuj graced us with a five track EP “Dark Matter” a refreshing exploration of

complex melodic sounds which in nature are heavier and darker.

Dark Matter is a combination of dubstep influenced beats, with cutting edge electronica, and classical performances.

Dark Veda:

I think we can expect a lot of innovative and thought provoking music, serving as a medium for Anuj to express himself and a positive message.

Anuj Rastogi Facebook | Omnesia Myspace