lightsweetcrude

“This collection of music exists to celebrate the Raga – that most ancient, most perfect set of instructions and specifications with regard to musical mood, movement, and pitch…. and to fuse it with Western sounds, forms and vibes. Raga-fusion…”

As is the wont of a true SOB, there’s a tendency to be late to the party…often with no excuse. In this instance, the soiree in play is a world party, thrown by lightsweetcrude. A Raga-based group of moodsters made up of Alexei Orechin, Michael Kaler, Jason Steidman, and Mark Segger, lightsweetcrude released Listen To The Colour in ’11. Steeped in the ‘most ancient,’ Listen To The Colour doesn’t heed a pesky—and confining—timestamp. Rich in history as well as forward-thinking, lightsweetcrude swirl a heady instrumental offering that indeed celebrates the Raga as well as its fusion with other guests at the table. Did someone say a dirty word? You remember fusion…an often ridiculously derided ‘genre’ (singular? no…) that satisfies believers while confounding its detractors, usually for the poorly hidden reason of jealousy over playing your instruments well. Sometimes in places and times where people didn’t want them to be. Well, they can leave the party any time they want. And that’s a shame because the inclusiveness of music made by outfits like lightsweetcrude (in a myriad of vibes) is not only part of the appeal, but is key to the payoff as well. Brainy? Maybe, but smart is more like it. And I don’t know anyone who can’t use a little bit more in that department. For all the bubbling overflow of ideas and sonic detail, Listen To The Colour is highly approachable and accessible. Light? Certainly light on its feet for all that’s going on. Sweet? Absolutely, and filling as well without being fatty. Even if Raga infused explorations aren’t your cup of tea, there’s enough here to satisfy more than one jones, no matter where on this rock it’s located. Crude? That might be the red-herring with a nod and a wink, shoring up the playfulness of Listen To The Colour. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with the basics, or getting back to them. Everybody likes a kick in the teeth as much they do one in the gut, and in the head. The best of the outfits that thrive at that end of the spectrum (one of many, thank God-of-your-choice) aren’t basic though. Just like lightsweetcrude, they find what’s elemental. No matter how much time you spend at the bar—versus the table—there’s no need to lower it. lightsweetcrude raise the bar, high enough for just about anybody to get through.

Listen To The Colour is also animal friendly. Our simian brother at Revolt of the Apes joined the party in timely fashion and put it in his hallowed social column. - Sunrise Ocean Bender

Rightly or wrongly, we often try to frame the artistic aspirations of all those bands, all those musicians who make all that great music that has enhanced our lives throughout the years, within the generally non-artistic terms of a “mission statement.”

Rarely do bands make it as easy to deduce such a mission statement as do Canada’s lightsweetcrude - a band that actually has a mission statement. To wit:

“This collection of music exists to celebrate the Raga – that most ancient, most perfect set of instructions and specifications with regard to musical mood, movement, and pitch … and to fuse it with Western sounds, forms and vibes. Raga-fusion. The word Raga comes from the Sanskrit word for colour, rang, and we are often asked to imagine the Raga as being a sonic means to colour the imagination or mood, or both. Every Raga has its own shade, its own distinct hue, a proper time of day to best evoke it, and a family or two to whom it can be said to ‘relate’. Some are a serious call to action and devotion, and some ask you to relax, turn off your mind, and listen to the colour.”

In light of such a well-defined statement of purpose, it’s incredible to hear what a sense of freedom we receive from the music of lightsweetcrude on their debut, Listen to the Colour. With each listen, each of the album’s six songs truly does communicate different color, with endlessly nuanced shading. And because they’re from Canada, we sense in that color just a pleasant pinch of poutine for good measure. Delicious and satisfying.

As long as we’re using the words of others to describe lightsweetcrude, it seems appropriate to echo a description of the impact of their musical effort as something like that described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead:

“From the midst of that radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders simultaneously sounding, will come. That is the sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted thereby, not terrified nor awed.”

Be not awed, but be delighted by the sounds of lightsweetcrude, and the words of Jason Steidman, who was kind enough to answer our ridiculous questions below. Enjoy.

Is the term “world music” a useful one, in your view? Do you feel there’s something less than specific, possibly empty and perhaps cloyingly paternal about the term? Has the world contracted to the point that such a phrase has outlived its usefulness? Or do you find it’s still a necessary bit of shorthand to use when trying to introduce the uninitiated to the music if lightsweetcrude?

Being specific is always best, and if not, why not say “non-Western” or “ethnic”? That’s usually the meaning, and they are just as completely useless, blanket terms, but at least they make some sense, and have some honesty. That being said, and speaking of “honesty” … I do use the term – it is a useful term in an ice-breaking context – where being too specific, and using the word “Raga” too much might be overwhelming at first contact.
Speaking of the uninitiated, how did you yourself first become not just interested in, but dedicated to the traditional and “modern traditional” (to use another cloying phrase) music that emanates from locales and culture not native to, let’s say, Canada? What was the first album or artist that truly kindled this fire within you? How has your relationship with this music evolved over the years?

It’s a strange story, but it was a dancer that started the whole thing. I had been working on staff at a big recording studio in Toronto, and had gone freelance to work at a couple of different places. I rented the top two floors of a house in the Junction, and set up a small studio on the top floor. I got a call from a kathak dancer who wanted to come in and talk about producing a track that fused Indian and modern (at the time) dance music, and this was back when that sort of thing was all over the place, and still “fresh.” I had little experience with either, really. I wasn’t a fan of dance m - Revolt Of The Apes

Lightsweetcrude are Toronto’s voodoo-psych aficionados. This self-proclaimed ”raga-fusion” band opened for Toubab Krewe in November and are slowly but surely climbing the jamband ranks. Their impressive performance landed them a spot on Relix‘s Jan/Feb mixtape and their ethnic beats and instrumentation (which includes a sitar) are a welcome departure from the massive amount of indie rock that has been taking over our headphones. You can catch them on Thursday at the Bovine Sex Club and March 11 at Sneaky Dee’s. Open your mind and have a listen… - Syncopated Sound

The Bittersweet Ambience of lightsweetcrude
by patspitzhotfire

"This is a memo to yogis…and anyone else who appreciates the mental balance one can achieve through music.

Consisting of Alexei Orechin (electric guitar), Michael Kaler (bass), Mark Segger (drums) and Jason Steidman (organ/laptop), this band is exploring a new realm of fusion, split by Middle Eastern influenced raga and modern American jam. The group hails from Toronto, Canada; just another unlikely aspect of an extraordinary group.

As part of a beautiful pairing, the band is set to open for Toubab Krewe on November 17th in Toronto, as part of the fourth annual NuJazz Festival. If you’re in the land of red leaves, I suggest you swing by the show. Tickets are still available for only $15.

Strangely, the only prior source I could compare this music to is the soundtrack of Nintendo’s Tetris 64, released for the Nintendo 64 console in 1998. Want to become familiar? I suggest starting with their track “Ahir / Now.”

You can listen to the band’s latest six track album Listen to the Colour on their bandcamp page and purchase the album for a measly $4.99." - Hot Hot Music

Album #2: Listen to the Colour by lightsweetcrude

Boy is this one ever trippy. lightsweetcrude are a group from Toronto who produce instrumental songs with a distinctly South Asian flavour. As I don’t have the vocabulary to properly review raga and its similar sounds, I don’t know how exactly to describe their sound. What I can say is that this music is pretty sweet. If you’re looking for some new sounds to add to your sonic palette this is one to hear. It’s $5 at Bandcamp.

Rating: Strong Hoot (Good) - Grayowl Point

Lightsweetcrude is an instrumental psychedelic/world project. They call their voodoo "raga fusion". Their CD just dropped Oct 20th in Toronto. It's called "Listen To The Colour", and features guest appearances from guitar wizard Fareed Haque (Garaj Mahal/Math Games), Rez Abbasi, and others. They have played lots of local fests, and opened for Toubab Krewe in Toronto as part of the 4th annual NuJazz Festival. They also just won Relix Magazine's "Jam Off" contest, and will be appearing on their Jan/Feb 2012 CD sampler.
"Listen To The Colour" can be buyed and streamed here: [Bandcamp link]. Really good mix of music, great musicians and i think a really cool live band with a sound to relax or to cook some psych food, check it out and buy the Cd on bandcamp.
- Stonerhead Let Groove Your Brains Tonight (Blog)

Raga? It’s one of the building blocks of Indian classical music, but it’s also one of the world’s hardest musical terms to define. In the simplest sense, “raga” means “color,” and consists of a collection of notes that musicians build a song around. Toronto-based lightsweetcrude’s debut album Listen to the Colour proves that “raga” doesn’t require a neat definition.
Lightsweetcrude plays with and creates new shades of traditional ragas on Listen to the Colour, which released in October 2011. Producer and keyboardist Jason Steidman envisioned the album, and brought together the ensemble’s team of talented artists. Before launching the project, Steidman studied Indian classical music for several years—even studying harmonium in order to learn the feel of the music.
Listen to the Colour draws on numerous other musical influences, including funk, jazz, and surf rock. On the track “Ahir/Now,” guitarist Fareed Haque weaves the fabric of the melody before the group launches fully into the song. Complete with handclaps and thumping piano and drums, “Ahir” evokes the spirit of Dick Dale’s famous “Misirlou.”

Now watch this clip of santour maestro Shivkumar Sharma perform raga Ahir Bhairav, with Zakir Hussain on tabla. “Ahir” is based on this very same raga, and listening to Sharma’s rendition it’s not hard to imagine the guitar layered over the santour.
On “A Call to You, Piloo,” Rez Abassi’s electric sitar bridges a combination of guitar, bass, drums, and organ with the more traditional classical instruments bansuri and tabla. It’s a mixture of jazz and funk, for sure, but it’s also built upon raga Piloo (Pilu), performed here with more “standard” classical form by sitarist Shahid Parvez Khan.
Whether you’re a fan of classical Indian music or just curious about it, you’ll enjoy exploring the many shades of “raga” with lightsweetcrude. - Apsara Music Blog

"lightsweetcrude, long time favourites of ours at the TSG podcast, held a great album release show. Their music is extremly tight and will transport you to other worlds. They are playing a show Tonight(Nov. 17) and are well worth seeing live." + "Yaman Skyline" included on podcast. - Toronto Sounds Good (Blog)

By Errol Nazareth, QMI Agency

First posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011 05:42 PM EDT

TORONTO - Credit a non-committal Indian kathak dancer, the North Indian drums known as the tabla, and the revolutionary, classical Indian-flavoured Beatles track Tomorrow Never Knows for sparking Jason Steidman’s love affair with Indian music.

And it’s quite remarkable what he’s accomplished with his appreciation and knowledge of the music, specifically, the raga, which is the pattern of notes in classical Indian music that are used as the basis of improvisation.

Lightsweetcrude, Steidman’s five-member “raga fusion ensemble,” just released its debut album, Listen to the Colour and it’s a solid calling card. Alternately visceral and meditative, the music here will appeal to fans of groups like Remember Shakti or the Mahavishnu Orchestra. And adding additional firepower to the affair are several heavies who are well-versed in classical Indian music: Guitarists Fareed Haque and Rez Abbasi, tabla player Ravi Naimpally, bassist Ian De Souza and Amir Amiri who plays the exquisite-sounding santur, an ancient 72-string instrument used in Persian classical music.

Lightsweetcrude will celebrate the disc’s release at The Smiling Buddha Thursday.

“A kathak dancer came to visit my studio back in 2000 or so and she wanted to do an Indian-dance fusion thing, but she never returned after our first meeting,” Steidman says, tracing his interest in Indian music. “Meanwhile, thinking about this idea, fooling around with some tabla samples and a tamboura sample from (The Beatles’) Revolver (album), some things started coming together.”

Steidman confesses that when he embarked on assembling a project that would bring together the best of West and East, he realized how little he really knew about Indian music so he sought out a guru.

Steidman linked up with Toronto-based Pakistani film composer and producer Sohail Rana and studied the basics of North Indian classical music via the harmonium “which, despite the micro-tonalities of the music, made the most sense since I already played keyboards.

“The more I learned, the more I was awestruck by this music and I did tons of listening,” Steidman recalls. “There was a period of several years where I listened to almost nothing but sitar or sarod performances and cassettes of my teacher for hours each day. So, at a certain point, I felt confident to try writing some stuff in raga, and it evolved from there.”

He says he’s always loved jazz and other improvised music, adding that “the way North Indian classical music is organized and executed is connected to jazz in some ways, but it’s also working in another universe.”

Considering quite a few bands are mixing classical Indian with other styles of music, I ask Steidman what sets lightsweetcrude apart from the pack.

“We’re all about raga fusion, so all written melodies are written strictly in a raga: Attempting to evoke a specific Raga while obeying the music’s ‘rules’ — except sometimes during improvisation — and fusing this with an appropriate Western genre or form that suits the mood and movement of the raga in question,” he explains. “I also think the range of this project’s possibilities for fusion is wider than most. There are Indo-jazz projects and projects that incorporate Indian instruments and sounds with electronic music, but lightsweetcrude’s mission is to let each song find its own way in terms of genre or style.

“That’s why you will hear things move from surf-rock to ambient to funk to electronic, and I believe that the common source holds all of this together and keeps it cohesive and interesting.”

NOTE: The Smiling Buddha is at 961 College St. Doors open at 9 p.m. $7 gets you in. - Toronto Sun

This next band combines the funky sounds of Psychedelic, Jam Band, World and North Indian Classical music into one sweet harmonious sound. The band, lightsweetcrude, masterfully creates music that will instantly draw fans into their world and never let go. If you are a fan of music that will elevate the mind, then lightsweetcrude is the perfect choice. Recently, Jason Steidman from lightsweetcrude spoke to me about the band; so sit back, relax, and read their journey told from the eyes of Jason Steidman in this fun and interesting interview with our Webzine.

Isaac: How do you sum up 2008 for lightsweetcrude? What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment?

lightsweetcrude: A great year in many ways, in that things really came together and took this project from a concept to some tangible finished music. I reached out to my "dream team" of musicians that I had recorded over the years in various situations, and they were all into the project, and so the first few tracks got cooking and the first was mixed in December with my colleague Andrew St. George. So the ship set sail, which was a great accomplishment, but admittedly, it took a lot longer than I feel it should have to accomplish these things.

Isaac: Elaborate on the concept behind lightsweetcrude.

lightsweetcrude: Musically, the concept is simple really : it's instrumental music that's a funk/rock/psychedelic jazz hybrid...and all the tunes are closely based on different North Indian ragas. The idea is that there is something for all listeners to sink their teeth into, but those who are versed in North Indian Classical music will recognize the raga in each piece, and hopefully agree that the raga's mood, movement and other specifications has been preserved, respected, and evoked - outside of the Classical realm. That is the musical 'mandate' in a nutshell...

This project has two sides to it: the studio project, and the live performance of the same material. This is generally the case for any musical act, right? Of course... However, in this case, each of those 'spheres' is considered to be its own playing field and not bound by the activities, rules or circumstances of the other 'sphere'. lightsweetcrude was born in the studio, so to speak, and that side of it therefore lives by the rules of the studio : where all the technological possibilities (both old and new) are fair game, and all strategies or decisions exist to serve the music, and take things as far as they can and should go. This includes decisions regarding who is playing the music, which so far, is an entirely different set of people than those who are currently conspiring to take this thing live with me. So it's almost as if there are two bands : the studio cast, and the live cast. Also, the live performance of the material, as you would expect from any jamband or improvising outfit, expands upon the studio blueprint, stretches things out, and takes it to some very different places.

Isaac: Describe the music scene in Toronto/Ontario, Canada.

lightsweetcrude: Toronto is an amazing city in so many ways. It really is a melting pot, culturally, and there is a rich musical history here, as well: Percy Faith, Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Fred Stone from Ellington's band, Peaches - many greats came from or chose to live here... There is an indie rock scene that has gotten worldwide attention in the last decade or so, through breakthrough groups like Metric, Broken Social Scene, etc. Plus there are many notable world music fusion groups, and a thriving South Asian music scene. The jazz scene here goes way back, as well... There's also an amazing pool of players here who are always being recruited by big names for tours by US or international artists. I think it makes perfect sense that this city would spawn a project like lightsweetcrude.

Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the music industry and why?

lightsweetcrude: Well, on a production/engineering level, one of my first teachers was the great Jack Richardson (Guess Who, Bob Seger) when I was at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. I was a bit of a 'keener', and he allowed me to come in and assist on local projects that he was working on in the college studio. There are still things from those classes and sessions that I will remember him putting out there when I think I've come to an original conclusion about something in the studio. He had covered all of it, but we didn't get all of it right away.

Another influence for sure is the whole Eno/Byrne "Bush Of Ghosts" direction, which I believe begins a chain that goes through Bill Laswell and exists in the music of Cheb i Sabbah. He is someone I have not met or worked with, but his album "Krishna Lila" was a huge inspirational push as I was learning and writing. Hearing that album re-affirmed that the type of fusion I was looking for was possible. His production work was respectful of its source material, subtle and sophisticated. While it wasn't exactly my vision, it stood apart from all of the superficial sample-on-top-of-a-beat type of tracks that were the standard for this type of 'fusion'.

Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel you will bring to the music industry?

lightsweetcrude: Old school production values. Half of lightsweetcrude is its existence as a studio project, and as a producer I am in the service of whatever music I am working on, and must do the best for it. That means involving the right people: from the musicians to the mix and mastering engineer. Even though it's kind of out of fashion, I still feel that audio quality matters, and will stop at nothing to get it. At this point, finding ways to save money in audio is boring - putting a great team together is very different and exciting, and I think I have one here. Certainly my decade plus of professional recording experience has given me help towards this goal. I'm not really into doing this alone at home on my laptop... That certainly is a part of the process, truth be told, but not where the magic happens at all.

Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one artist or group, who would it be and why?

lightsweetcrude: Daniel Lanois, even just to engineer for the guy. I've met him a few times, and he seems like someone that would be cool to work with. I also love his playing and approaches to recording.

Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?

lightsweetcrude: "Raga-fusion".

Isaac: What is your definition for World Music?

lightsweetcrude: It seems to be a term that is used to describe "ethnic music" of any sort, but I never have like the term myself. I always aim to be more specific. I find it hard to imagine putting Reels, Raga and Reggae under one genre.

Isaac: What type of feedback have you received from your releases in 2009?

lightsweetcrude: Very encouraging. It really is the reason that a live thing is coming together right now. The feedback has also been educational, for sure... You can put together a picture of the types of people who are into the music.

Isaac: Where can fans locate you at online?

lightsweetcrude: lightsweetcrude.ca is the place to go. We're also to be found in all the usual spots, as well.

Isaac: What can fans expect from lightsweetcrude in 2009?

lightsweetcrude: I'm in the studio at the end of this month to work on three more tracks that should make their way online a few months after that. Plus, taking this thing live - that really is the primary focus right now.

Isaac: Time for some shout outs to your family, friends, and fans?

lightsweetcrude: They know who they are... And where I would be without them. :+)

Isaac: Final words from lightsweetcrude?

lightsweetcrude: Thanks for having me here, Isaac. And thanks to all for supporting the music. - Juniors Cave Online Magazine

"We rocked out to lightsweetcrude, an awesome jam band" - Veganlicious