Indian Unclassical, Vol. 1

Kush Arora presents an ongoing series under his alias Only Now, bringing together Indian instruments, primal electronics, and 9 ghostly dripping visions of his motherland. This project has been co-produced and curated by tabla player Robin Sukhadia who's an active leader within the Indian Classical community, bridging gaps between extreme music and timeless tradition.

Recording began with direction to each musician for solo pieces between in 2020, and as each song came back, Only Now's treatment of each piece began. In some cases, total isolation and warping of the raga's pure form as in "Glory" with Bansuri flute, or "Last Gasp" was the methodology. "Time Suffocation" and "Slit Ties" plow carpet bomb energy blasting tabla and santoor with pitch/time manipulations. Lastly, almost choral and crystalline structures are brought into focus with eye flickering intensity on "Ghosts of Regret" and "Vision Through".

This release is a product of many years of shattering tradition/hacking in Indian music for Arora, who's early work in the 2000's involved industrial takes on Punjabi sounds through his first releases, often aided by Sukhadia in sourcing musicians at the time. Through the years he's presented uncompromising visions from dancehall to heated and blackened kuduro. His recent releases from Only Now have been released on Discrepant, Polaar, and has upcoming collabs on Nyege Nyege Tapes (Hakuna Kulala) and Bokeh Versions.