Best Of Best Of (featuring Mae & Shaun)

Maed in India

In this special 'Best of Best of' episode, hosts Mae and Shaun celebrate the 10th anniversary of Maed in India by revisiting their favorite

Key takeaways

• The hosts reflect on how the landscape for independent music distribution has changed significantly since the show's inception in 2015.
• Shaun highlights 'Crawling' by The Cognac Net as a pivotal track that represents the core mission of the podcast.

Main topics

• 10th Anniversary Retrospective
• Evolution of Independent Music

Notable quotes

If I could choose all the songs of every artist featured on the show, I would just pick everything.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and heartfelt celebration of a decade of music discovery a

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) So I haven't recorded a Made in India episode. Let's hope I'm not too rusty, Aishan. Speaker 3 (0:03) Someone like an expert like you never is rusty. Speaker 1 (0:06) Aww, you actually sounded mildly genuine then. Speaker 3 (0:10) Truly? Yeah, I mean, you're the best at it. Speaker 1 (0:13) Best and all? I don't know. Anyway. Here's an episode my producer Meghna and I have dubbed Best of Best of or Bobo. Speaker 3 (0:24) I'm your Bobo. Speaker 3 (0:26) Don't ever forget me. You're the best at Vesta? Speaker 1 (0:28) You're my best at Vesta? Speaker 3 (0:30) In your life, for sure. Speaker 1 (0:31) Wow, look at you. Dustin off the shoulder. Speaker 1 (0:37) Okay, I'm going to put it out there. At the beginning of every best of I've done in the last 10 years, my usual dialogue is that if I could choose all the songs of every artist featured on the show, I would just pick everything. It's a very difficult task for me having to whittle down that list. I mean, the part of the task I obviously love is actually just listening to all the music. But the choosing part is tough. I love them all, Shani. I love them all. Speaker 3 (1:07) That's what makes you so special because I have a very small sliver of music that I like, but you seem to like everything. I Speaker 1 (1:13) don't like everything. Pretty much everything. I like some things. You're the one who's picky. Yeah, Speaker 3 (1:19) just metal and new metal especially. Speaker 1 (1:22) Well, thanks to your pickiness, I now have basically brought you in for a very special task again because I've decided to make my life even harder. by doing some next level whittling, which is that I have to pick best of songs from all of my best ofs. And I think I might just pass out from the anxiety of having to choose. I Speaker 3 (1:44) think for you, the best part about this is just listening to the music, not really making a choice. Speaker 1 (1:48) Yeah, it is pretty much that. Anyway, so with me today, helping me on this episode, you've just heard his voice a little bit. It's none other than my dear partner in crime during the time, Sean Phantom. Hello. Okay, he's always there to lighten the load and carry the burden and clearly whittled down my precious list. Speaker 3 (2:07) I'll do my best. Speaker 1 (2:09) So we split the best ofs between us and split the picking. And I can't believe it's also been 10 years. Speaker 3 (2:14) Yeah, for sure. I mean, when I first met you, you had just started Made in India, right? Speaker 1 (2:19) Yeah, I just started. Speaker 3 (2:20) And like, the only reason we actually... We're 10 Speaker 1 (2:21) years old, by the way, too. It's disgusting as that sounds. Speaker 3 (2:26) Yeah. And the main reason I actually got into this is because... we met and I said that if you ever wanted to do something in the independent music space on your own, like hit me up. And when you were actually ready, that was what we did. Like we first actually, a few people know this, we actually first wanted to do a music festival together. Speaker 1 (2:43) Yes. In Aizawl, in Mizoram. Yeah. Speaker 3 (2:47) Maybe Speaker 1 (2:48) we still will. Speaker 3 (2:49) One day we will. One Speaker 1 (2:50) day we will. Oh my God. So actually, talking about 10 years, we're winding back to 2015. Part one. Because, you know, that had two parts. It was so good. So, Sean, what was your best of 2015 pick from part one? Speaker 3 (3:05) Well, the song that actually resonated the most with me is a song called Crawling by the Cognac Net. Speaker 1 (3:11) Of course. Yeah. I Speaker 3 (3:12) mean, I need to have a little bit of rock in my life. So that's what it is. But Speaker 1 (3:16) John Abraham's going to love you. Speaker 3 (3:18) David Abraham. Johnny Abraham. I think we might be in doom, dude. Speaker 1 (3:27) Sorry, John, I meant David. Wrong Abraham! Oh my God, David's gonna love you. Speaker 3 (3:34) Yeah, but the reason I actually picked the song is because it actually amplifies what Made in India really, really is, right? When David recorded Crawling With You, or rather the Cognac Net recorded Crawling With You, it was a song I think they just performed a few times live. There wasn't actually a recorded version of the song. And it's like... Closer to 2019, when we actually started working together is when like the music video actually came out. And I think Jishnu also shot that music video, who does all of our music videos for us. But when you rather began Made in India, the greatest challenge that was there in the music industry was the fact that not many artists were getting an opportunity to actually record their music and distribute it. The world today has changed so much that like now every single artist has an opportunity to share their music with the world. And that problem that you solved, I think Crawling actually is a song, apart from being an excellent track and the fact that this is an acoustic version of that track, it really resonated with me. Speaker 1 (4:31) I also feel like we really got artists to... create a different rendition of their music, which is why I always said, if not acoustic, at least a stripped down version of it, which I think I've heard prog rock bands stripped down their music. This song that you've picked, Shawnee? Speaker 3 (4:51) Yeah. Speaker 1 (4:52) Crawling? Speaker 3 (4:52) Let's hear it. Speaker 1 (4:53) By The Cognac Now. Speaker 4 (5:06) And I'll see if we touch his divine Since his fading leaves me perplexed I'll be crawling, I'll be crawling I'll be entwined, couldn't steady these knees I'll come crawling, I'll come crawling, I'll come Speaker 4 (6:05) That Speaker 1 (8:09) was Crawling by the Cognac Net. Next up, it's my turn. This is where Sean relinquishes all his hosting duties and I basically have to interview myself. Speaker 3 (8:22) Exactly. I don't know why I'm here. Speaker 1 (8:25) True. So 2015 also had a part two. I know it seems indulgent, but what can I say? My party, my rules. So my pick is a multi-instrumentalist called Jose Neil Gomes, who was on episode 15 of Made in India. He released this song on a 2019 album called Google Maps for Lovers. And it sounds super different from the acoustic rendition he did on Made in India. Speaker 3 (8:52) Ten years on. Speaker 1 (8:54) I know. Speaker 3 (8:54) Jeez, time flies. Speaker 1 (8:56) I mean, I don't know if it flies, but definitely it's on the back of a truck. For sure. Not moving very fast. So my pick for the best of best of here is Tree Outside by Jose Neil Gomes. Speaker 5 (10:04) The tree outside my house is dying The tree outside my house is dying And there's hardly anything I can do These toasted helpless cries have slaughtered me This old love in bottles, expensive scars They held peace in a bundle of tears among the lions While fasting and starving in public eyesight Uh-huh, feasting in private, while fasting and starving in public eyesight. Uh-huh, uh-huh-huh, feasting in private, while fasting and starving in public eyesight. Feasting in private, while fasting and starving in public eyesight. But me, the more they need, the more they refuse. Speaker 5 (11:52) Refused to consider And there's hardly anything I could do The more they knew, the more they refused Refused to consider And there's hardly anything I could do It's so love and private While fasting and starving in public eyesight Speaker 5 (13:11) Feasting in private while fasting and starving in public eyesight. Feasting in private while fasting and starving in public eyesight. Feasting in private while fasting and starving in public eyesight. Speaker 5 (13:35) I need to now stop pretending Before the tree dies out tomorrow morning I need to weed out the problems There's as much a man can do on his own I need to stop pretending Before the tree dies out tomorrow morning I need to weed out the problems. There's as much a man can do on his own. Speaker 1 (14:34) Next on our Best Of, Best Of, we're moving to 2016. So, Sean, how was your 2016? Speaker 3 (14:40) Kind of like a haze. I don't remember much about it. Do you? Speaker 1 (14:44) I mean, how can you say it was a haze? I was in your life in 2016.