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Govinda is an Italo-Indian band

Piccinini Claudio | Italy | 09/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To clear out a bit your doubts:

Govinda is an Italo-Indian band, featuring a singer of Indian heritage (Maryan Maureene Fernando). What's great about them is their research is not just a musical one but spreads from a desire of an effective understanding of indian spirituality.

From an interview I've read they do not care so much about what they employ to make music. Their interest now is more centered around electronic. They are against the myth of technology as a means of progress, and they don't want to lock themselves into a music "genre".

A peculiar thing are their albums titles and covers.

They are an homage to historical Pink Floyd albums.

"Atom Heart Madras" (1998) features a parody of Pink Floyd's classic "Atom Heart Mother", while their new (and current) album, "Wish You Were India" (2002), features a thought-provoking remake of the image of "Wish You Were Here".



Out of curiosity "Wish You Were India" includes a track, "Yasomati", which was co-written with italian leading musician Franco Battiato, whose interest in generic spirituality throughout any culture has been a thread passing through his whole career (started in 1965, and later on in 1972 with the experimental album "Fetus", published in english as well with the title "Foetus", up to his great commercial success in the early eighties when he worked side-by-side with great composer Giusto Pio).

Battiato explored any kind of musical culture and in Govinda's "Yasomati" he duets with Maryan Maureene Fernando. Most of the songs in the new album are sung by another singer, Lucretia.



Buy them both, anyway, if you have the occasion: they are worth the money."