The city is warming up to live electronica and the best example of this was a packed house at Opus last week, with those who gathered to groove to the music of Delhi-based Dualist Inquiry.
Sahej Bakshi who goes under the artist name Dualist Inquiry is a solo electro rock act who performed as part of the David Guetta Invasion pre-parties. His set started off mellow, giving listeners the time to ease into the evening. As the night progressed, the beats per minute picked up.
Hypnotic
Tracks like Qualia meandered through hypnotic blips and bloops that were almost fairytale-like while Gravitat played on darker overtones and basslines. Orbital was a more slow, groovy and laidback track that allowed people some respite from the dancing. Some songs from the set comprised of refreshing remixes of Skrillex, Pretty Lights and Coldplay, which were high on energy and familiar yet different. The show-stealer however was Adustam Number 2 (Dualist Bootleg Remix) which was the perfect way to introduce the end of a good set.
Dualist Inquiry teased audiences with plenty of peaks and drops during his set. Just as you thought it was going to get heavier and louder, he slowed things down a notch with a mellow track only to pick it up again with a more racy number. His ability to understand the energy of the place was noticeable as front row listeners remained glued to the dance floor and even looked like they had their ears stuck to the speakers.
It is hard to pin down Dualist Inquiry's music into any one genre, as is the case for most current bands in the country. However, his music can be broadly described as being a blend of electro, rock and techno.
What stands out about Dualist Inquiry's set is the fact that he combines straight-up samples, synths and effects with live guitar. It was a one-of-a-kind live performance which brought together elements of electronic and live music.
