Vijay Kishore

Vijay Kishore
The stream of music can be numbing after the first hundred, but this song just absolutely stopped me in my tracks, dead, heartworn. Web information tells me that Vijay Kishore is from Birmingham, England, but all I know is that the gorgeous falsetto and high lonesome drone of his voice sounds uncannily like an incarnation of Thom Yorke or Jeff Buckley, from an Indian gentleman with a shaved head. I have nothing else to say, except that I have chills. He’s playing a ton at SXSW, including an official showcase Thursday night at Creekside.
- I AM FUEL YOU ARE FRIENDS

Vijay Kishore - “NeverEnds” [MP3] Wonderful falsetto singer/songwriter from England. In writing about Kishore, it would be wrong to not show you this piece from his bio: “Born and raised in the Handsworth district of Birmingham of Indian parentage Vijay’s music is an ambiguous fusion of his anglo asian heritage bringing comparisons from listeners to everything from the sufi infused tones of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to Thom Yorke,Jeff Buckley or even Nina Simone and PJ Harvey.” Some hefty comparisons there don’t you think? But this is quite a beautiful song. - KNOX ROAD

Brummie indie folk singer with a devastatingly beautiful voice effortlessly melds Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley style emoting to the deeper vocal traditions of Sufi music and even Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His unusual approach has been bowling over critics and fans alike and we think he's the perfect antidote to all the gutless indie wannabes out there.
TIME OUT
- TIME OUT - London

Of late, the Moseley music scene has been exploring the more hippy-centric side of the mid-sixties and also the singer / songwriter zone. Much of the breaking talent I see this weekend is from around this local ley-lined area. Scott Matthews really hooks me in with his superb slide action and falsetto voiced melodies (recorded just round the corner), brightening up the drizzly Saturday afternoon. He’s swiftly followed by the beardness and electro weirdness of Kings Heath (up the road from Moseley) based Tunng and Ben Calvert on both days, who resurrect the mad ghosts of Nico and Nick Drake. The local highlight has to be on Sunday when Vijay Kishore manages to mesmerise the entire crowd, resonating from the smaller Bohemian Jukebox stage to the left of the main. I’ve been following this boy for a year now and his Jeff Buckley with Sufi music roots never fails to turn me into a quivering jelly of emotion. If he isn’t massive within the next year, or at least headlining this festival main stage, then I’m heading down the Balti Triangle to gorge myself on samosas.

- Virtual Festival

Saturday starts with a quickly grabbed breakfast and a trek over to see Vijay Kishore. I first mentioned Vijay around a year ago when he played a small stage at Moseley Folk festival. I said at the time that he captivated the audience (so much) that it would be a crime if he didn’t headline the festival next year. Well, the Moseley Folk line-up has been announced and his name is not in fluorescent colours. Here, the crowd is once again totally mesmerized by his haunting falsetto tones and Indian fluctuations of singer songwriter ballads. I urge you to see him in intimate small tents before the festival world wakes up. His only drawback might unfortunately be that everyone expects him to VJ. Maybe you could get in a VJ to work with him, but what would accompany heart felt folk… tapestry?

DAN DAVIES- Virtual Festivals - Virtual Festivals

There isn't a thesaurus in the world that contains enough superlatives to describe the talent of Vijay Kishore.'Done It Again' is a stunning body of work

Andy Roberts-THE FLY - The Fly

Vijay Kishore
Oh wow. Really. Wow. He was living the rock-life before his set, drinking Red Blossom Hill straight from the bottle (and then swigging from it on stage) He's been called 'the Asian Jeff Buckley' but I think he's even better than Jeff Buckley. His voice is absolutely amazing. Proper goosebump moments. His Lordship was laughing with joy at the music, which is a very high compliment (the only other time I know of him doing that was when he heard Elbow's Newborn).
8.5/10
- online blog

The Rage Sessions pulled out another poker hand last night highlighting bands which will surely make big ripples on the music scene very soon.

The pick of the night, at the Big Chill House - Kings Cross, was Vijay Kishore who needed only a guitar and a voice that would make angels cry to have the world in his hands, and he did.

Nick Drake met Jeff Buckey with Neil Young crying on his shoulder. A sombre uplifting and celebratory night was had by all that attended a truly magnificent night of passionate intelligent music.

- Music News.com

AFTER a performance like that I only hope the huddle of audience members who gathered around singer-songwriter Vijay Kishore following his mesmerising set last night were ITC delegates keen to find out more about the man behind that incredible voice.

Both powerful and controlled, the striking Birmingham artist put in a jaw-dropping display of Jeff Buckley and Thom Yorke-esque vocal histrionics, which captivated the crowd in the intimate basement venue.

Lawrence Poole- MEN - Manchester Evening News

Ever since Ewan MacColl stuck a finger in his ear and played precise versions of old songs, there’s a strain of folk that continuously wants to look after the tradition, as if it’s some kind of artifact that will crumble if played with too much. Whilst regaling us with stories of Dylan going electric, Boyd gave me a pervading preservationist feeling. I’m also massively jealous, of course, but I hate the way music is often portrayed as coming to life and dying in the 1960s. When we left, Boyd still hadn’t left the decade.

Instead, we went to the Convention Centre foyer where local lad Vijay Kishore (pictured) was doing a free performance. Kishore is an artist on the cusp of fame after two storming performances at South By Southwest. His music - a hypnotic blend of Jeff Buckley with more traditional Sufi elements - is staggering, and before long he’d pulled a crowd of folk fans and people just passing by, including Seth Lakeman.

To be honest, it would have been nice for Kishore to perform in the main hall with its tremendous acoustics. That would have been a darn sight better than Megson’s endearing but fundamentally cheesy set. They came across like 'Same Difference-does-folk', and despite knowing their traditional chops (a song about a soldier or some Geordie workers on 4 pence a day), essentially it was over polished. From a purist's perspective, someone like Kishore is non-tradtional, but he's nevertheless English, original and one of the most exciting prospects Birmingham has.

Dan Davies May 09 - METRO