Biography

Rajan Shrestha, often referred to as “Phatcowlee” is highly influenced by “Adhunik” era of Nepali music. Phatcowlee is the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album: sad, sparse, and stunning. Phatcowlee's songs are raw nerves, tales of love and loss (two words with relative significance here) etched with breathtaking complexity; even the brightest, most promising moments — "Narayani," "Ticking," "Schizo" — are darkened by bittersweet moments of sorrow and loneliness. Ethnomusicologist graduate from Kathmandu Univeristy, Rajan has the perfect voice for the material, one that is so articulate and commanding that he seems to have an intuitive and acute understanding of exactly which notes to use to communicate his brand of introverted heartbreak. All in all, an important figure in the experimental music scene of Nepal, any release from him is something to be looked forward to with intent.