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- daijiworld.com

Mangalore, Dec 22, 2011 : Konkani Album ‘Xetam Merer’ by Roshan D'Souza and Lloyd Rego of Team 'Ye Mana' and Ivan Lobo was released at a programme at Sandesha College of Fine Arts on Thursday December 22

Fr Matthew Vas, parish priest, Anjelore Church released the album.

Addressing the gathering, Lloyd Rego said, "This CD is different, and we have added a professional touch to this venture. Bringing new albums in Konkani is easy when there is money and publicity, but this CD stands out as unique and is the result of lots of efforts and hard work."

He also recalled the time when his Konkani album ‘Ye Mana’ was released. "Though it was criticized in the beginning for having solo songs throughout the album, later there was a huge response from the Konkani speaking community. Our craze and passion for music is what makes us bring out albums each year," added Llyod Rego.

After releasing the album, Fr Vas said that he was happy to release an album which has added richness to Konkani literature and to music at large. Such a venture is necessary to keep up the culture and tradition of Konkani community, he said.
 
The album includes 16 versatile songs sung by eminent singers like Adolf Jaythilak, Lavita Lobo, Eric Ozario, Melwin Peris, Claud, Prakash, Nithin, Niran and others. While the lyrics have been written by Llyod Rego and Jerry Rasquinha, the music has been arranged by Roshan D'Souza.

Melwin Peris, who also spoke on the occasion, said that it’s not easy to bring out an album; it involves a whole lot of hard work and moreover marketing them is a challenge as it could be easily copied by people for less amount with the help of computer. Piracy can shatter all the efforts of the team in bringing out the album, he added.

Eric Ozario said that it is a time for three important occasions for the Christian community - Christmas, wedding season and album releases. In just 12 days, there are as many as 12 albums likely to be released. He said that even if the money that is spent on albums is hard to recover, the madness for music does not stop. This is how Konkani music is alive today, he said.

Lavita Lobo proposed the vote of thanks. She thanked her family for being supportive and helpful in bringing out the album.
 
Adolf Jaythilak and Lavita Lobo, on the occasion, sang lines from the newly released album. The programme was compered by Titus Noronha. Roy Castelino, Rohan Monteiro, Vincent D'Souza and Stany Alvares were among others present.