Blackstratblues is the instrumental project of guitarist Warren Mendonsa. Wikipedia describes him as an Indian guitarist and composer born in Mumbai and based in Auckland, New Zealand. He moved there in late 2004, after playing lead guitar in the Mumbai rock band Zero, which he co-founded in 1998. Since 2007 Blackstratblues has released ten albums of melodic, carefully recorded guitar music, all self-released. That makes it one of the longest-running instrumental catalogues in Indian independent music.

Titles, dates, tracklists and guest credits below come from Apple Music India, checked on 28 October 2026. Apple credits the ℗ on every album to Warren Mendonsa himself. We don't quote stream counts.

Every album at a glance

  • Nights In Shining Karma — 1 Apr 2007 — 8 — Studio debut
  • The New Album — 16 Dec 2009 — 8 — Studio
  • The Universe Has a Strange Sense of Humour — 14 Mar 2015 — 8 — Studio
  • The Last Analog Generation — 15 Aug 2017 — 8 — Studio
  • When It's Time — 12 Sep 2019 — 8 — Studio
  • Hindsight Is 2020 — 12 Sep 2021 — 16 — Studio
  • L.I/O.V.E. Vol. I — 1 Jun 2022 — 12 — Live
  • L.I/O.V.E. Vol. II — 26 Jun 2023 — 15 — Live
  • Lullabyebye (Ambient) — 17 Jan 2026 — 7 — Ambient reworkings
  • Artificial Integrity — 1 May 2026 — 9 — Studio

So the ten albums break down as seven studio records, two live albums and one ambient album of reworked older pieces.

Nights In Shining Karma (2007)

The debut came out in April 2007, after Mendonsa had started posting songs online as a solo artist. It's blues-rock instrumental music with the melody first. "Blues For Gary" and "Anuva's Sky" are the tunes that have stayed in his live sets; both come back on the live albums fifteen years later. The closer, "Bombay Rain", features Zorran Mendonsa and is a fond look back at the city he'd left.

Start with: "Anuva's Sky".

The New Album (2009)

The second record stretches out. "Ode To a Rainy Day" runs 7:49 and "Ode To a Sunny Day" 10:29, the longest studio track in the catalogue. "The Happy Billi Song" is the light-hearted opener, and "Lullabyebye" gave its name, seventeen years later, to the 2026 ambient album.

Start with: "Ode To a Sunny Day".

The Universe Has a Strange Sense of Humour (2015)

After a six-year gap, the third album opens the core run of the catalogue. Wikipedia notes that the earlier albums were solo efforts and later releases became group collaborations, and you can hear the shift here. "Come Anyway" features Nikhil D'souza, the record's only vocal guest. "E Major Blues" (6:07) is the straight blues. "Folkish Three" (7:23) and "Two Sides of the Same Coin" (9:25) are the long, patient compositions that define the later sound.

Start with: "Folkish Three".

The Last Analog Generation (2017)

Our pick for a first full listen. Rolling Stone India covered the album's release in August 2017. Its eight tracks are all long and warm. "Lead Chain Swing" and "North Star" (8:05) open it; "Love Song to the Truth" features Tejas, whose catalogue is on our Tejas artist page; and the title track closes it at 8:30. If one Blackstratblues album explains the project, it's this one.

Start with: "North Star".

When It's Time (2019)

Lighter and more playful. "Happy E Friends" and "Too Cool for Sunday School" have the most swing in the catalogue, "Interstellar Roadtrip" and "Looking for Polaris" continue the album-to-album night-sky theme, and the 6:57 title track ends it.

Start with: "Too Cool for Sunday School".

Hindsight Is 2020 (2021)

Sixteen tracks, all new compositions, and the titles read like a diary of the pandemic year: "Hey 2020", "This Will Be My Year", "It Just Got Real", "Low Down Lock Down", "Anesthesia" (7:28). The record mixes full pieces with short sketches ("Remembrance", "The Persistence of Time") and ends with two tracks featuring Komorebi, "We Are Responsible" and "Let It Shine".

Start with: "Anesthesia".

L.I/O.V.E. Vol. I and Vol. II (2022–23)

These are live albums. Every track is labelled "(Live)" on Apple Music, and together they're the best place to hear the older tunes with a band. Vol. I has twelve tracks, including a 10:27 "Ode To a Sunny Day" featuring Tajdar Junaid and a 9:18 "E Major Blues". Vol. II adds fifteen more, with live versions of "Bombay Rain", "Anandamide", "Newness" and "Two Sides of the Same Coin". Several songs appear on both volumes in different performances.

Start with: "Ode To a Sunny Day (Live)" on Vol. I.

2026: Lullabyebye and Artificial Integrity

Ten albums in, Mendonsa released two very different records within four months.

Lullabyebye (Ambient) (January 2026) rebuilds seven older pieces as ambient music: "North Star", "Folkish Three", "Anuva's Sky", "Lullabyebye", "Aurora Borealis", "Nights In Shining Karma" and "Ode To A Sunny Day". It's a quiet retrospective rather than new material.

Artificial Integrity (May 2026) is the first studio album of new compositions since 2021. The track titles ("The News Today", "Running From The Fuzz", "Military Machines", "Living In The Future") point outward at the world for the first time. "Sevenish" features Ashwin Srinivasan. Our Indian blues bands guide picks it as a recent highlight.

Start with: "Prologue", then "Can We Live Forever".

Collaborations outside the albums

Apple Music India also lists Blackstratblues as a guest on other artists' singles: Beven Fonseca's "I Can't Tell You Why" (2020), the Hashbass and Shubha Mudgal single "For Anita" (2020), Tajdar Junaid's "Reach Out" (2021), Komorebi's "I Grew Up" and "Watch Out" (2023), Donn Bhat's "Until You See" (2023), GVJA & MANTRA's "JULIET" (2024) and Vikas Tandon's "Dastaan" (2024).

Where to start

  • One track: "North Star".
  • One album: The Last Analog Generation.
  • Live first: L.I/O.V.E. Vol. I.
  • Newest: Artificial Integrity.
  • Background listening: Lullabyebye (Ambient).

Why Blackstratblues matters

In a scene built on singers, Blackstratblues has kept an Indian instrumental guitar project going for nearly two decades, self-released and recorded from the other side of the world. The catalogue is also unusually tidy: almost every studio album has eight tracks, the best tunes keep coming back in live and ambient versions, and you can follow one guitarist's ideas from 2007 to 2026. See Indian blues bands and Indian rock bands for the wider scene.

FAQ

Who is Blackstratblues? Guitarist Warren Mendonsa's instrumental project. He was born in Mumbai and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

How many Blackstratblues albums are there? Ten on Apple Music India as of October 2026: seven studio albums, two live albums (L.I/O.V.E. Vol. I and Vol. II) and one ambient album.

What is the latest Blackstratblues album? Artificial Integrity, released on 1 May 2026.

Was Warren Mendonsa in a band before Blackstratblues? Yes. He co-founded the Mumbai rock band Zero in 1998 and played lead guitar with it.

Is Blackstratblues on a label? No. Apple Music credits the ℗ on every album to Warren Mendonsa.

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