Top 10 recent picks (March, 2008)

Zara si & Haan tu hai โ€“ Jannat (Pritam, Hindi)
Jannat is one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in recent times. And itโ€™s pretty difficult for me to pick tracks out of it. I love all the four main tracks barring Jannat jahan, which has refused to grow on me. While Door na jaa and Kamran’s Judaai is mighty impressive, I go back to Zara si and Haan tu hai again and again – Haan tu hai in particular, its questionable origins from Amr Diab notwithstanding. This is a fantastic combination of Pritam sense of harmonious sound and a tune straight out of Nadeem Shravan’s repertoire…which perhaps explains the Amr Diab/ Middle Eastern connection ๐Ÿ˜‰

Jinke marina – Nanda Nanditha (Emil, Kannada)
The catchiest Kannada track I’ve heard this year. Composer Emil is appropriately enamored by his mentor, Jassie Gift and it shows, quite obviously, since the song is an unabashed take on Jassie’s chartbuster Malayalam track, Lajjavadhiye, which was reused in a Kannada film as well, recently. I caught this track while channel surfing on a Kannada music channel and was bowled over by its energy and cool vocal effects!

Neend na aaye โ€“ Journey (Fuzon, Indi/ Paki pop)
Rameez’s singing is no doubt fantastic, but considering the fact that there is an online video of Shafqat singing the same song, this one pales in comparison! But, to be fair, the tune is what works across both versions – itโ€™s simply awesome.

Sorutihudu Maniya Maligi & Gudugudiya Sedi Nodo (Raghu Dixit, Indi-rock/ pop)
More Kannada numbers! These are the 2 best tracks in Raghu Dixit’s debut album. It takes guts to go with 2 vernacular tracks in a mainstream indi-pop/ rock album and hats off the Raghu and the composing duo, Vishal and Shekhar for backing him. My Kannada is terrible but I did have a session with my Kannada expert friends to understand these 2 songs’ lyrics by Shishunala Sharief – they’re amazing! The tunes too are extremely addictive and hats off the Raghu for pulling these off so well!

Chhor gaye and Humrahi โ€“ Meri Kahani (Atif Aslam, Indi/ Paki pop)
This is the most Atif-like song in his new album, Meri Kahani and I prefer this over the title song. Setting aside Sunidhi’s recent comments about Atif’s singing and the recent debates within Milliblog about his so-called nasal voice, just listen to this track for the typical Atif experience. Humrahi, on the other hand, reminds me of some vague 60s/ 70s SD Burmanish number and I love it precisely for that reason!

Boot polishaan (Gurdas Mann, Punjabi)
Yaju had recommended this one to me recently. When I noticed that Jaidev Kumar is the composer for this new album by Gurdas Mann, I was sure that I’d find something interesting here. Even though I’ve stayed in Delhi long enough to pick up a good smattering of Punjabi, itโ€™s not as good to decipher what Gurdas sings throughout the album. But the one track that caught my attention was the title track, Boot Polishaan. Love Gurdas’ way of singing and the lively music.

Tashan mein โ€“ Tashan (Vishal Shekhar, Hindi)
My pick in the latest by Vishal Shekhar. Vishal and Saleem are in incredible form as they take turns extolling the virtues of the titular Tashan, even as Vishal’s rock pedigree lends super zing to this track.

Comments

comments

Share