Aaj ki raat – The Bartender – Classic Bollywood With A Twist (Indipop – Mikey McCleary)
To be fair, I fell in love with Shalmali’s Aaj ki raat long before this album, ever since the remix was used in the Coke TVC featuring Imran. While the rest of the album is functional, this one does stand out and makes wonderful use of Shalmali’s vocal style.
#Beautiful, Dedicated, You’re mine, You Don’t Know What To Do, Meteorite – Me I Am Mariah: The Elusive Chanteuse
Mariah makes a comback of sort with this album. The production is heady and the range is staggering! The cool disco sound of You Don’t Know What To Do (featuring Wale) and Meteorite are really good, while the song with a hashtag for a name – #Beautiful – featuring Miguel has a nice retro touch to it. The nice and easy sound of the rambling Dedicated and the effortless charm of You’re Mine round off the good stuff in the album.
Galliyan – Ek Villain (Hindi – Ankit Tiwari)
The most disappointing thing about Ek Villain is Mithoon starting to seen really jaded. The tunes are very similar to his earlier work. But Ankit Tiwari, with just one track, makes a solid difference. Even Shraddha Kapoor’s other version is a lovely listen!
Pen megham – Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam (Tamil – Sharreth)
Sharreth’s stupendous form continues and here, he has another composer, G V Prakash Kumar singing to his wife while going, ‘Saindhaviye’ (what’s with composers calling both GVP and Saindhavi to sing duets recently? Saw a duet by them in a film titled Poriyaalan too!). The tune – either Brindavana saranga or Desh – is absolutely gorgeous!
Shayarana & Naina – Holiday (Hindi – Pritam)
Arijit Singh’s vocals and Pritam’s violin behind the Shayarana hook is a so, so lovely! In Naina (Ashq na ho) there’s a distinct Rahman style (reminded me of Raavan for some reason), but this is one haunting tune handled really well by Arijit and Pritam.
Magic, Ink & A Sky Full of Stars – Ghost Stories (Coldplay)
Coldplay’s new album is definitely a disappointment. Magic was an easy pick, understandably, but Ink is too familiar to make a mark, though good, while A Sky Full Of Stars is the one closest to their earlier form, particularly Viva La Vida. Looks like all that conscious uncoupling between Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow has affected the music.
Enakkondrum vaanveli – Poovarasam Peepee (Tamil – Arul Dev)
Young Super Singer winner Aajeedh is the song’s highlight; the lyrics are motivational and the short song capticates easily with its charm.
En karunchingama – Appuchi Graamam (Tamil – Vishal Chandrasekar)
This is one of Gana Bala’s best recent numbers. The hook is incredibly catchy and funny, and Vishal does a great job of adding the right pulsating rhythm to it.
Solla solla ullamengum – Athithi (Tamil – Bharadwaj)
Even though this Reetigowlai doesn’t sound as good as some of the other songs in the raaga, this is not a bad effort at all, though I’d attribute the good to the raaga’s innate beauty than Bharadwaj (making a comeback).
Tholaivil irukkum & Adada – Ennathan Pesuvatho (Tamil – D.Imman)
Imman on a roll again, after the dip with Thenaliraman. Tholaivil is a particular favorite!
La Flaca, Mal Bicho, Iron Lion Zion, Yo Soy la Luz – Corazon (Santana)
Santana tries to recreate his Supernatural formula with Latin music in Corazon and the result is a mixed affair. There is a lot to like, but much of it I’d put under a box titled Experimental. Still, the man’s guitar speaks effectively in songs like La flaca (featuring Juanes), Mal bicho (featuring Los Fabulosos Cadillacs with fantastic vocals!) and Yo Soy la Luz, featuring Wayne Shorter’s scintillating sax! The best, in my view, is the new version of Bob Marley’s Iron Lion Zion, featuring Ziggy Marley and Colombian hip-hop band ChocQuibTown.
Piyo piyo re, Kanulanu thake & Edhi prema – Manam (Telugu – Anup Rubens)
Manam is one of the best soundtracks in Telugu in recent times. The songs are simple and highly tuneful. Kanulanu thake, featuring Arijit is my personal favorite.
Never Give Up, Lucknow, Desi Thoughts, We Could Be Kings & Taa taa tai – Million Dollar Arm (OST – A R Rahman)
Though the film doesn’t seem to have hit the home run Disney expected it to, the soundtrack proves that Rahman hasn’t let down the film at least.
Nenje nenje – Yaan (Tamil – Harris Jayaraj)
The only solace in the yet another regurgitated soundtrack from Harris Jayaraj.
Oh oh nadhigal & Otrai devadhai – Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham (Tamil – Siddharth Vipin)
I was pleasantly surprised at the number of times I put these songs ahead in my driving playlist in the last month, the first song, in particular. Interestingly, one morning, after having heard Coldplay’s latest, Ghost Stories, a lot in the previous days, I wanted to move to Tamil songs and as I started the songs on my phone (hooked to my car via Bluetooth), I ‘heard’ the Coldplay sound and pressed forward on ym steering wheel. After a few seconds, I remembered seeing the Tamil film’s name in my car dash! Then I remembered that it was indeed Oh oh nadhigal aada 🙂
Emiti hadavadi – Oohalu Gusagusalaade (Telugu – Kalyani Koduri)
The lesser heard recent Telugu soundtrack that deserves more recognition. I really wish Keeravani’s brother does more work – he has a natural flair for melodies!
Muskurane, Darbadar & Soney do – Citylights (Hindi – Jeet Ganguli)
Jeet Ganguli is definitely moving ahead in the pecking order in Bollywood, long after his ex-partner Pritam topped that order. Given how prolific Jeet is in Bengali films, it’s no wonder he’s making this steady march ahead. Citylights is the best yet, from him, in Hindi (no, I’m not a big fan of Aashiqui 2 – the only song that I liked in it was by Mithoon).
Hum pagal nahi hai – Humshakals (Hindi – Himesh Reshammiya)
Himesh starts the song in style and maintains it throughout, surprisingly not sounding too nasal either! The song’s hook, along with the punchy rhythm is a neat touch.
