Dangerous, No money no love, Lovers of the sun & Lift me up – Listen (David Guetta)
I know this album has been universally mauled to be blah, but strangely, I kinda liked it. The tunes are sticky and I won’t complain about the overall sound all that much – it works for me.
Portrait, Freeze & Do It All For Love – III (Take That)
This is supposed to have broken records in Amazon UK pre-orders. As a huge fan of Take That when they were ruling the roost, and as a bigger fan of Gary Barlow (more than Robbie Williams!), this is a massively meh album. There seems to have been an attempt to please all with current trends and that completely backfires. Still, I think Gary still has it in him, despite all the goof-ups by him in recent times. Freeze is a good example, in that direction.
Bully, Raver, H.E.S., The Edge, Surrender, The Cure & The Pilot – Under The Radar Vol. 1 (Robbie Williams)
Ironically, a former Take That member releases a B-sides album on his own website, without a label at the same time as the band’s comeback album and that sounds far better than the band’s 3 remaining members’ effort! Yes! Robbie Williams pulls the rug from right under his former bandmates’s feet!
My dear sweety, Chirigi chattayindi & Vathava vadhantava – Gaddam Gang (Telugu – Achu)
Achu completely took me by surprise in this Telugu remake of Soodhu Kavvum. I had no idea this was the remake, till I heard familiar sounds in Kasu cashu dabbu, the Telugu equivalent of Kasu panam dhuddu money. That’s when I Googled and found that it was indeed a remake. Instead of picking familiar cues from Santhosh Narayanan’s original soundtrack, Achu seems to have beautifully internalized the zaniness of the original’s soundtrack and produces a cracker in My dear sweety. Chirigi chattayindi is no different, with a phenomenal effort from Manasi! Vathava vadhantava is Tamil composer Deva’s show!
Blame – Motion (Calvin Harris)
Very, very derivative new album by Calvin, the reining lord of what can only be loosely called EDM. Blame is the only song I took home.
Ah Leke, Fun & Time of Our Lives – Globalization (Pitbull)
More attitude and life than Calvin Harris’ new album – the sound is good fun and some really catchy hooks!
Sattena idi mazhai – Darling (Tamil – GV Prakash Kumar)
The only song that stayed with me. I’m assuming GV is spending more time acting and less in composing.
Sattunnu enna – Tamizhukku En Ondrai Azhuthavum (Tamil – Thaman S)
Familiar Thaman material, but a strange sense of minimalism and great guitar work makes it memorable and very catchy!
Ekkachakkamai & Kaadhal cassata – Kappal (Tamil – Natarajan Sankaran)
Kaadhal cassata builds on the loung’ish reggae sound really well, while Ekkachakkamai carefully planned use of Reetigowlai is its charm! Finally, I think Natarajan Sankaran is heading somewhere.
Mayo, O kshanama & Title song – Chakkiligintha (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
AND
Chesededo & Chaala baagundi – Mukunda (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
I’m glad to see that Mickey is doing good work again – I have never doubted his potential, but he did have an odd phase akin to Mithoon (Hindi) where he seemed to be way too dependent on his stock style. Mithoon is still stuck in that loop, in my view, but Mickey has moved on. These two albums are proof to that.
Nanga punga – PK (Hindi – Shantanu Moitra)
This song is no different any of the previous Shantanu-Rajkumar Hirani outings – they seem to tone down any complexity in their work (script, music everything) to make it as appealing to the largest set of people as possible, I think. At the script level, Hirani nails it better – taking interesting, intelligent pieces and toning them down (all across Munnabhai series and 3 Idiots), but at the music level, I think Shantanu fails to do adequate justice and remains simplistic, in my opinion. Still, Shreya’s lively vocals and a rhythmic catchy tunes makes this one work.
Auliya, Pakeezah & Aadarniya ungli – Ungli (Hindi – Salim-Sulaiman & Gulraj Singh)
Gulraj Singh is the kind of composer that I would personally place my bet on – if I was making a Hindi film, for instance. I’m glad he got another chance in Ungli and he proves that he has the stuff too, but sadly, the film has shown the ungli to its audience, if you go by reviews and the fact that it is already out. Auliya is an excellent comeback by Salim-Sulaiman, however – where are they now?
Listen to songs from Ungli, on Saavn.
Oh nanba, En mannavaa & Mona gasolina – Lingaa (Tamil – A R Rahman)
I have to get this off my chest – I was expecting a derivative, redundant soundtrack like Tenali or Padayappa, in Lingaa, given the director-composer’s past efforts. Muthu, in my view, was the only one that stood out. And Lingaa really surprises me. Despite the mild Rahman-echo in two songs, the quality is top-notch. And Rahman manages to pull some fresh punches too, in songs like Oh nanba and Gasolina – that they seem to fit the over-the-top, flamboyant personality of the films leading man is a bonus!
Isai veesi – Isai (Tamil – SJ Suryah)
The song is the same as Ase koni, from the Marathi film Ishq Wala Love, that I spoke about in the October top lists. So, moving on.
Paravayaa parukkurom, Yen aala & Unna ippo paakanum – Kayal (Tamil – D.Imman)
The kind of album that I’d go, ‘Good, but…’. Can’t blame Imman at all – he has done his job in his style, well. But as I said, there is a but… that stands out. I don’t know what.
Onna pathi & Uyire – Kaadu (Tamil – K)
K has this knack of churning out soft, soulful melodies by the dozen. Just that they end up in movies that either do not release (Mahabalipuram) or are ones with minimal release (Kaadu). Sad. He needs a Cheran, Bala, Ameer type.
Varuvaayo (Thaen Mazhai Eval) – Ra (Tamil – Raj Aryan)
A very Harris Jeyaraj’ish song, executed to perfection. I almost thought at some point Karthik will fade away and background choruse would go full-on African gibberish like Mahayaila liya ehehehloyiyaye… no seriously, nice song 🙂
