Milliblog’s Top Recent Listens – June 2015

Hindi

Sahebaan & Sooiyan – Guddu Rangeela (Hindi – Amit Trivedi)

Tamil

Podu podu, Vizhigalil vizhindhavano & Neeyae – Pugazh (Tamil – Vivek-Mervin)

Payanangal thodarudhae & Theeraadhae – Orange Mittai (Tamil – Justin Prabhakaran)

Siru nadai & Hey umayaal – Urumeen (Tamil – Achu)

The Theme – Avam (Tamil – Sundaramurthy KS)
Listen to the song on Gaana.

Nenjamae en nenjamae – 54321 (Tamil – Joshua Sridhar)

Mutham kodutha – Trisha Illana Nayanthara (Tamil – G V Prakash Kumar)

Oru vidha aasai & Don’u don’u – Maari (Tamil – Anirudh)

Kaadhale – Indru Netru Naalai (Tamil – Hiphop Tamizha)

Yennamma ippadi – Rajinimurugan (Tamil – D.Imman)

Yeya en kottikkaaraa – Papanasam (Tamil – Ghibran)

Alunguraen kulunguraen – Chandi Veeran (Tamil – SN Arunagiri)

Telugu

Title song & Mila mila – Kerintha (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)

Dheevara & Manohari – Baahubali (Telugu – M.M.Keeravani)

Kannada

Thutthoori talavarayya & Baare kunthkolae – Bullet Basya (Kannada – Arjun Janya)

Kannalle – Buguri (Kannada – Mickey J Meyer)

Malayalam

Malare – Premam (Malayalam – Rajesh Murugesan)
Now that Premam is a certified super-hit, the one question people were asking as they came out of the theatres (or, tweeting, while in the theater) is, ‘Dei, that ‘Malare’ song was not in the soundtrack, alle?’. It wasn’t. The makers did the complete reverse of what they did with their debut – Neram — where they had a viral hit of a song (‘Pistah’) long before the film or its soundtrack hit the market. This time, they held on to the release of a song, confident that the song, and the situation it appears in, will make people crave for it. And it did! Vijay Yesudas breezes through this gorgeous tune, with a mesmerising profusion of violins.

Others

Boundless – Indosoul (Karthick Iyer Live)
Shanmugapriya, as a raaga, is already sufficiently mesmerizing. But what Karthick Iyer and his band does to it is particularly enchanting, in Boundless, the first song from their debut album, Indosoul. You have an almost scratchy 40 second mridangam solo by band mate Sumesh Narayanan to open the track and Karthick makes a grand entry with his electric violin, with the soul of Shanmugapriya, like a Tamil cinema mass hero! The violin and mridangam converse frenetically building up the superlative crescendo, with Ramkumar Kanakarajan joining with his drums! This is wonderfully inventive modern carnatic music interpretation!

Ora oppi bokka & Ninna teliken – Dhand (Tulu – Abhishek S.N)

Mini tiffin – And A Half (Arka)
Arka is vocalist Karthik (the noted Tamil playback singer who has been making inroads in many other Indian languages), kanjira player Selvaganesh (ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram’s son and composer of Tamil films like Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu), flautist Ravichandra Kulur, drummer Gino Banks, bassist Mishko M’ba and guitarist Santhosh Chandran. When such a diverse and talented bunch of people come together, the output has to be mighty interesting. It is! The albums bubbles with vibrant energy that is so very Indian, beyond the fusion ambitions. Mini tiffin is one song that truly embodies the band’s sound, with Karthik’s breathless singing aligning itself with the rest of the band’s sound in spectacular fashion… almost like a distinctly South Indian version of Indian Ocean!

Rangabati – Coke Studio@MTV Season 4 (Ram Sampath, Sona Mohapatra & Rituraj Mohanty)
Rangabati is a heady mix that at times seems forced, but given the fact that Ram and Sona bring their respective mother tongues together, it seems perfectly justified and in sync. The two Tamil rappers, Tony Sebastian as Stony Psyko and Rajesh Radhakrishnan as Dope Daddy, add an interesting dimension, but this is morphed Tamil, with occasionally cringe-worthy diction (“malaithuli poligirathu”, instead of “mazhaithuLi pozhigirathu”, for example). Ram holds the tune and orchestration together in his own eclectic style, but it is Sona who rules over the song with her lively rendition!

Non-Indian

Delilah – Album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Florence + the Machine)
Florence Welch’s stunning vocals have always been the highlight of the band’s music and it comes out powerfully in ‘Delilah’, from their third studio album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. The song moves seamlessly from its gospel base to a catchy two-step swing sound all the while with Florence firmly on top of the sweeping call-and-response-style tune. It’s easily addictive — Florence’s falsetto may get firmly stuck in your memory.

California Dreamin’ – OST San Andreas (Sia)
The Mamas & The Papas’ 60s classic has been covered by a lot of other bands and singers, most famously by the Beach Boys. Jose Feliciano’s minimal version is another beautiful cover and there’s even one by our own Usha Uthup. Australian singer Sia’s cover version is a mighty interesting addition to the list, given how it maintains the song’s moody feel, but with a sweeping piano-led sound and layering a more youthful drum and beat for broader appeal to the film’s young TG. But it’s Sia’s mesmerising vocals that completely hold your attention.

Right Here, Right Now – Album: Déjà Vu (Giorgio Moroder)
This is Giorgio Moroder’s first solo album in 30 years and as if to drill it down deeper, he’s even got a song titled, ‘74 is the new 24’. His new albums comes at a time when a band like Daft Punk honoured him with a song called ‘Giorgio By Moroder’ (from the album Random Access Memories, 2013) and nearly every EDM producer cites him as an inspiration. True to his style, the album is a wonderful throwback to his heydays, with new tricks up the sleeve. It’s all consistently disco, synthesised vocals and funk textures. ‘Right Here, Right Now’, his collaboration with Kylie Minogue, produces the album’s best. Kylie’s vocals fit perfectly in the synth groove, amidst pulsating handclaps and punchy chorus that you do look up at the ceiling to see if there’s a glitter ball spinning somewhere.

Talk About You – Album: No Place in Heaven (Mika)
Lebanese-British singer, songwriter Mika is back with a new album, a follow-up to his 2012 The Origin of Love. While Mika doesn’t stray away from trademark sound of stomping, uplifting pop riffs, sweeping piano motifs and ebullient harmonies, it all feels a bit disappointingly derivative, almost as if this was the B-side compilation to one of his earlier albums. Still, stoking pleasant memories of smashing past albums isn’t such a bad thing, as ‘Talk About You’ proves and it gladly regurgitates a lot of backgrounds from Mika’s global hit ‘Love Today’ (from his debut, Life in Cartoon Motion; not to be confused with a middling, late 90s Vijay starrer).

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