Originally published in The Hindu.
Texas pogiren – Chennai 2 Singapore (Tamil – Ghibran)
The lyrics video on YouTube for this song starts with a warning: ‘This song is not for the faint-hearted. Listen at your own discretion’! If Tamil pedants were mildly annoyed by Udit Narayan’s ‘Yedho sowkiyam parva ille’, they’d perhaps be speechless and shell-shocked by Texas pogiren! Ghibran unleashes a singer named Narrow Smith (an obvious parody of Aerosmith) who sings Tamil lyrics in the form of heavy metal, including a manic ‘Aaathaaa, Maariaatha kaapaathu’ which makes a child (in the song) cry inconsolably! The result is a mind-bogglingly inventive song that screams for attention!
Aave re hitchki – Mirzya (Hindi – Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
Aave re hitchki is what happens when you are traveling on a camel cart, one night in Rajasthan, with a guitarist for company! Shankar Mahadevan rocks this swaying melody, set to a stunning mix of sarangi (Mame Khan Troupe) and guitar (Neil Mukherjee), and also an enchanting vaudevillian interlude. There’s a point in the song’s beginning where Shankar goes—hiccup-like—’Hitch!’ before getting back to ‘Hitchki’… it’s these little, nifty touches that make this song so enjoyable!
Oththa mazhayila – Kadalai (Tamil – Sam C.S.)
Composer Sam C.S made a noteworthy debut in the Vijay Sethupathy starrer Mellisai, though that film is yet to release. Kadalai is his second film as composer and he proves that his impressive debut was no flash in the pan. In fact, this one has even better music, as a whole soundtrack! Sam gets Hariharan to croon Oththa mazhayila, a simple and gorgeous melody. The simplicity of the lovely tune is reminiscent of Deva’s style, though Sam’s sense of sound, consisting primarily of guitars and flute, is far more updated and modern.
Dibbaradindi (Kannada Pop), Singer: Shachina Heggar. Music: Judah Sandhy
Kannada composer Judah Sandy has already made his mark in the two films he has worked on. Here comes the 3rd, a pop song. The song is obviously and incredibly catchy, with an insanely addictive hook. On that hook – it may sound mighty familiar to many people, though. That’s because you’d perhaps end up singing ‘Yela yela yela, yela yelamma’ from Anniyan’s Andankaakka Kondakkaari… which itself owes its existence to Chinnanchiru chitte endhan, from the MGR-Bhanumathi starrer Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum, with music by S.Dakshinamurthy!
Neelakkannulla maane – Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho (Malayalam – Shaan Rahman)
There’s a whiff of yesteryears’ retro in Neelakkannulla maane that’s very, very inviting! The beautifully melodic song features Vijay Yesudas and Shweta Mohan, who, given the retro-feel bring back pleasant memories of Yesudas and Sujatha Mohan in the way they sing. Shaan Rahman is usually adept at creating such hummable melodies and this one works effortlessly too.
