Milliblog Weeklies playlist, on Saavn and Apple Music – Week 4.
Below the links, you’d find a Tweet-style (since I share it on Twitter first as a Milliblog-Twitter-Exclusive; do follow me on Twitter at @milliblog) commentary on each of the songs.
On Saavn:
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Saagara Shayana Vibho – Agam: The prelude to Agam’s 2nd album, A Dream To Remember is an ambient adaptation of M.D.Ramanathan’s Bhagesri-based Sagara shayana vibho, with a brilliant guitar-sitar melange and Harish’s incredible voice towering over it!
Nadiga Nadigaa – Sei, Tamil: Yet another new composer in Tamil! Nyx Lopez’s Nadiga has a sprawling melody that is adequately and aptly pleasant without standing out and sounds like any song from any of the new crop of Tamil composers.
Machane Machane – Sei, Tamil: Nyx stands out considerably better in Machane, than in Nadiga. He has Benny Dayal’s relentless enthusiasm and energy to accentuate the frenetic and heady tune, with a bit of Benny’s own Nucleya sound creeping in!
Kalapila – Street Academics, Malayalam: Vivek ‘V3K’ Radhakrishnan’s music has a smattering of reggae, Kerala folk music, Dr. Bhavya Lakshmi’s pensive violin strains, all on a splendid hip-hop base, while Amjad ‘Azuran’ Nadeem sings evocatively about going back to the roots.
Welcome Back To Love – Malli Raava, Telugu: Shravan has been doing some great work in Telugu while not being considered ‘happening’. This song is catchy and rhythmic, with an addictive hook. Hemachandra’s singing is, as always, bang on target, particularly in the anupallavi!
Chinuku – Malli Raava, Telugu: After a 40+ second serene prelude, Shravan launches into the spritely rhythm that defines Chinuku. Karthik’s singing is impeccable, and Shravan adds fantastic touches all through the melody, like dual vocal layer at places to enhance the effect.
Title song – Malli Raava, Telugu: Shravan builds the title song really well! His singing is good for most parts, though he doesn’t convincingly handle the high-pitched phrase mid-way. The strings in the background, added layer by layer, accentuates the melody wonderfully.
Shekara – Aana Alaralodalaral, Malayalam: Shaan Rahman is on a high this year! He gets his buddy Vineeth intro Shekara the elephant to open a catchy and rhythmic song with that ‘Shake that booty Shekara’ hook. 12-year-old Sreya Jayadeep covers the child-part of song brilliantly.
Shaanthi – Aana Alaralodalaral, Malayalam: Shaanti is Vineeth Srinivasan’s show! Shaan’s church choir-style sound (last employed so well by Pritam in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s Alizeh) is incredibly engaging, particularly the vocal chorus, the claps and some awesome work on the keyboard.
Neeyum Njanum – Aana Alaralodalaral, Malayalam: The predominant sound of Neeyum naanum could easily bring the ‘mountains’ to your mind! The backgrounds are resonant and endearing, letting Sachin Balu’s vocals flow beautifully, almost like the sun playing peekaboo from the clouds.
Beautiful Life – Raju Gari Gadhi 2, Telugu: Thaman’s short track starts off in the most predictable manner, like many of his songs. But it takes off mid-way with the foot-tapping techno sound, even as Thaman’s singing, propped by technology, continues to be middling.
Kothaga – MCA, Telugu: There are songs that can make you go, ‘Devi Sri Prasad?’. Kothaga is one such, among many, from the man’s repertoire. He continues to use his signature technique – repeating a tune in an instrumental version immediately after it is sung 🙂 Fun song, this!
Kaayalirambile: – Paippin Chuvattile Pranayam, Malayalam: Bijibal is the polar opposite of the composer above! Unusual tune flow, delightful conversational vocals between Anne Amie and Bijibal himself… and a melody that screams ‘Kerala’ without using predictable crutches.
Koyikkodu – Goodalochana, Malayalam: Gopi Sundar’s ode to Kozhikode! Abhaya Hiranmayi sounding a bit like Vaikom Vijayalakshmi actually makes it more interesting. The music is simple and props the short tune perfectly while much of the magic happens in the earthy lyrics.
On the Loose – Niall Horan: I’m not particularly a fan of One Direction (a much bigger fan of OneRepublic, actually!), but this song, from Niall’s new album (Flicker) reminds me so much of another band I quite like – Maroon 5!
Heal the Pain (Remastered) – George Michael: On the back of Showtime’s phenomenal documentary, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, featuring his MTV Unplugged concert as well as B-sides and other rarities. Great collection for fans! Heal The Pain is a classic, as always!