Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 12:
On | On | On
(16 songs in total, this week. A new addition – YouTube playlists, from this week, based on popular request. Ironically, only YouTube had all 16 songs this week, while Apple Music and Saavn had 14 songs each!)
A note on each song in the playlist.
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The Celestial Nymph (Agam): This sophomore album by Agam, A Dream To Remember, is getting bigger and better with every song! The Celestial Nymph (Manassi Dussaham), based on the Shringaara Padam written and composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, set to the raaga Aahiri, is a mighty ambitious and sweeping attempt! Harish, as always, lifts the song with his majestic vocals, but Praveen, on guitar, is equally splendid! His guitar solo at 4:28, which seemed like Charukesi raaga to me, is particularly spell-binding!
Saalaikal (Thaikkudam Bridge): A peppy Tamil pop with the band’s usually powerful orchestration, marked by that addictive violin layer! The tune is so very Govind Menon, no doubt – could have easily featured in any of the films he composes for!
Manikya Malaraya Poovi (Oru Adaar Love, Malayalam): That ‘wink’ song! This is Shaan Rahman template all the way, including him starting it with his own humming and right up to Vineeth Sreenivasan’s fantastic vocals! There’s something about Malayalam films and songs set in a school/college stage that have a distinctly Muslim-musical setting and sound – at one point (in 2006), Classmates’ (music by Alex Paul) was a massive hit, set in a college stage. And in 2018, this song, set in a school stage!
Kannala (China, Tamil): With Kabilan’s hilariously ‘Madras’ lyrics that rhymes ‘gulp’ with ‘bulb’! The melody, composed and sung by Ved Shanker Sugavanam, defies those words, though, and is a pleasant affair, with fantastic guitar by Keba Jeremiah and violin by Karthick Iyer.
Vilagaadhe Enadhuyirae (Oru Kuppai Kathai, Tamil): 54321 in 2015, Parandhu Sella Vaa in 2016, and now Oru Kuppai Kathai in 2018 – the re-re-return of Joshua Sridhar in Tamil! Despite the digital processing of Haricharan’s voice, the tune is eminently listenable!
Yentha Sakkagunnave (Rangasthalam, Telugu): Devi Sri Prasad is a master of repetition, in every way. Here, he uses that to his advantage and how! Using the ‘Yentha Sakkagunnave’ hook extensively to build his entire song, he creates a superbly catchy and addictive folk tune!
Main Ishq Hoon (Indipop, Hindi): The return of Viju Shah!! While the melody seems oddly dated (gets particularly sappy and outmoded in the antara!), Yasser Desai’s singing redeems it, though what keeps it spritely is Viju’s excellent work in the keys and rhythm.
Barsaat Mein (Indipop, Hindi): Jeet Gannguli, now better known as Pritam’s ex-partner, does very well composing and singing in this soaring, pathos-laden melody. The tune is reminiscent of the duo’s early music, and specifically, Jeet’s soft melodies, that he does so very often.
Feel (Indipop, Multi-lingual): That ‘fee-ee-ee-eel hai’ is a sure-shot giveaway that this is an Amit Trivedi composition! The forced nature of adding multiple languages while not doing each of them properly is an ear-sore, but the tune’s overall enthusiasm makes up for it.
Ulaviravu (Indipop, Tamil): There’s so much going for this song! Madhan Karky’s inventive word for ‘date night’ and Karthik’s wonderfully breezy melody that he sings it like only he can! Gautham Menon is doing a really fantastic job of reviving Tamil non-film music!
Koottippo Koodave (Junga, Tamil): Siddharth Vipin’s melody is pretty listenable even as it traverses largely predictable phrases as it progresses. What lifts the song is the choice of singers – Sathyaprakash, and Ranina Reddy, in particular, make a huge difference.
Julie (Indipop, Tamil): While Vignesh Shivn continues his pursuit of nailing colloquial, conversational ‘lyrics’, Anirudh does what he does best – create incredibly catchy and intricately orchestrated melodies, with fantastic hooks (like ‘Maane thene’ here).
High On Love (Pyaar Prema Kaadhal, Tamil): Yuvan’s choice of Sid Sriram is the clincher! Not only is the tune so good and so-very Yuvan (particularly the strings!), but Sid’s lush vocals adds a fantastic new dimension! Yuvan cranks up the backgrounds brilliantly in the anupallavi!
Bas Tu Hai (3 Storeys, Hindi): Clinton Cerejo’s melody is dependably good and soars at the right spots. Between Arijit Singh and Jonita Gandhi, the tune comes alive wonderfully, living through its steady thrum, punctuated by Warren Mendonsa’s solo guitar.
Nin Kannil (Meera, Malayalam): The song’s gently lilting melody took me back to Rajesh Roshan’s Ghar Se Nikalte Hi! Similar raaga, perhaps! Great to hear Srinivas and Sujatha Mohan, for Midhun Narayanan’s warm melody that has a beautifully retro-Malayalam flavor.
You in Me (Ghibran’s Orchestra Series): This one’s a surprise! Ghibran is known for his fabulously layered music, and in this new series, he eschews voices and words, to focus only on the backgrounds! The punchy layers are intact, as is the sprawling music that takes flight at 3:50 spectacularly!
