Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 33:
On | On | On
27 songs this week. Unfortunately, terrible availability across platforms this week too! So, Apple Music comes on top, with 21 songs. Saavn and YouTube fare far worse, with 13 and 12 songs, respectively 🙁
A note on the songs in the playlist.
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Achche Din (Fanney Khan, Hindi): Amit gets at least one song right in the otherwise middling Fanney Khan. Irshad Kamil makes a cheeky reference to the now-popular election slogan and turns it into a catchy hook, even as Amit’s tune—sung by himself—is a slow-burner that works with its somber appeal.
Monobina (Gold, Hindi): Trust Tanishk Bagchi to swoop in as a guest composer and take over the soundtrack! He almost did that in Fanney Khan right under Amit Trivedi’s nose (who makes up with Achche Din, thankfully), and he does it again with Gold, under the noses of Sachin and Jigar (and the other guest composer, Arko). Sachin and Jigar have been relegated to compose one utterly drunk song (Chad Gayi Hai) and a series of motivational, background’ish songs, while Tanishk composes the soundtrack’s most inventive – Monobina. Featuring the vocals of Yasser Desai, Shashaa Tirupati, Monali Thakur and Farhad Bhiwandiwala, this is one cool swing number with frenetic energy!
Afsaane (Hariharan, Ghazal): While the tune is vintage Hariharan (lyrics by Ameeta Parasuram), the arrangement is decidedly more modern. Not that it is bad, but it perhaps treats the ghazal more as Indipop than a ghazal. Good listen, though, for Hariharan’s phenomenal voice.
Dhooramaai, Anbe Anbin and Vaanthooral (Peranbu, Tamil): Full album review, here: http://bit.ly/2NWdmeH
Kannil Mazhai (BP Collective, Indipop): The lead vocals, by Sid Sriram and Jananie SV, is exquisite! The way Prasanna layers the vocals and chorus, and the way he uses FAME’s Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra takes the song to a completely different, sprawling plane!
Aariyane (Ghajinikanth, Tamil): Easily the highlight of the 4-song soundtrack by Balamurali Balu. The semi-classical mix sounded to me like Darbari Kanada raaga, while Shweta Mohan, as usual, rules the singing part.
Molagapodiye (Saamy Square, Tamil): What seems like Saamy sequel’s attempt at Saamy’s Kalyanamthaan. DSP surprises yet again with his highly listenable tune, and more so due to the choice of Sanjith Hegde (and Rita) for the singing. Sanjith has been having a stellar year so far!
Kanne Kanne (Mandharam, Malayalam): Composer Mujeeb Majeed has a limited repertoire before Mandharam. But this song should do the trick for him, with its gorgeously slow and catchy melody. Niranj Suresh’s singing and the fantastic chorus deserve a special mention.
Raamazhayo and Chalamelara (Kinavalli, Malayalam): Raamazhayo is a nice melody from Shashwath, a fairly new composer. The strings and flute layered orchestration make the song click. Dependably good vocals by Vijay Yesudas, supported by Vijesh Gopal and Roshni Suresh. The other song that stands out in the 6-song soundtrack is by Electro House specialist Mangal Suvarnan. He takes Thyagaraja’s Marga Hindolam-raaga original and produces a haunting EDM mix out of it in Sujith Raj Kochikunju’s vocals.
Vennelamma Venchesena (Brand Babu, Telugu): JB aka Jeevan Babu has been in the sidelines of Telugu film industry for a long time, despite competent music in films like Rojulu Marayi, Right Right, Bus Stop and Bhadram Be Careful Brotheru. The success (or the lack of it) of those films may be the reason. He gets yet another chance in Brand Babu and his first single is as promising as ever, with an instantly catchy lilt and excellent singing by Mohammed Hymath. Hope JB gets a break-out hit at least now!
Solo Solo & Title Song (Chi La Sow, Telugu): After last week’s Mellaga, composer Prashanth R Vihari has a winner again, on a diametrically different tone and feel, in Solo Solo, among the other songs in the soundtrack. Solo Solo is energetic and danc’y, with a liberal sprinkling of Teluglish. A pucca ‘boys’ song, sung well by Prashanth himself, Diwakar & Naresh Iyer. The title song is a great listen too, with its eclectic mix, and the racy sound that relentlessly throws its many influences one after the other!
Natural (Imagine Dragons): This is the kind of anthemic songs that catapulted the band to success. Lead singer Dan Reynolds holds the pulsating vocals together and amps up the song’s energy with the hook. Addictive song, this.
Plastic Elastic, Laika, Comets & Minimum (Persons.Elastic.Superior.Fantastic, Madboy/Mink): Close on the heels of their single from Karwaan (Bhar De Hamaara Glass), the electro-funk duo release a 4-track EP that’s oozing synth, disco and psychedelia from every direction. While the full EP is worth a listen, my favorite is Comets, with an extra edgy and sedate tune.
Vay Be (Kenan Dogulu): Kenan is a Turkish pop star (Indian listeners remember, Tarkan, the other Turkish pop star who found his music liberally ‘used’ in Hindi films, courtesy Pritam?) and his new album, Vay Be, is full of wonderfully ebullient summery pop numbers. Issiz Ada, for instance, is a disco+summer anthem, with a fantastic hook. Yosun and the title song, even as they maintain their catchy rhythm, bring in Turkish instruments to add to the exotic quotient. Dansa Kaldir, another song, actually sounds like something Pritam may want to utilize, perhaps with permission this time.
