Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 41:
On Apple Music | On Saavn | On YouTube
32 songs this week. Saavn is the best, with 31 songs (it’s missing just one – Pathinmakaala Vaanam, from the Singaporean Tamil TV series Guru Paarvai. That song is only available on YouTube. Apple Music has a lot of songs missing. Please do see the notes below to listen to all of them. It’s a particularly very good week of music! One of my favorites, this year!
A note on the songs in the playlist.
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Naina Da Kya Kasoor (AndhaDhun, Hindi): An instantly likeable shake-your-head’ish tune that is so lively. That ‘Kasoor, bekasoor’ hook is thoroughly addictive and Amit’s own everyman voice goes so well with Ayushmann’s personality.
F For Fyaar, Daryaa, Grey Walaa Shade, DhayaanChand, Chonch Ladhiyaan, Hallaa, Bijlee Giregi & Kundali (Manmarziyaan, Hindi): See the full album review: http://bit.ly/2NaiWO6
(Since I have added the songs from this soundtrack in the earlier Weeklies, not adding them again, this week)
Naina Banjare (Pataakha, Hindi): Full album review here: http://bit.ly/2MonfQE
Tere Liye (Namaste England, Hindi): Composer Mannan Shah, who impressed with Saawan Bairi in Commando, makes a comeback of sorts after a middling Commando 2. The song is an easy listen, thanks to the pleasant melody and Atif Aslam, but it is Akanksha Bhandari who enters mid-way and makes a big impact!
Tum Se (Jalebi, Hindi): In what reminded me of Mithoon’s outstanding song from The Train, Zindagi Ne Zindagi Bhar Gam Diye, Tum Se, composed by Samuel & Akanksha, is standard-issue Mohit Suri-sound that the Bhatts have nailed into an art form. The vastly underrated Jubin Nautiyal holds the sweeping melody together impressively.
Chinna Machan (Charlie Chaplin 2, Tamil): A rather nice, catchy and folksy song from composer Amrish, who is earlier known for abominations like Motta Siva Ketta Siva and Bhakar Oru Rascal. The real-time banter between the 2 singers is the song’s charming highlight. When I came to know that it is not his own tune, it made perfect sense. The original seems to belong to the 2 singers themselves (or is perhaps a folk/traditional song; listen here: http://bit.ly/2NhBawW) – Senthil Ganesh and Rajalakshmi.
Idhu Varai Naan (Zhagaram, Tamil): Lovely melody from the under-rated Dharan. The tune is great, has a fantastic hook and the interludes too are very pleasing. Haricharan and Shweta, as always, are super! But Trend Music, the label, needs to find better people to add lyrics on screen/in-video – for a film that’s titled ‘Zhagaram’, they can’t spell ‘sirippoliye’ as ‘sirippozhiye’!
Thean Puthu Thean (Party, Tamil): Gangai Amaren’s lyrics using the ‘thaen’ word all over the song appeals easily and instantly. Such word usages used to be common earlier in Tamil cinema (the most famous ‘thaen’ song is of course, ‘Paarthaen Sirithaen’ from Veera Abhimanyu with music by K.V.Mahadevan and lyrics by Kannadasan) but seem missing lately. Good to see the nuanced focus on language again. GV Prakash Kumar and Saindhavi are very good with the duet. I have always believed that Premgi is a better composer than he is as an actor or comedian. Good to see him do what he does well.
Enakenna Yaarum Illaye – Zingaroe Remix (7UP Madras Gig, Tamil): Enakenna Yaarum Illaye was a single (http://bit.ly/2NfJEoz, belonging to a film called Aakko) released way back in February 2015 when the song’s lyricist was still called ‘Vignesh Shivan’ with an ‘a’ (now, of course, he is ‘ShivN’). Zingaroe’s remix puts the sing into the original tune almost as good as Anirudh would have. Sony should release this 7UP Madras Gig as a full album – got fantastic tunes!
Potta Kaatil Poovasam, Vaa Rayil Vidapolama & Naan Yaar (Pariyerum Perumal, Tamil): Full album review here: http://bit.ly/2wZwbXP (Not adding Karuppi this week since I had added it in Weeklies earlier)
Kalaila Sayngaalam & Ulagam Ennai (Vandi, Tamil): Sooraj R Kurup, who made a spectacular composing debut in Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti and excellent singles in films like Alamara and Solo, makes his debut in Tamil! It’s an oddball soundtrack that opens with Gana Bala’s Kalaila Sayngaalam that sounds like a nursery rhyme, but has an addictive edge! It reminded me of the droning addictiveness of Joshua Sridhar’s Manmeedhu from Parandhu Sella Vaa. Ulagam Ennai has the same call-and-respond format (both sung by Sooraj himself) and manic energy as Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti’s Vaathe Poothe, but without the outburst of the hook. Sooraj’s music continues to remain extremely interesting.
Enna Pulla Senja (Kalavaani Mappillai, Tamil): A simple, heartwarming melody from N.R.Raghunanthan. Ranjith sings it effortlessly, while Raghu’s backgrounds, consisting only of guitar and the simple rhythm, adds to the song’s charm.
Pathinmakaala Vaanam (Singaporean Tamil TV series Guru Paarvai): Composed by Govind (Menon) Vasantha, for the Singaporean TV series, with lyrics by Madhan Karky, the song instantly reminded me of Agam’s body of work. Govind’s violin and Mithun Raju’s spell-binding guitar standout amidst the soulful melody.
Crazy Little Thing Called Chakravakam (Thayir Sadam Project): The whimsically called ‘Thayir Sadam project’ consists of Dr. L. Subramaniam’s son and daughter, Ambi Subramaniam and Bindu Subramaniam, plus Akshay Anantapadmanabhan and Mahesh Raghvan. This song features Ranjani-Gayatri, and is a spell-binding expansion of Chakravakam/Ahir Bhairav raaga. The singing, the backgrounds that fuse the modern sounds within the raaga’s framework… everything is absolutely fantastic! As a raaga-ignorant listener, so many Ilayaraja songs and well-known songs tumbled into my memory listening to this.
Kaadhal Kadal Dhana (Ratsasan, Tamil): Ghibran strikes again! A wonderfully relaxed and sweeping melody with the usual Ghibran-style layered orchestration. The singing, by Sathyaprakash and Chaitra Ambadipudi, is brilliant.
Sevandhu Pochu Nenju (Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Tamil): The 3rd song from Mani Ratnam’s new film is very interesting for the vibrant soundscape, even as the tune seems functional/background’ish. The ending (starting 4:00) is particularly fantastic!
Nee Nanna Bhagavathgeethe (Bhairava Geetha, Kannada): Ravi Shankar’s tune reminded me of Dharmavathy raaga, if you consider songs like Raja’s Meendum Meendum Vaa (Vikram) or Rahman’s Edhu Sugam Sugam Adhu (Vandicholai Chinrasu). The song works mainly because of the fantastic singing by Chinmayi and Vijay Yesudas.
Haniye Haniye & Ardha Chandra (8MM Bullet, Kannada): Judah Sandhy is back with his irresistible Chamak form! The song’s melody is oh-so-beautiful, and Judah pulls off Sanjith Hegde-style singing himself, along with a phenomenal Shreya Sundar Iyer. The Coldplay’ish chorus is entrancing, as is the lovely violin interlude! In Ardha Chandra, Judah produces a beautifully soft rhythm that helps the whispery melody to come alive perfectly. Supriya Lohith and Abhinandan Mahishale sing it darn well, particularly the way the latter offers the counterpoint in the anupallavi.
Cheap & Best (Victory 2, Kannada): The successful combination of Sharan and Arjun Janya continues! This is a tune that Arjun reserves for himself, but he ropes in Divya Kumar for a faux-qawali tune that is foot-tapping and raucous. The second interlude (which also ends the song), however, reminded me of Ilayaraja’s iconic background theme from Pallavi Anupallavi (it’s magical! Listen to it here: http://bit.ly/2MvoEVx). Raja also used as a song by himself in Tamil – Mella Mella, from Vaazhkai: http://bit.ly/2MvZhTE
Ini Raave (Ranam, Malayalam): I’m a complete sucker for Charukesi raaga. When Sumesh Parameshwar enters with his guitar, mid-way playing a bit of Charukesi, I just melt! The tune is fantastic – deep and engaging, with fabulous singing by Vidhu Pratap. This is probably the best album by composer Jakes Bejoy yet.
Oduvile Theeyayi (Varathan, Malayalam): A classic Latino-style (Bossa Nova’ish?) melody from Sushin Shyam! He sings it, along with Neha S Nair. The interludes, in particular, are delightful!
Inthe Inthenaa, Nijamga Kothaga & Okadhaari Lona (Nannu Dochukunduvate, Telugu): Inthe Inthenaa is absolutely lovely! Naresh Iyer superbly holds the deeply involving melody with his singing, while Ajaneesh’s musical flourish shows in the orchestration. Maarten Visser’s sax, in particular, is brilliant, and so is the very-Ilayaraja’ish anupallavi! Nijamga Kothaga is Harshika Devanathan’s stellar show! Ajaneesh’s rhythm is addictive, though the song opens exactly like Chaiyya Chaiyya’s
“Jinke sar ho ishq ki chaaon
Paaon ke neeche jaanat hogi
Jinke sar ho ishq ki chaaon”.
And Okadhaari Lona is a great listen as well, with its Bond-style (the all-women string quartet) violin phrases and the energetic tune. That second line where Haricharan goes with the tune step by step is a lovely touch.
Mon (Kuasha Jakhon, Bengali): Composer Chirantan Banerjee’s tune is ballad-style and gorgeous. Raj Barman’s singing is very good, significantly enhanced by Anirban Das’s guitar.
Burn Out (Justin Mylo, Martin Garrix featuring Dewain Whitmore): Axe’s content marketing effort, under Axe Music, in association with Martin Garrix. The song is typically likeable House – the guitar riffs and drop are predictable but fun.
Heavy, California & Beat 54 (For Ever, Jungle): Jungle’s 2nd album is out and it has more of their trademark disco-soul-funk sound in abundance. It does get a bit tedious at the end of the entire album, but these 2 songs stand out with their highly infectious groove.
Smile (Sanjeev T, Indipop): A.R.Rahman’s guitarist Sanjeev Thomas, who made an impressive film composing debut in the Malayalam film Vilakkumaram, is back with his new EP featuring 4 songs. Titled St., my pick of the EP is Smile, which, intriguingly, starts with the sounds of a school classroom before Sanjeev enters with his superb guitar! And when the flute (Tejasvi Raghunath) and thavil (Raju Kodanda) make its entry, the song reaches a new plane!
