Milliblog Weeklies – OCT21.2018

Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist. Week 44:
On | On | On
19 songs, this week, after a break! The good news is that YouTube has all 19 songs! Saavn and Apple Music have 12 each – they are missing the 4 songs from Coke Studio Pakistan, the 2 from Baazaar (Times Music needs to up its game) and the one song from the Malayalam film Drama (Satyam Audios was anyway always terrible with streaming platforms).

A note on the songs in the playlist.


Polaroid (Jonas Blue, Liam Payne, Lennon Stella): Guy James Robin, better known by his stage name Jonas Blue, has been scoring a lot of good collaborations recently – I See Love, from Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation featuring Joe Jonas and Rise, featuring Jack & Jack, to name just two. This new song, featuring Liam Payne and Lennon Stella, is instantly catchy and upbeat!

Saayaali (Adanga Maru, Tamil): Sam’s energetic melody and the singers (Sathya Prakash and Chinmayi) help this song immensely. Interesting to see Sam writing a lot of his songs himself, offering a package deal of music and lyrics! The ‘Kan ketkum kanaa
Nenjukul vinaa’ lines that end suddenly with a short word match nicely with its anupallavi equivalents, ‘Thevaigal ver illai, Naangalum vazhnthida’; ‘Anbinil vazhgirom…’.

Kodi Mangani (Party, Tamil): The song is an oh-so-obvious attempt to recreate the Ilayaraja of the 80s and Premgi Amaren succeeds largely in that attempt. The lyrics (by Gangai Amaren) hint at the 80s style nudge-wink sexuality with the ‘kani’ rhyme. The music, background and interludes, offer a spectacular recreation of what we now know as Raja-style! While S.P.Balasubrahmanyam sounds his usual fantastic self, oddly Chithra sounds a bit out of place.

Ayya (Seethakaathi, Tamil): Govind Vasantha suddenly seems unstoppable! After 96, here’s an incredibly promising song from Seethakaathi! The lyrics by Thiagarajan Kumararaja, in pure Tamil, are goose-bumps inducing, while Vijay Prakash’s vocals are, as usual, fantastic! The overlaying of ‘Aadhavanai Kaiyaal Maraippaan Evan’ chorus with the ‘Ayya’ call-out, in particular, is phenomenal.

En Mizhi Poovil (Dakini, Malayalam): Rahul Raj, who produced some good tunes for B.Tech and Hey Jude earlier this year, is back. En Mizhi is early-Rahman style, with an expansive musical backdrop and riding on the singers (Harishankar K.S. and Amrita Jayakumar) talent. Harishankar, in particular, is very good!

Mulla (Job Kurian, Malayalam): An ode to the good old jasmine! Job’s new song from his Hope Project is a pleasant and highly tuneful song that is right up his alley, and that includes his fantastic singing.

Pandaarand (Drama, Malayalam): Mohanlal puts his limited singing skills to fairly good use in Pandaarand, backed by Vinu Thomas’ simple, hummable tune. The singing skids off at places, but the music, along with Vivekanandan’s violin in the first interlude, keeps things likeable.

Peddha Peddha Kallathoti (Hello Guru Prema Kosame, Telugu): The one song that worked for me in Devi’s new soundtrack. Yazin Nizar’s charming vocals and Devi’s breezy tune work in perfect unison.

Undiporaadhey (Hushaaru, Telugu): Radhan’s tune is getting as predictable as Sid Sriram’s singing, but the song has charm, undoubtedly.

Title song (Savyasachi, Telugu): MM Keeravaani’s tune and background are straight out of his Baahubali repertoire, though it seems awkward that all that power and force in the music (and in the chorus featuring 15 singers) no less will be used on a mortal hero playing superhero, unlike the mythical valour of Baahubali that somehow made it fitting.

Mirza Ve (Marudhar Express, Hindi): Jeet Gannguli’s melody shines with the jaunty rhythm and the nice tune handled very well by Sonu Nigam. Asees Kaur’s other version is a nice contrast, with its understated rhythms and tone.

Kem Cho & Adhura Lafz (Baazaar, Hindi): Gujarati is the flavor of the season, with so many songs coming in recent times in Hindi films (Love Yatri, Mitron etc.). Kem Cho, sung by Ikka and Jyotica Tangri and composed by Tanishk Bagchi, is right up Tanishk’s alley. It’s catchy, with a funky and corny hook. Adhura Lafz, composed by Sohail Sen, is straight out of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy playbook! It’s sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (along with Pratibha Singh Baghel), to add to that effect.

Nirmohiya (Nihira ft. Rhythm Shaw, Indipop): The composition, a beautifully flowing melody by Nihira Joshi-Deshpande seems perfect for her wonderful singing, getting all the nuances right. Rhythm Shaw’s acoustic guitar, being the core background instrument, works like a parallel voice, enhancing the song.

Jind Mahiya (Coke Studio Pakistan, Season 11, Episode 7): Shuja Haider’s Habibi-spouting Middle Eastern melody has a lovely groove that is very appealing. His singing adds to that effortlessly.

Apna Gham (Coke Studio Pakistan, Season 11, Episode 8): A frothy pop melody that, for some reason, sounded more like a Tamil film song to me, in its structure! Bilal’s composition is easy on the ear, and the singing, by Bilal and Mishal Khawaja, props the song very well.

Ko Ko Korina & Dildar Sadqay (Coke Studio Season 11, Episode 9): Ahad Raza Mir and Momina Mustehsan offer a swinging throwback to the past with Ko Ko Korina. It’s quite unlike any other song in Coke Studio Pakistan this year and more like a classic 60s Indian film song where this genre was used quite often. In Dildar Sadqay, composed by Jawad Ahmad, and sung by himself and debutant Elizabeth Rai, I was particularly impressed with the backing vocals/chorus, featuring Mehr Qadir, Shahab Hussain, Wajiha Naqvi. The song is catchy Punjabi pop, but the backing vocals, with its lively support, made the song all the more enjoyable!

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