Milliblog Weeklies, Week 132 – Nov.01, 2020

Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 132: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
10 songs, this week. YouTube has all 10, while the JioSaavn playlist has 9, and is missing Anurag Saikia’s Tamil song.

Hardum Humdum – Ludo (Pritam) – Hindi: The second single from the film is as zany as the film’s wacky trailer – a curiously interesting mix that layers a very tuneful, retro-style melody (accentuated by Arijit’s singing that seems to be deliberately overdoing the retro part) that seems distantly reminiscent of Pancham’s Namak Haraam classic, Diye Jalte Hain… over a catchy, dance-floor style interlude!

Teri Choriyaan – Chhalaang (Vee) – Hindi: The second song from Chhalaang is a lovely listen too, once again for the earthy flavor it brings. The song’s simple, gorgeous Punjabi lilt and Guru Randhawa’s pleasant singing lifts it instantly.

Entha Neramum – Kadhalan Bharathi (Girishh G) – Tamil/Indipop: Girishh Gopalakrishnan debuted as a composer with Marina, had released an independent album in December 2014 that I seem to have completely missed! The album is called ‘Kadhalan Bharathi’ and explores Bharathiyar’s songs that focus on love – the human love variety, beyond love for the country or nature that is more popularly cited in his incredible repertoire.

To be sure, others have tuned some of the songs in this album too – like Suchitra Karthik’s Paayum Oli, composed by Sai Madhukar, and more recently, Ratchakan Sridhar’s Paayum Oli Kannamma that has a completely unique tune. And then there’s MS Viswanathan’s famous Ninnaye Rathiyendru from the Tamil film, Kanne Kaniyamudhe, that had a captivating newer version by Vinod Krishnan last year.

The entire album of Kadhalan Bharathi is worth a listen, of course. But one song, in particular, is the clear winner in my view – Jairam Balasubramaniyan-sung Entha Neramum! Is it based on Hamsanaadham raaga – I sensed quite a few strains of the raaga in this haunting tune. Jairam’s singing is phenomenal, at a goosebumps-inducing level.

Meendum Pirandheno – Sean Roldan, ft. Lalitha Sudha (Tamil/Indipop): This is Sean’s 3rd independent single and I’m surprised he hasn’t collaborated with any record label for all his 3 singles so far, just like Amit Trivedi (who released his singles and album spree on his own, newly launched label!). Sean’s melody, based on Kalyani raaga, is outstanding, as usual. His sense of fusion, mixing a carnatic-style tune on top of a sound that is so very modern pop, is lovely! Lalitha Sudha, who sang previously for Sean in Mehandi Circus (Siragi Un Sirippaala), is an inspired choice for the song given how affecting her singing is. Sean’s voice continues to grate me a bit, but he makes it up more than adequately with the sheer quality of his singing.

Yaar Azhaippadhu – Maara (Ghibran) – Tamil: Maara’s original, the Malayalam film Charlie had outstanding music from Gopi Sundar. Ghibran has a very high bar to clear in the Tamil remake. The first single actually seems like Ghibran of yore – the layering in the backgrounds indicates a Ghibran from the time of Naiyaandi. The tune is relatively less interesting than the backgrounds, and even Sid Sriram sounds a bit different from his usual self. Still, Ghibran’s overall sound makes it a good enough listen.

Mukthi (Eppo Varuvaaro) – Pragathi Band (Tamil/Indipop): Pragathi, the band led by singer KS Harisankar (with music produced by band member Abishekh Amanath) creates a spritely, modern remix of Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s Jonpuri raaga-based Kriti ‘Eppo Varuvaaro’. The sound is psychedelic, with fantastic guitar by Abin Sagar and Arun Thomas, and topped by Harisankar’s always dependable singing.

Va Kannamma – Anurag Saikia, Ft. Gowtham Bharadwaj (Tamil/Indipop): Now, this is a surprise – to hear Anurag Saikia’s composition in Tamil! Is it due to his past association with Chennai (he studied music at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, to be specific)? His melody is a very calm and serene lullaby, sung extremely well by Staccato’s lead singer Gowtham Bharadwaj. Prachotosh Bhowmick’s guitar is a constant layer of comfort on the song too!

Kanna Mucche – Bheemasena Nalamaharaja (Charan Raj) – Kannada: While I didn’t specifically like the first single from the film (Tanner Meedre), Charan more than makes up for that with this song. Singer Siddhant Sundar’s soaring, deeply affecting voice lifts the song effortlessly, as does Balesh’s shehnai.

Icche Khame – Rupak Tiary (Bangla/Indipop): Rupak composes and sings this Bangla single, but the composer does better than the singer. His music is lush, with a lot happening in the background. The sound reminded me Pritam’s music to some extent, but Rupak has something going for him on his own too, no doubt.

Love Language – Positions (Ariana Grande): Ariana’s latest album is out and is already being hailed as her most suggestive/horny body of work! My favorite song from the album was Love Language that shines with its captivating pop sound and a good mix of jazz and 80s disco in the backgrounds. The lyrics go,
“Ain’t no need to remind you
It’s AG in your face”
(AG is, of course, Ariana Grande!)

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