Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 138: On Spotify | On
A short musical week – just 9 songs this week. Both YouTube and Spotify have all the songs!
Bajre Da Sitta – Rashmeet Kaur x Deep Kalsi x Ikka (Punjabi/Indipop) – The traditional Punjabi song has been given a really cool hiphop mix with a tantalizing rhythm and pulsating rap verses. Works effortlessly.
Unnai Paartha Naal – Kalathil Santhippom (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: Oh boy! This is vintage Yuvan that made us all love his music at one point. Thoroughly addictive, despite the now-familiar his off-key voice 🙂 The other thing that has been unfortunately carried over is the utterly corny Tanglish lyrics that used to be in vogue way back:
“Nee yaaradi yaaradi Sofia
Nee pine mara pookkalin selfieya
Nee manaseega mafia”.
This is particularly odd since the anupallavi has the same hook with proper Tamil lyrics.
“En swaasathin vaasatthai eerthavaL
En moochinil moolagai serthavaL
En vaazhvil vaanjai vaarthavalEn veettukkaaga pootthavaL”
If only Pa.Vijay hadn’t succumbed to the temptation of so-called “Pasangalukku puddikum saar” justification and wrote normal Tamil verse for the first line, this song would have been even better than what it is.
So Soku – V2 Vijay Vicky (Tamil/Indipop): An ebullient gaana-kuthu mix! The tune and rhythm are thoroughly infectious and the music video is added fun, playing on a love-triangle to great effect. Interesting to see more than 3 million views for this pop song that doesn’t seem to have the backing of a big music label or stars!
Chitti – Jathi Ratnalu (Radhan) – Telugu: A song that seems tailor-made for the lead funnyman, Naveen Polishetty – the lyrics are hilarious and the tune too, with a thumping dandiya-style rhythm, is a hoot! The tune is a functional appendage that chugs along with the humor!
Ozhukidum Nithaantha – Black Coffee (Bijibal) – Malayalam: A very pleasant melody by Bijibal that also sounds a lot more commercial than Bijibal’s usual style. I’m not able to pinpoint why, though – it’s possibly because I hear the melody as something that may have been composed by a few other composers too, besides him. That usually doesn’t happen with his music. Manjari sounds fantastic with her singing, and given this is a solo, she carries impeccably.
One Under The Sun – Akhil Ramachandran (Malayalam/Indipop): A searing anti-establishment song that comes alive in the contrast between James Thakara’s mellow portion vs. Vedan’s pungent rap verse. The mix works very well, in Akhil’s ably handled backgrounds.
Malhaar – Arun Kamath (Malayalam/Indipop): Ably supported by Akshay Yesodharan on the guitar, Arun’s new single, composed and sung by himself, Malhaar builds slowly and steadily, and takes off after the first minute when Arun spikes the melody adding a steady thrum in the background. Excellent listen!
Megh – Coke Studio Season 2020, Episode 4: A Megh raag bandish that Aizaz Sohail handles with astonishing proficiency! The music put together to prop the singing is equally stunning, hinting at blues and rock, and a lovely smattering of the sitar (Shehroze Hussain) and the rabab (Nawazish Nasri) as the song progresses. Aizaz’s vocal prowess gets more pronounced as the song ends!
Anbhol – Coke Studio Season 2020, Episode 4: If it was Aizaz Sohail’s vocal prowess in Megh, it is Sanam Marvi’s stupendous show in Anbhol! Rohail’s sound and production amps up the Yaman raag melody to help Sanam offer a magnificent showcase of the raaga. And Rohail himself is on the acoustic guitars!
