Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 176: On Spotify | On YouTube
18 songs, this week – a pretty satisfying week from a variety point of view! All the songs are available on YouTube, while Spotify is missing one song, from Lalitham Sundaram!
Mon Aar, Beh Jaana & Dhandhli – Jugaadistan (Assorted composers) – Bengali/Hindi: Mon Aar has an ebullient rhythm that kicks in early on and Anurag Saikia layers it with the verve that stays till the end. Roshni Saha and Gauranga Shekhar handle the Bengali lines (written by Roshni) wonderfully. Beh Jaana is the usual Yellow Diary magic! Rajan Batra’s lush, affecting voice sailing through the frothy melody effortlessly. The other song that stands out in the packed soundtrack is by Khamosh Shah. His Dhandhli is something straight out of Amit Trivedi’s earlier, more vibrant repertoire! Manish J Tipu delivers the necessary comic edge to the song while still making it musically engaging.
Meri Jaan Meri Jaan – Bachchhan Paandey (B Praak) – Hindi: B Praak’s distinct and powerful voice carries this one easily. But the composer in him layers the song with that lovely ‘O Meri Jaan Meri Jaan’ hook that is used repetitively to fantastic effect.
Nenjorama – Madhil Mel Kaadhal (Nivas K Prasanna) – Tamil: Nivas’s music and Pradeep Kumar singing? Oh wow! The music is tantalizingly good – no-frills, but a classic melody that occasionally brings to mind Ilayaraja’s music! Pradeep is stupendously good with the higher notes, as is Malvi Sundaresan when she joins in much later.
Parai – Sean Roldan (Tamil): A searing, touchingly sad song that makes one more angry than sad! Kumaran’s music video, though short, makes a tremendous impact in showcasing the mental disease called caste that we humans have invented for ourselves and which alters our perception to not let see each other as humans. Roja Adithya’s voice, along with Sean’s own singing, offers the necessary gravitas to bring the anger in the lyrics alive.
Kangal Oya – Sanah Moidutty (Tamil): Sanah’s singing is, as expected, terrific, but it is Sanah the music composer who impresses even more in this new single. The tune is slow and sedative and that ‘Ri ri ri ri’ hook is a captivating highlight.
Rathipushpam – Bheeshma Parvam (Sushin Shyam) – Malayalam: In line with the rest of the songs from the film, Sushin stays with this 80s synth sound, and in Unni Menon’s voice, this is a pleasant trip back to the disco days!
Maname – Veyil (Pradeep Kumar) – Malayalam: The other Pradeep Kumar song of the week – and this one is his own composition, after the terrific ‘The Hey Song’ that came out mid-last year. The song is instantly recognizable as Pradeep’s trademark sound, with that dreamy sound that was once the domain of Santhosh Narayanan too.
Meghajalakam – Lalitham Sundaram (Bijibal) – Malayalam: A vintage Bijibal song that is loaded with good-natured happiness in the melody that you cannot not nod your head along. Najim Arshad is so, so good a choice for the song, and that ‘Pazhayoru Paattinde’ hook is sheer joy!
Laagni, Vaadli, Tu Juhi Re, Kori Ne Kaachi, Navi Zindagi & Fari Fari – Prem Prakaran (Amit Trivedi) – Gujarati: After the extended prelude sung by Amit Trivedi, the 80s style synth music kicks in even as a gorgeous flute layer too wafts in. Ishani Dave’s sweet voice is perfect for the melody and Amit uses her vocals in the backgrounds too, towards the end, very effectively. There’s even more 80s synth in Vaadli too!! The tune is so very Amit, with a soaring hook that screams his predictable style… that sounds fresh enough given the synth package and Gujarati. In Tu Juhi Re, Amit has a beautiful melody that perhaps deserved a slightly better singer than Amit, with his relatively flat rendition. As if expecting that, the other version of the song, featuring Jigardhan Gadhavi delivers brilliantly! Kori Ne Kaachi took me to Jatin-Lalit’s style of music given the Pancham-style seeping in too 🙂 The rhythm, the charming tune, and the throwback to an older style of music, and Jigardhan Gadhavi’s singing make this one very enjoyable. Both Navi Zindagi and Fari Fari (sung by Siddharth Amit Bhavsar) are light, frothy, and thoroughly engaging. Amits music is uncluttered, understated, and lets the pleasant tunes stay at the forefront. Amit’s 10-song soundtrack for Prem Prakaran has a very consistent sound all through, and overall, makes for a very good listen as a package.
Paas Aa – Zaeden & Aakash (Indipop): Very summery vibe in an uncluttered, easy-on-ear melody.
Monster- Dhruv Visvanath (Indipop): I loved the song as soon as I heard it, but I was trying to pin it down to the ‘why’ (do I like it). The reason escaped me for over a week, and finally, I have been able to pin it down! It’s a fantastic melody, with a mysterious tinge in the tune, but my personal reason for getting drawn to it is because I thought it was almost like a composition from Rob Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty fame; has gone solo). Specifically, this song could easily fit in his album outstanding Cradlesong (2009)!
