Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 193: On Spotify | On
11 songs this week! All the songs are available on Spotify, but YouTube is missing one song – Paravakal from 19(1)(a).
Kuku Mera – The Great Weddings Of Munnes (Arko) – Hindi: This is straight out of the Govinda films of the 2000s 🙂 But considering we haven’t heard such songs of late, this is more of a nostalgic liking than anything else. It has a catchy, simple hook and that helps tremendously.
Awaara Ho – Shashwat Sachdev (Hindi/Indipop): While the melody is pleasant and easy on the ear, the musical layer Shashwat adds makes it a lot more interesting, particularly the totally unusual interludes! They completely took me by surprise and made me sit up 🙂
Kabhi Kabhi – Anumita Nadesan (Hindi/Indipop): While the tune’s lazy drawl and atmospheric sound are alluring enough, Anumita’s singing too builds on the melody’s character! Very good listen.
Mohabbat Zindagi – Mikey McCleary, ft. Lucky Ali (Hindi/Indipop): Aah, that Lucky Ali magic is intact, thanks much to Mikey too! It feels almost like a song from Lucki Ali’s Sunoh all those years ago! The choir too brings so much to the song (they open the song!) that has a superb sing-along feel.
Kanja Poovu Kannala – Viruman (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: I thought I had added this song when it launched first, but realized that they actually launched only a 1-minute short version first and I had deferred adding it once they released the full version. When they eventually did release the full version, I thought I had already written about it and ignored it – so let me amend the situation I have put myself into 🙂 This is a gorgeously catchy song on the lines of ‘DhaavaNi potta deepavali’ that Yuvan excels in but produces less often. And Sid Sriram’s voice adds a different texture to the song that usually has Yuvan choosing voices like Vijay Yesudas.
Marakkuma Nenjam – Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (A R Rahman) – Tamil: This seems to be the season of Rahman reaching out to his 90s repertoire more actively 🙂 But even as the overall sound (accentuated by the use of Vedha’s Ghatasinghari in place of other ghatam-based songs of Rahman) and Rahman’s own singing brings the 90s sound to the fore, Rahman’s also adds a brilliantly deeper chorus layer that is goosebumps-inducing!
Sippara Rippara – Paramporul (Yuvan Shankar Raja) – Tamil: An instantly catchy song with an enjoyable rhythm and lilt! That Yuvan roped in Shankar Mahadevan instead of singing it himself… thank you ThiruthaNi Muruga!! Also, I like the fact that Yuvan doesn’t overuse the ‘Sippara Rippara’ hook and actually uses it sparingly, adding to its value.
Rangarattinam – Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Tenma) – Tamil: A stupendously vibrant cornucopia of sounds marked by fantastic singing by a lot of singers – MS Krsna, Gana Muthu, Sangita Santhosham, Kavitha Gopi, and Karthik Manickavasakam. The song’s impromptu nature of building the tune works wonders for the melody conjured by Tenma. And that kuthu interlude is a superb addition!
Yentharu – Oru Thekkan Thallu Case (Justin Varghese) – Malayalam: This is the first of this week’s Malayalam music that harks back to the 50s/60s sound so wonderfully! Justin’s use of instruments (tabla, flute, and harmonium, in particular) brings that flavor so well, but it’s the singing that truly nails that sound. Himna Hilari and Justin Varghese are outstanding on the theme within that context.
Panjaarakko – Solomante Theneechakal (Vidyasagar) – Malayalam: This is the 2nd Malayalam song this week that goes back to the 60s. Both the songs evoke a strong whiff of Raja’s Nayakan classic Naan Siriththaal Deepavali in very different ways! Vidyasagar adorns this song with more obvious period sounds than Justin does in Yentharu. But like that song, here too, the singers, Athira Sujith and Reena Murali, do a terrific job – in fact, even better than Yentharu!
Paravakal – 19(1)(a) (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam: So very, very Govind Vasantha… almost an extension of 96 given there is Chinmayi singing this one! It’s beautiful, with a pensive undercurrent and Govind’s flute adds to that sense of foreboding. The tune’s beauty gets even better as it enters the anupallavi (Doore)!
