Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 221: On Spotify | On YouTube
Back after another week’s break – not because of my travel, this time, but simply because of the dearth of decent enough new music 🙂 The Spotify playlist this week is missing 4 songs – one by Zee (Gadar 2), and the 3 songs from Sweet Kaaram Coffee which is with Think Music and the label is yet to add the album to Spotify (or Spotify folks went on a holiday owing to the long weekend!).
Tum Kya Mile – Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Pritam) – Hindi: Karan Johar. Pritam. Arijit Singh. Shreya Ghoshal. Amitabh Bhattacharya. It should have been so much more than what we hear though what we do hear is adequately passable/likeable. But, given the combined music sense of the people behind the song, this feels like a by-the-numbers composition. Pritam does manage to infuse something new in the way the antara begins but by the time the bridge to the mukhda appears, things are back to the familiar, derivative territory.
Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava – Gadar 2 (Uttam Singh, Mithoon) – Hindi: Even though Mithoon seems to be using the mellower version of the original by Uttam Singh (the ‘Victory’ version from the original soundtrack of Gadar, and not the ‘Marriage’ version), he also manages to ‘age’ the melody to a softer note, perhaps befitting the relative ages of the lead pair 🙂 The original’s earthy lilt continues to keep the song in very good keep it in good stead, aided by the singing by Udit Narayan (who sang both Victory and Marriage versions) and Alka Yagnik (who sang only the Marriage version while Preeti Uttam sang the Victory version).
Minmini, Udna Hai Aise & Theeravanam – Sweet Kaaram Coffee (Tamil) – Govind Vasantha: Minmini is straight out of the Thaikkudam Bridge soundscape and—so far—it continues to work, thanks to the way Kapil Kapilan handles it. It does sound like an adequately spruced-up variant of Navarasam’s Urumbu, though. Udna Hai Aise is almost another variant, particularly when the ‘Udna Hai Aise’ hook is delivered by Javed Ali. But it does make for a solid listen, with a lovely sitar layer. Kapil is terrific in Theeravanam where Govind concocts a significantly better melody and superb guitar backing all through. It’s too short, though, stopping just as it seemed to be taking off!
Vaanilai – Marakkuma Nenjam (Sachin Warrier) – Tamil: My expectations from Sachin’s music is fairly high given his (limited) past work in composing beyond singing. But I was disappointed with this film’s first song (Netrum Indrum). Vaanilai is definitely better as a tune though it is hampered only by singer Hitha’s labored Tamil diction. Ironically though, if you hear past the diction, it’s her voice that shapes the song’s appeal.
Padminiye & Love You Muthe – Padmini (Jakes Bejoy) – Malayalam: Despite his composing in multiple languages, the actual number of songs that I like from Jakes’ recent repertoire is quite less. So, the 2 songs from Padmini come as a pleasant surprise! The title song has the energy of early-Rahman’s music and the lines that lead up to the hook have a simple, charming lilt. Of course, much of this is Sachin Warrier’s singing, and he carries the song beautifully. In Love You Muthe, Jakes’ attempt at going faux-retro works rather smoothly mainly because of Vidyadharan Master’s vocals. But Kunchacko Boban’s entry, delivering the song’s hook, is quite a delightful stretch. And that musical piece from 1:53-2:04… man, I thought I was inside a Gopi Sundar song!!
Dosthi Kahaani – Jackson Bazaar Youth (Govind Vasantha) – Hindi/Malayalam: Govind manages to infuse interesting musical references into this short, captivating song! There’s retro Hindi film music style in the same vein as Kareeb’s Chori Chori Jab. There are shades of Govind’s own 96, and there’s a brass sound as well, owing to the film’s theme. Pradeep Kumar’s soulful vocals always do the trick – ditto here!
Ik Raanjha – Composed by Shashaa Tirupati | Music by Sid Paul – Indipop: Considering the number of people who have tuned Bulleh Shah’s Ik Raanjha, I should say that Shashaa’s tune ranks quite high. It has a breezy Coke Studio’ish vibe, and Sid Paul’s musical arrangement elevates it pretty well. Shivam Mahadevan and Shashaa Tirupati’s harmonious singing is on point.
Jacquemus – Tesher (Pop): The ‘Jalebi Girl’ guy is back with a new song and it’s a complete banger! With a bit of Baile Funk from Brazil, some Indian instruments in the background, a very Bollywood’ish ‘Oi Hoi Hoi’ chorus, and some catchy Tamil kuthu style music, this is a heady, fun mix!
