Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 224: YouTube
10 songs this week and since 6 of them belong to Zee Music, I see no point in even creating a Spotify playlist 🙁 I wish Zee Music and Spotify find a way to end their feud.
Bhide – Arijit Singh (Indipop): After last week’s Barkha, here’s Arijit again with his own composition again, and what a contrast between the songs! It’s amazing that Arijit isn’t composing as much as he is singing considering how versatile he is with music-making beyond just singing! This tune here sounds straight out of Vishal Bhardwaj’s vibrant musical signature, with a frenetic tune handled by both Arijit and DIVINE wonderfully.
Boondein Marham Si – Meet Bros, ft. Sonu Nigam (Indipop/Hindi): Meet Bros’ tune took me back to the heydays of Sonu Nigam’s hugely melodious Indipop songs. The tune is laced with a filmy melody that is both easy on the ear and thoroughly engaging, particularly the grand outro. Sonu’s singing is, as expected, incredible.
Karthi Kalyani – Joel Johns (Indipop/Malayalam): It may be because this is being sung by Hesham Abdul Wahab that I felt the tune too sounded his own, but it isn’t 🙂 Joel’s tune is lofty, with a wonderful ear for instruments and sound. Hesham and Sanah Moidutty handle the melody beautifully and it makes for a great listen with Akhil Anil’s nadaswaram providing a gorgeous ending.
Aa Mugilinalli – Naalkane Aayama (Arjun Janya) – Kannada: Oh wow! After Sonu’s stellar high in Kannada film music, back in 2006 (Mungaru Male), this song felt like a similar high… it was that good! Arjun’s melody is unique, with a really captivating pallavi that doesn’t seem to close the lines in predictable ways; that is, the end of each line in the pallavi seemed open-ended, and waiting for the next line! Sonu has a field day in the melody that seems perfect for his range.
Chalalo, Ti Honar & Duniyadaari – Pahije Jatiche (Anwesshaa) – Marathi: Chalalo is a treat! Anwesshaa’s melody is lush and the music she concocts around the tune is magnificent! The strings (Cochin Strings) in the interlude, even more so! Abhay Jodhpurkar’s singing (Anwesshaa joins him much later in the song) is outstanding even as the music wraps around his vocals. Ti Honar is yet another showcase of Abhay’s brilliant vocals, even as Anwesshaa’s composition is almost like that of something from Shankar Mahadevan/Shankar Ehsaan Loy, complete with beautiful vocal chorus and a fantastic tabla base. Duniyadaari, on the other hand, is straight out of Louis Banks’ musical repertoire with an eclectic electric violin layer by Sandipan Ganguly. The singing by Anwesshaa and Hrishikesh Ranade carries the racy melody well.
Jiya Tui Chara, Ghono Megher Elokeshe & Nei Khtoi Nei – Biye Bibhrat (Ranajoy Bhattacharjee) – Bangla: Jiya Tui Chara rides on Arijit’s incredible vocals though it is Ranajoy Bhattacharjee’s semi-classical composition that creates the condition suited to his showcasing his mastery over the singing. The tune is reminiscent of yesteryear Hindi film music from the 1970s – Anand’s iconic Na Jiya Lage Na (by Salil Chowdhury) came to my mind first! But the sound here is fresh and new. Ranajoy takes the classical approach even further in the next song, Ghono Megher Elokeshe which reminded me of Guddi’s Bolo Re Pappihara – must be a similar raaga, I’m assuming. Arijit’s singing here is nothing short of extraordinary, and together with Ashmita Kar, they produce a delightful song! Nei Khtoi Nei breaks the classical template but only for the song’s opening, sung by Snigdhajit Bhowmik. When Arijit joins shortly, the melody gets into semi-classical mode again. Eventually, both Snigdhajit and Arijit join with the respective melodies in a harmonious mix!
