11.03.2006

Blogswara - Ver.2

Blogswara, a unique attempt on blogosphere, has just released the Version 2 of it. I really liked the first album and was eagerly waiting for the next release. Considering the constraints, the quality achieved in each of the songs is admirable. This opinion of mine on the songs may be harsh at times but I hope the people involved in creating the music will take it in the right sense. By this time they would have got bored of all accolades and praises and what they really want is an honest and real feedback with a neutral view, which will help them to improve further. Having tried composing music myself (composed just one piece of 2 minutes length so far which I will post sometime soon in my blog), I know how difficult it is to write even a few seconds of music.

Mallu flavour is not just in the language but also in the sweet vocals of Preethy and the tune of “Ente Manasilum”. I liked the way the Keralite beats are mixed with Nadhaswaram like instrument. It gives a unique sound. The rhythm and the strings passage in the background are good.

Hey Mera Dil” is my pick of the album. Beauty is simplicity and this song proves it again. The song starts beautifully with two violins one of higher and the other on lower octave playing the same tune. It is very unique to hear a Hindi song with a carnatic based tune on Violin in the start. The chords on piano all through the song punctuate the vocals with right emotions. The song devoid of any rhythm backing and simple orchestration just elevates the romantic feel of the song. Kudos to Pradip and Swathi for their expressive rendition of the song.

Hai Junoon” could well be a Himesh’s next hit number. It sounds very Bollywoodish with thumping beats, synth sounds, guitar riffs and rough and tough singing. Nice layering and arrangements all through the song.

Melle Melle” song instantly reminded me “Enna Idhu Enna Idhu” song composed by Bharadwaj for the movie Rojavanam. The tune almost has the same feel. But if you forget the sounds-like feel it is very enjoyable track with a semi classical tune layered with modern beats. The knocking song that is repeated through out the song is just perfect for the lyrics and is perfectly in synch with the rhythm of the song. The “Vazhvu Selikka” Jo gives yet another impressive performance and so is Vidyu.

Ooyaladunni” has got an Enigma kind of starting but soon becomes familiar, too slow, repetitive and boring. Basically, I think it is the mixing where the song misses its flavour, especially the voice which carries the main tune is too low. The rhythm is different for such a slow melody. This song could be an example for how the beauty of the song can be hampered by poor mixing especially there is too much usage of wind chimes sound which is too loud too.

Thoduvanam” is a song where the music doesn’t reflect what lyrics intended to say. Actually I liked the tune in the starting of the song. The lyrics are good but for a song with optimism as theme, frequent change in rhythm patterns doesn’t really work. "Ennachu" song is good. I liked the charanam better than the pallavi and especially the bass lines are very good in the charanam.

Anyway, here is saluting Blogswara for their unique effort. I wish they come up with more classic stuff in future offerings.

10 comments:

Narayanan Venkitu said...

Thankyou Suresh for the nice review you've written.

I appreciate it.

Can you pls verify that song you mentioned.? I checked ROJAVANAM in Music India..couldn't find 'Enna Idhu'. Is that from some other movie?

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Narayanan,

chechk it out here in raaga...
http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/movie/T0000005.html
actually the song is mentioned as "I have fallen"

Jo said...

Hi, thank you very much for your observatios. The team will take a note of it and improve ourselves in the next version. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

enna idhu enna idhu is from "Nala Damayanthi" music by Ramesh Vinayagam

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Hi,

Sorry that was the mistake in the movie name, it is actually "Rojavanam" not "Rajavanam".

krishnakumar said...

Hi Suresh:
Hmm...I read your review. Check out mine too. The song you mentioned, in my opinion (and I respect yours) did not sound like Mella Mella, and in fact, incomparable with respect to quality as well. It is more of a hasty commercial song, not quite the quality of Mella Mella. I cant remember accurately, but the bharadwaj number reminded me of a hindi song.
Anyways i respect your opnion,
Cheers,
KK

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

Mella Mella goes like Enna Iddhu Enna Idhu and Chendrayae is perfectly in synch with the melody of Paarkiradhae....actually i didn't mention it to say that that they have copied a song, i know it must be purely accidental... but i wrote just what i thought and what came to my mind immediately after listening to the first few lines of the song... ofcourse that Rojavanam song has got a much higher tempo... but sure there are similarities....

krishnakumar said...

Hi Suresh...
I think I am a bit confused. Can you let me know the names of the songs you were mentioning? I listened to only one (I have fallen)...
I understood what you meant. I guess you were talking about the "feel" of the song. Correct?
Keep writing such objective reviews....
Cheers,
KK

P.S. Suresh Kumar said...

yeah 'I have fallen' and "Enna Idhu" are the same song.... anyway i just meant about the feel of the melody...

Sultan said...

guys...mella mella reminded me of another malayalam song called 'Omane' i heard recently from the movie 'Boyfriend' - i have no knowledge of ragas, etc, so not sure if it is a similar raga? maybe ull can enlighten me..or is it again just a 'feel' of the song/melody?