Bheema Sondtrack

Harris Jeyaraj is the one with highest success rate among his contemporaries. The reason is that he constantly delivers songs with simple, easy, catchy rhythms and melodies that instantly hook the casual listeners. Who cares about innovation and experimentation? What a casual moviegoer or a casual music listener wants is an immediately head shakable tune and that is what Harris delivers again and again with utmost success. Harris’s songs are crowd pleasing spoon feeds than ground breaking experimentations. The maximum experiment you can find in his songs is the way he uses different meaningless vocal sounds and words instead of a humming or a ‘lalala’ version of the tune in the interludes and preludes.

Apart from the fact that Harris is in fine form in Bheema, what I am surprised the most about is the beauty of songs with simple and minimal orchestration and clearly audible lyrics. No song has too many instruments or sounds or loops overlapping. At the maximum you can listen four layers running in parallel and that applies even to the only folk number ‘Rangu Rangamma’ (which usually is deliberately made to be loud) in an otherwise all-melody soundtrack. Infact Harris throws some surprises in this song by going completely western classical in the interludes which is otherwise a folk number.

One big relief is that I didn’t get a sounds-like feel in any of the songs in the soundtrack which was an ordinary thing to happen when you listen to a Harris’s soundtrack for the first time. Also there are no usual Harris’s clichés like club beats or stylized singing except for few strange humming here and there. The hero introduction songs of Harris’s are always unusually more techno and sophisticated than any others and like ‘Karka Karka’ from ‘Vettaiyadu Vilayadu’, ‘Oru Mugamo’ is an effective hero introduction song without much ado. Krish definitely is coming out of his effeminate singing style and this song is a proof of it.

It is good to hear singers like Hariharan in two pleasant melodies of the soundtrack. So ‘Enadhuyirae’ is the long promised song in Harris’s composition for the Airtel super singer winner ‘Nikhil Mathew’. He makes an impressive debut. But why the breathing sounds in between the lines are so deliberately and distractingly loud. Is it to prove that the singers have sung these lines in a single take without punches or is it the side effects of having a crystal clear sound mix?

Harris’s Bheema is a strong and solid hit material.

Ooh la la la Quarter Finals

I don’t know on what basis they have grouped 18 bands into 6 groups with 3 bands each. The problem of having such groups is that some very good band may fall into the same group and since it is mandatory to eliminate two groups in each episode, some really good talents may get eliminated. If there is any rule or logic based on which the grouping of bands is done, they could have mentioned it.

The first episode of quarter finals rocked. ‘Agam’ who performed extremely well missed out because of tough competition from ‘V3’. (You can listen to agam's bautiful original composition which they performed in the competition here in Harish's blog). Though V3 was good, lyrics were barely audible. For the sake of showing their versatility in singing, I think the lead singers of V3 went little overboard with rough singing in the original composition. If they continue the same rough singing in all type of songs, it may soon become repetitive and boring.

Hearty Congrats to Baradwaj

On this happy occasion, I just wanted to list down some of my favourite articles (may not be the best) written by Baradwaj Rangan. His reviews are to-the-point yet eloborate, well balanced, comprehensive and knowledgable write-ups. Some of his expressions and explanations and the way he puts some facts about music and movies beautifully have moved me to tears (I am being emotional or exaggerating anything here). His reviews are like music to me. These are reviews which I have gone back to re-read many many times.

Iruvar and Tamil Cinema.... – One has to be a Tamilian to understand what this articles means to us. The perspective with which BR brings in an analogy between the movie and 75 years old Tamil film Industry along with detailed review of the movie is what that makes this piece of writing as the most special one.

Virumandi, Pudupettai – This is how a balanced writing should be. Though he was so happy with the movie, he rightly points out the flaws. Mostly when something unconventional becomes successful like ‘Virumandi’, most of the so called critics will turn cynics. But BR was never cynical, he has always been logical.

Madras Male – For precisely echoing what was running in the minds of Millions of tamil fans of Director Maniratnam after the release of movie ‘Guru’.

The King and I – It was an article written for Illayaraja’s 60th birthday. Exactly the same thoughts of mine about Illayaraja. Ebout each and every line in this write-up reflects my thoughts about IR music and I was emotionally moved when I read it. Same applied to his review on Cheeni Kum soundtrack.

Omkara – This one was an example of how to write a review informing people about what they could have missed while watching the movie. The interpretation, perspectives and reading between lines, you could see a critic doing his job to utmost perfect in Omkara review. I loved the movie more after reading his review and that is how a critic’s writing should be.

Music not just for Ears

My friends often tell me that I spend too much time in listening to music. Listening to music is not a problem but they say listening continuously in Ipod with ear phones could bring lot of problems to my ear drums. Though I didn’t take these advices seriously, I realized that they have a point. I often fear about what would happen to my life if I become deaf someday. I couldn’t even think of such a situation. But recently I found that I already have a solution for this problem which infact I posted in this blog before.

I am no Beethoven to compose music inspite of being a deaf but at least I can feel and listen to music in my mind. It may not bring the same effect as it would if I have the ability to hear but at least I can console myself now.

Nowadays, there is this technique of playing the songs in my mind. Believe me, it is a very good meditation which will definitely improve our concentration levels in other activities. But when listening to music in my mind, instead of listening to just the main tune of the song, I try to listen to all the layers in the orchestration. It is really tough but I believe if the music is good, every single note of the score will stick to our mind.

Doing meditation was always a problem for me. Meditation is nothing but concentrating on one particular thing. I found meditation easy when I close my eyes and listen to the songs in my mind. It is more effective than meditating with music playing in the background. Has anyone done this before? If not try it out and tell me how it felt.

Ooh La La La - Wow!!!!!

‘Ooh La La La’ is a very exciting show in more than one way. One side we have the best composer of India coming forward for such a noble cause and spending so much time in judging the show,giving interviews, directly meeting the bands etc., On the other side, the packaging of the show is what I am really got stunned about. We have never seen a show which is as tightly packed as this one. It is well edited with just enough time alloted to everything that is happening in and around the show.

They cover so much in just over 20 minutes without wasting even a second. What could have lasted for 10 episodes is cut down to just one episode and good thing is that they don’t leave anything behind for the sake cutting it short. Hats off to the technical crew of this show. Also the show has a well maintained site in where every episode is uploaded at 10.30 p.m every Sunday right after the telecast ends in Sun TV. This way I am happy that I won’t miss any episode of the show.

So far, among the songs performed, though shown only a little time, I like ‘Ooh la la la’ sung by a band in which the singer Kalyani is a part of. I am humming it ever since I heard it in the first episode. I don’t know why pure instrumentals are not encouraged in the contest. One of the main parameters for judging the band is the Vocal performance. Why can’t a band have no singers and perform just instrumentals?

Why do we Hum a tune?

For past few years I have been thinking about this or rather asking this question to myself but never thought of posting or asking in this blog. Why do we suddenly hum or whistle a song or a tune? How is it that a song suddenly comes to our mind out of nowhere? If we had listened to a song in a TV channel or in a FM in the morning, we are bound to hum the same song all the day or we usually hum a song we heard just few minutes of few hours back but what it means if you start humming a song which you don’t even remember the time you last listened to it?

Some of the songs that often comes to my mind are ‘Unnai Naan Arivaen Ennai Andri yaar Arivaar’ from Guna, ‘Vaan nilaa tharum oli ival vizhi’ from Kadhal Virus, ‘Bhaagere Mann’ from Chameli, ‘Unnodu vazhatha vazhvu’ from Amarkalam, ‘Kaatril varum geethamae’ from Oru Naal Oru Kanavu, first interlude of ‘Kanmani Anbodu kaathalan’ from Guna, version of ‘Paavana guru’ from Mella Thiranthadhu kadhavu and few others. Some of the songs that I have listed are classics and some may never come to my mind when someone suddenly asks us about my all time favourite songs.

I initially thought that it all depends upon the mood. Partially it is true; ‘Bhagerae mann’ always comes to me when it drizzles in Bangalore. But does it mean that it is the best rain song ever made. Why ‘Oh ho megam vandhado’ didn’t come to me. It definitely is a song that has more chances to come to any Tamilians mind while it is raining. Why it didn’t come it me? What does it mean? I seriously have to go back and analyze all different situations when each of the above songs came to me. I think I will definitely find an answer. If someone has already thought about this, please let me know why it is so. The more you try to understand the music, more mysterious it becomes.

Ooh La La La....

This is a raining season of singing talent hunt shows in all TV channels in India. Be it the regional or national channels, all are trying to hit high TRP’s by conducting these talent hunt shows. But the big question is how many of them really give importance to the talent. Except for a few, all the other shows are just shows which could beat any popular mega serial in dramatizing the happenings. After Vijay TV’s Airtel Super singer junior which is the most honest and beautiful talent hunt show I have ever seen closed down a week back, I decided (or rather had a chance) to watch at least two or three episodes of the talent hunt shows currently running in all other channels. Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Voice of India, Indian Idol, Ennodu Paatu Padungal, Jaya TV’s little masters, Sun TV’s Ooh La La La, Sabtha Swarangal Children’s special are those shows of which I have seen few episodes of each of the show. Every show has its own merits and problems.

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is comparatively the better one in Hindi. It is mainly because the finalists are awesome singers who keep pushing the bar up in each and every performance making it tough for others. The only problem with this show is the judges. Ismail Darbar, Himesh, Vishal Shekar, Bappida all fighting with each other while passing verdict after each performance is irritating after a point. Sometimes they do have a constructive clash but most of the times, it looks like a drama and the background music given in these moments heightens the dramatic feel of the show. Otherwise, the contesting singers make this show a must watch. Voice of India has only few good singers and even in this show the judges fight with each other unnecessarily. It is a very average show on the whole. Indian Idol is the worst of the lot. With barely few good singers, most of them are not consistent in their performance. It is better not to talk about the judges. Alisha always praises even the worst of the performances and Anu Malik continues his harsh talks and blabbering in the name of cynicism or constructive criticism.

Ennodu Paatu Paadungal conducted by SPB has better to worst singers but what makes this show interesting is the tips given by SPB for the singers and his tidbits and comments about singers, lyricists and the composing styles of various composers. Jaya TV’s little masters and Sun TV’s Sabtha Swarangal children’s special has nothing new to offer. These channels just want to gain something out of the impact created by Vijay TV’s Super singer junior. I also saw an episode of Malayalam Super singer. The judges were very strict and the amount of analysis they do on each performance makes it worth watching. I can’t really comment much about the singers as I saw only one episode.

Now A.R.Rahman joins hands with Sun TV to conduct a band competition 'Ooh La la la' in south India. I think this is the first show of its kind in India. This is really an interesting idea. Hats off to A.R.Rahman for coming up with such a novel concept and making it possible. The great thing is that the winning band will cut a music album in Rahman studios under his music label. It definitely will bring a sea change to the fate of Tamil pop albums in future. Finally, I think people will start listening to independent music albums also. The first episode of the show was well packaged with interviews of A.R.Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Vasundra Das, Sivamani, Malgudi Subha, Naresh Iyer and few other music personalities who were a part of some band in the earlier stages of their career. Rahman’s speech about his intentions and the band concept was a treat to watch. The members of all the contesting bands also spoke about how it feels to be a part of this contest and of course about A.R.Rahman and how his music inspired them. Few song bytes of some bands were also shown. The interesting thing is that bands should perform only their own and original compositions. After Vijay TV’s Airtel Super singer, this is one show which I am expecting to watch all the episodes.

Mungaru Male Soundtrack

I came to Bangalore only 2 weeks back but heard a lot about the movie ‘Mungaru Male (The Monsoon Rain)’ and its music by Mano murthy. Immediately bought the soundtrack and for past one week I am listening the songs. I never have heard any Kannada songs before, so it was initially little strange and tough to get used to the sound of the language. It is difficult to review a movie soundtrack which is in a language you don’t understand. Though music has no language, a film song isn’t just music. It is a beautiful amalgamation of poetry and music. In addition, an impact of the song also depends on the visuals and its apt usage in the movie. Based on how and where it is used, a better song could become a best song. I may be one of those unfortunates who aren’t able to cherish the beauty of these songs in its entirety as much as someone who knows the language would but I am quite happy with what I could experience with just the music.

Anisuthide or Araluthira could easily be a popular bollywood number. The guitar pieces, saxophone, strings and the beats are typical bollywood stuff and to add further to the feel, Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghosal have rendered the song. The orchestration of the song is good but quite predictable except for the surprise conversation between vocals and solo violin towards the end which add more depth to the emotions in the song. Even without understanding the lyrics, one could identify with the emotion that pours out of the haunting melody.

There is an easy way to find whether a composer has an intuition and natural talent. Give him just a solo instrument or a minimal orchestra (no computers, no electronic gadgets or synthesizers) and ask him to compose a song. If he could get an arresting composition with such restrictions, then he is the one to look out for. I thought that Mano murthy is also one such composer after listening to Ivanu Geleyanalla. Shreya Ghosal’s expressive, exquisite singing along with beautiful strings flowing perennial emotions in the background, the song transports us to a different world.

Mungaru Male title track is another beautiful composition which could easily cross boundaries. I like the way Mano uses strings. He has a clear understanding of the wide range of emotions which Strings could easily bring in. Kunidu kunidu is a formula duet with all necessary ingredients but good. Udit Narayan is a great singer in Hindi but in south Indian film songs he is a misfit. His lack of flow and staccato singing causes enough harm to the melody of the songs.

Onde Ondu Saari is a peppy track. The interesting element of the song is the beautiful female humming bits that come as a counterpoint to the lead vocals all through the track. Suvvi Suvvali is rich with bhangra flavour. It is instantly catchy with foot tapping rhythm. In spite of the bhangra bits and beats, the vocal melody goes totally south Indian in every aspect.

So what are you waiting for? If you are a true fan of music, you will definitely like to get drenched in the melodious showers of ‘Mungaru male’.

P.L.Krishnamoorthy - Airtel Super Singer Juniour

So, finally Krishnamoorthy is the ONE. Many of them land up in my blog to watch the winning performance of Krishnamoorthy. So here it is,

Airtel Super Singer Junior

Airtel Super Singer Junior is the only TV show that I have completely watched in recent times without missing even a single episode (thanks to the re-telecasts by Vijay TV). Indian Idol has turned out like an Ekta Kapoor serial, manipulating the emotions of both the contestants and viewers; it is core melodrama than talent hunt but Vijay TV handled the kids with utmost sensitivity. There was no unnecessary suspense buildup or no exaggerating the emotions of the kids. The prime importance was given to their talents.

Now the show has almost come to an end and what an end it was with both super finalists Krishnamurthy and Vignesh giving their best. It was really surprising to see, Saicharan who was technically better than the other two not making it to the super finals but of course as he himself said, his choice of song was wrong and with a very unique bass voice like his, he should have worked on selecting songs which works best in his voice and in that sense the other two were brilliant. I don’t know how people voted for Aparna in the wild card round, not that she is a bad singer but she definitely doesn’t deserve to be a finalist.

Among the Wild card round contestants, Vidyalakshmi had better vocal quality and technical finesse in singing but she couldn’t make it because the song Anuradha Sriram choose for her was not so popular and Anuradha Sriram sang most of the lines giving little scope for Vidhya to show her talent. I initially thought Balasarangan would make it to the finals as he had huge public support but his folk with Anuradha didn’t click with the masses. But Balasarangan did a very good attempt in that song. Roshan had a very soft voice but was not consistent in his performance.

It was good to see Krishnamurthy and Vignesh growing better in their singing in each and every episode. If you have heard their singing in initial auditions, one would never have thought that they are going to be finalists, but definitely their hard work has paid off. I have seen Krishnamurthy earlier in Raj TV’s Rajageethams and even in that show he came as one of the finalists. Saicharan was already giving stage performances in Abashwaram Ramji’s orchestra. Vignesh is the real find of Super singer Junior. It is good to see, Vignesh and Saicharan’s name in credits of Kireedom soundtrack. They were in the child harmony list.

Now, when I think back there is one junior singer who got eliminated at a very earlier stage. When I heard her rendition of first few lines ‘Kannum Kannum Kalanthu’ from Vanjikottai Vaaliban in her first auditions, I thought she is going to be the Super singer or at least one of the finalists. Her voice control and the free flowing sangathis were admirable and I was looking her as a kutti Chinmayi, but I was shocked to see her getting eliminated in a later round and again the reason was bad song selection. Her name is Srinidhi.

Now the list of some of memorable performances in Super singer junior so far

1. ‘Palinginaal Oru Maaligai’ by Vidhyalakshmi
2. ‘Come on Come on ‘ by Deepti Suresh
3. ‘Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan’ and ‘Malarthum Malaraatha’ by Balasarangan
4. ‘Ninaithu Ninaithu Paarthaen’ by Roshan
5. ‘ Kannum Kannum Kalanthu’ and ‘Kaatrinilae Varum geetham’ by Srinidhi
6. ‘Sangeetha Jaathi Mullai’ by Krishnamurthy
7. ‘Vandhaal Mahalakshmi’ and ‘Marutha Malai maamaniyae’ by Vignesh

Now the war is between Krishnamurthy and Vignesh. I am really confused about whom to vote for. Krishnamurthy dared to attempt such a tough song like ‘Sangeetha Jathi mullai’ and he was near perfect in his rendition and Vignesh did a terrific job with his expressions and Sangathis in ‘Vanthaal Mahalaxmi’ but his only problem is his barely audible voice when he sings in low ranges. I already voted five times, every time I will vote for one and later think that other one also deserves it. I think Krishnamurthy will win though I would be very happy if it ends in a tie but with viewers voting it is rare to get a tie. So let us wait and watch what the whole Tamilnadu has to say?