Magic of Music

This blog have moved!!!!

2009-01-31T12:13:00.002+05:30

I am delighted to inform you that I have moved to wordpress with new features and a new theme. I THANK EVERYBODY FOR YOUR COMMENTS, FEEDBACK!!!! The new URL is http://melodiouslife.wordpress.com/. I intend to cover more topics (though music WILL BE the main topic!) as I move along in the near future, so that we get more inspired in life to make a difference to the world around us and enjoy this GIFT called LIFE.

Madhu Balakrishnan: One of my current favourites!

2009-01-27T15:37:00.002+05:30

I am sure you must have heard about Madhu Balakrishnan, who I feel is one of the best among the current singers. Madhu is the brother-in-law of Indian pace ace Sreesanth. Madhu nowadays is a frequent singer in almost all the South Indian languages, though he is from Kerala. He has some wonderful songs in Malayalam & Tamil. Most of his Tamil songs have been under Ilaiyaraja & Vidyasagar who have wonderfully tapped his potential of singing melodies/semi-classical songs. Madhu has a stunning base and is excellent at giving appropriate sangathis/variations to a song. Here are some of my favourite Madhu Balakrishnan songs, don't miss these :) I have written some of these songs in my earlier post on Vidyasagar! Pardon my repetition here!

Edhilum Ingu-Bharathi-Ilaiyaraja-a brilliant song in rare Rasikaranjini raaga.
Kandaen Kandaen-Madhurey-Vidyasagar-a dulcet duet with Sadhna Sargam.
Ding Dong-Ji-Vidyasagar-the same musical team as above and the same magic!
Kanaa Kandaenadi-Parthiban Kanavu-Vidyasagar-a masterpiece in Anandabhairavi raaga.
Pirayae Pirayae-Pithamagan-Ilaiyaraja-haunting song, haunting music, superb lyrics!
Guruvayur Unnikannan-Aanachandham-Jaison J Nair-a wonderful tune in Vasantha raaga.
Pesa Madandhaiye-Mozhi-Vidyasagar-a gem of a song!
Vasantha Nilaavin-Sooryan-Ilaiyaraja-What a song in Sriranjini raaga, only Madhu could have sung this! The modulations he gives in the first charanam is just amazing!
Vizhiyum Vizhiyum-Chathurangam-Vidyasagar-A duet with Harini, splendid song.
Ippavae Ippavae-Raman Thediya Seethai-the Vidyasagar/Madhu combo rarely disappoints.
Raaverayay Poove-Rock n Roll-Vidyasagar-nice song.
Chentharmizhi-Perummazhakalam-M.Jayachandran-A must-listen duet with Chitra set in the soothing Neelambari raaga.
Konja Neram-Chandramukhi-Vidyasagar-A duet with Asha Bhosle set in Bageshri raaga.
Yen Swaasathil-Jerry-Ramesh Vinayakam-An unnoticed brilliant song, a duet with Kalyani. Ramesh Vinayakam (the unsung talent) shows his class here!
Pichaipaathiram-Naan Kadavul-Ilaiyaraja-another great song in the "Pirayae Pirayae" league. I am hooked to this now!

Heights of Insanity

2009-01-23T09:59:00.004+05:30

To my utter amazement, I came to know that some secretary of an association related to slums has filed a PIL against A.R.Rahman and another person related to the movie for having the name "Slumdog" signifying slum dwellers are "dogs". What I find insane about this is-why A.R.Rahman is being accused for this?????? He is the MUSIC COMPOSER of the movie. If they have to accuse someone it must be the producer/director and NOT the composer. It's like insulting the monumental achievement of Rahman who has made India proud by winning the Golden Globe. Now, there is a great chance that he may win the much-coveted Oscar too as he has won 3 nominations! The judge must dismiss these stupid litigations which seek to tarnish the image of reputed, hardworking, patriotic composers like A.R.Rahman who are taking Indian music to the world!!

Raagas in film music: Amruthavarshini

2009-01-22T10:22:00.004+05:30

There is no better way to begin enjoying the usage of different raagas in films, than by starting with the nectarine intense raaga Amruthavarshini. The name itself shows how beautiful the raaga is. This raaga has a wonderful anecdote behind it. [I heard this in a raaga series CD called ISAI PAYANAM, which is a series of discussions on different raagas done by Smt.Charulatha Mani, a Carnatic vocalist. It is a wonderful collection to have as it covers most of the major raagas, dwelling on their unique attributes, the major classical compositions in them and their usage in film music.]
Shri Muthuswamy Dikshithar, one of the greatest classical musicians of India, a member of the Trinity was going for his brother's marriage from Tiruvaiyar. On the way, he was passing thro' a village called Ettaiyapuram, which was at that time experiencing severe drought. The land was dry and parched and the people were suffering. Overcome by compassion for the villagers, Shri. Dikshithar started singing the masterpiece krithi and praying, "Aanandamruthakarshini Amruthavarshini" to Goddess to bring rain to the village and lo! it started to rain heavily. It poured so much that he had to ask the Goddess to stop the torrential downpour. What a wonderful demonstration of the power of music!
Coming back to film music, these are the famous songs composed in this raaga:

Sivakami Aadavandhaal-Paatum Bhaarathamum-MSV
Thoongaatha Vizhigal-Agni Nakshathram-Ilaiyaraja-The most famous film song in this raaga, a masterpiece traversing the entire swaras in this raaga.
Kaathirundha Malli-Malluvetti Minor-Ilaiyaraja-a fantastic song.
Naandhana-Ninaithaale-Vijay Antony

One thing to note here, is that in some cases, the composers may not be within the raaga throughout the song, there may be minor deviations from the raaga. This is fine as in films, composers can take liberties to make the song sound better.

Shubhaniyogamalle: Flashes of brilliance from Ilaiyaraja

2009-01-20T09:36:00.002+05:30

Many Ilaiyaraja fans feel that he is not the same composer who used to churn out hit after hit, when he was at his peak. I agree with this point, but I would also like to say that he has achieved so much that he need not do anything now to prove himself. Nowadays a song that elicits a "wow" is quite hard to come by from Ilaiyaraja but sometimes he does display his genius thro' individual songs. One such song that made me say a big "WOW!!!" is a Malayalam song from a nondescript movie called SMS. If I am right this song is set in Keeravani raaga. It is supposed to be a devotional song but Ilaiyaraja does not make it sound too simple. It has a very melodious, addictive tune with splendid variations (which we have got used to from the maestro). The orchestration is very simple with strings & wonderful flute pieces creating a very soothing effect. Don't miss this song! Listen to it here.

Hats off to A.R.Rahman!!!

2009-01-16T10:01:00.006+05:30

Read this amazing article in the "The Hindu" after A..R.Rahman's return from the Golden Globe awards. He got a much-deserved hero's welcome on his return home. This man is a bundle of remarkable talent and HUMILITY. He is so grounded (touchwood!) in spite of so many achievements. I quote this amazingly mature thought of his and you can read the entire article from this link.

"Of course, this is a kind of recognition, but there are larger issues in life. But the foundation to all this or my vision is to eradicate poverty. This is a helping point for that."

Raagas---the treasure chest of Indian Music

2009-01-11T09:12:00.002+05:30

The purpose of this post is not to analyze the raaga concept technically (though it is fun to do so, as the concept is very scientific) but to see how it enriches our music. Raagas are the epitome of the astounding variety in music that we see today. Just imagine, with just 7 swaras/notes, we are able to have so many zillions of tunes! There are about 300 or more known raagas though it is believed that there were about 800 of them originally but many have been lost. The credit for preserving, propagating raagas should go to the classical music stalwarts of India, especially the trinity. The utility of the raaga concept is manifold:

It serves as a starting point for composing. It is NOT necessary that a tune must be in the same raaga throughout, so we have raagamaalikas (compositions comprising of many raagas). But a tune in a raaga has a unique charm as it showcases the essence of that raaga fully.
It is a guide to compose in many situations, for e.g. if its a sad situation, raagas like Shubhapantuvarali could be used. If its an auspicious moment, then Anandabhairavi could be used. This is why we find in marriages, the compositions played would consist of these raagas. Raagas personify the situation and create a grandeur in that situation. Imagine a marriage without any live music!
Each raaga is a world by itself, a world of melody. As discussed here before, raagas do have medicinal benefits and they heal us, if we have faith. Hence we say music HEALS. They are being extensively used in promoting well-being and as a curative for many diseases.

I will be taking up individual raagas and their usage in film music in the ensuing posts. Whatever I know is purely because of my interest/passion in this concept. I am learning to even appreciate the technical nuances so as to have a holistic view. Its going to be a wonderful journey to examine specific raagas, because for me they are pure bliss! This is what makes Indian music special!

We Ilaiyaraja fans...............

2009-01-11T09:02:00.003+05:30

Baradwaj Rangan in this post has captured the exact feeling of being an Ilaiyaraja fan beautifully. This is writing at its BEST! Even if you are not an Ilaiyaraja fan, you will enjoy reading this. Thanks Baradwaj!

Unsung songs of 2008

2009-01-06T13:50:00.004+05:30

Firstly, A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 to all! If you want to know which were the best songs of 2008, you can see this at Milliblog and this at Vinith's blog. They have covered most of the wonderful songs of 2008. Instead of writing about the best songs, I thought, let me write about some pristine melodies which went unnoticed this year. Most of the times only 1 or 2 songs become "hit" songs but in most cases the hit song is not the best song in the movie. I intend to appreciate and highlight those tunes which did not get their due.

HINDI

Mann Mohana---Jodha Akbar---A.R.Rahman- this is devotional bliss!
Falak Tak---Tashan---Vishal/Shekhar
Chakkar Ghumyo---Aamir---Amit Trivedi
Jogi Mahi---Bachna Ae Haseeno---Vishal/Shekhar
Dhanya Dhanya/Bheege Bheege---Classically Mild (Sonu Nigam)/Deepak Pandit-the best Sonu Nigam album according to me with fantastic orchestration. All the tunes were very good but these in particular give me goosebumps!
Khabar Nahi---Dostana---Vishal/Shekhar
Bandagi---Drona---Dhruv Ghanekar
Kuch Khaas---Fashion---Salim Sulaiman
Kya Hai Sochti---Khushboo---Adnan Saami-a catchy tune with very innovative, funny lyrics.
Meetha Marz---Welcome to Sajjanpur---Shantanu Moitra
Zindagi---Yuvvraaj---A.R.Rahman
Muskura---Dasvidaniya---Kailash/Naresh/Paresh

TAMIL

Uyirile---Vellithirai---G.V.Prakash-a soothing melody
Aazhiyilae---Dhaam Dhoom---Harris Jayaraj-superb tune, amazingly sung by Haricharan!
Chaaral/Sollamaa---Kuchelan---G.V.Prakash-I loved these songs which just grew on me after multiple listens. Chaaral is a splendid tune in raag Jog.
Vaanathai Vittu---Raman Thediya Seethai---Vidyasagar
Againthaiyil/Kallil Uyir---Uliyin Osai---Ilaiyaraja-I have written about these masterpieces earlier. This is the classical Ilaiyaraja!
Kanaa Kaangiren---Aanandha Thaandavam---G.V.Prakash
Anul Mele---Vaaranam Aayiram---Haaris Jayaraj-a very unique tune with a different rhythm structure.

MALAYALAM

Etho Jalashankkil/Maymassame---Laptop---Sreevalsan Menon-I can't stop drooling over these 2 songs, you can't say which is better!
Paathirakkuyil---De Ingottu Nokiye---M.Jayachandran-a haunting tune
Coffee@MG Road/O Saathi---Coffee@MG Road album---Shaan Rahman/Vineeth Sreenivasan

Vidyasagar---Versatility is his forte

2008-12-24T09:35:00.004+05:30

To compose in a music industry where you have stalwarts like M.S.Vishwanathan, Ilaiyaraja and A.R.Rahman is not an easy job. You have a great legacy to maintain! Vidyasagar is one such music director, whom I would like to write about today. What I like about him is that he has the ability to make even fast songs sound melodious. His melodies are one of the best I have heard as they have intricate tunes backed by soothing orchestration. His music has many qualities of his predecessors- great tunes, multilayered charanam, amazing orchestration, bass guitar usage, use of a variety of raagas, great background scores (an often ignored yardstick to measure talent) etc. The fact that he is compared to these stalwarts in it itself shows he has great talent. Moreover apart from Tamil, Vidyasagar has composed many great tunes even in Malayalam & Telugu (his mother tongue). I personally feel Vidyasagar has not been given his due at all. Many a time, his soundtracks have been dismissed as below par even when there were one or two fantastic tunes in them. Like most other music composers, Vidyasagar too has his share of terrible tunes but they are much less as compared to Srikanth Deva, Imaan, Deva, S.A.Rajkumar, Sirpy etc.
Many of his melodies are as good as the ones we have ever heard. A true test for any music director are the classical tunes (both Indian & Western styles) and even here Vidyasagar has shown his class. If he has got a good script, Vidyasagar has done great justice to it. Here is a list of my favourite Vidyasagar songs in Tamil. I will write another post on his Malayalam melodies soon.

TAMIL

Malare Mounama (Karna)---One of the best songs you will ever hear in Darbari raaga.
Nee Katru (Nilave Vaa)
Yaar Yaar Shivam/Poovaasam/Mouname (Anbe Shivam)---A wonderful movie with wonderful music.
Poi Solla Koodathu (Run)---Superb orchestration and great singing by Hariharan.
Thavamindri (Anbu)---One of my favourite songs of Vidyasagar, this is in Gowrimanohari raaga.
Azhagooril/Neeya Pesiyathu (Thirumalai)
Un Samaiyal Araiyil (Dhill)---What a song!
Orey Manam (Villan)---A fantastic tune.
Gilli songs---Loved almost all the songs. This is intelligent music making, fast songs but with high repeat value, they make you tap your feet!
Ding Dong (Ji)---A superb song in a rarely heard Rasikapriya raaga.
Kandaen Kandaen (Madurey)---Splendid tune in Brindavanasaranga raaga. Stunning mandolin interludes!
Konja Neram/Raa Raa (Chandramukhi)---The former is a great song in Baageshri raaga and the latter was a great classical composition though ONLY the first line was taken from a Kannada song.
Kaalai Arumbi (Kana Kandaen)---What a song!
Vennilaa (Ponniyin Selvan)
Iruvar Vaazhum/Athiathikka (Aadhi)---The former is an amazing tune which was never was noticed.
Kana Kandaenadi/Aalankuyil (Parthipan Kanavu)---The former is a beauty in Anandabhairavi raaga with amazing sax and bass guitar interludes!
Chithiraiyil Yenna/Atrai Thingal (Sivapathigaaram)---The former is a great folk tune and the latter an amazing melody.
Mozhi songs---Should I say something here? I even loved the bit songs which were pure melodies.
Pirivom Sandippom songs---I loved ALL the songs, each melody is amazing with high repeat value.
Vizhiyum Vizhiyum/Engaey (Chathurangam)---Unfortunately, this movie is not yet released. Vizhiyum is a masterpiece.
Naan Varaindhu/Adai Mazhaikaalam (Jeyam Kondaan)
Ippavae/Mazhai Nindra/Vaanathai (Raman Thediya Seethai)---Fantastic songs!
Pallanadhu/Thaen Thaen (Kuruvi)---I loved Pallanadhu especially, it makes me dance!
Vaa Vaa (Abiyum Naanum)---What a beautiful charanam!
En Uyirukkul (Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar)---A duet song in a supposedly sober Sindhubhairavi raaga!

Uliyin Osai---Masterstroke from Maestro Ilaiyaraja

2008-12-23T10:21:00.005+05:30

Uliyin Osai has to be one of THE best soundtracks of Maestro Ilaiyaraja at least considering the 2 stunning classical compositions in it. I am now only able to FULLY appreciate the genius of the songs, especially Aganthaiyil, Pulargindra, Kaalathai Vendra and Kallai Irundhen. Instead of writing about these, I would like you to read a brilliantly written post here. After reading it, I am enjoying the songs even more! It will give you a clear idea about the intricacies of the compositions tuned by Maestro Ilaiyaraja and how he THINKS in a different plane altogether. Though I am not so well-versed in classical music, I am still hooked to these songs, just imagine the classical connoisseurs, how much bliss they would be deriving from these songs!

The 11th Hour---The FINAL warning

2008-12-12T09:09:00.006+05:30

Being an ardent nature lover, I try to do my best to make a difference to the environment in whatever way I can. I came across a documentary movie titled, "The 11th Hour" in the DVD rental shop and I immediately picked it up, I am glad I did! It is an eye-opening wake-up call to all the citizens of Mother Earth. It portrays with compelling evidence how we human beings are destroying this wonderful earth, which is our HOME. We have become so greedy and selfish that we are literally on a rampage annihilating every tree/forest, wiping out rare species of animals, polluting everything around us, digging every square inch of the earth for more oil, etc etc.....the list is endless. The result of all this are the earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, thunderstorms and the irony is we finally we blame God for everything!
What makes the film so special apart from its theme is that many eminent experts/scientists tell us logically how all this is leading towards a catastrophe and they also offer us SOLUTIONS as to how we CAN repair the damage we have done till now. To encapsulate what the scientists say: Man can be happy as long as he is in communion with Nature because he IS HIMSELF A PART OF IT, Nature sustains us actually! But if we cause an imbalance in this natural process we are sure to be doomed, which is what we don't realize. There are many more wonderful ideas conveyed by the experts, you can know them by seeing the movie.
After seeing the movie I got more inspired to do my bit and I am also spreading the word around as EACH of us HAVE to play our role fully, it should start from the common man itself. This what I have started DOING:

I don't take plastic bags from shops, I carry my own as there is enough stock of those at home.
I never waste a drop of water, I use what is needed.
I don't throw everything as trash, I reuse many papers, cardboard packs.
I use only CFL bulbs at home, incandescent bulbs emit more CO2 and cause more heat.

Here is the link which offers more details about the movie. For your sake, PLEASE WATCH IT and SPREAD THE WORD, DO SOMETHING, otherwise human beings will have the rare distinction of causing their own extinction.

Where is the music director?

2008-12-08T13:56:00.005+05:30

I have been noticing a disturbing trend off late in music release functions---in most cases the music director is sidelined or not there! It is a MUSIC RELEASE function and the focus is always on the actors or the guests and never on the person responsible for the event, the music director (along with the producer/director of course!). It is very irritating to see even articles sometimes covering music launches but there is no mention of who the music composer of the movie is. The problem I believe is that today producers/directors believe that music is just an add-on for the movie and not an integral part of it.
Only directors like Maniratnam, Shankar, Karu Palaniappan, Gautam Menon, Aditya Chopra etc. have been promoting the music with some keen interest and passion. Most others consider it as just another part of a movie, when actually it is not. If the music of a movie is done well with care then everybody would realize that it acts as the best promotional tool for any movie and the songs are on everybody's lips before the movie releases! Case in point is Vaaranam Aayiram. This will do wonders to the movie's publicity. This is the reason we find generally the songs in the movies of the above mentioned directors to be excellent and they add to the overall beauty of the movie. I just pray that this disturbing trend ends soon and music directors get their due.

Songs I am hooked onto!

2008-12-03T09:56:00.004+05:30

Over the last 6 months, there have been some good songs which have been continuously in my playlist.

HINDI

Ha Rehem-Aamir-Amit Trivedi
Khudha Jaane & Jogi Mahi-Bachna Ae Haseeno-Vishal/Shekhar
Mari Teetri-De Taali-Punjabi song at its catchy best!-Vishal/Shekhar
Khabar Nahi-Dostana-Vishal/Shekhar
Maine Hawa Ke-Mere Baap Pehle Aap-The most underrated song of the year-Vidyasagar
Ek Meetha Marz-Welcome to Sajjanpur-Shantanu Moitra
Tu Meri Dost-Yuvvraaj-A.R.Rahman
Muskura-Dasvidaniya-A great retro song!-Kailash Kher/Naresh/Paresh
Kaise Mujhe-Ghajini-mesmerizing vocals by Shreya Ghoshal, the motherly caressing humming sends me into raptures!-A.R.Rahman

TAMIL

Adai Mazhai Kaalam & Naan Varaindhu-Jeyam Kondaan-Vidyasagar
Mazhai Nindra & Ippavae-Raman Thediya Seethai-Vidyasagar
Kalaadhara-Vegam-A great song that was never noticed-Rajesh Vaidhya
Marudhaani-Sakkarakatti-A.R.Rahman
Dost Bada Dosth-Saroja-Yuvan
Aganthaiyil-Uliyin Osai-Amazing raaga and graha bhedam variations!-Maestro Ilaiyaraja
Natta Nadu-A Aa E Ee-what an elegant song, very addictive!-Vijay Antony
Anul Mele & Ava Enna-Vaaranam Aayiram-Harris Jayaraj
En Uyirukkul-Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar-Vidyasagar

MALAYALAM

Etho Jalashankkil& Maymassame-Laptop-celestial tunes!-Sreevalsan Menon
Radha Madhava-Anthiponvettom-great tune in Hamsanandi and great singing by Krishnakumar-M Jayachandran
Thaazhika Kudame-College Kumaran-Ousepachhan
Coffee @ MG Road & O Saathi-Coffee @ MG Road, a very good malayalam album-Vineeth Srinivasan/Shaan Rahman
Arigil-Thirakkatha-superb tune-Sharath

Music and Healing

2008-12-01T14:35:00.005+05:30

It is a proven fact that music indeed is one of the most effective therapies. Owing to sheer interest, I have read a few expert articles written on Shri Kunnakudy Vaidyanathan, who until recently, before his demise, was heading the Raaga Research Centre in Madras. He and his late father (who was one of the pioneers of raaga research) have confirmed that music/raagas have the power to cure us of many ailments! This is certainly good news to all music lovers. I personally believe in this completely and I have experienced the therapeutic effects of music innumerable times. Each raaga is said to have a unique medicinal property. This post is just a starting point to discuss about the healing effects of music. The study in this field has been quite extensive leading to some pleasantly stunning results. I give below the unique properties of a few raagas. These are culled from various authentic articles in the internet and "The Hindu" newspaper.

Keeravani-Good for heart.
Rathipathipriya-Strength and vigour, remove ill-will.
Shanmukhapriya-Sharpens intellect and instils courage.
Kalyani-Destroys fear.
Karaharapriya-Remedy for worry, stress and neurotic disorders.
Abheri-Heals the mind.
Shankarabharanam-Cures mental disorders, showers wealth!
Charukesi-Rejenuvates mind
Mohanam-Filters ill-effects of our bad qualities like anger, lust and attachment.
Mayamalavagowla-Counters pollution.
Anandabhairavi-Lowers blood pressure.

This is an incomplete list. For those who have faith, music is the best medicine. If we are mentally happy, then I feel, the presence of physical diseases cannot affect us. Music is a wealth that we have, its a gift from God itself which can give us a lot of bliss and satisfaction. Let us use it so that there is more Love, Peace and Harmony and let us promote, good, melodious music!

Vishal Bharadwaj---A rare talent

2008-11-25T16:30:00.003+05:30

If there is any composer in India who has continuously defied stereotypes it is Vishal Bharadwaj. He made his debut with Maachis in the 90's and it was a refreshing musical score at a time when Hindi film music was largely sounding like pop music. I loved the sound that Vishal created in Maachis in the songs Chhod Aaye Hum (a song that makes you imagine the mountains) and Chhappa Chhappa (great hilly folk tune) and his choice of singers too was spot-on---Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, Lata Mangeshkar etc. Since then Vishal has proved that his promising debut was no flash-in-the-pan. Though he composes for only 2-3 movies in a year, you can be sure that most of the songs would be radically different. Be it the frenzied energy in Beedi or the lilting O Saathi Re (both from Omkara) or the boisterous Kash Laga (No Smoking) or the symphonic Aasmaan Chhathri (Blue Umbrella), Vishal has shown his mettle in diverse genres. I hope we get to listen to more wonderful scores from this unsung composer, who definitely deserves more chances than he gets now!

Vijay Antony

2008-11-11T10:24:00.005+05:30

Vijay Antony is one of the newer composers in Tamil, who made his debut with Sukran (a horrible movie) about 3 years back. It was a forgettable debut in my opinion and when I heard the commercial songs of Sukran (director S.A. Chandrashekharan, who has no place for melody songs), I dismissed Vijay as another run-of-the mill composer. But the real talent of Vijay came to the fore in the songs of Dishyum. I realized that Vijay was a composer with a bright future. Though, all the songs of Dishyum were not good, Ninjankootil was a cracker of a tune with superb orchestration. What I like about Vijay Antony is that his sound is very melodious and different. He uses an assortment of guitars, pianos and flutes.From then, Vijay has given some great tunes, though, I feel he has to get more movies which exploit his talent to compose great melodies. I hope he gets more subject-oriented movies. Here are my favourite Vijay Antony songs:

Ninjaankootil-Dishyum-a song in Raaga Brindavanasaaranga
Azhagaa-By 2-this movie had great songs by VA
Roja Poovin-By 2
Naanthaana-Ninaithaale-a song in the rare Amruthavarshini raagam, wonderful song!
Thaneer Pookalaey-Ninaithaale-amazing orchestration
Thozhiya-Kadhalil Vizhundhen-so catchy and peppy yet melodious!
Solladi-Kadhalil Vizhundhen-superb guitars and a great tune.
Natta Nadu-A Aa E Ee-what a song in raagam Hamsadhwani

Saroja, Jeyam Kondaan: Worth a watch

2008-11-07T14:59:00.004+05:30

I recently saw 2 tamil movies-Saroja and Jeyam Kondaan and was pleasantly surprised that they were indeed very good.

Saroja-First things first, Saroja is a remake of a Hollywood thriller called "Judgement Night". So I had minimal expectations and did not see the movie as I had watched Judgement Night quite recently. But when I heard from a few friends about Saroja, I decided to give it a try and was completely bowled over. This is one of those rare times when I feel that the remake entertained me more than the original, though JN was a brilliant movie. Where Saroja scores is the amazing humour which the original didn't have at all! Saroja is a fantastic joyride alternating between tense moments and rib-tickling genuine comic moments. The humour is very decent and Premgi Amaran displays great comic timing. According to me he is the soul of the movie. Everytime he appeared on the screen, I started laughing. Apart from the humour, a couple of songs, the cinematography and the excellent background music are the other strengths of Saroja. If you have not seen this movie, please see it, you will not be disappointed. It is miles ahead of the commercial fare that we are exposed to, nowadays.
Jeyam Kondaan-Jeyam Kondaan was a revelation. This movie has avoided every damn cliche that we are used to in Indian films. It had a wonderful script, good humour by Vivek and gang, melodious songs (Vidyasagar) and very decent acting by the entire cast. It is a very racy movie sans any violence until the climax fight, which too, is short. The film very subtly depicts the relationship between a brother and sister. Some scenes did bring tears to my eyes. The director is a former assistant of Maniratnam and it shows in the way the scenes have been skilfully crafted. Jeyam Kondaan was a very satisfying experience.

Agam's Music

2008-11-05T12:35:00.003+05:30

Agam was one among the six winners in the ooh la la la competition held for music bands. The concept of the competition was spearheaded by none other than A.R. Rahman. Agam actually has been existing for quite some time much before the contest started. Their music is an amazing fusion of classical-based tunes wrapped in superb orchestration. I was very impressed on hearing their songs which are available for free download here in their blog. The details about the band members too can be found there. There are 6 tracks:

Mystical Abheri-My favourite one, a tamil song, where Reethigowla and Abheri raagaas have been used. The flute interludes are mesmerizing.
Path of Aspiration-This song is called "Lakshiya Paadhai" based on Naatai raaga. This too is a beautiful song with a faster tempo.
Nothing but Hope-A song that begins in English and moves to a ghazal-like tune in Hindi.
Amma-This is a lullaby to the mother, set in Kaapi raagam. It has very poignant lyrics praising the Mother. The tune is so soothing that you will fall asleep if you hear it!
Brahma's Dance-This is an instrumental piece interspersed with vedic chants.
Amma Instrumental-The instrumental piece of the "Amma" song on violin.

One common thing among all the songs are the very meaningful lyrics. This is a fantastic effort from the Agam team. Soon, we can expect another album from them which will be sponsored by KM Music from A.R.Rahman's stable. I am eagerly waiting for it after listening to these songs!

Laptop:Music Review

2008-11-04T10:02:00.004+05:30

Laptop is a Malayalam movie which released about 2 months back. The movie sank at the box office but the music of the movie by acclaimed Carnatic vocalist, Sreevalsan Menon, was fantastic! The album had all soft, ghazal-like numbers, which is quite common in Malayalam films. Almost all the numbers are very soothing but there are 2 melodies which were outstanding- Etho Jalashankkil and Maymassame. The first one is a duet sung by Amal Antony/Sonia and the second one is sung by Amal alone. The tunes are so celestial that I am addicted to them and listen to them almost everyday, atleast once. Its pure bliss!
Sreevalsan Menon has already released many carnatic-based albums-the best one that I have heard is Monsoon Anuraaga(compositions in all rain raagaas) which is a brilliant album. I really appreciate Sreevalsan in Laptop because, being a great singer himself, he has not sung all the songs but has given an opportunity to Amal Antony (winner of Gandharva Sangeetham 2006), whose singing is fabulous. I hope and pray that Sreevalsan Menon gets more such chances to compose and Amal gets to sing more. The varnachitram blog has a great detailed review here of Laptop's music.

Ilaiyaraja and Background Scores

2008-10-22T13:42:00.004+05:30

One of the greatest contributions of Ilaiyaraja (apart from his songs in multiple languages) are his background scores (BGM's) for movies, whose discussion would need a separate blog for itself! This is no exaggeration because if you see the movies where the maestro has scored music, you would notice that the movie "looks much better" because of the music. I can recount hundreds of scenes from movies where the music has taken the impact of that scene to a different level. You remove the music from the scene and the impact of the scene would not even be half of the original.
Making background music is no easy task. What makes IR special is that he gives equal importance to the background score as he gives to the songs. His BGM's are not just a patchwork which is very common otherwise. Ilaiyaraja's BGM's are characterized by:

Grand string arrangements-He has used 75 violins and an assortment of instruments you can think of.
Unconventional instrument usage for scenes-In Shiva (Telugu) chase scene he used a mindblowing violin piece for the chase which sounded perfect for that scene. Who would think of using violin for a chase, normally we would use some percussion instrument!
Great themes-The theme scores of Ilaiyaraja are so good that they can be released as a separate CD by themselves. The legend has used flutes, guitars, violins beautifully to create some immortal theme pieces. Case in point Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Punnagai Mannan, Unnakagave Vaazhgiren and many many more.

Here is a totally incomplete, only-indicative list of movies which have some stunning BGM's by the Legend.

Kadhalukku Mariyadhai
Pithamagan
Mouna Ragam
Anjali
Mahanadhi
Aboorva Sagodharargal
Thalapathy
Kaalapaani (Malayalam)
Azhagi (what a masterpiece!)
Aruvadai Naal

The list is endless and this is just for a reference. Ilaiyaraja's music is an ocean, there are still so many hundreds of songs which I am discovering every now and then which reaffirm my faith that he is indeed the "composer of this century" as exclaimed by none other than Dr.Balamuralikrishna who himself is a legend! I don't think there is any other composer who is so COMPLETE as Ilaiyaraja who has proven his mettle thro' his songs, BGM's and creating tunes in almost every genre of music!

A Wednesday-Your story, my story

2008-10-19T15:10:00.003+05:30

I recently saw the movie-A Wednesday. It was an awe-inspiring movie to say the least. I am sure most of us have already seen the movie. These kind of movies are what masterpieces are made of! I am so proud that an INDIAN movie, an AUTHENTIC thriller has been so good, when you have every other movie being ripped off from foreign films (not only Hollywood).

The director, Neeraj Pandey's script is so crisp, so taut that the movie is only one-and-half hours long! Thats pretty short for an INDIAN movie, where we have had yawns like Ekalavya :(
The message of the protagonist played by one of the most underrated actors of our era-Naseeruddin Shah is mindblowing!! If STILL you have not seen "A Wednesday" you must see it-your life will change. I have only one grouse against the movie-why have an english title, when it could have been named "EK DIN" or something like that, which definitely would not have sounded wrong.

RAFI RESSURECTED

2008-10-19T14:56:00.004+05:30

Mohammed Rafi-the phenomenon continues to live among us through his songs. Sonu Nigam, one of his most famous fans (or should I say devotee?) has done an amazing project, which has released quite recently-RAFI RESURRECTED. Basically, Sonu has collaborated with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) to sing 16 songs of Rafi with a grand orchestral setup.

As expected the result is stupendous! I bought the CD recently & it was worth every penny because:

It contains a booklet (about 30 pages) of rare Rafi photographs & a mini-biography of the legend.
The CBSO has done a marvellous job of exactly replicating the music for most of the songs and the soul of the song has not been tampered with. Its so nice to listen to live instruments especially in today's age of electronic synth music.
Sonu has sung with his heart-it shows!

For all Rafi fans out there-for lovers of vintage Hindi music, this is a MUST-BUY. Go get your copy-its priceless!! Let us support such projects by buying the original CD's, that's the least we can do and spread the word too :)

Hariharan-My Favourite Singer

2007-04-09T15:10:00.000+05:30

I had an opportunity to listen to acclaimed ghazal singer Shri Hariharan in one of the ghazal concerts recently. The concert lasted for about 3 hrs and we were in bliss for those 3 hrs. The genius of his singing is difficult to describe. Hariharan is a master of Carnatic and Hindustani music. It is so evident in his singing. That evening he sang with so much variety and range that it was mind-boggling to listen to him. Moreover the accompanists in guitar, flute, sarangi, tabla & keyboard were maestros themselves. I can say that he is the best singer I have heard ever. (Though there are many who are close to him like Rafi, Yesudas & SPB) He has some great ghazal albums to his credit like Hazir, Kaash, Gulfam, Paigham et al.
I also follow Hariji's singing in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam. He has rendered some wonderful melodies in these languages too. Music dirs like Rahman, Vidyasagar, Vishal Bharadwaj & Ilaiyaraja have given some immortal melodies thro' him. I have earlier attended 2 of Hariharan's concerts before where he sang tamil songs.
There's a lot to look forward to from Hariharan in the future..a new ghazal album, another Colonial Cousins album, more film singing.....its definitely going to be exciting......

Music Review of Guru-Malayalam movie-Ilaiyaraja

2007-02-20T14:33:00.000+05:30

In 1997, Maestro Ilaiyaraja composed music for a malayalam film called "Guru." It had malayalam superstar Mohanlal in the lead role. The music of this movie was simply scintillating to say the least. The unique thing about this movie was that the orchestration was played by the famous Budapest Symphony Orchestra. So most of the songs were recorded in Hungary. This made the music even more magical. It had the following 5 songs:
1. Thatharam-This is my favourite song from this movie. It is sung by M.G.Sreekumar & Chorus. It starts with a beat sound created by a unique instrument and gradually becomes a full-fledged symphony song. the tune and the background music are just what a genius like Ilaiyaraja would compose.
2. Aruna Kirana Deepam-This song is considered to be one of the best songs ever in Indian cinema in terms of it's mind boggling orchestration. It is sung by Padmashree K.J. Yesudas. Ilaiyaraja has used so many instruments in this song that when you hear them in unison, you will be transported to some other world.
3. Guru Sharanam-This is a classical based chorus song which is very melodious and it grows on you after continuous listening. It is sung by Venugopal & Chorus.
4. Devasangeetham-This song is another masterpiece composed like a symphony. It is sung by Yesudas & Jyotsna.
5. Minnaram Maanathu-This is a very melodious song sung by Sujatha. It has excellent violin pieces.
The best thing about this album is that each song is very different and covers almost all the genres like western classical, classical, light music etc. Though Ilaiyaraja has composed 3 songs in Western classical orchestration, each of them is different and great to hear. Any fan of music should not miss this soundtrack, after all it is composed by Ilaiyaraja.

Song Discussion

2007-02-02T18:25:00.000+05:30

Today, I would like to discuss 2 songs both of which are Tamil songs.

1.Velli Nilave-This song is composed by Maestro Ilaiyaraja for the movie Nandavanatheru. It has been sung by the magical singer Shri. S.P.Balasubramaniam. It is an amazing song, very different from the normal run-of-the-mill stuff that we hear. The unique feature of this song is the wonderful tune and the combination of instruments that Ilaiyaraja uses. There is a continuous off-beat kind of bass strumming which I have never heard before. The talent of composers is shown when they do something radically different, it can be something very small but its effect will be big. That's called genius and Ilaiyaraja shows through this song why he is one of the best composers ever in India. Mention must be made about the wonderful singing by S.P.B. the emotions he brings to his voice is unbelievable. Please don't miss this one-of-a-kind song!!!

2. Ennuyir Thoziye- This song is composed by another genius A.R.Rahman. This song was not noticed much because the movie-Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, vanished in no time. It is sung by Unni Menon & Chinmayi. It is set in predominantly in Raag Aarabhi. It's so melodious and soothing with the piano counters. According to me this is one of THE best songs composed by ARR, but sadly it did not get the accolade it deserved. The tune in the charanam is so innovative that first you would feel you are listening to some other song. Added to that Chinmayi's ghatkas before the 1st paragraph are too good.

These 2 songs are great in their own ways and they just show what legendary composers are made of. Ilaiyaraja and Rahman are the 2 doyens of Tamil Music (of Indian music itself!!), whose tunes are timeless.

Mohd. Rafi-Legend Beyond Compare

2007-01-24T13:46:00.000+05:30

In the 1950's Hindi music was fortunate to be served by a voice which was sheer magic-the voice of Mohd. Rafi saab. There were many factors which made Rafi saab a legend.

Firstly, he had a voice which was so melodious, which was purely God's gift to him. Secondly, he was also fortunate to be born in a family which was into music. He was trained by his father or uncle (I am not sure of it) in Hindustani classical music. Owing to this he had a very versatile voice. Whether it was a classical song, a fast song, a romantic song or a sad song, Rafi saab would do absolute justice to it. When he sang, you could feel the emotion so clearly, such was his involvement in the song.

Rafi saab once held the record for the most number of songs sung in Indian Cinema by a male singer (about 25,000!!! ). The greatest quality of Rafi saab which is spoken about even today by his contemporaries like Lataji, Ashaji was his remarkable humility. It seems he has sung many songs even free for producers, who did not have the money to pay him. Such was the magnanimity of the man. The music dirs who utilised his voice brilliantly were Naushad, Roshan, Madan Mohan, O.P. Nayyar and Shankar-Jaikishan. To pick out the best songs of Rafi saab is an impossible exercise because there were too many.

Today's legendary singers like S.P.Balasubramanian, Yesudas, Sonu Nigam look up to Rafi saab as their eternal inspiration. They have openly declared their respect and love for his voice and songs. Rafi saab passed away in July 1980 but his voice is heard even today if you switch on the radio-it was the golden voice and his time was one of the golden times of Hindi Music. May Rafi saab live in our hearts forever.

Evolution of Tamil Music-Part2

2007-01-10T14:06:00.000+05:30

I am blogging again after a month owing to continuous travel. But its great to be back. Here I would like to speak about more music directors who have created memorable melodies in Tamil music.
1. A.R.Rahman-He is the obvious choice after the legendary Ilaiyaraja. Rahman burst into the Tamil music scene in 1992, composing for "Roja." Man what an explosive debut it was!! He took the nation by storm. Until then, we had not heard such a sound that Rahman created for Roja. After that till today, Rahman has clearly shown that he is another maestro. When people compare Rahman & Ilaiyaraja, I just say Raja is like Bradman and Rahman is like Sachin. Both have their unique class. Besides being a fan of Raja, I am a fan of Rahman too. Some say that Rahman has lost his touch but I beg to disagree. He is much better than some 2nd rung composers who keep composing fast songs all the time, delivering nothing but trash. Rahman has created so many magical melodies that, we need another blog to discuss them. Besides his music, what I admire about him is his remarkable humility. If you go to www.rahmantimes.com, you can read his life story, which is so poignant and touching. He has faced so many difficulties to become what he is today. He definitely deserves this and more. I just pray that he keeps giving us great music all throughout his career.
2. Vidyasagar-I feel he is one of the most low-profile and underrated composers of today. His music is a wonderful combination of the orchestration of Ilaiyaraja and the techno-melody of Rahman. Vidyasagar has given amazing music not only in Tamil but also in Malayalam and Telugu. What I like about him is that his fast songs too are quite catchy and melodious unlike theother noisy ones. His melody songs are a class apart. I saw an interview of Vidyasagar in Asianet during Onam and was impressed with his simplicity. Many of his melodies are classical and they still appeal to the common man. Like Ilaiyaraja, he has also taken classical music to the masses. His Malayalam melodies are quite different from the Tamil ones and they show the other side of this great composer. He has the unique skill of having Carnatic keerthanas with wonderful orchestration in many of his movies. I still wait for every music release of Vidyasagar, as I feel he is another genius.

A Brief Snapshot of the Evolution of Tamil Film Music-Part I

2006-12-11T13:36:00.000+05:30

It is my personal opinion that Tamil music is one of the technically better ones in the overall Indian Music Industry. I say this because many geniuses and maestros have left their mark here and have created some astounding melodies ever heard in Indian Cinema. I would like to trace the growth of Tamil Film music in this way:
1. One of the earliest stalwarts were K.V. Mahadevan and M.S. Vishwanathan (who composed for many films individually and along with Ramamoorthy). MSV is till today, the composer who has composed for the maximum number of films in India, over 1000 movies!! In Hindi, I recently read that Laxmikant-Pyarelal held the record with about 450 movies. (Thats a mind-boggling 550 short!!!). This is what I know about these composers, who were the earliest trend setters.
2. Tamil cinema in the mid-70's was blown over by a phenomenon called Ilaiyaraja. What can I write about him?? From that time till today (he is still going strong with about 4 projects in hand at the age of 63), there is no branch of music where Ilaiyaraja has not shown his class. Last year in Chennai I attended his concert "Andrum Indrum Endrum", where I was surprised to see his colossal fan following. Morever, what really stunned me was that most of the crowd were people in the age group 20-40. Ilaiyaraja's music contains almost all the elements that one can think of: Western classical, carnatic raga-based songs, jazzy songs with great beats, folk songs etc etc. The achievement of Ilaiyaraja is very great also because most of his great music came in an era when there was live recording and he has done unimaginable things in spite of the constraints of live recording. Apart from redefining Tamil music, Ilaiyaraja also set a new benchmark in the film background scores. Even today, I feel there is nobody in the Indian music scene who has surpassed that benchmark, though some individual BGM'S of movies are very good. Today, Ilaiyaraja is a legend. His music has become immortal-even today people listen to his songs and feel the same freshness. IR's biography makes a staggering read-I would just focus on one thing that he is a gold medallist in piano and guitar from Trinity College of music, London.

I leave this post here and will continue about the other geniuses in the next part.

Talented Music Directors not getting their due

2006-12-08T13:31:00.000+05:30

There have been a lot of music directors, who I feel have not got the chances they deserved. The first one who comes to my mind is Ismail Darbar who composed great music for Hindi movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. There are not many movies to his name as he did not get many opportunities. His music for both the mentioned films were awesome. He treaded a path which many modern Hindi film composers did not-classical music. His classical numbers like Albela Sajanwa(HDDCS), Silsilsa yeh chahat ka, Bairi piya, Hamesha Tumko Chaha (all from Devdas)were wonderful.

The second composer is the extremely talented Sharath, who has composed for a few malayalam movies and one Tamil movie. His songs were technically brilliant and the orchestration was too good. Still, he has only a handful of movies and a couple of albums to his credit. His tamil song in June R, Mazhaiye Mazhaiye (an amazing rendition by Hariharan) still haunts me. Harish's blog has a very thoughful post on Sharath.

From the Tamil music industry, Ramesh Vinayagam has not got the respect he deserves. He has composed great melodious numbers (some Hindustani classical ones too like Kasturi Manirame in Azhagiya Theeye). Some of his good songs apart from the former one were Vizhigalil Aruginil (Azhagiya Theeye), Enna idhu (Nala Damayanthi), Nenje Thullipo (University) and En Swasathil (Jery). All these are wonderful songs and Ramesh also has a nice music style (not Rahmanish; I don't mean Rahman's style is bad, its just that some composers sound just like him, I too love Rahman). Ramesh's songs have an Indian sound apart from having good percussion and bass guitars.

In retrospect, what I felt especially in the case of Ismail and Ramesh is that they got lost because of the overemphasis on "dance-based songs." Directors want popular and peppy numbers which don't have much melody but only loud music. In Tamil, there is a craze for "gaana" songs, having 1 or 2 gaana songs is fine but almost all the songs fast. The solitary slow song is dull, boring sad number(where the hero cries for his mother or lover).

The trend is slowly changing today. Music directors like the legendary Ilaiyaraja, Rahman and Vidyasagar are putting their foot down saying they would want to compose more melody-based numbers. They have every right to say that because they should be the ultimate decision-makers as they are the creators of the music, though the situations are given by the directors. There are innumerable numbers of these 3 genius music dirs which are very melodious and yet satisfy the situations.

My only wish and prayer is that we get to hear more melodious music than the fast-paced ones.

The power of music

2006-12-07T13:03:00.000+05:30

With prayers to Lord Ganesha, I begin my first post. I would like to write in this post what would I be blogging about. I will be discussing about great Indian music directors, many rare songs (songs that get lost becoz other songs were given a lot of publicity). I would be mainly covering Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam music(becoz I listen a lot of these only). My constant focus would be to publicise and write about uncommon aspects of the various facets of music and its people. I welcome additional comments and discussions from all lovers of music. For me, music and its contemplation is life..............