MADRAS Bee

I am retiring Madras Bee

2009-03-29T12:00:00.000+05:30

This will probably be my last post on Madras Bee. After more than three years of blogging on Madras Bee I will not be posting any more reviews. However the site will exist with the old posts.

Managing multiple blogs and social networking accounts has become difficult. My music reviews will continue but they will appear on my personal blog Subash's World. They may not be as frequent as I did here on Madras Bee but they will appear as I was and will always be passionate about music.

I am also stopping my movie reviews on Amazon.com for the same reason and the fact that Amazon edits and bans reviews but movie reviews will appear on my personal blog as well.

I may start another blog for these reviews but for now I am pretty busy.

I thank you all for reading my posts and offering your comments all these years.

Dharan and Laadam

2009-03-01T09:00:00.003+05:30

"Laadam" could be the turning point for music director Dharan. The song "Siru Thoduthalile" is lovely and so is its flute instrumental version. Most of the other songs are either Rap or Techno based. An unusual album but you cannot afford to miss the the best song.

Check it out at Hummaa.com

Why you should be listening to this album from Mithoon

2009-02-12T12:01:00.004+05:30

Oh yes, the guy behind songs such as "Woh Lamhe", "Maula Mere Maula" and "Tere Bin" is back with an album "Tuhi Mere Rab Ki Tarha Hai" full of slow songs. Though it can get monotonous here are some songs you must be listening to.

1. Har Jagah Mein - beautiful number whose rythim reminded me of "Yeh Dili Naadan" from Razia Sultan.

2. Tuhi Mera tarah - a duet and its good.

3. Tuu hai - starts well but is ok because it's a long song.

4. Kuch dard - slow and sweet but the monotony is broken with instrument solo's.

Good four songs but you may like the rest too. Worth listening to.

Yuvan has a rocker to offer

2009-02-07T11:32:00.004+05:30

The way music directors in the south like A R Rahman, Illayaraja and Yuvan Shankar use singers from the North (most of them who hardly can pronounce South Indian languages clearly) has to be truly lauded.

Who else would imagine Adnan Sami to be singing a Tamil hit. Check out "Oru Kal" Yuvan's offering for the Tamil movie "Siva Manasula Sakthi". Yuvan's version of the same song is not bad either. I wonder if Adnan Sami could have composed a hit as this. In fact it's been quite a while since we heard a hit from him.

"Oru Adangapidari" sung by Shankar Mahadevan is also bound to become popular. So is the reggae influenced "Eppadio Mattikiten" though it could have sounded better had it been a faster number.

"Oru Paarvayil" by Ranjith is a good tiny number.

Meanwhile Harris has a good one in "Nenje Nenje" in the up-coming Suriya-Thamanna movie Ayan.

Mahaleela by Sivamani, A surprisingly good album

2009-01-29T09:09:00.001+05:30

I took time to review this album but it is surprisingly so good that I thought it was worthy of a review. You can actually listen to a lot of other instruments besides percussion from Sivamani whose work seems to be more in the background. "Mahaleela" easily qualifies for a good World Music album.

The good songs:

1. Aadhar - Lovely sitar on this one, actually an incredible solo.
2. Vasi Vasi with Shankar mahadevan, Sivamani's background percussion in the beginning of the song is good, Shankar's good singing. Sivamani does his bit well for this one.
3. Basin Bridge - Is it Prasanna on guitars here? Prasanna and Sivamani have been friends for a long time and have been on various stages together. Lovely guitar solo whoever the guitarist was. Vocals heard too but not for a long time. Some drum solo towards the end.
4. Infinity - Marimba/xylophone used by Sivamani, female group vocal sounds very Illayarajaish and a lovely Saarangi solo
5. Mother's land - Lovely flute solo's that is worth the listen, veena heard too.
6. S M Anandan - A song dedicated to his father? Good and a nice portion of Sivamani's drumming heard.

..and the Ok songs:

1. Abbhaji
2. Dancing on the moon
3. Jam packed

... and the lousy ones:

1. Kriya
2. Thank you (could have avoided this one and simply mentioned details on the CD sleeve)

It's raining A R Rahman hits

2009-01-24T23:39:00.002+05:30

One thing I forgot while watching Ghajini at Aynikkal Movies in Chalakudy was the song I heard before the show began. I was tempted to ask people from which album the song was playing.

As I was browsing A R Rahman's official site it hit me like a shot from the blue when I heard "Meherbaan" from the movie "Ada" play on his site. A must listen if you haven't heard it.

A R R sings it in an unforgettable romantic style. It felt romantic in the cinema. We went to see it alone, unlike the usual crowd we take to the movies.

And why we love A R Rahman

2009-01-22T22:57:00.016+05:30

Just when I am being upset with the music of "Slumdog Millionnaire" comes the songs from A R Rahman for the movie "Delhi 6" that is nothing short of mind-blowing. Start with this gem "Dil Gira Dafatan". Well sung by Ash King and beautifully composed it has an international appeal to it. Nicer will it be, to watch the ravishingly beautiful Sonam Kapoor pictured in this number on screen.

"Masakali" and its retro feel also sounds lovely and interesting. Beautifully composed with nice accordion (or was it harmonium) solos. Sung well too by Mohit Chauhan.

"Genda Phool" is a slow ballad set to Techno beats and sounds so off-beat for a song as this.

"Rehna Tu" is a number that reminds me of English pop hits (particularly Sting and Bono). Sung very well by the master A R Rahman himself and company I will add this to the list of good numbers from Delhi 6. Comes with a nice (electronic flute like instrument) solo too that concludes the song.

Check the lovely numbers here.

We love you Harris Jayaraj

2009-01-19T22:34:00.002+05:30

It's been a long time since I posted anything on madrasbee and Harris's numbers from the up-coming Surya, Thamanna starrer "Ayan" tempted me to make this post. "Nenje Nenje" with soothing saxophone is the one bound to be more popular. Other songs are catchy but Nenje made a good first impression. Check out the songs here.

Meanwhile though A R Rahman has brought glory to India winning a Golden Globe there is no comparision to the songs and music of the Hindi Ghajini to that what Harris Jayaraj contributed in the Tamil original. The music of "Slumdog Millionnaire" also sucks.

Listen to these two hits right now

2008-12-10T09:47:00.005+05:30

Songs from the Akshay Kumar - Deepika Padukone starrer "Chandni Chowk to China" are from a mix of musicians. Two of them are sure to become hits. First the racy number from Kailesh Kher and company titled "Chak Lein De" and the other the smooth ballad from Shankar Ehsan Loy titled "Tere Naina" sung beautifully by Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Goshal.

No excuses for not listening.

Vidyasagar makes a comeback, S Thaman has a moderate hit

2008-12-04T16:40:00.002+05:30

With "Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar" Vidyasagar makes a nice comback. With this hit for SPB he keeps the ageless wonder alive in our hearts. Listen to "Thangathila Seyda Nila".

After "La La" from "Poi" this is the hit from SPB and Vidyasagar.

Other songs from "Mahesh Saranya Matrum Palar" aren't bad though. If I find them interesting I'll add them to the list.

Meanwhile S.Thaman (and not Yuvan Shankar Raja as posted earlier) has a modest hit in "Sindhanai Sei" the title song of the movie it is taken from.

My new blog

2008-12-03T19:49:00.001+05:30

And it is on music. This time though it is on my favorite musical instrument, the guitar. I tried learning it several times only to give up sadly. But at least I have a blog to show my love and appreciation. Check it out. http://guitar-appreciation.com

Music embed screwing up

2008-11-22T22:40:00.004+05:30

Just when I thought I could scream in joy comes the nightmare. The embedded player completely screws up in IE whereas it seemed fine in Firefox.

Then in Firefox the embedded players all start playing even when I have not selected the Auto play option. I check this morning and it is all gone wrong on Firefox too.

Got to find a way out or go back to the old method.

MusicMazaa.com offers embed

2008-11-22T10:42:00.002+05:30

This is great news because now you don't have to leave my site to the site that is offering the music. Instead you could listen to the songs right here from madrasbee.blogspot.com.

Right now MusicMazaa.com is offering the embed. I only pray the other follow suit too.

Watch out for the posts or maybe I could start embedding reviewed songs and music?

Vijay Antony IS on a Roll

2008-10-23T10:34:00.004+05:30

I cannot believe the hits that this guy is churning out. Check out "Kanni Vedi" from the upcoming A Aa E Ee and you'll know why. The entire album is rocking but Kanni Vedi stands out. Lyrics may be slightly adult-inclinded but who cares. The song rocks with lovely bass lines. Don't miss it.

Good new songs from A R Rahman and Vijay Antony who is on a roll

2008-10-19T16:32:00.011+05:30

Yuvraaj is the movie and more songs in Indian albums are being named in the western style and not the usuag first three or four words of the song. These days A R seems to be giving only a hit or two per movie instead of making all the songs hits. Don't know if the director demands these days are so. Three songs are lovely in Yuvaraj.

Start with "Manamohini More" my favourite from the movie where Khawali is mixed with western music. There is one point in the song (when the raagas are being sung) where a little studio editing is apparent. It is almost difficult for the vocalist to sing that portion. Try and see if you can locate it.

The other good ones are "Tu Muskura" sung by Alka Yagnik. It is nice to hear another good song from the "Ek do Theen" singer. The opening lines are better in the song than those that come in the middle. The other good one is from Srinivas called "Zindagi".

Check them on MusicIndiaonline.com.

Meanwhile Vijay Antony seems to have another hit in "Poove Poove Sollidu ithu Kaadhal Thaana" from the movie Rasikkum Seemane.

The good song from Vaaranam Aayiram axed and other stuff

2008-10-02T19:31:00.005+05:30

I am still recovering from my illness but that doesn't stop rejuvinating music from my ears.

I am not sure what is going on with songs of Vaaranam Aayiram but "Ragasiyam" is missing from the Musicmaaza.com listing. But one new one sung by Sudha Raghunathan, "Annul Maele" is lovely and has been included in the list of songs. MusicIndiaonline.com still lists the "Ragasiyam" song but it is not complete.

Meanwhile Vijay Antony who has a knack of delivering at least one catchy dance number is back with "Ammane" for the movie "Pandhayam". A bit on the parental-advisory side the song is nevertheless catchy, a sure to become hit.

Vishal-Shekar's new song is good

2008-08-13T10:52:00.003+05:30

Though I did like a couple of their earlier songs this one titled "Khuda Jaane" from the new Ranbir-Deepika starrer "Bachna He Hasseno" is good. The song could have been packaged better but singers Kay Kay and Shilpa Rao have sung the duet well.

One other song that I missed of Vishal-Shekar is their big "Sajnaji Vaari Vaari" from the delightful movie "Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd.".

And who can forget "Ajab Si" from "Om Shanti Om".

One, that I missed from my previous list/post

2008-07-27T08:33:00.003+05:30

For several weeks it ruled the Tamil charts. It is the song that is frequently played on T.V from "Subramanyapuram" called "Kangal Irandal". This song reminds you of many songs notably "Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran", Illayaraja's hit from the movie "KaviKuyil". Even the flute sounds very similar to that song. Other songs "Kandal Irandal" reminds you of are "Kadhal Nerupen" from the movie Veyil and "Collegikku Povom" from the movie Kovil.

A ton of good music from various artistes

2008-07-01T12:11:00.011+05:30

I'll start with what I have been listening to probably infinite times today. It is the song "En Anbe" sung by Sadhana Sargam incredibly sweetly from the upcoming Tamil film "Sathyam" starring Vishal and Nayantara with music composed by the A R Rahman protege Harris Jayaraj. I am really looking forward to see Nayantara in these songs. Two other songs are noteworthy of mention, "Chellame Chellame" sung by Harris Jayaraj's favorite female vocalist Bombay Jayashree and Naveen. "Ada Gada Gada" sung by Gangai Amaran's son Prem G is also bound to be popular.

A R Rahman delivers some rocking stuff for the movie "Sakkarakatti" starring debutant Shantanu Bagyaraj, son of veteran director/actor Bagyaraj. Check out the rocker "Taxi Taxi" and the softer "Marudaani".

Meanwhile Illayaraja the maestro who still has the spark in him offers a delightful song "Kallai Irunthen" for the movie "Uyilin Osai".

Rabbi Shergill is back with his latest offering Avengi Ja Nahin. The album actually isn't as impressive as his debut. A couple of songs sparkle and these are "Challa" and the English number "Eternity". His voice has certainly matured but he needs to provide more variety to avoid staleness.

But my recommendation in the Indipop category will be the stylish "Laut Ao Na" from the album of the same by Ahmed Jehanzeb. Stylish music, particularly the usage of bass, from Sachin Gupta and the singing might give you a feel its out of pitch but it is very enjoyable.

Another new artiste (correct me if I am wrong) Lalitya Munshaw with her album "Maika Piya" offers good songs in "Bhaiya na daro" and "Saiya". Noteworthy of mention is the music on the album arranged by none other than Ranjit Barot. A duet with Hariharan is also good. It's called "More Ghar". Lalitya's voice also reminded me of old Hindi songs of the 80's.

New delightful numbers from A R Rahman and Harris Jayaraj

2008-06-22T20:09:00.006+05:30

While A R Rahman does it in Hindi for the film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na Harris does it for the next Goutham Menon's Tamil movie "Vaaranam Aayiram"

It is difficult to believe A R Rahman's perfect and befitting sound and music for the campus story. Three songs are extremely pleasant and catchy. They are "Kabhi kabhi Aditi Zindagi" sung by Rashid Ali, "Kahin to Hogi ho" by Rashid Ali and Vasundhara Das and "Tu Bole main Booloon" by the little master A R Rahman himself.

As for Harris's songs Music India online has only a part of the song "Ragasiyame" from Vaaranam Aayiram but you can listen to this beautiful song in its full version on the MusicMazaa, one of the many other sites besides Raaga.com and musicindiaonline.com where you can listen to a ton of new and old music.

Harris Jayaraj back with a Bang

2008-04-24T09:31:00.003+05:30

Check out the lovely numbers of late director Jeeva's "Dhaam Dhoom" and you will realise what I mean. Three melodious numbers are sure to become hits.

Harris's staple Bombay Jayashree who sang many of his hits does it again with "Saghiyee". The others are "Anbe Anbe" sung beautifully by Harish Raghavendra and the smaller "Aazhiyile" sung by upcoming and rising singer Haricharan.

The peppy numbers aren't bad but it is the melodious numbers that are going to strike a chord.

Check them out on MusicIndiaonline.com

Some Nice smoothies from across the border

2008-03-29T20:27:00.002+05:30

My blog is about music from India but I can't help saying that Pakistani band Fuzon must be one of the bands that is being listened to a lot these days here. Just goes on to confirm that music knows no barriers. Fuzon's latest album Journey features songs that are catchy and easy on the ear, notably the song "Neend Na Aaye". Check them out on MusicIndiaonline.com.

They also have a video out on YouTube.

Other good songs are the small and catchy "Dholna" and the slower ballad "Suna Suna".

P.S - MusicIndiaOnline.com these days seem to have links that work erratically. Just yesterday the links seemed o.k but today some on the songs don't play. Maybe tomorrow they will be just fine.

The next big singing sensation on the Indian Music scene.....

2008-02-26T19:22:00.003+05:30

In my earlier post on MadrasBee, and I had mentioned Manjari and Shwetha and to some extent Kalyani Menon and Gayathri too as the successors of Chithra. However I erase them all because we do have a winner. She is here, she's come and just waiting to conquer. Instead of explaining the who and what I would request you to follow the link to my personal blog where I have explained it all.

Roopa

A delightful malayalam song and another good one from 2005 I missed

2008-02-08T20:53:00.000+05:30

The song "Vethyasthanaaya Barbaram Baalan" from the movie "Kadhaparayumbol" has become stale with overplay yet it is a delightful song you must listen you if you have missed it.

There are a couple of others I missed down the line. The first one is from the movie "Taj Mahal", the new version that came out in 2005. It has one delightful song in "Apne Zulfen" sung by veteran HariHaran and composed by the late legend Naushad. Note that there is a music intro to the song that lasts several minutes before the actual song begins.

One reason why I was able to check this song was when Ritvik Rajan sang it so well at the Asianet Idea Star Singer 2007 show. Ritvik is out of the competition but I must mention him because he is also a "special" child. He is visually impaired and he also cannot communicate properly. However his singing is perfect. Check his performances at the Idea Star Singer competition here. Unfortunately the site has removed his "Apne Zulfen" performance and I was not able to locate it on Youtube. Maybe you could try. The performance is one that will bring a tear to your eye. Sung so well, the guest on the show, Jyothirmayi even confessed she was in love with Ritvik after his performance.

Tare Zameen Par has two good songs

2008-02-02T08:57:00.000+05:30

The movie wasn't bad though it seemed to have as many songs as any commercial Hindi movie. Two of them however stand out, the tile song and my favorite "Kholo Kholo" with lovely guitar from Ehsaan and good vocals from Shankar who I guess is the singer. The song neatly fits in with the video of the movie. Check it out. Tare Zameen Par