Yours Musically

Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:35:00 +0000

Ilaiyaraaja’s in-character singing apart, Kudhikkira Kudhikkira song’s melody and rhythm have an innate innocence, chirpiness and charm from the beginning. When you listen to the flow of melody in the lines “Rotti Vaikatta, Jodi Katti Vaikatta” and its sync with the beats underneath, you understand what Ilaiyaraaja means when he says “Music just happens to me”. Ilaiyaraaja provides dense layers of rhythms, bass and orchestration and yet they come together to create a sprightly sounding, tender mood. Interludes are packed with delightful parade of melodies. The song on the whole is orchestrated with an ear pleasing combination of Synth and acoustic Instrument layers - that use to be always at odds with each other in Ilaiyaraaja’s songs sometime ago. That layer of strings, which bows in support of the lead melody, somewhat hesitantly in the beginning, and more freely latter is the reason why we eagerly wait for an Ilaiyaraaja soundtrack.

While our so-called sensible film makers move towards authentic Tamil folk songs in the films, in Adiyae Ivalae Ilaiyaraaja walks the line between “Karumathur Kattukkullae” (Virumandi) and “Kodi Yetthi Vaippom” (Pithamagan). Ilaiyaraaja swings between his signature filmy folk style - that has additional ornamental instruments, and authentic folk that has only those instruments that are used for such performances in real. I hope at least this time, the song features in the film.

In “Poovakaelu” song, the first stanza ends with Karthik stretching the words “Poovakkaelu” and “Kaathukkaelu” and going by the rule book, the song should proceed to the interlude, but it does not without repeating the first line in its original form, thereby bringing the charanam to a satisfactory closure. The song is full of such little surprises. The percussions – the solo Ghatam in the beginning, the snare that gently hits and misses our ear drums in the latter portions of the song, the Celtic violin filler that every line of the song is entailed with, Raaja’s typical electric guitar strains and piano keys create a magical mood space that a listener would love to lose themselves into.

The songs of “Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai” were composed after Suseendran shot the entire film. He showed the entire film to Ilaiyaraaja and asked him to compose songs wherever he feels necessary. That is how a film soundtrack has to be made and when it is made that way, with a composer like Ilaiyaraaja, you get what could be called the real Movie soundtrack, which Azhagharsamiyin Kudhirai most definitely is.

Moods of Ilaiyaraaja

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 04:26:00 +0000

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A reader's Review of the book

laiyaraaja is the first composer to win a National Film Award in the newly instituted ‘Best Background Score’ category. The Award was given, not just because Ilaiyaraaja's score for the Malayalam film “Keralavarma Pazhassi Raaja” was the best of that year, but also because, in 35 year long career as a film score composer, every year, one of his films' score was always the best of the year. The book “Moods of Ilaiyaraaja” is a brief introduction, I repeat, just a “brief Introdution” to the genius of the film score composer Ilaiyaraaja. With an extensive analysis of background scores of few of Ilaiyaraaja’s films, the book elaborates why Ilaiyaraaja is and ever will be the best film background score composer in India. The book also traces the evolution and background of film scores in Indian films, in general.

Chapters

1. Waking Up

2. Background of Scores

Introduction
The Unsung
Making of a Film Score (Sholay)
Melody of a Song as Motif
Distinct Leitmotifs
Stock Music
Silence
Plagiarism
The New Wave

3. Ilaiyaraaja's Incredits

4. Ilaiyaraaja and Ilaiyaraaja Only

5. With the Grand Music of

6. An Ilaiyaraaja Musical

7. National Award

Myna - D.Imaan

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:32:00 +0000

Love-making songs in films are getting more and more interesting nowadays. A new template that fits the shifts in the emotions of the situation is slowly evolving for such songs. The song begins with a slow rhythm, mild arrangements, and voices tenderly render the lines – almost like a seductive whisper. All the layers slowly and gradually gather momentum. Voices open up. Strings race. All these layers join to form a crescendo, which sustains at its peak for a while, and all of a sudden everything crumbles to the ground and returns back to whisper but now at an even lazier pace. Like the songs, “Enna Paarkirai” in “Thavamaai Thavamirundhu” and “In Lamhon ke daaman” from Jodhaa-Akbar, the song “Kaiya Pudi” from D.Imaan’s latest soundtrack “Myna” strictly follows this template and achieves its intended purpose exceedingly well. D.Imaan is back to his “Kaadhalae Swasam” form in “Myna”. And how!

All the songs in “Myna” has an instantly catchy rhythm, which is usually there even in worst of D.Imaan’s songs, but what makes it interesting is the melody, which is instantly catchy and also endearing. Though one may not be able to guess that these songs are composed by D.Imaan by just listening them, there are quite a lot of unmistakable D.Imaan stamps in the soundtrack. The crazy usage of “Udukkai” for a romantic song (“Myna Myna”) is one such signature. D.Imaan tries to keep the folksy kids’ song “Kichchu Kichchu” folksy for the most part of the song, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of making the song more peppy and catchy by introducing towards the end of the song, the Synth bass and DJ beats from “Vaada Vaada Paiyya” song of Katcheri Aarambam.

Though, we have heard many folk songs like “Jingu Chikka” before, the addictive Veena motif, the free-flowing melody, restrained and elegant orchestration hook us to the song. “Neeyum Naanum” begins well and has interesting interludes but the melody meanders in the middle. Moreover, where is the place for rock guitars in a story about tribal people set in deep forests in a mountain?

Eluthundru from Gaayam-2

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:08:00 +0000

When I was listening to the song “Eluthundru” from Gaayam-2, my room mate, who is a very casual film-music listener, called me with some unparlimentary words and asked me to stop the song. It made me think for a while about, what in the song evoked such a response from him. When a listener is not able to identify with the very basic emotion that the song wants to invoke in a listener, he cannot go any further in searching for and appreciating the musical aspects of the song. The anger against corruption, system and the politicians is something that not many identify with these days, or atleast not with the level of intensity and rigor that comes out of these songs. The melody in “Eluthundru” is soaked in such an intense anger and helplessness that the voices hit every note in the melody hard like how an arrow hits a dartboard.

Even film makers don’t prefer to make such films or show such loud anger against politicians in their films. Even if such a situation arises in the film, they don’t usually put a song to push it. The angry young man of 80s and early 90s is obsolete in Indian cinema now. Even the people who I know from rural villages around Salem are either grooving to filmy-folk songs or melodies of Asili-Pisili types. Our radio stations and music channels continuously play only these types of songs. The pathos songs that occasionally turn out to be chartbusters are all about nostalgia or romance, but not about politics, politicians or society. Songs like “Eluthundru” are not something you hum in the bath room, sing along or feel happy about while listening to and it definitely is not meant for that. It is made for a specific situation in the film that is made with certain sensibilities.

Even if some could connect and identify with such emotions in a film song, there is still the factor of Ilaiyaraaja using abundant Synth that stops them from completely embracing and enjoying the music. Even though Ilaiyaraaja uses Synth, he has a very unique way of using it. It took sometime for me to understand and get used to this new Ilaiyaraaja sound. Every single layer of even the so-called synth-ful Raaja songs can still be notated on paper and given to a live orchestra to perform. However, I must admit that Raaja’s usage of Pad rhythms in songs like “Kalaganae” certainly spoils mood of the song for me.

Even if someone is fine with Raaja’s Synth there is this tendency of comparing the new song and old classic and worrying why the new song is not as great as the classic. “Eluthundru” took me back to the magnificent “Ulagamae Nee” from Ivan, but I am not comparing or complaining here. Both “Eluthundru” and “Ulagamae Nee” are on loop in my playlist since yesterday.

I am a Fool. My Endhiran Music Review is Stupid.

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:29:00 +0000

This post is inspired by Milliblog’s recent post, which he wrote as a reply to one of the derogatory comments he got for his Endhiran Music Review. I got a similar comment from an anonymous person for my Endhiran Music review. He or She says, “stupid review, don’t make a fool of yourself”. I usually stay away from replying to such anonymous comments. I was in a dilemma for past 2 days whether to reply or not to reply. Finally came to a conclusion that sometimes things have to be said.

I absolutely have no problem if you don’t like Endhiran music. You have all the rights to say that you don’t like music and all the more welcome to say “In my Opinion, Endhiran music is bad”, because you genuinely don’t like it. My arguments with fellow music listeners were never about why YOU don’t like Endhiran music; it has always been about WHY you don’t like Endhiran music. I only want to understand why a particular piece of music doesn’t work for some, how their mind approach and process it. Even to that commenter, please explain what was stupid in that review and why I am fool. If it is convincing enough, I will try to understand why I process the music in the way I do.

Most of the times, such conversations have reached a dead end or with a closing remark from the other side that I am a die-hard A.R.Rahman fan and that I can’t understand. I am really interested in knowing and understanding their reasons. The Reasons – something I don’t get to read. I am yet to read a review, where there is a clear reasoning for not liking Endhiran music (Please forward it to me if you have read one). It is not mandatory for everyone to explain and justify their stand, but just for the sake of my understanding – Please. I guess I gave fairly good number of reasons why some parts of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya music didn’t work for me and why I immensely enjoy listening to Endhiran music in the respective reviews.

Anonymous - if you are someone, who is engulfed by “I am too intelligent to like Endhiran Music” air of thought, I am sorry but I must say that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

Endhiran Music Review

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Endhiran Soundtrack opens exactly with those sounds that we were expecting to hear in it. Quadrupled robotic voices, e-tones, booming bass, flanger and phaser effects welcome us into the musical universe of a Tamil Robot – The Endhiran. Rahman tunes the words ‘Pudhiya Manidhaa, Bhoomikku Vaa’ like a religious verse sung to God, but, here, it instead, is a Mantra to a Machine. By introducing the main synth bass motif right in the beginning, Rahman gives us a holder to hold on to, while he and Khathija Rahman leisurely sing the verses set to an unpredictable phrase pattern, so that we can follow the path without falling down and reach S.P.B safely.

Ah! S.P.B. The Diction. The Expression. The Singing. The voice. S.P.B beautifully sings to Endhiran, Vairamuthu’s poetic Pros and Cons of Man and Machine. This song clearly tells us that this is a film soundtrack and not another music album. Listening to music, especially with the way the string section beautifully progresses through the song, it is easy to visualize how this song is going to play behind the montage of Scientist Vaseegaran giving birth to Chitti, part by part.

When was the last time, Rahman, took a pause within a song, to wander and explore new musical terrains in the interludes, that is totally cut off from the main song and one that in itself could be a complete music piece? He does that in ‘Kaadhal Anukkal’ with two varied exotic interludes. I could imagine Shankar telling Rahman about the places where he is planning to shoot the song. The melody, though isn’t of everlasting type, is quite engaging. The melody really gets uplifted by the boozed and dozed-off style singing, of the melody, by Vijay Prakash and Shreya Ghosal.

Rahman, interestingly, differentiates the love duets between Vaseegaran and Sanaa from that of Chitti and Sanaa, by orchestrating the song ‘Kaadhal Anukkal’ with all acoustic instruments – live string section, guitars, accordion, harmonica and what not, to lend a human touch, whereas in ‘Irumbilae Oru Idhayam’, which is a Chitti and Sanaa duet, it is all techno, there is absolutely no real instruments anywhere in the song.

It is not just the orchestration and beats; even the melody is composed to the character. In ‘Arima Arima’, while Sadhana Sargam connects the notes in the melody through curves, Hariharan connects them with straight lines, much like a robotic motion. There are no extra emotions, note slides or additional wavering effects in Hariharan’s voice throughout the song.

While Robot in ‘Arima’ is arrogant and masculine, in which Chitti proclaims himself as a Lion, Chitti in ‘Irumbilae’ is a sweet lover boy, and accordingly the melody is submissive. In ‘Irumbilae’, Rahman sings in short phrases of melody much like the short sentences of a Robot's speech. Like how Chitti’s human emotions are caught in a steel body, the emotions are caught within the limitations of the length of the phrases in the melody in the song. However, that suppression and suffocation of the feelings come out beautifully through Rahman’s voice. Making an impacting song, by stacking up such short phrases of melody one after the other for 5 minutes, with restrictive techno beats and sounds and without it ever sounding monotonous, is tough task, but, Rahman succeeded in doing just that in this song. Karki’s humanoid verses contribute equally well. If only, he had mixed the voices a little louder.

The opening of ‘Arima’, with trumpets, thundering snares and roaring chorus, would be ideal for a Rajini introduction scene. With strings stirring and rock guitars strumming throughout, the grandeur quotient never drops down. Though none of the instruments used in ‘Arima’ is used in ‘Kilimanjaro’, I would say, it sounds grand in its own way. Instantly captivating melody, tribal rhythms realized with fresh sounding percussions, musically rhyming verses of Pa.Vijay and interesting instrumentation make the song an easy winner. And those classical Tabla rhythms amidst tribal drumming – “Aaha! Aaha!”.

‘Boom Boom Robo Da’ is a fun song that sings praises of Chitti Robot. Though, this song, again, is bedded with all techno beats, it is much milder in sound than it is in the other songs and holds the sweet innocent melody gently throughout. The song is exotically packaged with multiple layers of sounds, beats and instruments. Song keeps throwing distinct music parts – rap by Yogi B, Mandolin flourishes in the prelude, Spanish guitars in the interlude, and keeps up totally engaged throughout.

It seems ‘Chitti Dance Showcase’ is a background score to Chitti’s moves of varied dance styles. Classical Jathis chopped and grated in synth saw is the major theme of this song. This Jathi-chopping is an experiment that Rahman has been doing since ‘Parthaalae Paravasam', but it finally finds complete justification here. How else can we score for a scene in which a Machine is performing a classical dance? Keeping experiments aside, that breezy string section sounds so ethereal, when it suddenly makes an entry amidst hard techno sounds. Especially when the rushing strings take a mellifluous flight with wood winds and angelic choir, I had Goose bumps.

I like Endhiran Music.

Raavanan Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Fri, 07 May 2010 10:25:00 +0000

The Melody – that which a song is primarily made of is simple and easily accessible in the songs of ‘Raavanan’ – the latest from the trio Maniratnam-A.R.Rahman-Vairamuthu. The flow in the melody isn’t as quirky and it doesn’t take unexpected and sometimes weirdly puzzling twists and turns, as it took in Rahman’s recent soundtrack ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’. The complexity exists in the structure of the song and not in the structure of the melody and moreover, it just sounds complex, on surface, because of those varied additional sound layers and loops that keeps panning across.

In Veera, the dense percussion layers and gibberish chants are of those kinds that can be easily peeled off for those who really want to taste the pulp - main melody. The melody is made of phrases of short runs and sharp ends that travels on a bumpy trajectory tracing and glorifying the grey characteristics of Veera (or rather Raavanan). The thump, thud and thunder in the intense percussive (both electronic and acoustic) layer grabs us by the collar and ties our attention. Rahman still manages to put up rhythms with percussion layers in his songs that are so familiar and yet so unique in its arrangements and sound, you can’t help but drown into it. The bugles, twanging guitar layers, along with the tribal beats, puts us right amidst rustic rural-tribal ambience that Veera seems to be a habitat of. And with that, the soundtrack begins with a bang. (And why Vairamuthu refused to write this song?)

The melody in the songs of this soundtrack doesn’t always rely on the instrumental accompaniments and sound layers to create the mood or evoke the emotion. This demarcation is very evident in the instantly intoxicating Usure Poguthey, in which the melody oozes with the passion and squeezes out the painful suffocation that is storming inside Veera, who falls for Raghini’s beauty, but, on the other hand, the orchestration embellished with serpentine strings, deep drum layers and xylophone tickles to put the listeners in a deep dark forest ambience in which this intense two-person drama is supposed to be happening. The only time melody and accompanying instruments join hands is when melody along with rock-guitars exert the exhaustion in Veera’s longing and distortion that Raghini has created in his psychological balance. Aided by Vairamuthu’s earthy poetry, Karthik’s heartfelt rendition proves yet again why he is cut above the rest and a favourite of A.R.Rahman.

The melody that starts on a high spirited note in Kodu Potta turns meandering and banal in later portions and fails to spark with the rebellious energy that is set ablaze by Vairamuthu’s fiery verses, the unsettling groove and by the rock-guitar riffing through the roof all along. And yet the song works hugely because of power packed punch in Vairamuthu’s verses and those two fine interludes – one with a celebratory Shehnai and Chorus and the other with string swirling its way into Rahman’s favourite middle-eastern territory - that remind us what a Rahman-in-form sounds like. For all its celebratory and self-congratulatory sound in music and words, it is intriguing to note that there is a tone of villainy and wily eeriness that runs throughout the song with the usage of Duduk and other woodwinds. The problem is that these tiny interesting bits and parts of the song don’t come satisfyingly together till the very end.

The flow - that magical flow in the melody is back in a Rahman song in Kaattu Chirukki and it is relieving to listen to a Rahman song after a long time that follows a standard Indian film song format – Pallavi-interlude-charanam-thunduppallavi-interlude-charanam2-Pallavi. Adding to zing and swing of the melody is that hip-folk-hop template that Rahman teased us with, few months ago in ‘Yaar Mila Tha’ in Blue. Vairamuthu is in fine form, at his playful best, as his words sensibly or rather sensuously flow completely in sync with the melody. Anuradha Sriram’s quasi-trance voice is so seductive and it beautifully works for the feel of this song and what we can say about Shankar Mahadevan - his classical touches, variations, and expressions are sheer magic.

Kalvarae is the one song where every single aspect of the song, veers or rather crawls towards, one single action or emotion - Seduction. The leisurely drone of Oud that keeps looping behind, the velvety filler flute that gently glides over and tickles the derma, the exquisite pleading and yearning in Shreya Ghosal’s voice, the laid-back rhythm, the saccharine melody and Vairamuthu’s Tamizh - all come together to help Raghini woo her husband. Even the only interlude is characteristically built around the purpose of the song. The gorgeous classical melody in the interlude that streams in Swaram is rendered by the ensemble in mid-tempo and punctuated with pauses, so as to make Raghini – a classical dancer, not diligently perform an exhaustive classical dance piece, but to move her elegant body, every so gently with sensuous postures and gestures, to seduce her husband.

The celebratory Shehnai and Nadhaswaram, rolling drums and roaring chorus embellish Keda Kari with all the fun and festivities of a rural Tamil marriage. Vairamuthu is shrewd and inventive with his lines which whips up rural flavour, though the puckish melody or pounding drums doesn’t smell the soil as much as it ought. Amidst the chaotic chorus, the song breathes some melodic air with Rayhanah and Tanvi Shah doing their folksy bits, which keep up a sinusoidal balance in the exuberant flow of the song. And that maddening coda with relentless beats gradually doubling up in its tempo, multilayered instrumentals and vocals, the soundtrack closes with a bang.

I like ‘Raavanan’ music. And I completely agree with all those who have problems with ‘Raavanan’ music. I am too empathetic to complain about ‘Raavanan’ music or to disagree with those who don’t like it as much as I do.

Bale A Cappella

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:52:00 +0000

A Cappella is a form of music that is performed by a group of singers without any musical accompaniment. A Cappella is one of the scarcely used genres in the ever progressive potpouri of global sounds and music styles that is Indian film music. Is the religious connotation that comes attached with a cappella stopping our composers from using this style of music in our films? Well, whatever.

A.R.Rahman’s ‘Please Sir’ from Boys, ‘Raasaathi’ from Thiruda Thiruda, ‘Namachivaaya Vazhgha’ from Ilaiyaraaja’s Thiruvasagam and ‘Mudhal Mazhaiyae’ from Devan Ekambaram’s pop album Mudhal Mazhai are the songs that immediately comes to my mind when I think of full length true-to-genre a cappella songs that I have heard. ‘Mudhal Mazhaiyae’ is a gem that stunned me when I first heard it and I wrote about the song and the whole album here.

The song ‘Happy’ in the latest ‘Bale Pandiya’ is an A Cappella. Devan’s a cappella in this song is not as intricate a cappella as it is in a Thiruvasagam; it is more sprightly and lighter, just as it was in his ‘Mudhal Mazhaiyae’, because the subject matter of the song is such. It would become heavy and deep, if there are too many accompanying layers of vocals singing contrapuntal melodies on varied octaves. This song is all about the happiness, the lightness and small pleasures of life. The song’s intention is to touch our senses like how a feather dancing all its way through a cool breeze gently falls on and sweetly pinches our skin. In this song, while the melody is like that feather, the accompanying vocal harmonies push the melody up and down, left and right to sail it throughout the song. This swinging and pushing in an uncertain direction by the breeze – the accompanying harmonies, is important because the feather – the melody, in itself doesn’t twist of turn throughout its journey and this could make the song sound long and monotonous.

Though we tag it as a cappella, this song is like any other typical film song that comes with a main lead vocal, a rhythm layer, a bass layer and accompanying orchestral instruments but the difference here is that a human voice sings the bass riff and bass line with vocal chords, fingers snapping sound layer instead of an acoustic percussion, the vocal to-to-toos substitute for additional rhythm loops and accompanying vocal harmonies pass in and out of the song, singing ooh-aah-taara version of melody lines – joining and supporting the lead solo voice, at carefully chosen sync points in the main melody.

The other highlight of the song is the array of singers that Devan managed to put together. Malaysia Vasudevan, Naresh Iyer, Devan, Suchitra Karthik, Haricharan, Srinivas, Malgudi Shubha, Manicka Vinayakam, Mukesh, Vijay Yesudass, Rahul Nambiar, Anuradha Sriram, Paravai Muniyamma and few others - each sings a part that best suits their voice in their unique style. And when the song slowly reaches a crescendo in the end, it gets dense, with a downpour of distinct alaaps being performed in multiple layers, by each of the lead voices. Despite its complexity, Devan pulls it off quite effectively without the song ever bordering on cacophony, which it could easily become, if such a thing is not done carefully.

In an age when every single song is packed densely with more and more layers of sounds and instruments, it is great relief to listen to a song like this, without any sound gimmicks or glaring instrumentation.

Devan Ekambaram – Happy! I am so Happy!

Pookal Pookum Tharunam

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:06:00 +0000

There was a period in film music, when all that mattered in a song was the melody – The Melody. Orchestration being a not so comfortable area of work for the composers from that era, they tried to convey all that they wanted to convey in a song through the main melody. Next to the melody, it is the vocal performance and the lyrics with which the song’s emotion was carried through further. These are melodies that never required any support or ornamentation in the name of orchestration.

These days the duty of conveying an emotion is quite equally distributed between the melody and the orchestration, and occasionally the vocal performance and lyrics too contribute. The song that I was gushing about in the previous post is a perfect example of that ideal balance struck between melody and orchestration, where they both are interdependent to convey the overall mood and emotion of the song. Take any one out; the other wouldn’t glitter as much on its own.

The song that I talk about now, ‘Pookal Pookum’ from Madharasapattinam (Composer – G.V. Prakash Kumar) is a song that belongs to that bygone era, where all that matters is the melody. Even if all those ornamental layer of instruments are cut off, the song would still stand on its own and make its point through its melody, vocal performance and the lyrics. These melodies don’t try to bend conventions or create new song structures; it’s only aim is to evoke an emotion, construct an aura, whip up a pre-determined mood in the listeners mind and that, this song does and how.

Well, while I tried to elaborate on each and every instrument and the way it is used in ‘Para Para Kili’, what can I possibly write about a melody - just the melody in ‘Pookal Pookum’? I lack knowledge in music or vocabulary in English to do that. With melodies like these, words fail. How I wish there is a device that can translate the emotions that I go through while listening to this song into words.

It is one of those fresh melodies that you feel you have heard zillion times before. It is a melody about two lovers singing about their state of mind, who are unable to decipher their emotions that they are going through while in love or understand the reasons for being hopelessly in love. It is a song that will instantly remind you, your other soul, in whose company you felt you are on top of the world, and with whom you shared moments when it didn’t matter whether you lived the next second or not.

The song does have all the fancy dressings of current film songs but with a lot of restraint and simplicity of that of old songs. The interludes have just one instrument playing a well defined melody. Typical of the songs of now, the song has a catchy refrain – a Tarana theme, which travels in and out of the song and it is for those who want a hook to hang on to, to follow the leisurely romance oozing out of every bar of the melody. But none of these disturb the pace, peace and pause in the song’s melody.

The moments of brilliance in this song are many. To speak about one - the close-mouthed Tarana that Roop Kumar Rathod lazily hums up without any instrumental disturbances around, immediately after Andrea’s meandering ballad, is a pristine, divine moment of absolutely lost-in-love mood that not many songs capture in these days. It is surprising that last time when I felt the same about a moment, it was the same Roop Kumar Rathod who picked up ‘Ennai Yenna Seithai pennae’ in ‘Oru Devathai’ song from Vaamanan. The expressions and modulations in Roop Kumar Rathod’s voice perfectly fits for the mood of this song. And Ah! Harini! Where was she? She solely lifts this song up with her rendition and nuanced gamakkams that never compromise the essence and expression of the melody.

Na.Muthukumar has become a master of weaving verses so simple, so familiar and yet that sounds so eternal and so fresh when it sits on a melody that it is written for.

If you have love in your life you can’t avoid falling hopelessly in love with this song.

Thaana dhom tha na na... Thaana dhom tha na na... Thaana dhom tha na na...

Para Para Kili

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:20:00 +0000

Yesterday, I finally got to listen to a soundtrack that I have been eagerly looking forward to listen to for quite sometime. First few songs of the soundtrack played easily on my ears and they were quite good but nothing prepared me for the stunner that was about to come. That song totally occupied my mind and enslaved my senses for next few hours. I guess I would have heard the song repeatedly for 20 times in one stretch. There are songs that we like, and that we don’t like and there are songs that overwhelm and possess us forever, this song is one such. I am talking about Karthik Raaja’s Rettai Suzhi soundtrack and the song is ‘Para Para Kili’.

Though we have heard such stuff many times before from Karthik Raaja himself, the precision, restraint and minimalism in the orchestration as it is in this song hits me like a thunder bolt every time. The light flight mood of the song in instantly expressed in the first line of the melody. How fitting it is that the song is devoid of any hard percussions, sound loops or rhythm layers - the usual elements in a song that add a hefty derma around to carry the melody. The bass celesta riff and the subtle ticking sound that kick starts the song keeps looping around to sustain the mood of float. And oh! Those double bass that is plucked in beat on every bar of the melody to add an infinite depth and gravity to the featherlike melody.

How a song on flight could be made without having the breezy registers of strings bowed. The string section does come in soon subtly swirling around its way into the song. The overwhelming gooseflesh moment of the song for me happened when a huge tide of cascading strings curl over each other behind those lines that go ‘Mazhaiyadikkuthu Veyyiladikuthu’. The other exhilarating moment in the song arrives just before the song shifts to first interlude when Karthik Raaja unhinges the melody of just the three words ‘Para Para Kili’ and sways it up and down in air like a feather would after it is let off in the air.

As expected, strings take the centre stage in the first interlude playing the waltz and settles down with the appearance of Santoor the strings of which are lightly hammered to pronounce the improved version of the subdued bass celesta riff that set the song in motion in the beginning.

And that was about 2 minutes of the song. For the rest of the beauty – go, figure it for yourself.

Every single note of the melody, the structuring and packaging of the song, the instruments chosen (celesta, vibraphone, strings, tubular bells, Santoor, quintessential Karthik Raaja Violin) and almost every single thought that has gone into making this song is to achieve one goal of making the listeners feel lightened, lifted and floated in space.

At the end when all layers die down with Deepa Mariam’s voice solely lingering on the melody to bring the curtains down, my heart started beating in ¾ and it continued in that rhythm for next few hours. Even the softest of the melodies are now being set to a foot-tapping beat but Karthik Raaja creates a song that doesn’t ask our foot to tap in the ground instead it asks our foot to flap in the air. I did.

Damn commercial success. Karthik Raaja – Go, take rest now. With ‘Para Para Kili’, you have done enough for this year.

Sri Rama Dootam - Ramesh Vinayakam

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:18:00 +0000

I haven’t heard many devotional albums. The very earlier ones that I could remember a L.R.Eswari songs on Goddess Maariyamman, which they use to play in our streets during Maariyamman festival time. “Karpura Naayakiye Kanaga Valli” was the most popular one that got even remade as a Kuthu song in a Tamil film. The other song I liked so much in my childhood was ‘Pullangulal Kodutha Moongilgalae” sung by T.M.Soundarraajan and composed by M.S.Vishwanathan. Is there anyone who hasn’t heard K.J. Yesudass’s Harivarasanam? I also like S.P.B’s devotional song ‘Namachivaya’ on Thiruvannamalai. Then there is Ilaiyaraaja’s magnum opus ‘Thiruvasakam’ in Symphony.

And most other devotional songs I liked are from films. However, from what little else I heard in Television, I felt that all the songs sounded same, with stock arrangements and similar lyrics. Devotion means selfless love, care, attachment, commitment, dedication, affection, fondness. The greatest things in this world are Loving and being loved. Love for God, which is supposed to the greatest of all forms of love, when expressed in music is surprisingly restricted to one form of music that has become a stock now. Our classical Carnatic music itself is born completely out of Bakthi Rasa, but it yielded so many different Raagas of different moods and emotions that emerged out of it. I don’t want them to invent any new Raaga, but they can change the template of the songs for sure. While I quibble, I do understand why the music remains the way it is. It is to cater to the lowest denominator; it is an attempt to make the songs simple and instantly hummable.

I remember Gangai Amaran saying in an interview that Ilaiyaraaja’s Thiruvasakam in Symphony is an unnecessary attempt because it is not being played in any Temples in any part of the world. He told that a devotional song should be easily comprehensible, and it attains its purpose only when it is sung by the people. Is it the only criteria? Is spiritualism and love for divine best expressed through Vocal singing? Isn’t divinity an experience and a feeling to be felt and may not have to be openly sung? But, am I confusing devotion with divinity here? Devotional album is to express your love for God but a divine music is to make us feel the pinnacle of that love within oneself. And that I how I chose to put the debate to rest within myself. For someone like me, for whom an “Aaromalae” is as divine as “Arziyan”, there is no need of a separate devotional album. I prefer feeling divine within to singing praises of it vocally.

Now, why am I suddenly blabbering about Devotional albums? Because, after ‘Thiruvasakam in Symphony’ by Ilaiyaraaja, I recently bought, heard and liked a devotional album called ‘Sri Rama Dootam’ composed by Ramesh Vinayakam.

Ramesh Vinayakam’s ‘Sri Rama Dootam’ comes off as a breath of fresh air amidst repetitiveness of such albums. Usually, the production and sound quality of such albums are of low standards but ‘Sri Rama Dootam’ has the best sound and production quality I have ever heard in such albums. Ramesh Vinayakam has found a perfect middle path and created songs that satisfy his creative urge and also cater to the lowest denominator.

We get the usual flaunting flutes, serene Santoor, Sitar and Veena strains, and Tabla rhythms in all the songs but the album also has a song with a western classical Waltz rhythm, electric guitars and jazz interludes glossing over a semi-classical melody singing praises on Hanuman, the strings of ballet leads to a folksy song on Anjaneya, a fire-cracker of a Sanskrit song with Nihyashree at her typical best with heavy synth bass and bass guitar lines bordering on blues, a Bhajan with sparkling Piano accompaniment throughout, a Bhajan without any such experimental ornaments but with arresting rhythm and melodic structure and shifts that end with a multi layered dissonance in the chorus uttering the name of the God. Need I say more? Even if we take all such instrumental embellishments on the songs out, the melodies are so serene; it will definitely engulf a listener with its devotion to divinity.

‘Sri Rama Dootam’ can be legally downloaded here or Audio CD can be ordered online here.

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya Audio Release Function

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:25:00 +0000

Tamil film Audio release functions have become most boring events with loads of film personalities singing praises of popular faces of the cast and crew of the film – the audio of which is being released. “Kandasamy” audio release had Shriya shaking legs and “Aayirathil Oruvan” audio release had singers turning into actors who lip synced the songs on stage. The film makers were so sure about the dumbness of the audience that they made Vijay Yesudass lip sync the Telugu portions of a song, while what we could clearly hear Sri Krishna’s voice from the original song while Vijay was showing singing the lines. Then there is another type where the audio is released live on Sun Music or Isaiaruvi music channels where there would be a dumbest of the dumb anchor having conversations with cast and crew of the film. Long back, “Thiruttu Payalae” audio was released in Sun TV with director, composer and lyricist introducing each song followed by the video clips of the actual song. Then there are audio releases where music would be the last thing to be spoken about, example – Chandramukhi.

Amidst such release functions, it was heartening to watch an audio release function, where the spotlight is only on music and not on anything else, not even on the film. Probably it is because the composer is “Academy Award Winner” A.R.Rahman as Gautam Vasudev Menon welcomed him onstage. The singers performed unplugged versions of the songs that they originally sang in the film, with the Stephen Devassy accompanying them on an acoustic Piano. Singers did a brilliant job and it was a treat to watch. I wish that they release the unplugged versions of the songs in an audio CD.

I had goose bumps watching Alphonse sing “Aaromalae”. His performance got a thundering applause from the live audience. Karthik is one of the very few contemporary singers who sound as good in his live performances as that of the recording. Chinmayi, in her blog, always wondered why the singers are not being formally invited for audio release functions and now god has satisfied her by making her the only female singer in this group. To know how better a song would sound if Rahman doesn’t drown the voices in a sound machine - listen to Benny Dayal’s unplugged version of the song ‘Omana Penne’. Srinivas was effortless with ‘Hosanna’. The camaraderie of the singers, their synergy, coordination, harmony and the soul in their live singing made the songs sound better than it is in the CD. ~~But why didn’t they perform ‘Mannippaya’ or did I miss it. Chinmayi could have easily filled in for Shreya Ghosal and Srinivas could have sung Rahman’s portions.~~ Gautam Menon did a fine job as a no-nonsense anchor of the event. I want to see more such audio release functions. Not to mention that I like VTV music even more now.

Here is the video of the VTV audio release function. Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya Music Review.

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:57:00 +0000

Gautam Menon and Harris Jeyaraj delivered some of the best Tamil film soundtracks of the last decade. Yet, Gautam Menon chose to move on to A.R.Rahman for ‘Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya’. With Gautam admitting in all his interviews, that he has always been an ardent A.R.Rahman fan, his move is quite understandable. Who wouldn’t want to work with A.R.Rahman? Even A.R.Rahman needs to move beyond Maniratnam and Shankar, and work with more new Tamil film makers who could visually justify his music. The problem is that when such a combination happens, both sides will try to pull the other on their side and it is difficult to find a middle path. Will Gautam make A.R.Rahman to compose simple, instantly hummable romantic ballads that he has been extracting from Harris film after film or will A.R.Rahman drag Gautam to his ever experimental side?

After listening to the soundtrack 10 times, I am convinced that it is the latter that has happened. Rahman shatters every cliché of a Gautam Menon film soundtrack. It is so difficult to take it initially, and one can’t avoid a fleeting thought that Gautam should have stuck to Harris Jeyaraj. But these are concerns of nitpickers; these concerns are external to actual music. If we wither off such preoccupied thoughts, assumptions and expectations, it is easy to accept the soundtrack. While with some of the songs in this soundtrack Rahman tries to stretch and bend the rules of how the music for a simple romantic film should be, in some, he uses the experimental hat to gloss over the deficiencies.

It always annoys me when Rahman drowns the voices in a sound machine, even though the melody itself has all the needed pep and hip. Rahman still struggles with setting tunes to already written lyrics. The exquisite title track sung by Karthik is a classic example of how unpredictable a melody can be twisted to without losing the mood and flavor of the lines but the awful abruptness with which he rushes and squeezes the line ‘Kadhal Yendral Kaayamdhaan’ in an otherwise addictive number ‘Kannukkul ennai’ is puzzling. In the same song, the lines ‘Neeyum Naanum’ has an extremely convoluted solo-chorus interplay with lead vocal and chorus taking turns for singing the every next word of one single line of song. Yet all of this weird play settles down when the line ‘Anbae Ododi’ is set to a pleasing melody pushing us back to our comfort zone. This game that Rahman plays with listeners is so taxing and tiring initially, but once we understand the rules, we are sure to have fun.

‘Omana Penne’ suffers from both robotized voice and also fragmented melodic structures, punctuating a line at an unexpected word to fit it into a melody and rhythm. The sound play is so much so that we are not sure whether those peculiar vocal effects are of Benny Dayal or are that of Rahman’s music tweaking software. Rahman somehow covers all of this with that ubiquitous ‘Omana Penne’ hook and interesting Nadhaswaram bits.

‘Mannippaaya’ is a vintage 90s Rahman melody that overstays its welcome. Surprisingly, it is Rahman’s lines that drag the song and lessens the impact. The sympathetic strings, flute, piano and vocal harmony are layered in abundance to add depth to the melody but song works mainly because of Shreya Ghosal’s passionate singing. The way she curves the notes on the word ‘Mannippaaya’ with a sense of longing and desperation consummates the mood that the song wants to express in totality. The choir-orchestral version of Thirukkural verses sounds noble but it doesn’t sit comfortably within the template of this song.

‘Aaromalae’ is a kind of song that would set the stage in fire when performed live. It is also a song where we forget about the composer and start admiring the singer who instantly makes the song his own. While it is a revelation to listen to a Malayalam song set to a genre of a psychedelic rock (Is it?), Alphonse’s singing and expressions are beyond words. The song’s main melody is anything but hummable so Rahman packs in a hook line amidst those lines celebrating the hypnotism - which music from a liberated mind and soul, can achieve. For those who find songs like “Aaromalae” too alien, there are usual Rahman dance numbers to skip to. Rahman is at his playful best in the foot-tapping numbers “Kannukul Kannai” and “Anbil Avan”. While it is electric violin motif in the former, it is the unique rhythm pattern in “Anbil Avan” that Rahman nonchalantly keeps fabricating with e-beats and his favorite Thavil.

‘Hosanna’ is the most accessible song of the soundtrack with a definite structure, a simple hook line, typical synthpad beats and an elegant orchestration. The lyrics and the melody take twists and turns in this song too but they are not as sudden as it is in the other songs, so it flows like a clear river stream letting the listeners to easily dive and sail in its direction. The interludes with Suzzane’s silky ‘Hosanna’ slides, angelic choirs and soothing string section are so smooth and transcendental. Rahman ends the songs in his typical choir-orchestral way with subtle bell bangs and strings accelerating to a close as Vijay Prakash reprises what could be possible be the Pallavi with least number of lines and words in a Tamil song ever.

It seems in Chennai audio launch, Rahman told that he doesn’t know whether this album matches with high standards set by Gautam-Harris combination and that this soundtrack is a quirky one. Quirky – Yes, but without those aforementioned problems, the soundtrack might have been more satisfying.

"Yogi" Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:42:00 +0000

‘Tamizh MA’ happened two years ago and after that there isn’t a single movie soundtrack of Yuvan, which one could call a complete musical feast. There definitely were few gems here and there but overall there weren’t movies that could feed the creative hunger of Yuvan Shankar Raaja. Well now, here it is the soundtrack of ‘Yogi’ that displays what Yuvan Shankar Raaja adds musically to the movie, when he gets genuinely inspired by the script. Yuvan has always delivered for Ameer and he does it again (though the movie is directed by Subrmaniam Siva, screenplay and dialogues are written by Ameer).

The album kick starts with a song where everything is electronic and it sounds quite unusual for a hero introduction song. I usually have lots of problems with such songs of Yuvan where he goes overboard with too many layers and e-sounds, but this song is done with a lot of restraint, each and every layer is catchy and has been added after a lot of thought. A sample for that is rough synth strings or saw motif that keeps looping around in the background which aptly fits in for the roughness of a ruffian that the song exclaims about. The lyrics too are sensible and though sung with a western attitude, it fits well for the toughness that the song requires. While the other version is clouded lesser with e-sounds but with more funky guitars, it is set on a different beat and the voice and lyrics are heard better. It is good that they didn’t name this track as a remix, because it actually is not, it is set to a completely different orchestration and it has to be heard without skipping.

‘Yaarodu Yaaro’ is a neat soulful melody with feel and rhythm reminding the songs of ‘Paruthiveeran’. The song has lengthier interludes with some amazing instrumental pieces and orchestration, especially that vocal harmony in the first interlude is such a heart-felt melody which I would definitely hum accidentally on any day few years later. Snehan beautifully describes the budding love between two extremely different people and sample this line where he describes Yogi falling in love as ‘Ithu Yenna Maayam, Sooriyanil Eeram’. And what can one say about Yuvan’s singing except ‘Nallathor Veenai seithu athai nalam keda puzhuthiyil yerivadhundo’.

With strains of ‘Yaarodu Yaaro’, the melody soon gets an identity of its own with the exquisite Sarangi solo (performed by Ustad Sultan Khan) in ‘Yogi Theme in Sarangi’ playing a very earthy melody sitting firmly on the rhythm of ethnic percussions. Though the template of the song is straight out of ‘Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal’ (7/g Rainbow colony), there are not many composers who care for such instrumentals in film music these days. And when you think that is the most that you could get from a Tamil film soundtrack, being a fan of such instrumentals, Yuvan serves up with one more theme which again is soulful and addictive. The beat of this theme is interestingly made by embedding a Tavil on synth pads and the strings, flute, Amalraj’s Violin all march one after the other playing beautiful melodies.

The soundtrack’s most entertaining and fun track arrives with ‘Seermevum Koovathiley’ and what a funny way to start the song, no one would think of ‘Seermevum’ and ‘Koovam’ on the same line. Ameer, Snehan (lyricist), Naveen and Jijuba get dirty, real and give a knock out performance in this one. The sound of Chennai Tamizh over years has gained a musicality, which is very evident in this song. With each section song tuned like a popular yester year song, the song should please all the front benchers in the cinema hall. A sure shot winner this one is. Snehan again shines through with his utterly down-to-earth lyrics in the song and can’t wait to watch what they are going to do visually with that Rudhra Thandavam bit at the end of the song.

And with that, Yuvan’s Yogi is 5/5 for me.

"Blue" Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:24:00 +0000

I have to admit that I was not expecting much from “Blue” soundtrack. The initial teasers with ‘Blue’ theme and ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ didn’t create any curiosity. So without any expectations, I started listening “Blue”, considering it as just a soundtrack for a massy commercial entertainer. In these movies, Rahman has no limitations on the choice of instruments so to stick period in which it is set in (like a Jodha Akbar), or for which Rahman need not keep a coherent sound and feel throughout the soundtrack (like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na). It is in these kinds of movies Rahman freaks out with his anything-and-everything goes attitude, turns playful and unleashes few more experiments breaking the un-written formulas with which an Indian movie song should be composed. While Rahman has attempted all of these in the music of “Blue”, it isn’t entirely ground breaking but that isn’t a complaint – it is just a formality to say that (and probably cringe later for the same) and a big barrier that an avid A.R.Rahman fan has to break through while listening to every soundtrack of his in those initial days.

So when I broke through that barrier, even ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ sounded genuine, unpretentious, catchy and thoroughly enjoyable. ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ is no doubt an addictive phrase that gets repeated umpteen times throughout the song, but what makes the Kylie Monogue’s (except for the silky voice, there is nothing spectacular about her singing or may be the composition doesn’t demand anything more) part magical is the madly running bass (slap or synth??) lines that impose a heavy pull to keep frivolous melody lines grounded. The song suddenly makes a not so comfortable transition from Kylie’s pop to Sonu Nigam’s Bhangra, and on first listening, it sounded so plaintive, it wasn’t bang on. The tempo of the Bhangra beats should have been higher at the transition point to create a greater impact, I thought. But the realization comes later that this is actually a Bhangra without typical Punjabi dhols and that the song is meant to be in this way because Rahman wants to create a Hip-Bhangra-hop music. The euphoria of Bhangra is kept intact through chorus shouting ‘Hoi’ in rhythm, Sonu’s diction and expression and Punjabi strings but the beats is that of hip-hop. Rahman though entirely doesn’t pull this off, the song as a whole is good fun.

‘Aaj dil’ is colourful cocktail of style and substance, synth and melody. It has got one of the finest layering of synth, e-sounds and acoustic instruments we heard for a while. The best thing is that even without those infinite layers of sounds, the spirit of song is so densely stuffed in its melody itself, which has got a great momentum in it with never ending catchy phrases piling up one after the other. But what those eclectic sound layers bring to the table instantly is the aura, the ambience that the song wants to create. And Oh! Those madly done interludes without any identifiable melodies transport us directly to a dreamy water land. All these synthphonies could easily turn into a cacophony if not done with utmost care but for someone who put together something as magnificent as a ‘Potter’s Village’ this must be a child’s play. But nevertheless such attempts ceaselessly surprise the listeners. Adding to the beauty of already colourful bowl of sounds is the ‘Saayasa’ and a Piano motif sprinkled throughout the song. Shreya Ghosal is unbelievably versatile and extremely irresistible as she makes best use to the seductive range of her voice in this song. And Rahman interestingly makes Sukhwinder singh (who adds classical touches even in a song like this) sing this one and Sonu Nigam sing the ‘Chiggy Wiggy’.

I doubt if there will be a song this year that is more thumping, more addictive, more exuberant, catchier and hookier than ‘Fiqrana’. The song instantly sucks you into its groove and takes us through an exhilarating ride of rhythm and melody, right from the moment the main guitar riff starts to loop around your ears. How does a composer choose a certain sounding guitar? Rahman hits it bang on target with the choice of instrument for that guitar motif that ends each stanza and begins the interlude. The sound of the guitar and the melody played on it are ridiculously funky and hooky. The Rahmantic moment of the song arrives with the melody that swirls around on the lines ‘Jeet-te hain adh adh ka hum’. The song as a whole with it never ending rhythm, completely sweeps you off your feet and makes your heart jump with joy.

When the ‘Blue Theme’ was heard first in the teaser, I thought that Rap bit would instantly bounce off from the very beginning but interestingly there is a prelude to the RAP which is more interesting than the actual theme. The song takes lots of twists and turns with varied rhythms of folk, rap, pop, hip-hop and rock parading one after the other with all of thump. Amidst all the shouting, rapping, Rahman has stuffed a genuine melody (sung by a female vocal) which borders on Sufi. Though it has a pivotal theme (which could be used umpteen times in the background score of the movie whenever heroes complete an action sequence triumphantly), it doesn’t meander by orchestrating the same theme on different ways, it keeps moving on from one portion to another of varied rhythms, tempos and melodies. We will have to wait and see what the piece as a whole add to the visuals on screen.

‘Bhoola Tujhe’ is relatively an underwhelming song of the soundtrack. The main melody in Mukhda is really nice and soulful; it is a melody that I would definitely hum even after having stopped listening to the soundtrack, but it begins to meander in the middle with stretch-the-last-word-of-the-line technique used to make the melody fit into a preset rhythm. The song’s melody and orchestration seems to be derived from the intersection of ‘Do Kadam aur sahi’ and ‘Kahin toh’ but it isn’t as effective as either. Rahman tries too hard to add more soul and feel to the song with a soft bed of symphonic strings running throughout the song, while string section sounds heavily, it can’t help much when the melody playing over is weak.

The moment I heard those shrill hit-hat hits and deep bass in the beginning of ‘Rehnuma’, I thought this is going to be Rahman’s yet another true-to-genre Jazz songs in the lineage of ‘Jaane Tu’ title song and ‘Jillunu oru kaadhal’ title song, but soon as Shreya exquisitely begins to scream ‘Qaatil Ada’, Rahman takes a stunning route to a Rahmanish John Barry Stuff with that yet another additive and funky guitar motif of the soundtrack. Also to move far away from his other Jazz numbers, Rahman goes in for synth pads instead of syncopated acoustic drums that mostly accompanies Jazz songs and there is a delightful dense string section backing throughout. The flashy orchestration adds more attitude, style to the substance that is truly western. Shreya Ghosal and Sonu Nigam sing the lines incredibly without ever sounding like an Indian voice soaked and trained in Indian classical music, they have poured sweat, heart and soul into this song. The crescendos with multi overlapping layers of ‘Rehnuma’ chants, guitar motif and the string section are perfectly placed and are just out of the world (though you wish sound mixing could have been much better – rarest of complaints on a Rahman’s song).

‘Yaar mila tha’ is a song for which we cannot easily attach a genre to, it sounds like one of those early 90’s saccharine melodies with a touch of Rahman’s trademark cuts in flow of the melody, and with a new age rhythm that is part folksy and part hoppy. Adding further to that feel is Udit Narayan’s and Madhusree’s voice and singing. The melody in the Mukhda that perfectly sits on an unusual rhythm makes it an instantly catchy song but it faces the same problems as that of ‘Bhoola Tujhe’. In the antara, Udit starts to sing the lines with a melody that takes a random path with unpredictable pauses, which leaves us wondering where all of this is leading to (I immensely liked the maddening flow that the melody takes in the middle of ‘Behka’ or ‘Vaan nila tharum oli’ songs). Usually when such issues come up Rahman use to give a walking stick to the listeners like say that guitar motif in ‘Rehna Tu’ which was so helpful in initial listening to go through the middle portions where Rahman bothers little about fitting the melody to beats and sings passionately straight from the heart. But here, the rhythm though catchy is repeated endlessly and turns monotonous, so it doesn’t serve the job of a walking stick convincingly. This problem often comes up when Rahman composes melody for already written lines. Why do lyricists write such prose without any setting a definite meter so a composer can fit them easily into a rhythm and melody? Or if the music was composed first, how on earth a composer can come up with a melody that is as zig-zag and random as one in this song’s antara?

Few days before the release of this soundtrack, A.R.Rahman released a note like this

“This is my first film after the Oscars. So expectations are scary. It's important to work with a great team to create great music and we've done that with Blue. What's special about Blue is that it's an underwater adventure. So, it was very exciting to do this score as a composer. It's important that you don't get typecast. It's also important to give the kind of music the film requires and have fun with it! Drown into the music of Blue.”

It seems he was genuinely worried about the post-Oscar expectations of his fans and that was utterly unnecessary with a soundtrack like ‘Blue’. Of course there are some misfires and water is mudded here and there but that doesn’t stop me from drowning into music of Blue.

On a different note, I wondered why there is so much fuss about A.R.Rahman doing music for an action movie. In India, even in an action movie (for which if it truly is, there is no need of songs), the soundtrack is going to be a standard mix of love ballads, duets, a theme song, an item number soundtrack. Blue being an action movie and with a special mention of ‘Music and Background Score – A.R.Rahman’, one thing I eagerly expect is the background score. Let us see if A.R.Rahman could pull a John Powell or a Hans Zimmer with this.

Illayaraja's Incredits

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:23:00 +0000

Illayaraja's Incredits

On Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:18:00 +0000

On Twitter

Aayirathil Oruvan Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:59:00 +0000

A folk song, an item song, a soft melody (mostly a duet for romance), a hero introduction and a heroine introduction song, a somber song – any Tamil masala movie soundtrack will easily fall into this template. Even otherwise a hip-hop, a remix, a rap, two soft melodies – one fast paced and the other slow paced, one happy and the other sad will be the template of other kind of entertainers. Amidst such boringly repetitious soundtracks, it is such a revelation to listen to a movie soundtrack that doesn’t fit into any of such regular formulae of songs.

Soundtrack of ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ is one such revelation. It isn’t just that. It is a true movie soundtrack in every sense of the word, because a song from this movie wouldn’t fit into any other movie. In such soundtracks, there always is a danger of over indulgence (especially when it comes from a director like Selvaraghavan) which leads to melodies and song structures that doesn’t strike a chord instantly with casual listeners. Such an indulgence pushed Selvaraghavan to choose a classical symphony to underscore the gangster saga in Pudupettai and me being someone who crosses that area often, I just couldn’t get the intention and connection. Expectedly the score was completely out of synch with the visuals in the movie. But in ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ it seems Selvaraghavan’s indulgence has yielded positive results.

I am talking more about the director than the composer here because I am sure G.V.Prakash Kumar as a composer wouldn’t have ever thought of composing such a soundtrack without a guiding and pushing force like Selvaraghavan.

‘Oh Eesa’ starts off with high techno hip-hop beats and a very ordinary melody line. It picks up momentum as GVP throws in the stolen phrase of very popular ‘Govinda Hari Govinda Venkata Ramanaa Govinda’ melody with a tribal, Arabic and hip-hop mix of rhythms that is intoxicating to the core. With the whole song sounding like a cacophony of e-sounds on first listen, it takes a lot of concentration and effort to unlace the beauty of the melody that flows underneath especially the place where Karthik ‘tham thanathom’ is punchy. In spite of GVP grinding every single voice in his sound machine, Karthik’s exuberant and dramatic singing shines in the fore.

‘Maalai Neram’ is a very casual melody presented without much ado. It is simple and easy on ears and what lifts the whole song to great heights is the abundance of guitar riffs backing the melody throughout. I can’t say when I started listening to this song and when exactly I started liking it. The melody just melts out of Andréa’s solid voice, flows and fills our ears and sits in memory. The simple orchestration maintains the aura of breezy romance throughout and that guitar motif is like the sparkling light emanating from the candle in a romantic dinner. My only grouse is the singing of Andrea in lower octaves, in which she sounds so scary.

The slow paced ‘Un Mela Aasadhaan’ sucks us into its seducing pace and rhythm right away with its instantly likeable melody. Especially the melody in the lines sung by Danush is so catchy and the lethargy with which Danush sings his lines adds to the effect further. The excerpts from ‘Sittar Paadalgal’ are nicely interwoven into the song with each verse getting a respectable melodic treatment. GVP has tweaked the melody borrowed from Yuvan for betterment and has given a much better orchestration than what Yuvan did to ‘Adada Vaa’ in Sarvam.

After reading the director’s note or rant about the 11th and 12th century music, when you read the title as ‘The King Arrives’, you expect some ancient sounds and sure it begins with such but surprisingly it shifts to hard rock guitars and banging drums and one can visualize how brilliant it would look and sound if an ancient Chola king walks up to his throne with this head banging rock music. Can’t wait to watch this music play out in its entirety in the movie.

The scintillating symphony of Rudra Veena welcomes us into the 11th century in ‘Thai Thindra Mannae’. The percussion arrangements with real instruments are brilliant throughout the song. There is so much of attention and detailing that has gone into the selection of percussions for different sections of the song. While ‘Nellaadiya, Solladiya, Villadiya, kallaadiya’ gets Udukkai beat, the increasing pain in next stanza gets a hesitant Tabla rhythm that hits each stroke as an afterthought; the courage of Cholas when expressed as ‘Pulikkodi poritha chola maanthargal elikkari porippathuvo’, it moves on to a more turbulent and bold percussion and alternatively the ecstatic Telugu portions are accompanied by classical Mirudangam and Ghatam. In spite of all these intricacies in musicality, the song belongs completely to Vairamuthu. Vairamuthu brings out the pain of a person (the king) seeing the fall of his Chola dynasty with such poetic beauty and confidence in chaste Tamil.

The bass and brass heavy opening leads to a song of deep and heavy emotions in ‘Pemmanae’. The cry in the very beginning in Bombay Jayshree’s alaap conveys it all. The whole song is set in a lower register registering the deep pain due to which they won’t be able to croon any higher. The feel in the peculiar ancient wind instruments used add to the pain and to authenticity of the period in which the song is set in. Vairamuthu again builds up poetry with chaste Tamil words to express the pinnacle of pain people undergo when they are pushed out of their home land.

‘The Celebration of Life’ is a flute symphony by Naveen who plays a variety of flutes on various layers bringing out utmost sensuous sound out of each and every reed of the flute and blow of air. The aptly arranged percussions bind itself with the flute creating a heavenly aura of celebration of different kind.

The classical version of ‘Thai Thindra Mannae’ is an extended version of the original song. The Yazh (equivalent to Harp) begins the song with a sharp somber sound and it continues to loop throughout the song and when in the climax Vijay Yesudas pours in all his heart and soul to sing the line ‘Yenthan kannin kanneer kazhuva ennodazhum Yaazhae azhaadae’, we understand why the Yazh motif was looping throughout. The song is orchestrated differently this time with lengthy interludes filled with grand string section playing every note evoking the sound of ancient times, choirs and thundering percussions. The extended verses of Vairamuthu are equally effective squeezing more pain out of the situation.

The extremely catchy bass guitar riff leads to a melody in 'Intha Paadhai' that is so unusual in its beginning and continues to be unusual till the end. But once you settle in with the groove and sway with the riff, the melody of the song sinks deep within and it is unbelievably addictive. Adding to the kick is the acoustic guitar solo pieces sprinkled throughout the song. A song that is so light with simple words, simple orchestration and ultra cool singing by G.V.Prakash actually has a hefty thought in its lines penned by Selvaraghavan. I can’t stop listening to this song.

Considering that on an average 100 movies are made in Tamil every year, the soundtrack of ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ is one in 100.

Re-Recording Raaja Contest

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:21:00 +0000

R e-R e c o r d i n g R a a j a C o n t e s t

Airtel Super Singer Grand Finale

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:09:00 +0000

After so much mokkai by Yugendran, the Airtel Super Singer Grand finale started with divine ‘Isayil Thodangudhamma’ by all female contestants of the show. A very apt beginning.

Ravi opened with ‘Kanmunnae yethanai nilavu’ and quite uncharacteristically he was artificial today. Singing was as always superb especially the whistling at the end was impressive. Renu sang ‘Nenjodu kalandhidu’ and her voice was simply serene today, it was one of her much better performances. She managed the song quite well. Ajesh was a little nervous in the beginning and soon settled down and won hearts with a very expressive and emotional singing. I could see Yuvan being very much impressed with Ajesh’s singing.

Chaya singh Isai Ulagathirkaaga thangal thondai sorry iduppai aattikondirukkirar...

Second Round - Ajesh did a tremendous job with 'Raaja deepamae'. This song has become a must to be sung by one of the singers in the finals of every singing contest and mostly the one who sings this song has won the title. Ajesh?? Let us wait and see. Renu took me by complete surprise today by the confidence with which she sang 'Hairama' song. An unusual song for a singing contest but she did a honey-sweet job. She sounded absolutely sensuous. Ravi poured his heart and soul into 'Kallai mattum kandaal' song. His alaaps were breathtaking.

I am totally confused about whom to vote for.

My Prediction of the winner - Ajesh

And the winner is Ajesh

Valmiki Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:04:00 +0000

On Illayaraja's Azhaghar Malai, I wrote "There is nothing here that you haven’t heard before and nothing that you don’t want to hear again". When I myself read the post later, I thought that I can write the same about any new Illayaraja soundtrack.

Raaja laughs out loudly at my statement and comes up with "Valmiki".

Happy Birthday Raaja.

And RRR Contest.

Modhi Vilayadu, Angaadi Theru, Azhagar Malai, Vaamanan

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:29:00 +0000

I have been listening to a lot of music in last one week - “Modhi vilayadu”, “Azhagar Malai”, “Angaadi Theru”, “Vaamanan”, “Pokkisham” and after watching the movie a lot of “Pasanga” again.

Azhaghar Malai is a standard Raaja soundtrack with his vintage elements - simple melodies, elegant orchestration and less of synth is a bonus. There is nothing here that you haven’t heard before and nothing that you don’t want to hear again. What I particularly was contemplating while listening to this soundtrack is on Raaja’s use of Bhavatharini’s voice. "Unnai Enakku” is definitely one of those songs in which Bhavatharini’s voice sounds honey sweet, exquisite and everything in her singing is so right.

I always felt about Bhavatharini as a reluctant singer and to some extent she still is. If not for Raaja’s family, she would have never made it into film music and it is so evident from the fact that she has sung only one song outside that is “Thudikindra kaadhal” in ‘Nerukku Ner’ for Deva. Even Gangai Amaran commented that she doesn’t practice enough and about how much Raaja’s family struggles to make her sing. We ourselves saw how much she was struggling while recording a song for ‘Mayilu’. But, she really has come a long way from her ‘Mastaana Mastaana’ days.

“Mayil Pola” from Bharathi, “Ninaithadhum varuvaal” from Amma Paamalai, “Manase Manasae” from Kaathal Jaathi, “Pooveru konum” from Thirvasagam, “Ithu Sangeetha thirunaalo” from Kaadhalukku Mariyaathai and above all “Alai meedhu vilayadum” from Kaadhal Kavithai are my favourite Raaja-Bhavatharini songs.

Given the fact that the music of “Veyil” was such a big hit, I am really surprised why there are two composers G.V.Prakash and Vijay Antony for Vasantha Balan’s “Angaadi Theru”. I am sure G.V.Prakash is not overloaded and if it is a rift between the composer and the director due to so called creative differences, I feel it is too early for G.V.Prakash to get into any of that. But anyway, what is important is that the soundtrack as a whole is interesting with Vijay Antony and G.V.Prakash each contributing one great melody to the soundtrack.

“Aval Appadi ondrum” by Vijay Antony is such a simple melody with restrained orchestration that you start liking the moment you listen to it. “Un Peria sollum” by G.V.prakash is equally beautiful romantic melody that has a lingering longing feel that catches on instantly to a listener and stays on listeners mind long after listening to the song. Vijay Antony’s other song “Yenge Povenao” starts with a lot of promise but ends up predictable and to an extent boring. M.K.Balaji who has participated in most of talent hunt shows in all TV channels has finally got his break in film music. But if a composer is truly impressed by a singer and wants to introduce him then why use him a song that has two male voices which makes it difficult for the listener to distinguish the voices.

“Kadhaigalai pesum” instantly reminded me “Mundhinam paarthaenae” from Vaaranam Aayiram for the reason that here is a song that could sound belonging to a particular era of film music without someone telling the listener that it is made to sound like that. With high quality sound design, clever layering of sounds and instrumentations, the melody of the song walks elegantly on the thin line between old and contemporary sound.

“Modhi Vilayadu” is the soundtrack that I have been listening the most to. To enjoy this soundtrack, first thing one must understand is that, in film music we cannot expect Hariharan to do a ‘Waqt par bolna’. It is music for a Saran film which obviously is going to be a masala entertainer and what we should look forward to is the amount of freshness they bring to same collection of songs that one gets to listen in such movies.

Colonial cousins (Hariharan and Leslie Lewis) have succeeded with flying colours in bringing a fresh and youthful energy to otherwise routine romantic songs (and of course with great help from Vairamuthu). The genuine melody that prevails in each and every song irrespective of its genre and pace, the unique blend of various genres of music, orchestration, layering all make this soundtrack a big winner. A must buy. But contrary to what I thought, Saran hasn’t split up with Bharadwaj; they are again coming together for Saran next movie “Asal” starring Ajith.

I can’t stop humming the lines “Yennai yenna seithai pennae, neram kaalam maranthanae” in ‘Oru Devathai’ song from “Vaamanan”. The emotional depth of the melody in those lines proves what Yuvan Shankar Raja is really capable of.

Pasanga Movie

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Do yourself a favour, Go, Watch Pasanga NOW. The wholesome Entertainer of the Year.

Pokkisham Soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Cheran’s filmography can be easily seen as pre-Autograph and post-Autograph. Post Autograph, whatever he does, whether it is good or bad, there is a certain amount of earnestness, sincerity and passion in it which I like very much. He is now concentrating on every technical aspect of film making like cinematography, casting, and production design to elevate the core emotional impact of his narrative. The one department which indeed got great amount of Cheran’s attention is music, which was there even before Autograph, but in those movies songs were mere fillers but now Cheran treats the songs as a part of the narrative through which he tries to cover an episode of his screenplay.

Cheran gets closer the scripts demands as in 'Pokkisham', there is bangla song interpersed with Tamil lyrics as the male protagonist lives in Calcutta. The female Protagonist Nadira, who is a student of Tamil literature addresses her lover as ‘Seyyul’, ‘Ilakkanam’, ‘Thirukkul’, ‘Natrinai’ (thank god for these lines being sung by a Tamil singer). There are 4 songs that fill the soundtrack using the same melody like a motif expressing the thoughts and emotions of the protagonist in the journey of his life throughout the movie.

Perfectly blending with Cheran’s vision is the composer duo Sabesh-Murali, who with Pokkisham soundtrack proved yet again that with a good amount of push from the director they can come up with songs that would make up a good movie soundtrack (not essentially a hit music album). Lyricist Yuga Bharathi has worked hard to translate chapters of the story into poetry and he has succeeded to a great extent.

The only problem in the soundtrack is the slow songs that are meant to be emotional, sad and make people cry. They are not punchy enough. Just by stretching end note of each and every phrase, a melody cannot evoke sadness. These songs sound more sentimental than sensitive or emotional.

Yet, Pokkisham definitely is a good movie soundtrack, which would appeal better after watching the movie. If the movie is good, people will definitely go back home and put this CD on to relive those moments as they did with Autograph and Thavamai Thavmirundhu.

Live Film Music Concerts

noreply@blogger.com (P.S. Suresh Kumar) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:39:00 +0000

A live music concert is meant for the listeners to experience a piece of music by watching the synergy of the musicians play and singers sing in absolute concentration and dedication to reach a point of divinity through music. A good live performance is one in which the performers are able to take the audience along to that divine point and liberate them into a Nirvana. What a true music lover would want in a concert is so simple, music in its purest form. No laser lights, no background dancers, no anchors, no gimmicks, all we want is music, just music. Though the technicalities or theories of music are tough for someone to master to be able to create, it is fairly simple to enjoy music. Is today’s film music suitable for such live music concerts?

Rarely songs have a live orchestration these days. As the song itself is not being recorded in one take with a live orchestra, the compositions now have become difficult for singers to perform live convincingly. With lot of overdubbing, same voice singing in multiple layers, robotized voices, artificial loops and sounds in songs these days, it is impossible to bring the same effect as we hear in the record on stage. I don’t demean the songs without live orchestration but just that they are not meant for live performances. Music was primarily a performing art and with such film songs where anything and everything goes, it no more is.

But inspite of all this irreproducible orchestration, a singer can make listening to the song a miraculous experience just by singing the song right - Right in diction, right in expression, right in musicality. With almost every such film music concerts happening with minus one tracks and instrumentalist pretending to be playing something, we totally have to rely on a singer who can faithfully reproduce the original composition as it is, with or without improvisations.

These days’ new singers find it easy in the recording studio as there are far too many technologies to cover their mistakes but when it comes to live concerts they fail miserably. Poor breath control, going off-pitch, forgetting the lyrics and insanity in the name of improvising is common these days. The singers who come to sing in talent hunt shows are far better. As that is a platform for proving their caliber, they try hard and make no mistakes. But once they become singers, they don’t have to prove anyone and perform with less concentration and seriousness.

Here are few of the best live music concerts I relish watching