Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Music Review (Tamil): Meyaadha Maan

Music Review (Tamil): Meyaadha Maan
Music Composer: Santosh Narayanan and Pradeep Kumar

Thangachi song treads on the familiar Santosh Narayanan's sound cues and except for the brilliant bassline throughout the song, the track for most of the parts is a dreary listen. Anthony Daasan's limited vocal range brings down the song further. Apart from the surprising guitar strums and piano keys, the song has very less to offer. Pradeep Kumar composes the blissful Enna Naan Seiven and the soft rock laden track has irresistible Santosh Narayanan flavor to it. Composer employed brilliant guitar strums and the pause in the interlude before Kalyani Nair's humming gives reverberating effect. Pradeep sings the song also and the rendition is top notch as usual.

Santosh Narayanan comes with a quirky Address Song- S Madhu and the composer nails both the arrangements as well as the singing portion. Though the lyrics sound pedestrian, the amusing tone of the song gels well with the track. The minimalistic rhythm portions work to the song favor, however, composer tries hard for the intoxicating tone in the interludes. Area Gaana brings back to the Santosh Narayanan's debut film Attakathi and Ka Ka Bala sounds astoundingly similar to Gaana Bala. The tune fails to engage the listener and SaNa's template sounds to be overused and becomes wearisome listen.

Megamo Aval rides mainly on the soulful rendition of Pradeep Kumar and Ananthu while Santosh Narayanan weaves his magic in the arrangements with his serene piano and synth backdrop. The brilliantly tuned anupallavi and the classical flute in the interludes linger on the listener's mind even after the song ends. Santosh Narayanan brings back Dhee after Irudhi Suttru and hands her once again brilliant string dominated song Rathna Katti. The strings sections are an absolute delight to listen and the singer's idiosyncratic vocals able lift the appeal of the song. Though the song may not be an instant chartbuster, the brilliance in the arrangements deserves repeated listen. Pradeep Kumar ends the soundtrack with Nee Mattum Podhum where retro tune meets rock flavored arrangements. The funky arrangements are backed by lovely rendition by Sid Sriram and Thanks to Pradeep for using Sid's vocals for a different kind of tune. Dharshana KT supports the singer effectively.

Verdict: Santosh Narayanan and Pradeep Kumar deliver a classy set of melodies for Meyaadha Maan and the melodies work much better than Santosh Narayanan's quirky tracks.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Enna Naan Seiven, Rathna Katti, Address Song, Nee Mattum Podhum, Meghamo Aval

P.S You can listen to the songs in Saavn.





Saturday, September 23, 2017

Music Review (Kannada): Dalapathi

Music Review (Kannada): Dalapathi
Music Composer: Charan Raj

Early morning starts off with the gibberish sounds and follows into typical Kannada high-octane song and it's very surprising that this song is composed by Charan Raj. The only highlight being the brief Nadhaswaram sound and the tune is easily cakewalk for Vijay Prakash. The soundtrack turns slightly better with Gunu Gunuva backed by lovely Nelson's violins in the background and Guitar strums. Sindhuri Vishal steals the show with her terse husky vocals towards the end. Wah Re Wah with its Islamic style music in the background is adequately engaging mainly due to splendid rendition by Vijay Prakash and the classical guitar in the interlude is the brilliant touch from the composer. Yaarige Beku Ee Preethi is a short track sounds like an almost continuous melancholy version of Wah Re Wah mainly due to rhythm structure. The affecting violin is the highlight of this short track. Ishq Dishq is an another average techno sounds laden track which is hardly interesting despite all the pretentious arrangements. The title song starts off well with the folk prelude but soon treads on the familiar path but able to clasp the listeners due to Ananya Bhat's vocals and energetic background.

Verdict: After inventive tracks in GBSM and Pushpaka Vimana, Charan settles down to commercial soundtrack with mixed results.

My Rating:7/10

Pick of the Album: Wah Re Wah, Gunu Gunuva

P.S You can listen to the songs in Saavn.




Saturday, September 9, 2017

Music Review (Tamil): Spyder

Music Review (Tamil): Spyder
Music Composer: Harris Jayaraj

Boom Boom's tune is a usual Harris Jayaraj material, but the mild Eastern flavoured background and the alluring sounds throughout the songs with Keba Jeremiah's racing guitar strums do wonders. Nikhita Gandhi owns this song with the right attitude and the song is an engaging listen despite treads on the familiarity zone and Karky's lyrics make it an interesting song till it lasts. Ciciliya Ciciliya is fairly good melody backed by guitar laden arrangements and Harris throws his gibberish sounds for the chorus. The percussion rhythms in the background gel well with the chorus while particularly loved the classical tinged brief moment by Sakthishree which is accompanied by mild classical flute by Jayanth. Overall, a lovely melody which is sung well by Haricharan and Sakthishree.

Aali Aali falls into the predictable groove and the tune sounds to be outdated while Brijesh Tripati Sandilya, Harini and Jogi Sunitha pump up the energy to this song. Harris channels his Andangakka sounds in the charanam portions effectively. However, the song is an engaging one, thanks to the lovely Manoj's solo violin and Seenu's Mridangam in the second interlude. Otrai Iravukai's absurd rhyming lyrics and fangled rendition by Pravin Saivi and Christopher Stanley aside, the track is a decent one from Harris and Sathya Prakash owns the second half with his semi-classical second half. Though the switch to classical stuff sounds discordant, Harris makes up with neat arrangements throughout the song. Spyder On Mission sticks to the composer's latest penchant for Techno sounds and the short track is adequate background material and fails to make an impact as a standalone theme.

Verdict: Harris Jayaraj's dependable sounds throughout the soundtrack and the tracks are engaging one despite borders on the familiarity.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Ciciliya Ciciliya, Boom Boom, Aali Aali




Thursday, September 7, 2017

Music Review (Tamil): Sathya

Music Review (Tamil): Sathya
Music Composer: Simon K King

Kadhal Project's main drawback is the tune treading on the familiar territory as well as quite an uninspiring tune despite being an energetic one and sung sprightly by Benny Dayal. However, composer made the other elements in the song interesting with Keerthana Vaidyanath's classical tinges and splendid drums and solo violin by Vasanth David and Akshay Ganesh respectively. Yavvana is the brilliant stuff from te composer, semi-classical melody builds upon the rock base with brilliant Kalyani Nair showcasing her prowess while surprisingly Yazin Nizar sounds off track in the pallavi portions. Composer's stupendous arrangements with Vasanth David's drums and Vikram's Tabla make this one song of the soundtrack.

Sangu is the generic high octane rock track and the tune hardly turns into an interesting zone while the inclusion of Kuthu in the grungy rock track doesn't help the song much either. Godfrey Immanuel's guitar work being the solo highlight in this track. The song's area version has the same arrangements with Karky's lyrics replaced by Rokesh but that doesn't make the track better one. Yavvana's reprise version gains a lot from the beautiful semi classical melody and the minimal arrangements add charm to its allure. The melancholic version of the same tune works exceptionally mainy for the Keerthana Vaidyanathan's earnest vocals and decent support by Yazin Nizar. Srivatsa's woodwinds set the mood of the song perfectly in the interludes Simon King ends the soundtrack with the brilliant In search of Satya theme and the santoor touches are the absolute highlight apart from the curious mood set by the string sections. Overall fitting theme track for the crime thriller.

Verdict: Simon K  King's third album is the most promising work from the composer with ample support from the lead singers.

My Rating:7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Yavvana, In search for Sathya, Kadhal Project


Saturday, September 2, 2017

Music Review (Tamil): Thiruttu Payale 2

Music Review (Tamil): Thiruttu Payale 2
Music Composer: Vidyasagar

Nee Paarkum works beautifully with the breezy guitar laden backgrounds and Sathyaprakash doing wonders with his vocals. Vidyasagar's laid back melody is adequately engaging and the tune in the Charanam portions are a delight to listen especially the tune set with the single words accompanied by the singer's improvisations.Thiruttu Payale's sequel has much better title track when compared to the retro track in its first part. Vidyasagar's employed brilliant lazy Jazz arrangements dominated by drums and sax in the arrangements and the only grouse is the pedestrian lyrics which doesn't gel with all the flamboyant backgrounds.

Achukku Buchukku is another poorly written song where Sanjana Kalmanje's vocals being the only highlight and the tune also stays in the average range. The song gets better toward the second half but cringe-worthy lyrics makes the listener to easily press the skip button. Vidyasagar comes to his forte in the final song of the soundtrack Neenda Naal and the track ticks off every element one can associate with the composer. The semi-classical tinged melody, Karthik and Swetha Mohan's splendid vocals and brilliant Manonmani's Sarangi solos make this one easily the best song in the soundtrack.

Verdict: Vidyasagar's quality melodies continue to work effectually for this sequel and it's baffling that this composer is less in action nowadays.

My Rating:7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Neenda Naal,  Nee Paarkum

P.S you can listen to the songs in Thiruttu Payale 2