Music Review (Tamil): House Owner

Music Review (Tamil): House Owner
Music Composer: Ghibran

Nayaname Nayaname is the beautifully layered melody replete with Nadhaswaram and Thavil and the arrangements have the retro swing to it especially in the interludes. Santhaprakash aces the vocals crooning the Madhan Karky's charming lyrics which goes like 'Undhan Aganda Aganda vizhi, yendhan irunda ulagin oLi'. Saayamal Saigindra arrangements also have the retro flavour with the dominant jazzy laid back tune which Benny Dayal croons to perfection. Though the tune takes its own time to get its groove, the background is a delight to listen with the gentle percussion adorned by snappy brass sections which shows up intermittently along with the keys. Ghibran ends the short soundtrack with the irresistible Neeyagave delivered stupendously by Sathyaprakash and Chinmayi. Ghibran adorns the song with the soothing arrangements backed by Tabla rhythm and wonderful flute solos while Chinamyi's splendid rendition makes this one best of the lot.

Verdict: Ghibran continues to churn out the lovely tracks with alarming consistency from his debut album and House owner is not an exception, short and sweet soundtrack from the talented composer.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Neeyagave, Nayaname Nayaname

P.S You can listen to the soundtrack in Youtube.

Weekly Earworms - Week 3 - 20/04/2019

Anthony Daasan (Tamil): Yaendi Unakku Nyaayama: The latest single composed and sung by Anthony Daasan along with Kavitha is a boisterous ride with the sprightly brass sections and Mohanrajan's amusing lyrics complement well with the fun tune conceived by Anthony. 

7Up gig - Season 2(Tamil): Sean Roldan: Romba Kadupethura: The Season 2 gets more interesting with the funky rock fusion song where Sean Roldan's amusing lyrics is an undeniable winner especially around the title hook Kalakshetra Romba Kadupethura and Paambu Pottu. The arrangements are equally outlandish with Nikhil's splendid Sax work steals the show in the interludes.

Devarattam (Tamil): Nivas K Prasanna: Pasappukkali: Nivas K Prasanna fares better in the second track from the album and the track benefits largely from the intriguing words in the Mohanrajan's verses while the modish outlook of the arrangements hugely backed up by Manikandan's bass guitar. Nivas K Prasanna, Vijay Antony and Alex Samuel Jenito ably prod the song with the vocals.

Adutha Saattai (Tamil): Justin Prabhakaran: Enga Kaiyila: Justin Prabhakaran replaces Imman for the fairly successful Saattai and the first song from the movie has the shades of Joker's Ennanga Sir unga Sattam both in terms of rhythm, tune as well as the political lyrics by Yugabharathi. Chellankuppam Subramaniyam shines with his rustic vocals but Lady Kash's rap sounds far fetched for the soundscape.

House Owner (Tamil): Ghibran: Neeyagave: Ghibran comes up with the sweeping lovely composition and Chinmayi's mesmerising vocals adds further charm to the beautiful tune. Ghibran adorns the song with the soothing arrangements backed by Tabla rhythm and wonderful flute solos. Hopefully, the extended version of the song will be released with the complete soundtrack.

Amar (Kannada): Arjun Janya: Summane Heege Ninnane: Arjun Janya ropes his favourite Sonu Nigam and Shreya Goshal for the pleasing melody and which works beautifully with the sweeping string sections in the backdrop.

Lucifer (Malayalam): Deepak Dev : Empurane: Deepak Dev's Empurane is the only listenable track in the Lucifer and the credit goes to the splendid singing by Usha Uthup while the arrangements complements the mood of the tune with the thrilling soundscape. 

Music Review (Telugu): Jersey

Music Review (Telugu): Jersey
Music Composer: Anirudh Ravichander

Adhento Gaani Vunnapaatuga's rousing tune is complemented by wonderful arrangement beefed up by the chorus portions and string sections which gives the song splendid soundscape. Sajith Satya's bass line and Anirudh's singing jazzed up easily especially when he goes 'Velugulaina velisipoyene'. An overall wonderful start to the album.Spirit of jersey is expectedly anthemic one and the tune sticks to the genre's formula, the punching rhythm, sprightly singing and the thumping percussion sounds. The arrangements in the interludes make this one an enjoyable listening experience, especially with the Ananthakrishnan's violin solos. Kaala Bhairava explosive singing adds enough gravitas to the song.

The pièce de résistance of the soundtrack is undeniably Padhe Padhe where Shakthishree is killing it when the tune goes as 'Padhe Padhe' and the singer's hypnotic singing is out of the world. Anirudh's colloquial singing perfectly complements it. The dreamy flavour of the tune starts with the wave sounds in the prelude and stunning soundscape, especially around the title hook and subdued flute bit in Brodha's rap makes this one easily the best song in the soundtrack. Prapanchame Alaa is completely Shashaa Tirupati's show and the synth-dominated soundscape perfectly fits the bill. Inno Genga's vocals are beautifully interspersed behind Shashaa's lead vocals. The more awesomeness followed by Keba Jeremiah's classical guitar show in the interludes. The tune turns more beautiful with the classically inclined charanam where Shashaa reaches high in ' Prathi Kshanamu Brathuku Oka Jagadame'. Anirudh ends the soundtrack with the melancholy Needa Padadhani where the mix of gloominess and angst is expressed both in terms of Darshan Raval's singing as well as Keba's screeching guitar strums in the interludes.

Verdict: Anirudh hits right out of the park in his second Telugu film after Agnyathavaasi and Ananthakrishnan combination with Anirudh continues to give splendid result in the overall soundtrack quality of the composer.

My Rating: 9/10

Pick of the Album: Padhe Padhe, Prapanchame Ala, Adhento Gaani Vunnapaatuga.

P.S You can listen to the songs in JioSaavn

Weekly Earworms - 2 (14/04/2019)

NGK(Tamil): YuvanShankar Raja: Thandalkaaran: YuvanShankar Raja joins hands with Selvaraghavan after Nenjam Marappathillai for the political thriller movie NGK. The first single movie reflects the theme evidently with the Kabilan's relatable lyrics. Yuvan Shankar Raja ensures that the track is hummable and punchy enough with catchy rhythm to accompany the tune. Ranjith croons the song effortlessly.

Dear Comrade (Tamil): Justin Prabhakaran: Aagasa Veedu kattum: The first single from the Vijay Devarakonda starrer dropped in and it's not the Sid Sriram's beautiful Semi-classical teaser song but another lovely song sung by Gowtham Bharadwaj of Super Singer fame. The two and half minute song mainly rides on Sam Solomon's acoustic guitar and Justin provides the immersive classical twist to the track by mildly imbibing jathi bits and the tune reminds of Kadhal Ennulle from Neram.

Thumbaa (Tamil): Anirudh Ravichander: Pudhusaatam: Thumbaa is another multilingual fantasy drama film whose teaser with the composer garnered sufficient attraction and Pudhusaatam by Anirudh Ravichander is a pleasing melody where Keba rules the song with his splendid guitar while Anirudh in his colloquial best with respect to his vocals.

Devarattam(Tamil): Nivas K Prasanna: Madura Palapalakkudhu: Muthaih returns with another rural based story but with different composer this time. The seven-minute-long track is filled with the familiar vibe throughout the song but track manages to hold the listener especially for intriguing Mohanranjan narrative lyrics and Nivas's tune is strictly the assortment of heard before sounds.

7UP gig (Tamil): Dharan: Rasathi Nenja: The 7up second season has an interesting line up of young talents and Dharan comes up with the ultra-hip techno track. Dharan ropes in Yuvan Shankar Raja to croon this addictive track and kamalakar's flute is an interesting touch in the interludes.

Mr. Local (Tamil) : HipHop Tamizha: Takkunu Takkunu: The first single of Mr.Local is strictly in the forte of HipHop Tamizha and resembles his numerous songs. Anirudh aces the singing part and makes it listenable with the help of the catchy tune.

Uyare (Malayalam): Gopi Sundar: Nee Mukilo : Gopi Sundar fresh after the splendid soundtrack of Majili in Telugu, he hits right out of the park in Uyare. Nee Mukilois the pleasant lullaby where the interludes screams of Ilayaraja adn the prelude is straight out of Valaiyosai Kala Kalavena. Vijay Yesudas's best song for this year undeniably.

Oronnonnara Pranayakadha (Malayalam): Leela Girish Kuttan: Athipoovin: After Poomaram, Leela Girish Kuttan gives Karthik another beautiful semiclassical melody on Reethigowla Raga and the track has an undeniable Vidyasagar flavour to it. The strumming rhythm sets the mood for the pleasant tune effectively.

Music Review (Tamil): Kanchana 3

Music Review (Tamil): Kanchana 3
Music Composer: Assorted Composers

Nanbanukku Koila Kattu stays true to the Saravedi Saran's forte but the lyrics sound forcefully fitted to the play along tune and the background ticks off everything one can expect from the Chennai gaana song but surprisingly sounds less garish and entertaining till it lasts if one can turn back on the lyrics part. Srilanka based composer Raj Thillaiyampalam makes his Kollywood debut with Kadhal Oru Vizhiyil and Neha Venugopal effortlessly renders the pleasant melody which is likeable till it lasts. The breezy melody is backed by Saroja's Dilruba and Madhan Karky's verses. Though the tune sounds familiar, the singing and the hummable melody makes it listenable.

Kaali Kaali is straight out of Imman's familiar template and one wishes that composer Sai Bharath could have attempted for Imman's melody rather than his usual loud percussion laden punchy soundtrack. Apart from Dhivagar Santosh's energetic rendition, the track has very little to offer. Saravedi Saran comes up with another gaana track Oru Sattai Oru Balpam, filled with off-putting lyrics by the composer himself and nevertheless, the tune sufficiently serves the purpose. Srinidhi's vocals fit the bill perfectly but one truly wishes for the better lyrics. In Shake Yo body, composed by Jesse Samuel and sung by himself starts off interestingly with the casual Goan percussion but soon spirals down into techno song which fails to hit the right note. The arrangements are patchy especially with respect to the interludes and rhythm. The tune also meanders randomly, especially in the charanam portions.The multi-composer soundtrack ends with the mandatory high octane song of Muni/Kanchana series and Rudra Kaali is no different with the loud templatized track where Renjith Unni, Pavan and Velu tries hard to engage with their sprightly rendition.

Verdict: Raghava Lawrence's Multi-composer attempt for Kanchana 3 backfires compared to Kanchana2 where Leon James and Thaman delivered exceptional tracks for this genre. This one lacks even a single memorable song from the set of six composers.

My Rating: 5/10

Pick of the Album: Kaadhal Oru Vizhiyil