Weekly Earworm (25/12/2020)

Carvaan Lounge: Dharan Kumar: Paadadha Paattellam: Dharan Kumar recreated the MSV's iconic Paadadha Paattellam wonderfully. In the original Janaki's vocals are restricted to humming whereas here the lyrics are slightly tweaked and Nithyashree is given equal verses. Dharan effectually used the chorus and the main highlight is the way Mandolin is employed. Sathya Prakash and Nithyashree ended the song with enjoyable sargams. 

Coke Studio 2020: Sanam Marvi: Anbhol: The serene Yaman never fails and Rohail Hyatt embellishes the soulful tune with the serene arrangements flavored with the rhythmic drums and wonderful guitar solos by Nenad Gajin. Sanam Marvi's vocals are definitely the pièce de résistance of the soundtrack.

Black Coffee (Malayalam): Bijibal: Poi Maranja: The tacky VFX work aside in Poi Maranja's video, Bijibal concocts sweet jazzy track on the delicious varieties of food. Jassie gift ably delivers the rendition backed by a simple earthy tune by Bijibal.

Krack (Telugu): Thaman S: Korameesam Polisoda: Korameesam Polisoda is a refreshing composition from Thaman especially when the arrangements are dominated by string sections instead of punchy rhythms. Thaman continues to show promise with the tunes these days and loved the tinge of folk in the melody especially with Ramjogayya Sastry's lyrics. Ramya Behara's stupendous rendition works effortlessly.

Merise Merise (Telugu): Karthik Kodakandla: Kanulatho Rachinchu, Ninne Nenila: Though both the songs have nothing extraordinary to offer, the tracks are hugely listenable especially because of the lead singers Vijay Prakash-Chinmayi and Anurag Kulkarni-Lipsika respectively. The former track features lovely violin solos by Sandilya while later gains immensely from the fun tune.

P.S The songs are available as a playlist on youtube

Weekly Earworm (13/12/2020)

Banarasiya (Hindi/Indipop): Sooraj Santosh: Sooraj Santosh is brilliant in blending the Hindustani melody with the techno sound rhythm and Bhanavani Prasad's Mohana Veena gives the gloomy touch to the track. Insanoid's rap portions are the only sore point in this track but Sooraj's stupendous rendition makes this one worthy listen.

Durgamati (Hindi): Malini Awasthi, Naman Adhikari, Abhinav Sharma: Heer: The track benefits largely from Malini Awasthi's punch vocals and the concoction of sounds in the background topped by Zeeshan Abbas's Sarangi. Though the techno sounds dominate in some portions, the track is nicely done overall by the composers. The track ends with a pulsating Sitar solo by Naveen Mishra.

Ghibran Spiritual Series : Ghibran: Kancha Dalaayatakshi: Muthuswami Dikshithar's Kamala Manohari based Kancha Dalaayatakshi is an inherently beautiful tune and Spoorthi Rao excels in renditioning it impeccably with her punchy vocals. One wishes that Ghibran utilizes her vocals in any of his albums. Ghibran kept the arrangements simple dominated by percussion rhythms and string sections towards the end.

Kabadadaari (Tamil): Simon K King: Hayakki Baby: Kabadadaari's Kannada version is composed by Charan Raj and Hayakki baby should be equivalent of Jazzy Khaali Khaali Aniso. Simon King switched to Middle Eastern sound and the tracks work wonderfully especially with Sanah Moidutty's vocals despite the patchy rap portions by Krishan Maheson. Watch out for the pleasant oud solo by Xenai.

Coke Studio 2020: Yaqeen by Wajiha Naqvi: Yaqeen is a beautifully done meditative piece especially the taranas for the initial one minute. The lovely interplay between Wajiha and the chorus along with the rock rhythm comes together magically results in the addictive track from Coe studio.

Seethayana (Kannada): Padmanabh Bharadwaj: Sanje Gagana: Sanje Gagana works mainly because of the phenomenal singing by Swetha Mohan while Bharadwaj's semi-classical tune props up the song effectually. The tune turns much better with the tongue-twisting charanam portions and fabulous violin solos in the interludes.

Maara (Tamil): Ghibran: Oh Azhage: Ghibran's Maara sounds more like a composer returning to his form after a long slumber and the three tracks have a lilting feel with the soundscape. Oh Azhage with its punchy rhythm and the ambient sounds while Benny Dayal easily hits his high musical notes which works to the song's favor. Thamarai is in her stellar form throughout the soundtrack as usual.

Mudhal Nee Mudivum nee (Tamil): Darbuka Siva: Kaatrilae: Darbuka Siva released the second song from his directorial debut and as he mentioned in the composer note, the song sounds more like a 90's pop tribute and also evokes his latest composition Visiri especially the guitar riffs. The brass sounds are employed more beautifully especially when it is played along with the charanam. 

P.S You can listen to the song in Youtube