Music Review (Malayalam): Angamaly Diaries

Music Review (Malayalam): Angamaly Diaries
Music Composer: Prashant Pillai

Lijo's penchant for brass is evident with brilliant PamPara Paa in Amen and Angamaly in Angamaly Diaries. Angamaly's high octane brass band arrangements mixed with native folk vocals of Angamaly Pranchi is foot tapping at best, though it falls a tad behind the Amen track. Ayalathe is a most interesting composition by Prashant Pillai with the melange of sounds from the Rajesh Cherthala's Pan flute,Prakash Ulleri's Harmonium and deftly placed knocking and other assorted sounds throughout the song. Theeyame is another folk traditional song brimming with native flavour while both arrangements and singers stay true to the tune. The exuberant brass sections and Angamaly Pranchi returns back in Thana Dhina and the result is alluring as the previous song. The charming melodic track Do Naina's 5 versions seems to be overkill, however, the beauty of the tune and exquisite waltzy arrangements highlighted by piano makes up for the grouses. Preethi Pillai and Shreekumar Vakkiyil nails the beautiful tune with the vocals in their respective versions.

Verdict: Lijo- Prashant Pillai combo continues to enchant the music lovers with their curious soundscape after Amen and Double Barrel.

My Rating:8/10

Pick of the Album: Do Naina, Angamaly, Ayalathe

Music Review (Kannada): Happy New Year

Music Review (Kannada): Happy New Year
Music Composer: Raghu Dixit

Adda Bidde Madessa's buoyant rhythms and intricate violin solos come off as a winsome combination complementing the composer's vocals in a pitch-perfect manner. The tune is typical Raghu Dixit's one and also enjoyable throughout the song. Badhuke Neenantha Nataka benefits largely from the Kapil Nair's sincere rendition while Raghu Dixit's string-laden gloomy backgrounds sounds apt for the melancholy. Composer ends the track in a splendid manner transcending from classical touch to rock crescendo. Sa re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni's cheerful guitar laden soundscape gets a fantastic vocal support from Nakul Abhyankar while Raghu Dixit's backgrounds continue to be engaging throughout the song especially blissful second interlude. Kaurava's high energy kuthu and Master Vishwas's singing is the holding factor in an otherwise passable song. Preetiya Hesare Neenu's minimal guitar led arrangements is soothing in the vocals of Raghu Dixit. Raghu Dixit ends the soundtrack with mass friendly as well as mediocre party anthem which fails to excite the listeners.

Verdict: Raghu Dixit's sophomore feature album strikes the chord and the soundtrack is thoroughly enjoyable except for the couple of songs.

My Rating: 7.75/10

Pick of the Album: Badhuke Neenantha Nataka, Adda Bidd Madessa, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni

Music Review (Telugu): Winner

Music Review (Telugu): Winner
Music Composer: Thaman

Suyaa Suyaa's cringe worthy pedestrian lyrics aside, the template of the song is threadbare one with hardly any interesting elements in both arrangements as well as the tune. The song reminds of the multitude of similar compositions, one can come across in any Telugu album. Anurag Kulkarni and Suma Kanakala's vocals provide respite in an otherwise passable opening song of the album. Sitara Sitara is no different from Thaman's pleasing compositions, but the song has a lot of elements to like for and makes Sitara easily listenable one in the album. The song gains highly from the vocal support of Yazin Nizar, who gets to croon one enjoyable melody in most of the Telugu albums. The flute hook is the catchy one which Thaman used effectively.
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Pichonne Aiyipoya is a harmless techno dominated track with the mix of Telugu and Hindi lyrics while Thaman's autotuned vocals continue to hamper the listener's mood.It's difficult to discern the vocals of the three lead singers Deepak, Christopher Stanley and Sai Charan. The peppy dance track works considerably well mainly because of foot tapping tune although treads on the familiar zone.Bhajrangabali has a string of singers lead by MLR Karthik and the tune, as well as arrangements, are adequately revolutionary complementing the inspirational lyrics invoking Che Guevera. Though the song stays low key throughout, there is a lovely pleasant brief transition towards the end of the track. Overall, an engaging song which needs visual to create an impact on the listeners.Naa B C Centerlu as apparent from the song title, is the mandatory mass number which seems to be inevitable in any commercial Telugu albums. Surprisingly, the usage of percussions are kept at an acceptable level and lovely usage of guitar strums for the song of this genre. Nakash Aziz breezes through the song effectively while Sharmila aptly supports him. Compared to other songs. this song features an interesting usage of instruments.

Verdict: Minimum guarantee soundtrack from Thaman and he continue to deliver what expected out of the commercial composer in Telugu Industry.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Pick of the Album: Sitara Sitara, Naa B C Centerlu, Pichonne Ayipoya

Music Review (Tamil) : Mupparimanam

Music Review (Tamil) : Mupparimanam
Music Composer: GV Prakash Kumar

Sokki Poraandi is a pleasing folk-tinged melody and GV Prakash's orchestration are aptly soothing flows in tandem with the melody of the song. Composer effectively utilised the percussions throughout the song and managed to blend the foot tapping percussions without ruining the pleasant melody part. Al Rufian and Maalavika Sundar ably support with the vocals.Kannodu Kannodu starts off well with the Satyaprakash displaying his singing prowess but soon mired into the bland EDM template and even singer also unable to salvage the languishing tune. The auto tuning of Satyaprakash's vocals makes him sound like the composer himself. 

GV Prakash strikes a chord with an absolute winner in the soundtrack in the form of Uyirile Uyirile. The composer propped the breezing semi-classical melody with the impressive usage of ghatam throughout the song and the classical violin and flute in the interludes are the splendid piece from the composer. The tune is a cake-walk for Vijay Prakash and the man nails the singing portion as always.Yaar Ivano has the weaker tune accompanied by the tepid techno sounds in the background while Santosh Hariharan, brief violin solos and the rock-tinged guitar riffs make up for the weaker tune to some extent. However, this song is an underwhelming work from the composer.Let's go Party, once again dives into uninteresting techno dominated track while Varun Parandhaman's vocals and MC vickey's  rap portions salvage this uninspiring song. The EDM sounds transcending into kuthu towards the end are perfunctory and fails to elevate the level of the song.

Verdict: GV Prakash's Mupparimanam is strong in melodies with an absolute gem in the form of Uyirile whereas EDM tracks are disappointing affair from the composer.

My Rating: 7/10

Pick of the Album: Uyirile Uyirile, Sokki Poraandi

Music Review (Tamil): Kavan

Music Review (Tamil): Kavan
Music Composer: Hip Hop Tamizha

Happy New Year has a saleable energetic T Rajendar vocals behind the mic and the man steals the show with his verve as always while the tune remains the mediocre level. Hip Hop Tamizha enrich the average tune with Balasubramani's Nadhaswaram but the song stays as a passable one rides mainly on the foot tapping beats and energy level of the singer. Oxygen is the breezy melody with right amounts of Hip Hop Tamizha's typical tune sung well by Hip Hop Tamizha and Sudharshan Ashok. Composer made the consistently engaging background for the song with Krishna Kishor's Tabla in the second interlude being the highlight.

Kabilan Vairamuthu's quirky lyrics along with Maxwell Rajan's Trumpet in the interludes and consistent eerie jazz background makes this one a worthy listen. Kaber Vasuki breezes through the song with right attitude despite the auto tuning turn off the listeners at few instances and composer makes up for that with the pleasing arrangements.Theeradha Vilyattu Pillai is the incongruous mix of classical, western and folk elements for the Mahakavi Bharathiyar's verses. The classical vocals by Padmalatha and the corresponding arrangements come off as a winsome one, however, sadly same cannot be said about Hip Hop Tamizha's vocals while Anthony Daasan's folk elements fared better relatively. The shift between each section appears to be abrupt.Boomerang is the another routine Hip Hop Tamizha track which lacks the memorable tune as well as arrangements. The lead singer vocal becomes the overkill for the album which has 4 songs out of 5 with Hip Tamizha's vocals. Nikita Gandhi, Velmurugan and Kaushiki's vocals also didn't help the mediocre song much.

Verdict: Hip Hop Tamizha plays to his strength in Kavan and the composer's few experiments didn't work as expected which makes Kavan partially engaging work from the composer.

My Rating : 7/10

Pick of the Album: Oxygen, Madhurangalam, Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai

Music Review (Tamil): Yaman

Music Review (Tamil): Yaman
Music Composer: Vijay Antony

Yem Mela kai vacha gaali is a tedious listen, largely owing to the monotonous tune and Annamalai's pedestrian lyrics doesn't help either while Vijay Antony spruces up the proceedings with his vocals and tinge of jazz in the arrangements. However as a whole, this song stays low-key one in the album. Damelo Damelo has an interesting prelude hook and composer utilises in a much better way while Saranya aces the singing part with her earnest energetic rendition. Though the song has nothing much to offer musically, singer and tune make this one passable listen and helps to sail through unscathed.

Kadavul Ezhudhum rides mainly on the lead singer vocals especially Janani Iyer's effortless rendition, however languishing tune by the composer is a great let down and the arrangements are monotonous except for the brief violin solo in the second interlude Sigaram Chella's orchestration is grand and anthemic filled with string sections similar to every song of this genre. The short under 3 minutes song ends majorly as background'sh material rather than as a song. The singers made the song afloat till it ends.Neeye Thaniyai is an another optimistic piece by Vijay Antony and the song fared much better due to its congruous tune and string-laden arrangements. Jagadeesh scores well with his energetic rendition and composer makes this 3 minutes song with an engaging orchestration.

Verdict: Vijay Antony's Yaman is highly generic one without any interesting elements to offer both musically and lyrically.

My Rating: 6/10

Pick of the Album: Neeye Thaniyai

Music Review (Tamil): Dora

Music Review (Tamil): Dora
Music Composer : Vivek-Mervin

Enga Pora's breezy guitar laden melody is an adequately engaging one with lilting chorus sections and the heard before feel is difficult to shrug off. Vivek Merwin, however, scores easily with the nifty touches in the interludes packed with competent Carnatic style string sections and Kanjira touches is a winsome one while Mervin Solomon's competent singing makes it worthwhile listen.  Vaazhavudu's background is crammed with foot tapping beats, Keba Jeremiah's guitar strums topped with curious sounds in the interludes and Vignesh Shivan's free flowing lyrics aids the song, however the tune lies in the weaker side comparatively. Vivek Siva and Sanjana lifts the song with the splendid attitude in their vocals.

Ra Ra is an interesting song from Vivek- Merwin and the composers mix the panting sounds adeptly with the peculiar synthesised sounds throughout the song. Anirudh Ravichander complements the tempo of the song with the punchy vocals and the melody structure reminds of Veera Vinayaka from Vedhalam, however, the singer makes this on engaging one with a lot of support from Keba Jeremiah.
Break Loose, thriller themes are difficult to envisage without the haunting piano keys as a base and Break loose has the steady persistent key rhythm topped with gibberish humming sounds. Vivek Merwin creates the atmospheric sound effectually. Run Baby Run starts off interestingly but ends up being the mediocre techno dominated song with forgettable rap portions. The Evil within, another techno sound dominated theme track, sounds far interesting mainly due to the eccentric vocal sample. Composer builds the theme track exceptionally well around that unconventional vocal. The piano base returns again in Ssearch for the truth with the tinge of melancholy humming accompanied by the brief violin solo. Composer ends the theme with the variant of Enga Pora Dora. Composer duo ends the soundtrack with This is it theme, most grandly orchestrated theme track and also falls in the generic category.

Verdict: Vivek - Mervin scored the hattrick of sorts in Dora after Vadacurry and Pugazh. Composer duo's songs are consistently engaging and competent one.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Enga Pora Dora, Evil within, Ra Ra Ra

Music Review (Tamil): Sathriyan

Music Review (Tamil): Sathriyan
Music Composer: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Yuvan Shankar Raja starts off the album with the passable folk tune Sooda oru Sooriyan, however, the arrangements feature an alluring combination of folk percussions and mandolin strums in the interludes. The harmonies by Senthildass, Sam and Bellyraj gave perfunctory support to the stupendous rendition of Deepak crooning the conversational lyrics of Vivek. The ghatam touches in the prelude evocates the memories of Ilayaraja's yesteryear songs.Paarai Melae's string-laden orchestration is impressive for the melodious number and Yuvan added the gratifying Tabla base while more awesomeness awaits in the second interlude in the form of Devi's Veena. The only grouse being the Yuvan Shankar Raja's singing and it may not work for all and the song ends abruptly.

In Maina Rendu, Yuvan Shankar Raja's arrangements, as well as tune, complements the affecting lyrics of Vairamuthu. Vijay Yesudas shines with the emotional rendition while composer's busy rhythms in the background along with the gloomy flute pieces in the interludes make this one worthy listen in the album.Sathriyan in action theme is a pedestrian one which fails to elevate the mood of the listener within two minutes and the synthesised sound in the first half is the enjoyable bit from the composer.

Verdict: Yuvan Shankar Raja opens his 2017 account with the short impactful album where the composer's striking arrangement outdo the tunes.

My Rating: 7/10

Pick of the album: Maina Rendu, Paarai Mele

Music Review (Hindi): Raees

Music Review (Hindi): Raees
Music Composer: Ram Sampath and Jam8

Laila Main Laila, remix of the Kalyanji Anandji's famous song in Qurbani and the song works mainly for an inherently enjoyable tune layered by wonderful Ed Gibson Trumpets along with  Pawni Pandey's engaging vocals. Jam8's Zaalimaa has the familiar Pritam's vibe attached to it and it's no surprise that Jam 8's Pritam association pays off well at least with respect to this song. The faux qawwali is adequately engaging and the main credit goes to the effectual rendition by Arijit Singh and Harshdeep Kaur. Ram Sampath saves the languishing soundtrack with the splendid fusion Udi Udi  Jaaye and the melange of sounds, especially Tapas Roy's, mandolin are pleasant to hear while superlative vocals by Sukhwinder Singh and Bhoomi Trivedi easily lift the song to the better level. The Gujarati touch in the second interlude is a nice touch from the composer. Dhingana's punch Marathi folk touch is rather run of the mill one and has very less to offer musically while Mika Singh tried hard to make the song interesting but turns out to be a futile attempt. Ram Sampath shines in another enticing fusion attempt of mixing the electronic base sound and exotic tribal sounds. The transition between electronic base and African percussion sounds work seamlessly with ample support from the composer itself behind the mic and chorus by Tarannum Malik. Saanson Ke has also morphed version of Pritam's template by Jam8 and KK's singing lifts the song to a certain extent but the end result is not so positive. Ram Sampath delivered another heady Gujarati folk song Ghammar and the sprightly tune along with the splendid rendition by Roshan Rathod makes it the worthy listen.

Verdict: Ram Sampath shines with the engaging fusion sounds while Jam8's safe Pritam sound didn't help the soundtrack much.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Udi Udi Jaaye, Enu Naam Che Raees, Ghammar

Music Review(Hindi): Rangoon

Music Review(Hindi): Rangoon
Music Composer: Vishal Bhardwaj

Bloody hell is a delightful riot from Vishal and Sunidhi Chauhan's swag in vocals gives life to the song while Vishal uses pauses impressively and the vocals fill the void perfectly. The backgrounds arrangements sway in the perfect Jazz world created by Vishal and the sounds from blaring trumpets to rising string section has its charm on its own. Yeh Ishq Hai's tune and arrangements are Vishal Baradwaj's territory and the composer hardly misses the strike and this one is no different. Stupendous composition complimented well by Arijit Singh while interludes are brilliant one from the composer dominated by flute and the lovely santoor strains. Sigh!! Soulful composition from the splendid composer. Rekha Baradwaj upped the beauty of the song in the female version of Yeh Ishq hai with her classical improvisations while composer complimented the style with harmonium and Tabla in the arrangements.

Mere Miya Gaye England is another amusing composition from Vishal and Rekha aces with her idiosyncratic vocals. Vishal Baradwaj's arrangement proficiency is apparent in Tap Tap where the composer brilliantly mixes chugging train and the sweeping violin sections. Sukhwinder Singh, Rekha Baradwaj and Sunidhi produce a crackling song with their alluring vocals. Ek dooni Do's buoyant Salsa beats and the frolic arrangements make an enticing combo while Rekha Baradwaj vocal is a delight to listen as always. Vishal brilliantly utilises European flavoured arrangements dominated by Spanish guitar riffs, accordion and ugh violin solos. Blisss!!  Vishal handover another immersive trademark tune of the composer to Arijit and the man does wonder with the vocal modulations while Vishal impresses in the interludes with the gloomy use of clarinet in the first interlude being the towering highlight. 

Vishal creates the brilliant atmospheric theatre sound for praising the movie's leading female character Julia and quite enthusiastic to see how this song picturised. Sukhwinder Singh brings out diverse emotions with his vocal modulations dominated by high scale sounds. Listening to Rekha Baradwaj's vocals brings an immense pleasure and plucks the musical strings in the listener's heart while Vishal continues to handover frolic song to her and the lady ace the retro tune in Chori Chori. The accordion-laden track loaded with amusing background songs makes this one interesting listen. Be still's jazz backgrounds and Dominique Cerejo's dreamy vocals gels well. Vishal's fancy for Jazz continues in Shimmy Shake with the tinge of Rock and roll touch to the song.and the showstopper is undeniably powerful vocals of Vivenne Pocha. Vishal ends the outstanding soundtrack with the pensive Rangoon Theme and the soundscape easily takes the listener to the Rangoon.

Verdict: Musical Masterpiece by Vishal Baradwaj as expected and the man's musical sounds continues to mesmerize the listeners.

My Rating: 9/10

Pick of the Album: Yeh Ishq Hai (Arijit Version). Ek Dooni Do, Tap Tap, Bloody Hell, Shimmy Shake

Music Review (Tamil): Adhe Kangal

Music Review (Tamil): Adhe Kangal
Music Composer: Ghibran

Idho Thaanaagave's pulsating rock sound mixed with the haunting eccentric sitar solos by Kishore Kumar make an enticing combination. Yazin Nizar who crooned the similar soundscape song for Ghibran in Amara Kaaviyam does wonder with this song also, although edgy at times and ably supported by Clinton Cerejo. The layering of guitar riffs and Sitar is exquisitely done in the first interlude.Ponapokil has a charming retro tune backed by Sofia chamber orchestra in the background and Ghibran mixed melange of sounds in the interludes with Thirumoorthy's Nadaswaram being a delightful highlight. Namratha and Anudeep breezes through the alluring tune effortlessly.

Thandira is an absolute winner in the soundtrack by Ghibran and the composer adorned the instantly catchy tune with an ear pleasing arrangements topped by catchy guitar strums. Leonard's whistle turns out to be a pleasant charm factor in the song. Totally immersive track crooned effortlessly by Rajan Chelliah.I Have nothing lacks an instantly addictive tune as other songs, however, Ghibran nifty programming and foot tapping rhythms in the background ably supported by Addie Nicole's husky vocals and Jah Mil's gibberish rap verses makes for an interesting listen. Ghibran rounds off the soundtrack with the tweaked version of Thandira and the theme starts off with the pleasant Leonard's whistle but reaches crescendo by adding the thriller element with the strings and other assorted sounds.

Verdict: Ghibran continues to churn out unpredictable sounds in Tamil film industry and Adhe Kangal turns out to be another keeper from the composer.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Thandira, Idho Thaanagave, Ponapokkil

Music Review (Telugu): Nenu Local

Music Review (Telugu): Nenu Local
Music Composer: DeviSri Prasad

Next Enti is the stock tune of DSP, however the songs comes off as palatable if one brushes aside the deja vu feel in the tune as well arrangements. Easily saleable tune and Sagar's vocals make this one easily sails through while Ranina Reddy's vocal seems to be an edgy one and DSP's brief melodica bit in the second interlude being the sole pleasant highlight in the arrangements front. DSP gave brilliant track after a long time with Arere Yekkada and the arrangements are soothing and pleasant with the tinge of classical beats in the interlude. The track gains a lot from Manoj's solo violin and Electric violin and Manisha Earabarthini's alluding vocals makes this one enjoyable listen. Naresh Iyer adequately supports the proceedings.

Disturb Chestha's mysterious rhythm layer amidst the blaring Babu's trumpets and guitars makes an interesting combo while Prudhvi Chandra aces the foot tapping tune energetically. Though, the initial prelude has the shades of DSP's staple music, the engaging charanam tune and arrangements make up for the heard before feel of the tune.Champesaave Nannu starts off brilliantly with Balaji's alluring violin solo, but spiralled towards the typical EDM-dominated party song, however, an Europeaneasque frolic in the second interlude is a winsome one. Overall engaging song which benefits a lot from Balaji and pretty neat vocals by Kapil and Sameera Baradwaj. Side Please is a mandatory high octane mass song and the song turns out to be dud except for the Javed Ali's vocals and foot-tapping percussions. Babu's trumpet helps the song to a certain extent but the mediocre and monotonous tune.  

Verdict: Nenu Local is Devi Sri Prasad's engaging and enjoying one in recent times without much adhering to the commercial and mass requirements of typical high budget Telugu albums.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Arere Yekkada, Champesaave Nannu, Disturb chestha

Music Review (Tamil): Shivalinga

Music Review (Tamil): Shivalinga
Music Composer: Thaman

Chinna Kabali's blaring percussions and the tried and tested tune screams Thaman's stock sounds from start till the end of the song. The rhythms are pretty much outdated and the only solace being the Shankar Mahadevan's energetic vocals. Both the pedestrian lyrics by Viveka and languishing tune by Thaman didn't work to the song's favour. Sirikka Vechu is the harmless listen and the simple tune breezes through without any hurdles while the song benefits largely from the Vijay Yesudas's spotless rendition. Thaman kept the background and arrangements neat and makes this one enjoyable till it lasts. Ramya Behra adequately supports the lead singer towards the end.

Rangu Rakkara is another banal track from Thaman and the composer tries to appease both Telugu and Tamil fans by roping Anirudh to croon the typical Telugu kuthu track which he utilises to its maximum tolerable level in every Telugu albums. The track has very less to offer both in terms of arrangements and tune while the singers strive their best with the energy levels.Title song has its predictable tune and the song highly benefits from the haunting Keba's guitar work and though the tune, as well as arrangements, ride on the familiar territory, the song is a decent listen. The only grouse being that Usha Uthup is relegated to few chants intermittently while other singers render their support adequately.Thaman ends the tepid soundtrack with another futile song, Saarah Saarah which starts promisingly but mired into the monotonous tune and the arrangements are bland without any high moments. Rahul Nambiar's sprightly rendition being the only solace in this hackneyed tune from Thaman.

Verdict: Thaman continues to produce his mass masala tracks in Tamil also and the pedestrian album has very little to offer musically.

My Rating: 6/10

Pick of the Album: Sirikka Vechu, Title song