Music Review (Tamil): Thorati

Music Review (Tamil): Thorati
Music Composer: Ved Shanker Sugavanam

Potta Kaadellam's refined folk arrangements are alluring especially few brilliant touches by the composer with the Ghatam and plucked strings in the interludes. The chorus portions and the pitch-perfect rendition by Chinna Ponnu, Gowtham Bharadwaj and Anitha Karthikeyan while Mannikka Vinayagam gives life to Snehan's wonderful lyrics about Keethari community. Kullanari another folk song which is more monotonous as far as the tune structure is concerned while the arrangements remain in the predictable territory and the song is elevated mainly by Anthony Daasan's rustic vocals. Kalyani Nair's humming in the prelude of Saukkaram Pottu takes us instantly to Ola Ola Kudisayila from Joker while Vijay Prakash and Kalyani Nair own the lovable melody with pleasant ghatam and Kanjira based rhythm structure. Composer employed Kalyani Nair's vocals beautifully to accentuate the mood of the song. Kalyani Nair returns for another lovely short song yelle yelle and the excruciatingly short duration is the only grouse in an otherwise lovely composition. Usura Urukki is also similar to yelle Yelle, short serene song backed by Vijay Prakash's vocals. Aal Illa rides mainly on the chinna Ponnu's fantastic affecting rendition and Ved Shankar's reverberating minimal sound in the background set the mood of the song perfectly. Jithin Roshan ends the soundtrack with the tantalizing instrumental scores love and Marriage.

Verdict: Ved Shankar makes a wonderful comeback with Thorati and reaches the high of the composer's best Azhaghu Kutti Chellam.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Yelle Yelle, Saukkaram Pottu, Potta Kaadellam

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

Music Review (Tamil): Kaatrin Mozhi

Music Review (Tamil): Kaatrin Mozhi
Music Composer: AH Kaashif

Dirty Pondatti's whimsical cheesy lyrics is salvaged by AH Kaashif's wonderful mix of Goan percussions and composer employed wonderful sax solos. The arrangements are quite an easy earworm and the layering with Benny Dayal's vocals makes it an easy listen. Swagatha S Krishnan ably supports the song towards the end with her whispery rendition.Po Urave's arrangements have quite an uncanny shade of AR Rahman especially with the gloomy flute in the prelude and towards the end with a perfect jugalbandi with string sections. The song rides mainly on the Sid Sriram's towering vocals and the arrangements, however, the tune is pretty much an average one from the composer. Though the song doesn't match up to the Hindi equivalent Rafu, flute solos kept the listeners engaging till it lasts.

Kelambittale is a fun song from the composer and equivalent to Manva likes to fly from the original. Composer kept the buoyant mood of the song comparable to Hindi version and Kaashif throws in brilliant Nadhaswaram and Thavil solos. Nakul Abhyankar ably delivers the song with adequate fervour.Rekkai Thulirtha's initial staccato singing doesn't work but Jonitha Gandhi owns the ebullient song in the remaining portions while the composer kept the arrangements simple and complements the mood of the tune especially with the flute solo adorning throughout the song.

Verdict: AH Kaashif makes the satisfactory Kollywood debut with the light-hearted movie and though the album lacks the standout song, the feel-good tracks should go well with the movie

My Rating: 7/10

Pick of the Album: Kelambittale, Dirty Pondatti

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

Music Review (Genius): Tamil

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

Silu Silu Silu Sil comes in three version, male version by Al Rufian of Pyaar Prema Kaadhal fame, female version by lovely Sadhana Sargam and kids version.  The male version is more trendy and punchy accentuated by the soft rock percussion sounds while Al Rufian aces the singing part effectually. The underlying mellow rhythm strums by Jeffrey Daniel is an absolute winner in both male and female versions.Sadhana Sargam's vocals are a delight to listen after a long time and the prelude humming is the enjoyable throwback moment for the fans of her voice. Yuvan brilliantly prefers buoyant arrangements with the violin solos and strings for this version with inspirational lyrics from Vairamuthu. The kid's version's arrangements also tread along the same lines of the female version except for the lovely rendition from the bunch of kids.

Vilayadumagane bridges beautifully the European'esque prelude and traditional simple chant-like tune built around the title hook. The gloominess in the track is evident from the prelude guitar strums followed by effective accordion bit by Rajesh Rangamani. The band of singers led by Priya Hemesh croons the song effectively.Yuvan created the Neengalum Oorum tune beautifully around the Vairamuthu's colloquial lyrics and adorned with the stylish arrangements featuring AalaapRaju's band. Though the track is short, the band's arrangements and Yuvan's hummable tune makes it easy to sail through the track. Srikanth aces the rendition while Priyamali backs him (pun intended) with the brief modish singing towards the end. The unarguable winner is once again by RajeshRangamani's accordion solos.


Verdict: Yuvan is on a roll this year and the composer delivered another short engaging and light-hearted soundtrack for Suseenthiran.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Silu Silu Sil (female version), Vilayadu Magane

Music Review (Tamil): Adangamaru

Music Review (Tamil): Adangamaru
Music Composer: Sam CS

Sam CS roped once again Sathyaprakash and Chinmayi for another dreamy melody after Uyir Uruvaatha from Iravukku Aayiram Kangal. Sam CS mixed the melange of sounds especially Seenu's stringed instruments backed by Keba Jeremiah's guitar. The buoyant tune and the ebullient celebratory arrangements accompanied by Chinmayi's wonderful classically inclined rendition makes this one an enjoyable listen. Aangu Vaangu's raucous energy and Sam CS's throaty rendition reminds us Adiye Ivala from Romeo Julient and the Imman'esque punchy rhythm prods the song forward. But the tune falls flat despite intriguing sounds in the interludes with extensive support from Sandeep Mohan's mandolin cues. However, the dishkiyaan sounds come off as a flaky one from the composer.

Sam CS conceived the brilliant grungy hard rock track Pachai Dhrogangal where the pulsating Keba Jeremiah's guitar strums and explosive rendition by Haricharan make this one a winsome one from the composer. Yugabharathi's rebellious and relatable lyrics are in sync with the gloomy makeover of the track and the movie's genre. Kaar Irul as synonymous to the title, the track is gloomy, however, the discordant tune structure doesn't work as expected. Sivam's throaty singing sets the tone for the song with adequate support from Keba Jeremiah's screeching guitar strums and Chennai Strings orchestra.

Verdict: Sam CS's Adangamaru has the right mix of melodies and hardcore rock tracks, however, the album works partially for the composer's exquisite arrangements.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Pick of the album: Saayaali, Pachai Dhrogangal 

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

Music Review (Tamil): Sarkar

Music Review (Tamil): Sarkar
Music Composer: AR Rahman

Simtaangaaran makes us wonder, AR Murugadoss unable to get listenable track even with Rahman onboard for the movie and Vivek's lyrics makes this song even more terrible listen. The only solace being the Aparna Narayanan's brief verse and Kamalakar's flute portions intermittently. Oru Viral Puratchi's rock anthem easily works with the Keba Jeremiah's brilliant guitar strums and Vivek's hard-hitting lyrics taking a dig at the current political scenario of Tamilnadu should easily create enough spark similar to Mersal controversy. Rahman's neat arrangements, especially in the interludes, make this enjoyable in Rahman's vocals. Top Tucker is another mediocre track where once again Vivek's lyrics sabotage the techno track while Mohit Chauhan tries to elevate the song to some extent but still lyrics is a huge letdown. OMG Ponnu sounds like another Maacho but again Vivek's experimentation with lyrics backfired despite Sid Sriram and Jonita Gandhi's peppy rendition. CEO in the house is another techno-laden track bogged down once again by the lyrics and tune also strictly functional one from the composer.

Verdict: Thought Mersal was Rahman's weakest till now, but Sarkar trumps that easily with the dreadful lyrics and pretty functional tunes.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Pick of the Album: Oru Viral Puratchi

Music Review (Tamil/Telugu): NOTA

Music Review (Tamil/Telugu): NOTA
Music Composer: Sam CS

Yeththara Yeththara/ Yethikka Yethikka is loaded with techno sounds but the tune and the arrangements sound so disconnected except for the catchy title hook while Beeny Dayal's Tamil version sounds better compared to Yazin Nizar's Telugu version while Sunitha Sarathy and Swagatha S Krishna ace their respective parts effectively in Tamil and Telugu respectively. Raja Raja Kula is an easy winner from this album especially for the splendid Carnatic sargams by Swagatha S Krishnan and NithyashreeMahadevan in Tamil and Telugu while particularly loved the fusion of the female singer's vocals behind the heady techno sounds. Abhay Jodhpurkar fares well compared to the Anirudh Ravichander though he easily fits in the casual tune. The Rise of a leader and Power play sticks well with the genre of the movie underlying the monumental political drama and Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra builds up the grandeur effectively with the strings. The latter especially sounds tauter and build up the atmospheric sounds perfectly with the gloomy indispensable tone and ends with the Sekar's cello outburst. Hey Amaicha/ Hey minister is a short track which gives the nod to Rise of a leader but as overall the track falls flat and ends before making any impact. Yaar Kalikku/ yevari Paapam is another short track under two minutes with the dark grungy overtone which is apparent especially with SamCS/Sarath Santosh vocals.

Verdict: Sam CS's NOTA has very less to offer as a soundtrack, maybe the movie has huge scope for the background score.

My Rating:7/10

Pick of the Album: Raja Kula Raja, Power Play

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