Weekly Earworms - Week 7 (09/11/2019)

Weekly Earworms - Week 7 (09/11/2019)

Musically not a great week, but Suresh Bobili's Mouna Hridaya Ragame stands out.

Oh my Kadavule (Tamil): Leon James: Friendship Anthem: Friendship anthem ticks off every element of Leon James soundtrack, easily accessible tune with the breezy guitar-laden background taken care by Keba Jeremiah. Leon James ropes in Anirudh Ravichander and he aces the tune with ease despite Ko Sesha's pedestrian lyrics.

Thipparaa Meesam (Telugu): Suresh Bobili: Mouna Hridaya Ragame: Mouna Hridaya Ragame is an enticing composition which borders on the classical, as well as Ranjani's vocals, gives a folk touch to the composition. Suresh Bobili does extremely well in terms of arrangements especially Arun Chiluvuri's live guitar stands out. Suresh Bobili easily delivers in another melody track Radha Ramanam also where the dubstep background blends well with the Sandaliya's violin solos.

Dabangg 3 (Hindi): Sajid Wajid: Naina Lade: Sajid -Wajid tries to recreate the magic of the Tere Mast Mast Do nain with Javed Ali behind the mic and the composer duo easily manages to impress again. Thanks to the simple gorgeous melody and the arresting vocals by Javed Ali.

Dhanusu Raasi Neyargale (Tamil): Ghibran: I want a girl: The EDM track with the synth sounds starts well but the lyrics in the second half sounds to be force-fitted to the tune and the track fizzles out too early. Anirudh sails off through the tune with his colloquial rendition but the track lacks the nuances of Ghibran's composition. 

Pick of the week: Mouna Hridaya Ragame

Music Review(Tamil): Veera

Music Review(Tamil): Veera
Music Composer: Leon James

Ootaanda Soltuva carries the generic kuthu tune vibe spruced up by synthesized beats throughout the song and Leon James's vocals though not suited for the full-fledged raw tune, he carries the song adequately. Though the tune staggers around the mediocre level, the beats are foot tapping and engaging till it lasts.Verattama Veratturiye breezy melody where Sid Sriram shines with his vocals and the singer sails through the high pitch portions at ease while Leon throws out soothing sounds generously especially blissful flute portions in the interludes. Neeti Mohan, adequately supports Sid Sriram with her fine vocals.

Mama Mama Mayangadhe, galore with a melange of enticing sounds from Nadhaswaram to saxophone and foot tapping synth beats layered throughout the song. Anthony Daasan's idiosyncratic vocals come off as an another exciting element in the song. Though the tune is not great, the song is worthy listen for its exciting and congruous sound mixing.Pogaadhe Kanmaniye rides mainly on the lead singer Pradeep Kumar's vocals and the improvisations in the folk-tinged song is awesome while Leon James kept the arrangements simple and clean, allowing the singer to take the front stage. The chorus portions are adequately catchy and segue into the song without any hindrance.Nijaaru Usaaru is another generic rock-based arrangements where insipid tune didn't help much to the song, However Leon made the interludes interesting with an engaging usage of a wind instrument. Overall, this is the least interesting song in the soundtrack where both vocals and tune are let down except for the few sounds in the interludes.

Verdict: Leon James dropped his third album with the promising set of tracks and the album has the right mix of engaging melodies and mass numbers.

My Rating:7.5/10

Pick of the Album: Verattama Veratturiye, Pogaadhe Kanmaniye, Mama Mama Mayangaadhe.

Music Review (Tamil): Kavalai Vendaam

Music Review (Tamil): Kavalai Vendaam
Music Composer: Leon James

Inno Genga's mangled Tamil rendition aside, En Pulse Yethittu Poriye is an adequately trendy upbeat techno dominated track where Andrea Jeremiah and ADK's rap easily scores over the male singer. Overall Leon James delivered the breezy track which works for its easy-going rhythms and catchy title hook.Un Kadhal Irundhaal Podhum is another breezy melody where Leon James impresses with quite an enticing arrangements and Shashaa Tripathi's entry with the tinge of classical humming is splendid after the techno dominated portion by quite effectual Armaan Malik, singer's second track in Tamil after Yaar Indha Muyalkutty. The arrangements feature lovely continuum fingerboard by the composer in the first interlude and enticing percussions by Krishna Kishore.

Nee Tholaindhai is the soundtrack's highlight and the relaxed melody is crooned effortlessly by another proficient singer Sid Sriram. The ease with which the singer handles the high pitch portions is astounding and the composer complements the underlying melody with alluring arrangements. Omkar Dhumal's Shenai in the interlude is the fabulous addition to the song. The intrinsic melody in Un Kadhal Irundhaal Podhum's comes out beautifully in the song's reprise version where Vandana Srinivasan's incredible rendition along with Leon James minimally orchestrated arrangements dominated by Piano makes this version arresting listen.

Verdict: Leon James continues to showcase promise in his sophomore album after Ko-2. The tunes are enchanting and beautiful with instant appeal factor throughout the album.

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Nee Tholaindhai, Un Kadhal Irundhaal Podhum, Un Kadhal (Reprise version)

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

Music Review(Tamil): Ko2

Music Review (Tamil): Ko2
Music Composer: Leo James

          Leon James strikes a chord with the listeners in Kohila, a breezy melody where Neeti Mohan's breezy vocals along with the composer itself behind the mic create an enjoyable duet. The highlight of the song is undeniable classical string interludes along with catchy although heard before Kohila hook. Madhan Karky marks his presence with his idiosyncratic rhythmic lyrics. Vidaadha is the kind of typical energetic grungy song rendered by none other than Vishal Dadlani and his verve for this kind of song is matter-of-fact. However tune is pretty much conventional which makes this one uninspiring, However, Leon's interludes with synthesized elements along with pipes are noticeable.
             
          Inno Genga, who did cover album of many hit songs makes his debut with Kannamma alongside ever reliable Chinmayi and she is amazing as always in this another breezy melody. Though the tune is not an instantly catchy one, this track works mainly because of earnest rendition by the lead singers and the strings in the interlude sections. Harish Sivaramakrishnan of Agam fame infused the enough liveliness with his rendition of the inspirationally worded lyrics by Na Muthukumar in Unnai Maatrinaal. Another major highlight of this song is the chorus portions by the group of children and brilliant use of Nadhaswaram occasionally. Harish's improvisation towards the end is another plus point in this uplifting song. Another Bollywood singer makes his debut in Tamil with this Kannamma reprise version where the tune is adorned with the minimal piano base which gels well with the vocals. The beauty of the tune is emphasized well in this pathos version mainly because of minimalistic orchestration and earnest rendition by Salim Merchant. Ko2 theme starts off in an intriguing synthesized sound and followed by mix of classical and electronic sounds is pretty captivating, but the theme ends before it  makes any impact on the listener.Hope the theme blends well with the visuals.

Verdict: Leon James makes a fascinating debut with Ko2 which has the right mix of an enjoyable set of songs. Another young composer to look out for in Tamil film industry.

My rating: 8/10

Pick of the Album: Kohila, Unnai Maatrinaal, Kannamma

You can listen to the songs here.

P.S. Edited version of the review is available here.

Music Review (Tamil) : Muni3 aka Kanchana 2

Music Review (Tamil) : Muni3 aka Kanchana 2
Music Composer: Leon James, Sathya, Thaman, Ashwamithra

In Muni3, Raghavan opts for 4 composers instead of only Thaman who is part of Kanchana. Let's check whether too many cooks spoils or savors the soundtrack.

Sandi Muni:
Sandi Muni, composed by Leon James, band mate of Anirudh starts off in a jarring note but turns out better as the song progresses because of slightly listenable interludes dominated by synth sounds. Haricharan rendered the pedestrian lyrics penned by Viveka with enough verve and bolstered the run of the mill conventional tune.
Vaaya Veera:
Leon James's second song in the soundtrack is significantly superior to the first one. Shakthishree Gopalan's recent songs in every album stand out from the other songs in the soundtrack and in Muni3 also her dreamy vocals complemented by enjoyable tune is accentuated by tabla in the background throughout the song and soothing strings in the second interludes.
Sillatta Pillatta:
Sillatta Pillatta is another humdrum, hugely disappointing track from composer Sathya and he  interspersed brass section sounds with Saavu Kuthu template. Despite Jagadeesh Kumar ebullience vocals, this song fails to clasp the listener. Logan lyrics also insipid and irksome.
Motta Paiya:
Surprisingly, Thaman gave melody track in the album without any punchy percussion usually one can associate with him. Thaman's arrangement and tune reminds Imman's latest trademark style with sweeping strings in the interludes and minimal percussion throughout the song. However ever- reliable Chitra and Sooraj Santhosh vocals adds enough appealing factor to the song.
Moda Moda:
Moda Moda starts off ambitiously but soon mired into boring repetitive template with morbid sounds in the background. Only solace is intermittent string sections and master Sriram Roshan vocals too didn't add any value to the song.

Verdict: Overall Muni3 is a bland and an uninspiring soundtrack barring two melodies despite multi-composer soundtrack, which is rare in Tamil movies.

Pick of the album: Vaaya Veera, Motta Paiya

My rating: 6/10

P.S : Edited version of this review will be available here.