Tum hi ho - straight out of a Hallmark valentine ;)

Yes, that's how I could best describe the latest tear-jerker "Tum hi ho" from Aashiqui 2 in a phrase. The song stirs the lovelorn and the moonstruck alike. Youtube search reveals hundreds of covers for the song, some of which command close to a million hits. You can only imagine the anthemic heights this song has reached. Arijit Singh's voice has become a rage and Mithoon's music, simplicity redefined.

The song has been composed like a sentimental ballad with typical AABB pattern on F# scale. Mithoon, a "shagird" of Pyarelalji himself, portrays his strength in keeping things absolutely unalloyed. The song takes off with piano notes which create that instant connect.  The use of melodica and acoustic guitar during interludes proves efficacious in lending that additional sugar coat to the track. The best part of the whole arrangement is that the vocals never fizzle out in the musical mumbo jumbo.

Classically trained vocals always prove a leg up for any composition but Arijit Singh's voice is probably just made for this one. The husky throws he croons here are simply inimitable [tried myself quite a few times, horrendous is the word]. Subtle use of western and hindustani classical techniques in the song establish his vocal prowess beyond doubt. I'll stick my neck out and say that Sir Atif Aslam might find it hard in days to follow since this half Punjabi, half Bengali lad here not only has a characteristic voice but also understands music ;)

While it may be unfair the compare this track from the ones in the original Aashiqui soundtrack, quite frankly, this one holds its own. So folks, hold out your lighters or hold out your candles but do swing along this emotional ballad just like the millions out there.

Watch out this space for more musings on recent music.

Cheers!

Piya Milenge – the Rahmanic rhapsōidia

I had been shilly-shallying over this one for sometime now. It took the whole weekend and a day more for the music junkie to overthrow the indecisive pisces and reign supreme. Couple of things to be set straight, before we get started with the song itself. Firstly, I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that Rahman is not at his best with Raanjhana, BUT he is still better than the myriad of plagiarized buffoonery out there. Secondly, if you ask Elton John to compose a carnatic geetham, it'll produce no more than a fag end (no pun intended). Put approximately, that's what happened to other songs of Raanjhana soundtrack.

Free from the cliched "required by the script" and "regional touch" cacophony, I thought Rahman composed Piya Milenge, true to his self. It's easily the best track from this movie. Unlike Qun Faya Qun or Arziyaan this isn't meant to be a quintessential sufi composition. For the first minute we hear a small sargam libretto on synthesizer beats with Sukhwinder Singh's vocals rolling in. That's when the hook "tohe piya milenge" along with dholak, up the ante. And the next time we hear this hook, its a fusion of dholak with rock-like guitar distortions. The dextrous use of chorus has been Rahman's forte and he uses it this time to lend a qawwali feel to the scheme of things. Icing on this cake comes in around the fourth minute when the libretto is accompanied by violin. For me, these ten seconds of violin riff  create that unalloyed Rahmanic rhapsody we started off with! (Check out the video below for this piece)

Ghoonghat ke pat khol re, Tohe piya milenge

The lines are borrowed from a Mira Bai bhajan, which was also once crooned by the legendary Geeta Dutt for the movie Jogan. That composition in raag darbari, still sounds as blissful as ever. And for true aficionados in you, I have included that video too. The song from Raanjhana uses these lines for the hook but the rest of poetic verses come from Irshad Kamil's pen. He switches from fecund Rockstar to fastidious Raanjhana effortlessly. My take, he is probably the only current generation urdu poets who could carry Gulzar's lineage ahead. 

If the words are reflective, the vocals are robust. With Piya Milenge, Sukhwinder Singh strikes his sonorous best. For decades of his yeoman's service for bollywood, thankfully he still doesn't sound like that grand old uncle with never-say-die spirit :)

And as per our established ritual, here are the videos - 

Watch out this space for more musings on recent music.

Cheers!

Oriya Sona goes Ambarsariya!

[Updated on 6/21 with acknowledgement from Sona Mohapatra.]

The conundrum around originality of this track had been a cause of quite an itch. After all, the credit shall go where it truly belongs. Like numerous other bollywood hits, this one's derived from an old punjabi folk. That's where the lyrics and rhythm are derived from. But the inspiration stops right there. The version of this song from Fukrey is in toto, a legitimate child of Ram Sampath and Sona Mohapatra's. Just like many other babies they have produced in the past [after all they are man & wife ;)].

With that out of the way, lets get down to business. The song is an absolute arcadian melody rendered by Sona Mohapatra in a light playful mood. While her debut album still rings some bells, it was her rendition of a sargam for INXS's Afterglow that stands out for me [Check out the video below if you haven't already].

Sona's voice texture remains the USP for Ambarsariya too. It infuses an earthiness which pervades through the track. One needs to credit her for almost perfect diction which enhances the impact of Punjabi phonetics of the song. Overall, job well done!

Ram Sampath's Delhi Belly soundtrack made me a convert. I bought the CD before the movie was launched and have kept it handy in my car, ever since. With Ambarsariya, Ram has done away with all the strawberry jam of electro sounds. The song kicks-off with familiar Em, D strums on acoustic guitar but soon gets complex with liberal use of dominant 7th and suspended chords to create that folk & blues character. [Checkout the links below for detailed chord pattern for Ambarsariya.*] By the first interlude, things get more interesting as accordion sound blends into the track  giving it's music a European neo-classical dimension. In essence, the overall simplicity of musical arrangement is the key to this catchy number.Not much to be said about the lyrics really. Half the punjabi from the original folk song has been replaced by Hindi to make things more marketable. But just like billion other people you don't give a rat's thing about the parts of lyrics you don't get till you can swing to the tunes. So here it goes  - 

And here's what Sona had to say

She's being generous :)

Watch out this space for musings on more recent music, coming pretty soon.

Cheers!

*For Ambarsariya's detailed chord pattern, please visit - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rvc5nr2cKM] [http://studyguitaronline.blogspot.com/2013/05/ambarsariyafukrey-guitar-chords-fuckrey.html] [http://jimihndrxguitar.blogspot.com/2013/05/ambarsariyafukrey-guitar-chords.html ]

Monta Re - FTW

[Updated on 6/21 with acknowledgement from Amit Trivedi, the composer himself!]

My first experience with Baul Sangeet was during a Sufi concert, where Parvati Baul did a 30 minute gig. She was possessed and the audience spell-bound. While it was hard to make sense of the words, you could feel her longing for the divine conveyed through a deep mystic sense. 

Parvati Baul

That was then and quite frankly, I could have never imagined someone in Bollywood doing a Baul inspired track. But, lo and behold! Amit Trivedi creates Monta Re. He has been in my "watch out for" list ever since his Dev D debut. In past few years, he has composed some of the most refreshing and surreal tracks for movies like Wake up Sid, Ishaqzaade, Kai Po Che. While he has definitely carved out a niche in contemporary Indian music, our old friend called familiarity, did breed that hint of contempt. For me, that process kicks-off, the moment I can guess the composer after listening to the composition.With Monta Re, Amit Trivedi has well and truly broken those shackles. One could imagine that the challenge he overcomes here was two-pronged - create period music and create regional music. But for me, more than anything else, this composer has overcome himself with such quality track. He goes minimalist in terms of orchestra (in stark contrast to his usual self). The notes of ek-taara, coupled with percussions of a mere duggi, deliver the Baul punch instantly. You do hear a distinct ghungroo rythm too which completes the Baul ensemble for this track.

Swanand Kirkire, with his vocals, dons the garb of that wandering minstrel. His tonal quality perfectly matches the rustic needs of the song. As an aside, I so wish I could hear this composition in Kishore da's voice. In fact, Swanand Kirkire's humming right at the beginning of the track does remind me of Kishore. The way he croons the line "Disha Hara Kemon Boka, Monta Re" just wins your heart.

[Don't miss the complete lyrics with their meaning at - http://dunkdaft.blogspot.com/2013/05/monta-re-lootera-lyrics-meaning.html] 

Amitabh Bhattacharya has already proven his mettle with his contribution to several blockbusters off late. But with his buddy, Amit Trivedi, he shines his brightest. Amitabh's lyrics for this bi-lingual song are brilliant in their portrayal of innocence of a love-lorn heart. 

Watch out this space for musings on more recent music, coming pretty soon.

Cheers!

Rangrez - an avant garde composition

[Updated on 6/20 with acknowledgment from Krsna, the composer himself]

Kicking off  this blog with Rahman, I had plans of following it up by covering one of his songs from the movie, Raanjhana. After having spent several hours with the soundtrack, I can safely say that Rahman is nowhere near his best with this one. Period. While I might still get back to it, I cannot resist the temptation to grab this real estate and talk about one of my all time favorite sufi compositions. 

Let's begin by saying that Rangrez is simply brilliant. It's avant garde. This composition is part of a musically loaded soundtrack of  the movie, Tanu Weds Manu. Honestly, with this kind of debut as a music director, Krsna blew many a socks off! In retrospect, the kind of composition Rangrez is, it couldn't have been done as yet-another-Sufi-song [YASS] concoction which bollywood tends to en-cash upon these days.

The song starts to flow as a small tandem of acoustic pieces on guitar, sarangi and dholak. These twenty seconds set the stage perfectly for the ensuing vocals. While the dholak sets the momentum, its the sarangi accompanied by shehnai (later in song) which make this piece of music weirdly ethereal. This is the version sung by Krsna himself. The other version of this song, sung by the Wadali brothers uses harmonium in place of sarangi, to create similar magic. While the use of these instruments is really spirited, they hardly rival the grandeur lent by the lyrics and vocals of the song.

Wadali brothers own the song when it comes to the vocals. You can imagine the creativity Krsna put into this complex piece but, Wadali brothers just sing it with absolute nonchalance. Their rendition really creates that spiritual aura this song needed. For what its worth, this was the bollywood debut for these sufi maestros as well and they completed the recording in a single sitting of 12 hours. Professionals, eh! To Krsna's credit, the version with his vocals actually fits the bill for the movie, which needed the absolute catharsis lent by his voice.

Neende rang de, karwat bhi rang,
Khwabon pe pade salwat bhi rang
Ye tu hi hai, hairat rang de,
Aa dil mein sama hasrat rang de,
Fir aaja aur vaslat rang de,
Aa na sake to furqat rang de

Ah, those words. I could have picked up any six lines from the whole song and they'd create just as perfect a sestet as these. Rangrez's lyrics have been penned by Rajshekar, again a debut artist (would you believe it!). Sufi writings have always been an epitome of spiritual romanticism but this song really is in its own league. The ease with which it switches from chaste hindi to persian and back, it's almost as if you were reading Khusro. Coming from Bihar, Rajshekhar portrays absolute prowess of word-play which sends your heart racing.

Enough said, its time I listened to Rangrez yet again. PS - I have easily done over a thousand iterations on this, no kidding.

Here's a little acknowledgement for this post, from the man himself - 

Watch out this space for musings on more recent music, coming pretty soon.

Cheers!

Allah-Rakha Rehman

First things first. Like some zillion blogs being published by the second, I am not sure if this baby here, is going to keep afloat for long or just drown and die in its own baptismal font. With that necessary disclaimer out, lets establish the context. This blog is going to be my attempt to pick and muse on some of the best melodies from recent Indian music charts. That's it.
Now, back to A R Rahman. Very simply, this man has been weaving musical magic like no other Indian composer has in last few decades. Personally, it will be blasphemous to not dedicate this first humble post of mine to him. With that in mind, I'm sharing this song "Jiya Jale Jaan Jale" which is one of my Rahman favorites.

Why this song, out of thousand others, you ask? Well, since its going to be about music here, let's rule out the usual suspects first. So, you know its not Preity and Shahrukh's attempt to fill in the sexual void with their moves. The song, was the first one Lata Mangeshkar sung for Rahman and her voice could still create magic (back then). While you could argue that with Malayalam lyrics interspersed and an overall south Indian overtone to the orchestra, somebody like Kavita Krishnamoorthy could have been a choice too. Talking of orchestra, the way Rehman has capitalized on Mridangam to lend a strong flavor to this composition is absolutely amazing. Then come the acoustic pieces, specially the flute, which weave in and out creating a perfect ensemble. The tonal depth of the song is such that at times you almost lose focus on the beautifully penned lyrics by Gulzar. I could go on and on, but there will still be more to like about this song. Quite frankly, the complete soundtrack of "Dil Se" established Rehman right at the pinnacle of 90s music. 

All that aside, I, like many other lesser mortals around, love the melody of song and I hope you do, too.

Watch out this space for musings on more recent music, coming pretty soon.

Cheers!