2009 was a very good year for Bollywood musically, a lot of music directors, old and new, coming out with many beautiful compositions. It was a good year for us too, considering we started in 2009! And here we present our analysis of 2009 Bollywood music. We have gone composer by composer for all prominent ones, in descending order of the number of quality albums they have produced. With the exception of Rahman who we are starting the list off with in spite of just two albums this year because, well, he is A R Rahman! A caveat at the outset – The list has been compiled from songs that we happened to hear over the year, as those are the ones we can comment definitively on. There might be albums/people we missed out in the review so apologies in advance for that.

A R Rahman

Any talk about Indian music in 2009 would invariably have to start with that million dollar moment of Indian musical history – Rahman standing with the twin Oscars in his outstretched arms at the Kodak theatre. Rahman had it coming all these years, it was just a question of when that prefix of “Academy Award winning composer” would get added to his name. However as a Rahman fan there was a slight pang somewhere to see ARR collect the Oscar for a work which would not quite qualify as his best. If the Academy found the music of Slumdog.. to be fit for Oscars, wonder what they would say to soundtracks like Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Lagaan and so on. Nevertheless glad that the Academy saw it fit to honour the maestro at least this year.

On the Bollywood front, this year Rahman fans weren’t subjected to a treat like last year atleast in numbers, with just two albums getting released. But Delhi 6, with its stupendous assortment, was worth two albums in itself! Blue however didn’t turn out to be as elegant, probably maligned by the Akshay Kumar element. That is not to say it didn’t have its gems, Aaj Dil and Bhoola Tujhe being the stand-out ones. Though this is a Bollywood roundup one cannot go without mentioning Rahman’s Hollywood ventures this year for their musical brilliance – Shekhar Kapoor’s Passage and Vince Vaughn’s Couples Retreat. The big one next year is going to be Mani Ratnam’s Raavan. Apart from that unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be anything in store for Bollywood, though down south there is much more in the offing.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

The year went pretty decent for the trio, both in terms of the number of releases and the quality. Though some like Shortkut weren’t quite impressive and some contained just one or two songs, like Sikander, SEL produced some wonderful songs for 13B, Luck By Chance, Wake Up Sid and ended their 2009 run on a high note with London Dreams. Major releases for SEL next year are My Name is Khan and Karthik Calling Karthik. I am not very hopeful about My Name.., being a KJo movie, it is Karthik Calling Karthik I really look forward to. SEL have always been at their productive best with Farhan Akhtar.

Salim-Sulaiman

After SEL the Merchant brothers were another set of composers who stood out for their consistency in 2009. Minor faux pas like Kambakkth Ishq and average albums like Luck and Pyaar Impossible notwithstanding, the MDs gave some exquisite scores in movies like 8×10 Tasveer, Kurbaan and Rocket Singh. Their first assignment for 2010 is Teen Patti. Hopefully that will come out to be much better than the middling Luck, though the genre looks to be the same. Either ways, looking at the way their career graph has been moving over the past couple of years, 2010 does hold a lot of promise.

Pritam

Tum Mile was Pritam’s master work of 2009, a soundtrack that added another feather to the Bhatt legacy. Billu Barber, Love Aaj Kal, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and New York, in spite of their regular Pritamesque elements, were reasonably endearing. But that just about ends the list of Pritam’s good albums from 2009, which is far outweighed by the number of his crappy compositions – De Dana Dan, Ek, Love Khichdi etc being just a few of them. It would be better if Pritam stopped taking so many assignments, and stuck to a few good soundtracks every year. That would obviate the need to lift tunes as well I suppose!

Amit Trivedi

His score for Aamir had got heads turning in 2008, but the absolute stunner came at the start of 2009 with Anurag Kashyap’s Dev.D. Ranging from jazz to folk to classical to Punjabi, Amit proved his mastery over almost every genre of music with this 18-song soundtrack. The background score for Wake Up Sid alongside the one song Iktara in the OST went on to show that Dev.D was not going to be a flash-in-the-pan case. Amit currently has a couple of projects under production, like Chiller Party and Aisha which must hopefully come out in 2010; I am all ears!

Sagar Desai

2009 saw Sagar Desai, composer for Rajat Kapoor’s movies like Mixed Doubles, Bheja Fry etc, graduate from parallel movies to mainstream cinema – at least more mainstream than what he had previously done. And he made wonderful use of the opportunity he got. First there was Straight where he gave a rock music-oriented score. And then came Quick Gun Murugun, in which he expanded the ambit with classical, wild west et al, creating an unexpected winner out of a comedy soundtrack. Bollywood Hungama talks of a movie called Meridian under production which has Sagar’s score. Hoping that the soundtrack comes out soon enough. This man surely has a lot more to offer.

Toshi-Sharib

Though in all their works of 2009 they had to share space with other composers (Raaz, Jashnn, Jail), the Sabri brothers proved their mettle even with those attempts. Unfortunately the movies they worked for didn’t do great in the box office either, thereby resulting in most of the songs going unnoticed. Hopefully 2010 will see them get a full soundtrack to themselves. And a decent movie at that, please.

Vishal Bharadwaj

Right from Maachis, Vishal’s music has always stood out for its raw unconventionality. Kaminey‘s score was again totally conformant to that tradition, but with a tinge of sophistication added to it, like the surf-rockish Dhan Te Nan and the orchestrally extravagant Kaminey. With the wonderfully rendition of the title song the man also proved that he could do a thing or two behind the microphone as well. Next up is Ishqiya, and from the TV teasers I can already sense a delicacy!

Piyush Mishra

It took 11 years for Piyush Mishra to get his first music directorial venture. And what a debut it was! Gulaal would easily count among the best soundtracks of 2009, Piyush Mishra going on to display a Vishal Bharadwaj-like streak in his works. The man wouldn’t be restricted to composing alone, writing some splendid lyrics alongside Swanand Kirkire to pay a lasting tribute to Sahir Ludhianvi, and also singing a couple of songs to good effect.

Ilayaraja

Listening of the music of Paa alongside the visuals in the theatre definitely increased the appeal of the songs, but I still maintain that Ilayaraja should be doing much more than just reusing his older tunes if he is to make a lasting impact in Bollywood. Mudhi Mudhi was wonderfully effective on that front, but others didn’t exactly match up. Raja’s other work in 2009, Chal Chalein, was a rather forgettable affair. I am waiting for that one Raja album akin to Rahman’s Rangeela. But wonder if its too late now.

Shantanu Moitra

Like I said for Paa, the visual element has contributed a great deal to the charm of 3 Idiots’ soundtrack, but that still doesn’t make up for the repetitive feel that Shantanu Moitra’s composition carries about it. It is high time he changed his style.

Vishal Shekhar

It was a relatively quiet year for the composer duo, the only release being Aladin. Even that, though entertaining, was left wanting for fresh tunes, most songs being tributes to Amitabh Bachchan and hence evocative of his songs of yore. Vishal had a much better year as a singer, singing some very good songs for SEL, Salim Sulaiman and the other Vishal. Even Shekhar had that beautiful melody in Luck By Chance. Hope that 2010 will see as much of Vishal Shekhar the composers as Vishal and Shekhar the singers.

Sajid-Wajid

As usual, Sajid-Wajid’s contributions this year too were mostly limited to Salman Khan movies and comedy flicks with the exception of Kal Kissne Dekha. And as usual most of their scores were middling. But the duo produced a surprise winner just a week back with their music for Veer. The movie had some exquisite tunes, and hopefully this will inspire them to produce more good scores in 2010.

Others

Sohail Sen wasted the wonderful opportunity he got with What’s Your Rashee (okay may be not so wonderful from the movie perspective, but an opportunity nevertheless with 13 songs!), producing just a couple of good tunes which got lost in the melee of the other average or below average tunes. Sandesh Shandilya, as usual, came in a couple of those multi-composer flicks, giving some memorable tunes but also some shoddy songs. I look forward to the day when he will get a complete soundtrack to himself. Shamir Tandon did a commendable job in 99. Nouman Javaid impressed with his two songs for Jashnn. Ankur Tewari gave decent music alongside others in Aao Wish Karein but lost his footing when solo, in Raat Gayi Baat Gayi. On the other hand he gave some very amusing lyrics for QGM. Monty Sharma made his presence felt with a couple of average albums, but after Saawariya his has been a consistent downward journey. Some new composers like Vipin Mishra, Bappa Lahiri showed promise, while some other veterans like Lalit Pandit (of Jatin Lalit), Anu Malik were consistent in their mediocrity.

That just about wraps up our rather long roundup of the music of 2009. Before we close, we leave you with our list of 15 best songs of the year. Wishing all of our readers a wonderful 2010! We hope the new year brings you a lot more good music.

(Songs listed in alphabetical order in the format: Song(Movie)  Composer|Singer(s))

Aaj Dil (Blue) A R Rahman|Sukhwinder Singh,Shreya Ghoshal
Aasma Odh Kar (13B) Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Shankar Mahadevan, Chitra
Arziyaan (Dilli 6) A R Rahman|Javed Ali,Kailash Kher
Dil Gira (Dilli 6) A R Rahman|Ash King, Chinmayee
Emosanal Atyachaar (Dev D) Amit Trivedi|Rangeela, Rasila
Iktara (Wake Up Sid) Amit Trivedi|Kavitha Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya
Kaminey (Kaminey) Vishal Bharadwaj|Vishal Bharadwaj
Khanabadosh (London Dreams) Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Mohan
Mudhi Mudhi (Paa) Ilayaraja|Shilpa Rao
Paayaliya (Dev D) Amit Trivedi|Shruti Pathak
Pankhon Ko (Rocket Singh) Salim Sulaiman|Salim Merchant
Sapnon Se Bhare (Luck By Chance) Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Shankar Mahadevan
Taali (Veer) Sajid Wajid|Sukhwinder Singh,Sonu Nigam,Neuman Pinto, Wajid
Tu Hi Haqeeqat (Tum Mile) Pritam|Javed Ali
Yaara Maula (Gulaal) Piyush Mishra|Rahul Ram

Why was the man in the pic in the news in April 2009?

“A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”, said Gertrude Stein. What she meant was how the word rose used by various poets in different context evokes similar emotions in the reader.  The song “Turn the Page” proves how it is so in music. The song was originally written by Bob Seger for his 1973 album Back ’72 and its lyrics make it pretty much clear what the song is about. Bob Seger originally intended to show the ups and downs of an artist while he is on the road. However, the song has been covered by many artists after that and many of them have given the song a different interpretation. Nevertheless, almost all versions evoke similar emotions in the heart of the listener despite the music. So while Metallica’s video shows the song to be about the life of a stripper and Waylon Jennings version covered this song after he came over his drug problem, the song always educes sorrow.

Bob Seger released the song in 1973 but it never made it to the charts. However, the song also featured on his 1976 Live Bullet album and then it started receiving significant airtime on radio stations. I have also heard this song a lot of times in pubs in India that play rock music. The song begins with a Saxophone piece played by Alto Reed followed by shimmering cymbals. The entire song is quite minimal yet expressive on the instruments for a rock song. What make this song popular even today are its powerful lyrics and their structure. The song follows a very odd rhyme scheme and the patterns repeat quite oddly in its chorus paragraph. In totality however, the lyrics and the music make you empathise with the trials of an artist.

In their 1988 cover album Garage Inc., Metallica released a cover of this song which is probably more popular than the original song. As against Seger’s version, Metallica’s rendition is very strong on the instruments. In this version, the saxophone of Alto Reed is replaced by a slide guitar played by Kirk Hammett. The amplitude of the song never reduces except for the verse “Later in the evening..” which creates a brilliant effect because “the echoes of the amplifier are ringing in your head”. This is then followed by a guitar solo by Hammett. The video of the song is about the life of the stripper (played by Ginger Lynn Allen) who also works as a prostitute at the same time raising a child. The video has been brilliantly directed by Jonas Akerlund.

Both versions of the song are great in their own ways. A number of other artists such as Kid Rock and Staind have also covered the song. Notably Waylon Jennings has covered the song in an album by the same name when he was recovered from his drug problem.

With the year getting to an end, we hope that the New Year will bring a new and exciting page in your life. Wishing you a very happy and musical new year we leave you with a few videos of the song. Enjoy!

What person connects the audio to the picture?

Answer:

Turned out to be a toughie that one. The connect is in fact Louis Banks, sometimes called the Godfather of Indian jazz. The song was the old Nepali national anthem called Shriman Gambhir, which was prevalent till 2006. The song was composed by Banks’ grandfather, Bakhat Bahadur Budapriti. Second pic was obviously of Louis Armstrong. Banks’ father changed his name from Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi to Louis Banks after the legendary musician, seeing his interest in jazz music.

This compilation marks the beginning of musical movement, what?

Answer in comments

Answer: Asian Underground

The team of MusicAloud wishes all its readers a very merry and musical Christmas!

While you are enjoying your gifts and candies, we give you a musical gift by bringing to you some of the rare Christmas songs we hope you will enjoy.

We three Kings on the Hang Drum – I am in love with this instrument

Zero: Christmas in July – Not exactly a Christmas Song; nevertheless enjoy!

Blackmore’s Night: Emanuel

Jethro Tull: A Christmas Song – Performed by lead man Ian Anderson

Beatles: Christmas Time

Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley O Come All Ye Faithful – An Old tune performed by the genius

Johnny Cash – Performing some good old carols!

Jimi Hendrix – Finally, the master performing Christmas songs!

This year also saw the legendary Bob Dylan releasing his Christmas album. Here are some snippets from his album.

To leave you on a funny note watch this video of carols from David Letterman’s Late Show.

Ek thi Ladki with lyrics almost conversational, chorus, which gets irritating at times and an average tune which one often hears otherwise, has decent arrangement. The track hence will probably not turn one off during the movie. Though its not what one expects finding Vishal Dadlani (read it isn’t the powerful rocksy track) in the credits, the title track is worth a few listens (Not sure if I should call this the “title track”, considering the title makes it appearance in almost every song!). Starting off with clean strumming, it delivers what it promises, sung stylishly by Dominique Cerejo and Vishal. The arrangement is neat with clean guitars, basic drums with the ride cymbals and high hats used with subtlety and small piano rolls used to good effect. The remix has also been decently done by Abhijit Vaghani. Starting with an interesting bass loop, Alisha is stylish in parts, sung by Anushka Manchanda and Salim Merchant. The tune is not exceptional (the male parts are all average) except in some parts like in the beginning where it is catchy. The arrangement is one aspect which is consistently good throughout the album. The remix by Abhijit in this case just about passes muster, though nowhere near the original.  10 on 10 sung by Mahua Kamat, Anushka and Naresh Kamath starts with a textbook guitar riff and goes on predictably. Again, the track doesn’t stand out, but is not bad either. So is the pop-ish You and Me rendered by Neha Bhasin and Benny Dayal, with ordinary lyrics as in most of this album. That is the problem with the whole soundtrack of Pyaar Impossible. All the songs are clearly above hygiene level, but lacking in impact. Considering the form Salim Sulaiman have been in, one would expect more. Hope they don’t get into a repetitive mode, which one tends to with a lot of similar kind of movies.

Rating : 6/10

Recommended Tracks:  Pyaar Impossible, Alisha

Taali, while not quite like the regular odes to the protagonist in the usual period films, has been packaged well by Sajid-Wajid, the grandeur in orchestration et al. The string sequences especially sound good, the hook played on the oudh-like instrument after 3:52 faintly reminded me of the motif from Chale Chalo (Lagaan) probably coz of the similarity in raaga. The vocals have been impeccably delivered by Sukhwinder and Sonu, no surprises there! Neuman Pinto and Wajid provide the backing vocals. Sukhwinder also does a solo version of the song, but that wasn’t really required methinks. Surili Akhiyon Wale is similar in tune and structure to the romantic melodies that Pritam has been producing of late, and the vocalist is, as usual, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, backed by Suzanne D’Mello. With all due respect to Rahat’s singing, doesn’t he ever get bored singing the same tune again and again? If there are two people who should be kept as far away as possible from such melodies in future, they are Mohit Chauhan and Rahat. Having said that, Surili.. is nevertheless a good listen. Sunidhi joins the singers in the duet version, and to good effect. Its relieving to hear Sunidhi deliver such soft melodies at least once a while. Salaam Aaya is a tune that grows on you over repeated listens. Had I written this review last week I might have dismissed this tune as boring, but now after hearing it on TV so many times I find it an attractive track. Roop Kumar Rathore has had a good run this year and he does a commendable job here too, complemented equally well by Shreya Ghoshal.
Heavily laced with Celtic musical elements, the bouncy Meherbaniyan sounds like a drinking song, Sonu doing a fab job of the rendition. Sajid-Wajid return to their home turf composing this track which is definitely better than the tunes from the foot-tapper genre that the duo generally produce. Rekha Bharadwaj delivers the folksy Kanha in her quintessential manner backed by Shabab Sabri, Toshi Sabri and Sharib Sabri. Wonder if the Sabri brothers had any hand in the composing as well. Whatever the case be, this song too has been nicely done. The composers round things off with another fiddle-dominated Celtic instrumental tune. With a title like Spirit of Veer one might have expected something more heroic in sound, but the tune is entertaining nevertheless.
I started listening to Veer with a sense of foreboding, unable to fit together the images of composition by Sajid-Wajid and a period film. But I must say Sajid-Wajid have far exceeded expectations with a remarkable score. Though not all the songs exactly fit the bill of a period soundtrack, this work will definitely count as one of Sajid-Wajid’s career best. If only they came out with such good tracks more often!

And for Sajid Wajid’s commendable effort, we give Veer a rating of 7/10

Recommended tracks: Taali, Surili Akhiyon Wale,Meherbaniyan

We haven’t been the most regular in posting quizzes in the last couple of weeks, but we will try to make up for it somehow.

Anyways, today’s question concerns current affairs in music.

Connect:

Answer in comments.

Read flightless one’s comment for the correct answer.

The picture shows the cover of an album that served as an inspiration to a great literary work. Identify both.

Answer in comments.

Answer: Quoting the flightless one (who in turn quotes wiki)

“The second book in Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker Trilogy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, was inspired by the song “Grand Hotel”, from Procol Harum’s album of the same name.”