Cham Cham is a beautiful composition by Shailendra Barve (who composed Mera Jahaan for Taare Zameen Par) ; amazing vocal arrangement forming the core. The rendition is delightful by Sonu Nigam and the multiple layers of vocals blend amazingly. Claps and Tabla form the rhythm section and Harmonium fills up well. In Aim Laga, Blaaze impresses as a composer, giving a catchy track, which should do well as part of the movie. The remix is also well arranged and the pace fits the song well. The normal version nevertheless is striking, the use of tabla notable. Amit Trivedi maintains the momentum from Dev D with Bombay Bombay. Siddharth does a decent job on the vocals and the Harmonium/Accordion piece is a highlight for the song. The rythm programming is also commendable, especially in the interlude just before the second verse. Haq Se, Yuvan Shankar Raja’s debut would have done better with another vocalist. The singing, especially on the intro verse, is disappointing. Swanand Kirkire’s Maula has a live performance feel to it, lacking in digital refinement, which is refreshing. The arrangement is basic and still captures interest. Pia Saanvra by Shailendra Barve is also a decent track, but probably will not sustain long term interest. The rendition cannot be described as soulful, which probably is what the track lacks. Yun Hua is a soothing melody, which doesn’t disappoint, just so, coming from the Gulzaar – Vishal Bharadwaj combo. A very interesting album, coming from a good mix of musicians, all of whom, we can look forward to in the future.

Music Aloud Rating: 7/10

Recommended tracks: Cham Cham, Bombay Bombay

The pronites at IIM Lucknow’s Manfest 2010 saw a lot of delays and cancellations because of the foggy weather. However, the one thing that did beat the weather right on the first day was the rocking concert by India’s most well known rock band – Parikrama. This was the 5^th Parikrama concert I was attending and so I really did not expect much since I expected a similar line-up of songs as I had heard before. However, to my delightful surprise Parikrama has come up with a lot of original songs and their performance has become much better.

The concert began with one of their new compositions, In the middle, which has a very AC/DC like sound. Vaporize has a much more original sound with a lot of violin built into it. Rhythm and Blues was a refreshingly new sound by Parikrama. Their website tells me that the original song was recorded with Usha Uthup. I would like to see them performing live together sometime. Then came the first cover of the evening. It was Iron Maiden’s Trooper which was done quite well. At this point a special mention must be given to the new drummer Srijan Mahajan, without whom Parikrama could not have performed such songs. When vocalist Nitin Malik picked up the acoustic guitar, I was quite sure they are going to play their favourite song “Yellow”. However, the surprise continued as they played another original – Am I Dreaming, a song dedicated to Lord of the Rings. No rock concert is complete without a bit of profanity. It struck when Nitin explained the true meaning of the words “Load up”. This was followed by another LOTR inspired song – Tears of the Wizard. Unlike most of their other songs, this song has much more heavy metal touch to it.

The age of classic rock was then brought back as Parikrama played a medley of Pink Floyd songs followed by the Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven”. Although couple of other amateur bands played “Another Brick in the Wall” that evening, Parikrama showed why it has been India’s most popular rock band as it gave a spectacular rendition of the song. The crowd went bonkers when guitarist Sonam Sherpa broke into the tune of “Saare Jahaan Se Accha” in the middle of the song.

Parikrama’s signature songs “But it Rained” and “Open Skies” were also well received by the crowd. If there is one member of the band who was most loved by the crowd, it has to be the violinist Imran Khan, who makes “Open Skies” the song that it is. Another original “Whiskey Blues” saw an amazing jam between violinist Imran Khan and Subir Malik on the keyboards. Listening back to the original, I think we all missed Shambhu Nath on the tabla. After another one of their originals, Screaming Town, Nitin announced that the last song would be a metal version of the Clapton classic – “Wonderful Tonight”. As much as I would have liked to hear it, they did not disappoint us by playing their own rendition of the rock anthem “Smoke on the Water”. And before Nitin could even say anything more, the crowd was already cheering for AC/DC. So the evening ended on a very high note (quite literally) with the AC/DC song – Highway to Hell.

The band members that did not find a mention above did not really go unnoticed. Bassist Chintan Kalra with all his tattoos is the true rock-star of the band. Saurabh Chaudhary on the guitar was probably the quietest face of the group but nevertheless did his job quiet well. One of the reason’s Parikrama has remained the most favourite band for rock show’s in India is because of the amazing chemistry the band members share with each other which is quite evident on the stage.

Parikrama brings a perfect combination of original compositions and covers to the stage. With a lot of non-rock instruments such as violin, mouth organ, tabla – the sound of their original compositions is extremely refreshing. Although they may not be my most favourite Indian rock band, Parikrama proved it yet again why they remain the most popular rock band for college fests!

Happened to listen to Phir Mile Sur today, thanks to our dear friend Veena. At the outset, the lineup in this “refurbished” version of the 1980s iconic song is brilliant, at least from the musical perspective. Just to be listing down the ones we could identify both onscreen and playback, there’s A R Rahman (playing his now famous continuum fingerboard), SEL, Anoushka Shankar, Karthik(?), Shreya Ghoshal, Pt.Shivkumar and Rahul Sharma, Gurdas Mann, Zakir Hussain and Fazal and Taufiq Qureshi, Shaan, Bhupen Hazarika, Sivamani, L Subramaniam and family, Bhojpuri singer Kalpana, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Yesudas and Vijay Yesudas, Louis and Gino Banks, and Sonu Nigam. Couple of conspicuous absentees were Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ustad Sultan Khan. And while it is wonderful to listen to most of these artists’ individual segments in the song, when looked upon in its entirety the track has lost its way somewhere. And I say most of the artists, coz some of them are not really upto the mark. The Tamil part is no match to what Dr.Balamuralikrishna delivered in the actual one. The absence of Lata Mangeshkar could probably be attributed to her age, but Shreya Ghoshal has done a good job nevertheless. And with all due respect to the Bangash family, it would have been better had Amaan and Ayaan just played the Sarod instead of singing as well. While Shaan’s Bengali segment is nice to hear, his latter part for Aamir Khan, a seeming take on Bum Bum Bole from TZP or Aati Kya Khandala from Ghulam, isn’t at all savoury. Which brings us to Sonu’s part. While his classical part is spot on to the last note, it is where he brings in the Westernized twists that things get irritating. Honestly Mile Sur.. wasn’t made for such western tweakings. Or at least we have been so used to the actual one that such modifications don’t seem to work. Having said that, I loved Anoushka’s sitar improvs and Zakir Hussain playing Sindhubhairavi on tabla. Even the segment involving (as usual shirtless!) Salman Khan and the children was quite touching by its quiteness of instrumentation.

Coming to the other aspects of the song, apart from the musical lineup I didn’t feel that justice was done in any other aspect. The celebs shown were chosen more for their glam value I felt, than for their contributions to the industry. Just do a comparison and I think you would agree. The original version had actors like Mithun Chakraborthy, Waheeda Rahman, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi etc while the new one has “seasoned actors” such as Shahid Kapur, Deepika Padukone etc. The Khans and the Bachchans were certain to be there, but at least regarding the others Kailash Surendranath could have looked for artists more justly representative of the Indian film industry. And the sole director making an appearance is Karan Johar! And regarding the other fields, the lesser said the better. Barring Shobhana, Shiamak Dhawar, designer Rohit Bal and the Oriya sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, I couldn’t spot a person from any other field of art. Zero literateurs, scientists, businessmen and politicians! The sportspeople have all been crammed into a barely 45 second clip towards the end by which time you would be too bemused to even take note of who it is. I was able to recognize Abhinav Bindra, Vijender, Sushil Kumar, Baichung Bhutia, Pullela Gopichand and Saina Nehwal. More surprises here, with no cricket star making an  appearance. Considering the cricketing “greats” such as Arun Lal whom the director had featured in the original, I would have expected him to make amends in the revisit at least!

The beauty of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara was that in under 6 minutes it did a concise and effective summarisation of the Indian culture. At 16 minutes, Arti and Kailash Surendranath’s improvised version of Mile Sur.. is tedious at best. Though it has its highlight moments, it does not compare with the original. People would definitely listen to Phir Mile.. for its novelty factor, but it shall slowly fade into oblivion as time passes, unlike its predecessor. To sum up, great on intentions, bad on execution! End of story. Below is the complete song in two parts.

Hey ya feels good; the phrase itself really catchy and sweet. Electronic sounds used in the back ground are thankfully done in moderation, contributing to the feel of the track set by the vocals including the harmonies. Kaisi Hai yeh Udaasi flatteres to deceive, with Kailash Kher sing and interesting beginning with the Ganjira, the tune however is ordinary and is not powerful enough for what it attempts to convey. Alyssa Mendosa, eventhough singing only the repetitive line throughout Uff Teri Adaa impresses leaving one wanting for more. Shankar Mahadevan delivers as usual in this track and the arrangement is typical of the composers, but catchy.  Jaane yeh kya hua is standard issue, with the ever reliable vocals of KK backing it. The title track by SEL has a mysterious air about it, aptly paced, with a good mix of vocals and effects. The title track by Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale is catchy in spite of sounding familiar, with a good mix of effects patches and makes an impact right from the start. The album, though not outstanding lives up to expectations.

Rating: 6/10

Recommended Tracks: Hey Ya, Uff Teri Ada, Title track

The creature shown in figure below shares its name with a certain mental condition. What?

Earlier it was a story about A and an old woman. In 2006 Y said the earlier story was bullshit and said the real story was about B. What?

A.

B.

Answer in comments.

Omanappenne is magical, in one word! The music part that is, I could not make much sense of the lyrics, the Malayalam part at least. Rahman crafts a dream sequence effect with the arrangement, something he had done in the past in Kangalal Kaidhusei. And the faint naadaswaram strains playing in the background off and on are just brilliant.The only thing that could have been done without is the processing of the voices of Benny Dayal and Kalyani Menon. The part that goes “Nee Pogum Vazhiyil..” sounds especially annoying owing to the effect. Devan and Chinmayi step in with the bouncy Anbil Avan which again sees South Indian percussion like thavil and mridangam playing on in between the electronic-dominated instrumentation. The highlight of the song is the fusion of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and the South Indian Hindu Wedding song, indicative of the Hindu-Christian setting that Simbu and Trisha play in the movie.
The title track is a very rich song with soulful rendering from Karthik on a simple base of guitars, light strings on the back ground and minimal fillers. The song uses minor scales to great effect moving in and out of the same beautifully and the tune imperceptibly drifts into a 6 beat cycle and back (to the 8 beat cycle) towards the end all defining the feel of this song which is satisfying. Hosanna is something that has been reviewed in the past, and I don’t have much to add to that now, except that a superior lineup of the other songs has brought down the value of the song a bit! Nevertheless the song is pretty engaging, Vijay Prakash, Suzanne and Blaaze doing their parts well. Kannukkul starts off with an absolutely addictive hook on strings (which I have been playing on and on for the past 15 minutes!) and then unfolds into a proper dance floor-friendly track, sung well by Naresh Iyer.
Things move on in such top notch fashion until Mannippaaya. The arrangement is spot on even here, Rahman making no mistake. However the tune of the song is what I couldn’t get a hold of. It seemed to go through quite a few complex nuances to be appealing to the lay ear. Shreya Ghoshal and Rahman do a fab job of the vocals, but I somehow could not assimilate the song that well. One of the few rare occasions where Rahman does not sing the best song of his album. But all that stands forgotten come Aaromale. WHAT A SONG! This is one of those songs that would make a Malayali music fan envious of the fact that Rahman isn’t into Malayalam music, and make bands like Avial thank their stars that Rahman isn’t into a lot of this kind of music, coz he would definitely be giving them a run for their money! The kind of fusion that Rahman presents in Aaromale is at an entirely different level altogether, there is rock, there is folk, and the occasional classical snippets, all melded together in a way only the man can. And Alphonse, what a fantastic job he has done on the vocals! In fact he sounded totally different from the way he usually does so I had difficulty believing it was indeed Alphonse. And the kind of octave range he displays in the song makes one wonder what the hell he was doing all this while, especially when he had such immense opportunities, having composed so many Malayalam songs himself.
To sum up, it is refreshing to hear a set of totally new tunes from a Gautam Menon flick. Rahman has started off his 2010 campaign in style. And in Aaromale, he has once again shown why he is a league apart from other music directors of his time.
Music Aloud rating: 8.5/10
Recommended tracks: In fact we would love to recommend almost the entire album, but for the want of listing three, we recommend Aaromale, Kannukkul and Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya.

The Star Screen Awards unfolded today with some unpleasant surprises, atleast in some of the music categories

The best Music Director Award went to A R Rahman for Delhi 6, a clear and distinctive winner by far, considering that Amit Trivedi for Dev D, which could have compared to Delhi 6 was not even nominated. However, Delhi 6 clearly deserved to win in 2009, with its wonderful lineup.

Kavitha Seth won the best Female Play back Singer for Iktara from Wake Up Sid, an amazing composition by Amit Trivedi, who won the best Back ground Score for Dev D, both  deserving winners.

Rahat  Fateh Ali Khan won the best Male Playback Singer for  Aaj Din Chaddeya from Love Aaj Kal, which was surprising. Neither was the song a winner nor was the rendition outstanding, notwithstanding Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s superior capabilities.

The best Lyricist award was another surprise. To start with, Gulzar was not even nominated for this award, for his work in Kaminey. Further, Irshad Kamil For Chor Bazari ( Love Aaj Kal), definitely did not deserve to win over the impactful lyrics by Piyush Mishra for Gulaal; Disappointing to say the least.

This is the logo of an annual event, a competition rather, instituted in 1996. What event?

Answer: The world air guitaring competition.

Virtuoso Pamelia Kurstin performs and discusses her theremin, the not-just-for-sci-fi electronic instrument that is played without being touched. Songs include “Autumn Leaves,” “Lush Life” and David Mash’s “Listen, Words Are Gone.”

The theremin, the first electronic instrument ever invented, was on the brink of historic oblivion when it was rescued from obscurity by director Steven Martin’s classic 1994 documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey . And while a few brave souls have sought to master this temperamental instrument since then, none have done so with more sly effervescence than Pamelia Kurstin.
From the rock-steady composure she assumes behind the instrument (necessary lest her breathing drive the sensors out of tune), one might presume a shrinking conservatory personality, but a quick glance at the MySpace page or website of the self-described “bird-punching rollerskating thereminist” will quickly dash any of these quaint notions. Far from being a quirky curiosity, however, Kurstin is a sensitive, emotional stylist capable of coaxing sublime melodic content out of an instrument usually doomed to B-movie sci-fi soundtracks. (And her walking bass imitation is pretty cool too.)
Born in Los Angeles, Kurstin currently resides in Vienna, and performs with acclaimed eccentric rockers Barbez, among many others. Her latest solo CD, Thinking Out Loud, was released in 2007 on John Zorn’s legendary Tzadik label. She’ll bathe your dog and give you a haircut (”if you’re daring,” she warns) in exchange for a six-pack.