Gorillaz have released their third studio album, Plastic Beach. Gorillaz’s second album, Demon Days is one the greatest albums of 2000′s. And so, Plastic Beach has a lot of expectations to live up to. In this album Damon Albarn has had lots of collaborators, from Lou Reed to Snoop Dogg. It has received generally positive reviews and some critics even calling it Albarn’s best work till date. Some of the songs from the album are available here on grooveshark

With a fantastic interplay between the guitars and sitar, Zindagi Do Pal Ki is a winner all the way. KK unsurprisingly does a fab job of rendering the melody. While the orchestration is mostly modern in nature, the tune sounds slightly behind times, like a melody Rajesh Roshan had kept in cold storage for a while. That’s no reason to complain of course! The remix is also a good listen, the ambient feel getting accentuated with the techno effects. RR follows up with another beautifully arranged melody in Dil Kyun Yeh Mera, once again sung by KK. Once again, I could not shake off the feeling that the base tune of the song belongs to an earlier time, a time when such melodies would undoubtedly have gone to one Mr. Kumar Sanu. In fact it was KK’s recurring Sanu-ish humming that fortified my feeling! I repeat that I say this not on a condescending angle. Dil Kyun.. is an absolute delight to listen to. The remix is innovative, and fortunately not very noisy. I’d rather listen to the original a couple more times though.
Tum Bhi Ho Wahi is engaging for its rollercoaster-level twists and turns between melody and rock, and Vishal Dadlani and Suraj Jagan‘s powerful vocals. I got literally blown away by the duo’s singing of the high pitched portions! And the remix, toning down the rock elements, merely does the job of testifying that the life of the original was in the mode shifts. Hritik Roshan goes on to prove alongside Suzanne D’Mello that he has inherited quite a bit of the musical genes of his uncle and grand dad in Kites In The Sky. With its orchestration shifting between minimal and classical, the ambient track almost reminded me of a person whom RR has in the past generously “borrowed” from, Vangelis. Hoping that no such incidents shall crop up on this one though, it would be sad for such a beautiful song to be maligned thus. Suzanne’s voice attains its full splendour when the song is Western, and hence here too she sounds marvellous. Full marks to Hritik as well for handling with ease the operatic portion. RR goes full blast on techno with Fire, which sounds like a DJ mix for most part. Considering that about 2.5 minutes of the 4 minute song is instrumental, the MD could as well have made it an instrumental track. And as it turned out, the lyrics did sound rather childish in the parts that I could make something out. Waste of the vocals of Vishal, Anushka Manchanda, Anirudh Bhola and Rajesh Roshan I would say. And the same combo returns for an English version of the same track, a thoroughly redundant exercise. Nevertheless, I decide to ignore this faux pas for all the good things about the album.
His scores might come few and far between, but Rajesh Roshan proves that he is not out of reckoning yet, with a gem of a soundtrack. A superb comeback after the ignominious affair that was Krazzy 4.

Music Aloud Rating: 8/10

Recommended tracks: Kites In The Sky, Dil Kyun Hai Mera, Zindagi Do Pal Ki

Oh Girl You’re Mine which starts off the proceedings for Housefull is the typical dance floor type track. That is not to say it is not entertaining, just that it sounds a bit too plain by SEL standards. I really liked the clever addition of East European-sounding accordion twists though. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame Tarun Sagar does an impressive job of his debut alongside a charming Alyssa Mendonsa. A fast forward remix for an already electronic song is really a redundancy, hence thumbs down for that! More electronica follows with Papa Jag Jayega, sung by Neeraj Sridhar, Ritu Pathak, Alyssa and Amitabh Bhattacharya. The MDs incorporate the trance elements well enough to make Papa.. engaging enough. (Btw, Papa Jag JAAYEGA? Poetic license apart, I would have expected a bit more respect towards one’s dad! ) And a thumbs down for another wasted effort in the name of a remix.
Whether as part of Instant Karma or as SEL, Ehsaan and Loy‘s remixes of classics have always been delightful. Ditto goes with their Dhanno mix of Aapka Kya Hoga, the memorable KA composition from Laawaris. And the trio find the ideal voice to match up to Kishore Kumar’s energy in Mika. Sunidhi also makes good use of her cameo. Shabbir Kumar sounds exactly like he did in his hey days, in his comeback song with Sunidhi Chauhan, the comedy fusion track called I Don’t Know What To Do. True to its title, the remix converts the song into a quintessential disco track with riffs characteristic of the genre from the “sexy 70s”. Vivienne Pocha sounds ravishing in Loser, yet another dance floor-friendly track. I liked the comic twist at the end by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
A totally youth-oriented and entertaining soundtrack from SEL. More importantly, zero reusal of old tunes! I like.

Music Aloud Rating – 7.5/10

Recommended tracks – Aapka Kya Hoga, Oh Girl You’re Mine, I Don’t Know What To Do

Alex Chilton – guitarist, singer, songwrite and producer for a number of alternative rock

bands died in New Orleans of a heart attack. Chilton grew up in a musical background. His father was a jazz musician. Chilton rose to fame early in his career when the Box Tops single “The Letter” became an international hit when he was only 16.

After a period in New York City, during which Chilton worked on his guitar technique and singing style (some of which was believed to have been influenced by a chance meeting with Roger McGuinn at a friend’s apartment in New York, when Chilton was impressed with McGuinn’s singing and playing), Chilton returned to Memphis in 1971 and joined the power-pop group Big Star, with Chris Bell, recording at engineer John Fry’s Ardent Studios. Chilton and Bell co-wrote “In The Street” for Big Star’s first album #1 Record, a track later known as the theme song of That ’70s Show.

Chilton moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, while also touring regularly with Panther Burns and occasionally as a solo artist, as documented in his poorly received 1982 solo release Live in London.

His compositions have been performed by a number of artists, including This Mortal Coil, The Bangles, Wilco, Graham Coxon, Garbage, Son Volt, Counting Crows, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Cheap Trick, Superdrag, Evan Dando, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, You Am I, Placebo, Xiu Xiu, and His Name Is Alive.

While the American Idol Season 9 final contingent came down to 11 yesterday with Lacey Brown packing her bags, the results show grabbed more eyeballs for its three guest performances. Proceedings were started off by David Cook with his version of the iconic Rolling Stones track Jumpin’ Jack Flash. This was followed by American pop singer Ke$ha with the electronica group 3OH!3 who performed Blah Blah Blah, the second single from Ke$ha’s debut album Animal.

But the performance that really stole the show was to come last, Australian singer-guitarist Orianthi quite literally setting the stage on fire with her debut single According To You. For the uninitiated, Orianthi is most famous as the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson on his comeback series This Is It. According To You has peaked at #6 in Australia and #17 in the US. Orianthi had earlier performed this song last November on So You Think You Can Dance. The song is very catchy, with its Avril-ish elements, coupled with Orianthi’s guitaring skills. Plus, she’s got a brilliant voice. You can watch the original video of the song here. And below are the lyrics of the song.

According to you.. I’m stupid.. I’m useless
I can’t do anything right
According to you.. I’m difficult.. hard to please
Forever changing my mind

I’m a mess in a dress
Can’t show up on time
Even if it would save my life
According to you.. according to you

But according to him.. I’m beautiful.. incredible
He can’t get me out of his head
According to him.. I’m funny, irresistible
Everything he ever wanted

Everything is opposite
I don’t feel like stopping it
Baby tell me what I got to lose
He’s into me for everything I’m not
According to you

According to you.. I’m boring.. I’m moody
And you can’t take me any place
According to you.. I suck at telling jokes
Coz I always give it away

I’m the girl with the worst attention span
You’re the boy who puts up with that
According to you.. according to you

But according to him.. I’m beautiful.. incredible
He can’t get me out of his head
According to him.. I’m funny, irresistible
Everything he ever wanted

Everything is opposite
I don’t feel like stopping it
Baby tell me what I got to lose
He’s into me for everything I’m not
According to you

I need to feel appreciated
But I’m not hated.. oh no
Why can’t you see me through his eyes
It’s too bad you’re making me dizzy

But according to me.. you’re stupid.. you’re useless
You can’t do anything right

But according to him.. I’m beautiful.. incredible
He can’t get me out of his head
According to him.. I’m funny.. irresistible
Everything he ever wanted

Everything is opposite
I don’t feel like stopping it
Baby tell me what I got to lose
He’s into me for everything I’m not
According to you.. you you
According to you.. you you

According to you.. I’m stupid.. I’m useless
I can’t do anything right

Salim Merchant sounds delightful singing the sprightly Aye Khuda, Hanif Sheikh creating a pop feel with the arrangement. The remix shows promises at the beginning with an ambient sort of start, but then progresses into a more or less routine affair. Paathshala is tailor-made for dance floors, heavy on electronic elements, and Vishal Dadlani is awesome as usual on the vocals. And the director quite sensibly avoids the redundancy of a remix for this song. Respect for that! Dunno if its just me, but Lucky Ali sounds slightly awkward in his rendition of Bekarar, especially on the higher notes. Having said that, the song is a very engaging one, Hanif again showing a pop-bias in his arrangement. If not for the high pitch and the occasional electric guitar, it might have sounded like another good ol’ Lucky Ali track. The remix is passable, not diluting the original arrangement much.
Mujhe Teri has Hanif joined by guest composer Vijay Lama to produce another pleasant melody. Only negative is Tulsi Kumar‘s vocals. I somehow find it hard to get used to her voice, the only time I enjoyed it was in Haafiz Khuda (8×10 Tasveer). And whenever I see Tulsi Kumar’s name in credits the automatic response is to check on the music label. Quite amusingly I am yet to a name other than T-Series! The addictive combo of Kailash Kher‘s vocals and the flute is the mainstay of the sufi-ish Teri Marzi. It is amazing how you don’t get fed up of Sufi songs howmuchever you hear them. That is not taking any credit off Hanif Sheikh’s orchestration. Remix of this song should have been avoided. And as expected it sounds rather unbefitting. Paathshala Theme which closes the proceedings is peculiar so to say, starting off on a slow harmonica version of Aye Khuda before abruptly changing gears to a bouncy chorus signifying school life. In any case the track lasts just over two minutes.
Hanif Sheikh can take a bow after this commendable debut. Hope he delivers equally, if not better, in his subsequent projects as well.

Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10

Recommended Tracks: Teri Marzi, Aye Khuda, Paathshala

American Idol Season 9 entered its final leg yesterday, with the top 12 taking on songs of The Rolling Stones. While the reviews of the performances have been mixed, the hot faves Siobhan Magnus and Crystal Bowersox seem to have pulled off a good job yesterday as well. Katie Stevens, who has been having a bad run of late, came out with what many have been calling her best performance of the season, singing Wild Horses. For a person suffering from vocal cord laryngitis, Paige Miles did a fine rendition of Honky Tonk Women. Apart from that it seems to have been a just about average performance, not quite what you would expect of the top 12 of a show as big as American Idol. Then again, this dozen has been widely touted as a just about average bunch. In any case, hope they put up a better show next week. You can watch snippets of the show here. And below is the list of songs that were performed yesterday, with youtube links to their original Rolling Stones versions. It always feels good to revisit classics!

Michael Lynche – Miss You
Didi Benami – Play With Fire
Casey James – It’s All Over Now
Lacey Brown – Ruby Tuesday
Andrew Garcia – Gimme Shelter
Katie Stevens – Wild Horses
Tim Urban – Under My Thumb
Siobhan Magnus – Paint It Black
Lee Dewyze – Beast of Burden
Paige Miles – Honky Tonk Women
Aaron Kelly – Angie
Crystal Bowersox – You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Dekho Raste Mein is the staple ad jingle type feel-good track which adorns every SEL offering, delivered in style by KK and Shreya. Wonder why they had to include the humming that strongly resembles the title hook from Life Is Crazy (Wake Up Sid). That apart, it is a wonderful listen. The remix is a safe skip though, with its amateurish addition of jarring beats and cliched rap which are an absolute misfit to the song’s tune. Barring the jazz segment in the first interlude and a few other percussive elements, the title song is overpoweringly reminiscent of Barso Yaaron (London Dreams), especially at the guitar riffs. Respect for Vishal Dadlani‘s vocals however. Its not everyday that you see Shankar Mahadevan overshadowed by someone else in a song! And for those power-packed vocals I have decided to ignore the deja vu factor. The remix has also been neatly done.
I could only discern Shaan‘s and Sunidhi‘s voices in Banware Se Pooche Banwariya which has seven singers listed in credits. Wonder why the MDs had to waste such people as Raman Mahadevan, Anousha Mani etc in a chorus which for most part (at least the gibberish part) sounds irritating. But the song otherwise is a nice singalong track. I do get a feeling though that this song might wear itself out in just a few listens. Caralisa Monteiro‘s breezy voice beautifully complements Shankar Mahadevan in the sedate melody that is Kal Tum The Yahan. Undoubtedly the pick of the album, I loved the change in raga executed on the keys in the first interlude. The remix is a decent effort, but pales in comparison to the original.

Kal Tum The Yahan single-handedly makes the soundtrack of Hum Tum Aur Ghost worthwhile, with a couple of other tracks playing second fiddle. Nevertheless SEL seriously need to be doing something towards outgrowing the jadedness of their tunes. And now I return to listening to Kal Tum The Yahan in a loop for another hour or so.
Music Aloud Rating – 6.5/10
Recommended Tracks – Kal Hum The Yahan, Dekho Raste Mein

As the next guest in our series of interviews, we bring to you Sanjeev Thomas. Sanjeev owns a studio in Chennai called Rainbow Bridge with its headline band by the same name. Another distinguished honor for Sanjeev is that he has been the lead guitarist for A.R. Rahman in his studio recordings as well as live concerts.

So where and how did it all begin for you?

I was born and brought up in Kuwait where I picked up the Guitar at the age of 8 after some coaxing from my dad. Although I learnt the guitar for some time, there was a lot of theory involved which got me bored and I had left it for some time. I completed my schooling in Kuwait and then moved to Chennai where I completed my degree. Although I was good at studying, I could never really see myself doing a day job.. I wanted to be a rockstar. So after playing the guitar for a few years, I started a few bands such as Buddha Blown and Buddha’s Babies. Then I started my own studio called Rainbow Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge Band started as the headline band for the studio.

How did the band come about? And what is the funda behind

the name Rainbow Bridge?

I started the Rainbow bridge studio around 5 years back.. And since the studio needed a headline band, I formed the band. The name just came from the studio’s name. Rainbow bridge basically stands for all kinds of artists coming down under one roof.

Fusion is too generic a term to classify your music. How would you describe Rainbow

Bridge’s music?

I had a couple of bands before Rainbow Bridge(Buddha’s Babies and Buddha Blown).  Rainbow Bridge started by taking those songs and reinventing them. We do all kinds of music and it would be difficult to classify it into any one genre. This is what we call the Independent or indie rock.

Where is the Indian Rock scene headed? Would it ever be as popular in India as it is in

the west?

Be it India or west, the Indie Rock scene does not have popularity. It has always been an underground movement. However, the west has the infrastructure to support upcoming underground artists. India so far does not have that. So, most of the upcoming artists find it difficult to sustain themselves and end up either going into mainstream commercial music or quit music altogether.

Playing alongside A R Rahman is a dream come true moment for any Indian musician. And

you have been playing with him for quite some time now.  Tell us more about your

experience with the maestro.

Around three and a half years ago I got a call inviting me to work with Rahman on the “Vote for Taj” campaign. It was a shocker for me. Ever since, I have worked with him on a number of projects which include studio recordings and live concerts. Live concerts with Rahman are always great fun because there are a minimum of 75,000 people at any concert. A particular concert I remember was one at Cochin. I had entered in a crane that was high above the ground and balancing ourselves in the crane while playing the instruments was a real adventure.

Being a guitarist it is quite obvious you would have your idols. Could you please name

them?

Having been brought up in the late 70s/80s, I was initially a huge fan of disco music. So I would say, my first influence were the Bee-Gees. Later on I got into heavy/death metal where I liked bands such as Sepultura. . Ony after this did I discover the 70s Rock’n’Roll with bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin etc.

Any plans of getting into mainstream commercial/bollywood music?

I am already into commercial music. I do production for a lot of commercial movies and albums in my studio. Although as a youngster I was against pop music, I have grown to believe that no kind of music is bad music. So now I produce all kind of music including hip-hop, bollywood etc. Although I would always have a soft spot for indie rock music as I started off with that music.

What are the future projects, both on your individual front and the band front?

The first thing I am looking forward to is the release of my album later this year. The album will have a variety of genres of music. Secondly, I am looking forward to the world tour with Rahman. I am also doing a lot of projects in bollywood with the likes of Anu Malik and Pritam. Although I have always been a guitarist, I am also looking forward to my career in singing. I am already singing for my own band but I am also recording a few songs that would be released in movies in the upcoming year.

We eagerly look forward to the release of Sanjeev’s album and wish him the best for all his future projects!

For more on Sanjeev’s music visit his myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/rainbowbridgeindia

Wake

Meherbaan – Instrumental

Freewill