If not for the lyrics (and the severely jaded dholak beats appearing in the latter half of the song, dear SEL please let go of that dholak at least now, this song would have been so much better off without that!) Eena Meena Myna Mo would have passed off for some jazz-classical fusion work from the trio (the classical portion seeming to show traces of raag Darbari by the way). Dunno how much of this would appeal to kids though. Nevertheless, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa finalist Yashita Sharma gets a good Bollywood debut. Suraj Jagan’s Suno Brother is also entertaining with its breezy rock-based orchestration. Jhunjhunmakadstrama is standard Shankar Ehsaan Loy stuff, and reminds one of many of their earlier works, in particular Dhadak Dhadak from Bunty Aur Babli. It is a decent listen nevertheless, thanks to some lovely flute portions by Varad Kathapurkar and Kailash Kher and chorus’ neat vocals.

The title song comes in two versions. First one is a fast-paced track with a mildly devotional tinge to it, presumably due to the chant-like portions dominating the song. Rendered well by Shankar Mahadevan with a pretty much undetectable Alyssa Mendonsa, the only pain in the song is the repeated occurrence of Zokkomon (ya I know it’s the movie’s title and all that, but excuse me for being unable to get used to the word in a Hindi context). The second one too is sung by Shankar, but the song isn’t as engaging as the former, the functional nature of the arrangement making it devoid of much entertainment value. And the closing track, Tum Bin Ye Dil, belongs to that soft tranquil genre which the trio has tried many times in the past and makes your heart melt every time. At times they get Sonu to sing it, at times Shankar and at times, like with this one, Shaan. And he carries out his part beautifully. The keyboard portions by Loy, like with all such past songs, form an integral part of the charm of the song.

A pretty standard offering from Shankar Ehsaan Loy which should do its job for Zokkomon. But the wait for the album of the year from the trio continues.

PS: The first three tracks of the album (Eena Meena, Suno Brother, Zokkomon version 1) have been produced by Tubby & Pareek (the same duo who had done the theme and background of 13B). Good job folks! Wonder when they will start getting mainstream composing projects.

Music Aloud Rating – 7.5/10

Recommended Tracks – Tum Bin Ye Dil, Eena Meena Myna Mo, Suno Brother

The cheekiness of the title song grows on you a bit upon repeated listens, despite a pretty ordinary tune and an equally standard Punjabi template by Daler Mehndi and Rajat Dholakia. Daler’s adeptness at rendering the genre helps to an extent. Interested to know the inspiration behind Gulzar saab’s Hindi-English dictionary lyrics. Don’t see the song sustaining interest over long term though. Ranjit Barot joins Rajat Dholakia in a wonderful bluesy take on the song called Teen Thay Bhai – Full Mood Mein.. Barot removes all traces of Punjabi from the song with just an acoustic guitar and a tabla for backing, creating a perfect lounge-ish track. Barot’s other remix of the song though, incorporating Hard Kaur’s rap and everything, is a rather prosaic attempt.

Of Sukhwinder Singh’s two solo offerings as composer (both sung by him), Aar Dariya is the marginally better one for it deviates at least a bit from the regular Punjabi offerings, going for a mellow folk feel, as compared to Chakkar Chakkar which follows the usual loud formula. In fact Chakkar’s remix titled Bhai Ke Chakkar Fultu Mix done by Barot is a more interesting affair than the original. It is only in his collaborative composition with Barot, Mein Chalna Bhool Gaya, that Sukhwinder does some useful work. While Mohit Chauhan does a wonderful job of rendering this with some very good backing from Viviane Chaix, Suzanne D’Mello and Kirti Sagathia, the highlight points of the song are the sitar phrases. Wonder if it is Asad Khan in action. And thus ends the soundtrack.

Just two really interesting tracks. After Rang De Basanti and Delhi 6 how could you settle for this Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra?

Music Aloud rating: 6/10

Recommended Tracks – Teen Thay Bhai – Full Mood Mein, Mein Chalna Bhool Gaya

Evan Di Unna Petha, the track that was released as a single some months back, is ideal dance floor material – noise levels bordering on cacophony in many places, processed vocals drowned by the sound in many places (for good reason too, the little super star Simbu hasn’t done a very commendable job). And for the same reasons the song is unfit for playing at home. Though the vocalist Yuvan Shankar Raja disappoints with the title song, the composer Yuvan Shankar Raja more than makes it up with a sweeping ambient orchestration, giving an immensely enjoyable end product. Cable Raja is not YSR’s best kuthu song, but still has enough spunk in it to get your feet tapping. Abhishek and Lawrence (the choreographer?) do the singing honours. The rock track Who Am I has an interesting arrangement highlighted by the guitar riffs, but the vocals part is annoying despite Benny Dayal. Especially irritating is the hajaar appearances of the Who Am I refrain. The soundtrack ends with another folk dance song, No Money No Honey. Like the previous one, not his best, but spunky enough. In fact this one would rate a tad lower than the previous one. The vocalists are better here though, Silambarasan doing a far better job singing this, alongside Andrea and Srikanth Deva.

Yuvan Shankar Raja sticks to the regular Simbu template in Vaanam’s soundtrack as well, but fails to match the usual quality.

Music Aloud Rating – 6.75/10

Recommended Tracks – Vaanam, Cable Raja

Benny Dayal and Chinmayi’s sprightly vocals contribute a great deal to the allure of the techno-soaked Idhu Kadhalai which otherwise has a fair bit of sub-par orchestration moments. But no such quibbles about the groovy Natpin Kathaigalai, arranged exquisitely by Yuvan Shankar Raja and delivered to a tee by Krish. While Idhu Kadhalai is saved by the vocals, another techno track Naa Vetta Pora Aadu where the composer dons the vocalist role with Roshini, turns out to be an unimpressive affair owing to mishmash-y arrangement and just-about-average vocals. YSR gets right back on track with the next track though, a very bouncy retro-ish (mildly Raja-ish?) track called Vellai Kodi. SPB Charan does a fab job on the vocal front, though it might have sounded better in his dad’s voice methinks. And just the way he got on track YSR gets off it with a middling rock track next, Thedi Varuven. While the arrangement is jaded in itself, Toshi doesn’t help one bit with his singing. The soundtrack ends on pretty much the same note it started, a techno track that would have been instantly skippable if not for some interesting points in the orchestration and the dependable Naresh Iyer and Andrea Jeremiah behind the mic. Having said that, the song does get tedious towards the end even with these elements.

Strictly run-of-the-mill stuff from Yuvan Shankar Raja for Kadhal 2 Kalyanam with couple of enjoyable, but zero exceptional tracks.

Music Aloud Rating – 7.25/10

Recommended Tracks – Natpin Kathaigalai, Vellai Kodi, Idhu Kadhalai

You can read our review of the soundtrack here.

Te Amo

Singer(S): Ash King and Sunidhi Chauhan

Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Kisi Ko Sapna Lage Tu, Kisi Ko Behti Hawa
Kisi Ko Bas Baaton Mein Kare Pal Mein Yahan Wahan
Kisi Ke Sau Jhoot Sun Le, Kisi Ka Sach Bhi Gunaah
Kisi Ki Bas Yaadon Mein Kare Hulchul Saara Jahan

Te Amo Me Te Amo Tu Chhaanv Hai, Tu Dhoop Hai
Te Amo Me Te Amo Tere Hazaron Roop Hain
Koi Samjha Nahin Jo Bhi Hai Bas Khoob Hai

Falling So Crazy In Love

Te Amo Me Te Amo Tu Chhaanv Hai, Tu Dhoop Hai
Te Amo Me Te Amo Tere Hazaron Roop Hain

Falling So Crazy In Love….

Ho.. I’ve Been Around The World
There Is No One Like You Girl
I Feel It All The Time
Just Have To Make You Mine

I’m Lovin Everyday, Lovin U In Every Way
Thats Why I’d Like To Say

Kabhi Lage Raaton Mein Main
Khwabon Se Baatien Karoon Subah Unhin
Khwabon Ko Main Kaabu Karoon
Kabhi Lage Taaron Se Bhi Oonchin Udaane Bharoon
Kabhi Lage Baadalon Se Jebein Bharoon

Te Amo Me Te Amo Taare Ginun Tere Liye
Te Amo Me Te Amo Saare Chunun Tere Liye
Khwaab Saare Bunun Tere Hi Tere Liye

Falling So Crazy In Love

Te Amo Me Te Amo Taare Ginun Tere Liye
Te Amo Me Te Amo Saare Chunun Tere Liye

He… Ye… Ho…

Kabhi Lage Mili Nahi Tumse Main Khwabon Mein Bhi
Kabhi Lage Kahin To Hai Rishtha Koi
Kabhi Lage Chhooun Tumhe Yun Hi Khayalon Mein Hi
Kabhi Lage Nahin Nahin Chori Nahin

Te Amo Me Te Amo Tu Paas Hai Par Door Hai
Te Amo Me Te Amo Jaata Nahin Ye Noor Hai
Teri Chori Bhi Ye Manzoor Manzoor Hai

Falling So Crazy In Love

Te Amo Me Te Amo Tu Paas Hai Par Door Hai
Te Amo Me Te Amo Jaata Nahin Ye Noor Hai

Mit Jaaye Gham

Singers: Anushka Manchanda

Lyricist: Anand Bakshi, Jaideep Sahni

Reprogramming: Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale (Original: R D Burman)

Hey, tu phir dekh raha hai
Aaj aankh sek raha hai, kal haath sekega
Aaj deel chod raha hai, kal khudi rokega
Aaj mere liye chair kheech raha hai, kal meri skirt kheechega
kheechega ke nahin hun

Akkad bakkad bambay bo
Assi nabbe poore sau
Sau rupeya ka banjoli
Do sau hum ho udanchi
(phir kyun main tu kar reh tain tu)

Unche se uncha banda, potty pe baithe nanga
Phir kaahe ki society, saali kaahe ka paakhanda
Bheje se kaleje se, kalaje ke kalaje se
Mit jaaye hum maroge toh jeeyoge dum maaro dum
Dum maaro dum
Mit jaaye gham
Bolo subaha shaam
Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna Hare Ram
Dum maaro dum
Mit jaaye gham
Bolo subaha shaam
Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna Hare Ram

(duniya mein humko nahin aata
duniya mein humdar nahin aata
humdum ki parwah kare kyun
sapne hamara nahin aata)

Dum maaro dum
Mit jaaye gham
Bolo subaha shaam
Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna Hare Ram

Kya hai kahani tere paap ki
Topi hai pyaare har naam ki
Khuli hai supermarket baap ki
Kya hai pasand toh aap ki
Andar ke bandar se ho guftagu si ik baat
Thi justaju si ik baat
Ho guftagu si ik baat
(phir kyun main tu kar reh tain tu)

Unche se uncha banda, potty pe baithe nanga
Phir kaahe ki society, saali kaahe ka paakhanda
Bheje se kaleje se, kalaje ke kalaje se
Mit jaaye hum maroge toh jeeyoge dum maaro dum
Dum maaro dum
Mit jaaye gham
Bolo subaha shaam
Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna Hare Ram
Dum maaro dum
Mit jaaye gham
Bolo subaha shaam
Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna ..

Jiyein Kyun

Singers: Papon

Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Na aaye ho, na aaoge, na phone pe bulaoge
Na shaam ki karaari chai, labhon se yun pilaoge
Na aaye ho, na aaoge, na din dhale sataoge
Na raat ki nashili bye se neendh mein jagaoge
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, yeh raat baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, saath baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye hum tham gaye har baat baaki hai
Gaye kyun toh jiyein kyun

Na aaye ho, na aaoge, na dooriyaan dhikhaoge
Na thaam ke woh josh mein yun hosh se udaoge
Na aaye ho, na aaoge, na jhoot se sunaoge
Na rooth ke sihane mein, remote ko chupaoge
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, yeh raat baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, saath baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye hum tham gaye har baat baaki hai
Gaye kyun toh jiyein kyun

Aankh bhi tham gayi, na thaki
Raat bhi na bhati, na kati
Raat bhi cherti marrti
Neendh bhi lutt gayi, chiin gayi
Raat bhi na sahi, na rahi
Raat bhi laazmi, zaalmi
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, yeh raat baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye ho kyun, saath baaki hai
Gaye tum gaye hum tham gaye har baat baaki hai
Gaye kyun toh jiyein kyun
Gaye kyun toh jiyein kyun

Na aaye ho, na aaoge, na phone pe bulaoge
Na shaam ki karaari chai, labhon se yun churaoge

Jaana Hai

Singers: Zubeen Garg

Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Jaana hai, baadal se door
Chaya hai, pagal suroor
Raahein bhi, bechain hai
Bepanaha, yeh naal hai
Ho naina jaagey jaagey
Ho chaina daagey daagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko soh lenge
Ho mazil meelon aagey, jo dil ko bojal aagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko roh lenge

Kehti aayi mehfil jo kahani phus phusaake
Keh kahone yun udaa ke
Muh zubaani hi banake
Rokegi, woh tujhe
Hoga kuch na haasil himmaton se zal zalose
Dil jalon ke chaunchalon se
Chaand palke bulbulon se
Tokegi, woh tujhe
Jaana hai, baadal se door
Chaya hai, pagal suroor
Raahein bhi, bechain hai
Bepanaha, yeh naal hai
Ho naina jaagey jaagey
Ho chaina daagey daagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko soh lenge
Ho mazil meelon aagey, jo dil ko bojal aagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko roh lenge

Har pal imtehaan hai, ikatdah hai, intha hai
Faasalon ka kafila hai, roshni na darmiyan hai
Door hai, door hai
Manzil dekhti hai, tera manzar muskuraake
Dekh nazare toh uthaake hai bulaata cham chamaake
Noor hai, noor hai
Jaana hai, baadal se door
Chaya hai, pagal suroor
Raahein bhi, bechain hai
Bepanaha, yeh naal hai
Ho naina jaagey jaagey
Ho chaina daagey daagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko soh lenge
Ho mazil meelon aagey, jo dil ko bojal lagey
Toh muskura, ke bolna kal ko roh lenge

Thayn Thayn

Singers: Abhishek Bachchan, Earl, Ayush Phukan

Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Hey sahiba
Goa aane ka, khaane ka, peenay ka aur mast chill maarne ka
Lekin dum, dum bilkul nahin maarne ka

Teri baaton ki shaarab, tere paapon ke hisaab
Tere Swiss bank account, gol gol mol account
Teri gali gali yaar, poori goli baar baar
Pehle yaari mein mili, phir biki baar baar
Teri hogi sarkar, tera hoga darbaar
Par rahegi nahin, kamzori har baar
Jaayenge jaayenge jaayenge baari baari
Aapki sewa mein, janhit pe jaari

Thayn thayn, tere gale ki jalan
Thayn thayn, abhi hogi nahin kam
Thayn thayn, jo hai maal patti
Thayn thayn, woh hai mombatti
Thayn thayn, daayein baayein mudegi
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi
Thayn thayn ..
La la la ..

(chalein daayein baayein
chalein daayein baayein
bas thayn thayn
bas dishkyaon dishkyaon)

Badi brave hai Police, par slave hai Police
Kabhi this that that kabhi that that this
Tere party ke chunao, tere paise ke dabao
Tere khotey armaan, tere jhoothe farmaan
Tere bikey afsar (officer), mile jis daftar
Tere haath, tere par, tere din, tere ghar
Jaayenge jaayenge jaayenge baari baari
Aapki sewa mein, janhit pe jaari

Thayn thayn, tune dhoonda rasta
Thayn thayn, jo bhi mila sasta
Thayn thayn, teri teen patti
Thayn thayn, teri laal batti
Thayn thayn, daayein baayein mudegi
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi
Thayn thayn ..
La la la ..

Having spent a major part of my formative years in Kerala, the excitement associated with the festival of colors never really caught my fancy, at least till my engineering days when I first got to see the Holi-celebrating folks in action. The only things that heralded the arrival of the festival to me were the songs that played on TV during the season, and with some memorable songs comprising that lineup it was indeed a pleasurable way for me to remember the day sans colors. So today as I sit in one corner of Andhra, the festival shall remain pretty much uneventful yet again (barring the India-Windies match, praying for the God’s 100 no. 100 there!). So till the time the match starts the least I can do is stick to the musical tradition. Ergo, here is a list of my five fave Holi songs from Bollywood. Have a fun-filled Holi everyone!

Holi Aayi Re (Mother India) -Shamshad Begum | Naushad

Holi Ke Din (Sholay) – Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar | R D Burman

Rang Barse (Silsila) – Amitabh Bachchan | Shiv-Hari

Aaj Na Chhodenge (Kati Patang) – Lata Mangeshkar| R D Burman

Holi Re (Mangal Pandey) – Udit Narayan, Aamir Khan, Srinivas, Madhusree, Chinmayi | A R Rahman

Deepak Dev surely is no Ilayaraja, but he does manage to incorporate quite nicely the folksy elements in the buoyant opening track Aaranne Aaranne. Job Kurien and Rita do not disappoint in their rendition, though they fail to pull off the North Kerala accent. Swetha Mohan and Yesudas get behind the mic to deliver Aaro Nee Aaro, a beautifully arranged mildly period-esque melody that in its grandeur reminded me of Naran in places. Is it just me, or is there an electronic twang in Yesudas’ voice? Very nice listen anyways. The composer uses a Vadakkan Paattu tune in the most simplistic manner in Appaa, just a santoor (synth-generated?) sound accompanying debutant singer Reshmi Sathish’s strong and impactful voice. The singer returns with another dark pulsating track called Chalanam Chalanam that quite effectively utilises her singing. Very good debut for her, this.

Manjari’s first ever song for Deepak Dev comes in the form of the short, simple (barring that momentary orchestral burst halfway through) and flippant Chimmi Chimmi, where the composer uses all sorts of random sounds in the background to fantastic results. The singer quite obviously has a fun time rendering it. The composer gives another song to Prithviraj in the rock version of Vadakku Vadakku. Yes it has been decently arranged, well-sung and all that, but what is such a track doing in a period movie? There is also a Friendship version of the same song by Gurukiran and Shaan Rahman which doesn’t quite match up to the original despite a more fusionesque-inclination, but until my initial query is answered I don’t quite care about the quality of either variant. Deepak Dev presents another traditional-sounding folk track in Thelu Thele, sung soulfully by KR Renji. Though minimal, the background is imaginatively done. And bringing up the rear is the expressive Theme Song that features a wide assortment of instruments (and a brief humming portion by Mili).

Deepak Dev produces a score quite expected from a movie like Urumi, barring the one surprise inclusion called Vadakku Vadakku. Job well done! Looking forward to Santosh Sivan’s visual interpretation of the songs.

Music Aloud Rating – 8/10

Recommended Tracks – Aaro Nee Aaro, Aaraanne Aaraanne, Appaa, Chalanam Chalanam

Retaining the right portions from the original, and adding their own signature elements, Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale create a groovy remix of Pancham da’s ahead-of-the-times classic. And in Anoushka Manchanda they find the perfect voice to deliver it. Enter lead composer Pritam Chakraborthy. And the man starts off with a melody arranged in his definitive breezy style, Te Amo. Sung by a strangely Neeraj Shridhar-ish Ash King and Sunidhi Chauhan, the song is a passable listen, the repetitiveness telling slightly on the enjoyability. But Pritam ups the ante considerably in the next two variants of the song. First, a Coldplay-reminiscent female solo version delivered finely by Sunidhi Chauhan. And the next, an unplugged Reprise version, which has Mohit Chauhan crooning to an acoustic guitar’s backing. Going into an overkill mode, the composer presents a fourth version(!!) of the song as well, a remix of the original duet and is a pretty middling job with its predictable Miles-ish synth additions et al.

The pick of the soundtrack comes next, Pritam getting Assamese singer Papon to debut in Bollywood with a brilliantly arranged rock track Jiyein Kyun. Papon sounds quite a bit like Suraj Jagan in places, with an equally powerful voice. Zubeen Garg’s Jaana Hai fails due to a jaded tune and a rather unimaginative arrangement. The man has been having a bad run of late, his previous song in Aashayein also turning out a dud. AB Jr is not having a great success ratio on the acting front, and rapping is something he should consider seriously. His work in Bluffmaster was quite impressive, and the man sings another one in Dum Maaro Dum called Thayn Thayn, with Ayush Phukan and Earl, to equally good effect. And Pritam provides an intriguing arrangement to the song marked by a wonderful chorus, to close the soundtrack on a positive note.

A fairly entertaining package from Pritam for Dum Maaro Dum, which surprisingly is a big comeback for the man whose other two scores so far this year came for United Six and Thank You! And Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale continue to impress with their Bollywood forays, one song at a time. Which reminds me, Karsh Kale’s new fusion album Cinema featuring Midival Punditz, Salim Merchant, Shruti Pathak, Monica Dogra and others, is out! You can view the promo of the album here and get the songs here.

Music Aloud Rating – 7.5/10

Recommended Tracks – Jiyein Kyun, Te Amo (Female), Thayn Thayn

Karthaave is straight from one of Deepak Dev‘s of late regular templates, processed voices and the likes. The song evokes strong memories of songs like Thattum Muttum (Puthiya Mukham), Ko Ko Kozhi (Fasttrack) etc. But as compared to the previous songs, this one has the advantage of Shankar Mahadevan on its side (who seems to have been suffering from a bout of cold while recording for this movie), with some well-placed funny dialogues by Rimi Tommy. Shankar returns with Swetha Mohan to deliver the next melody Kannum. In recent times Deepak Dev’s melodies have been showing a steady increase of non-Malayaliness creeping into them. And this one, if not for its lyrics, could very well be mistaken for a Bollywood melody (quite presumably by someone like Pritam). And I DO NOT say this coz of the Saiyyaan Ve refrain. Good melody nevertheless. In any case the composer himself shows how that base tune could be utilized better in a beautiful unplugged version called Saiyyaan Ve. The piano interludes (presumably played by the composer himself) are mindblowing! The song kind of took me back to the days when DD made Symphony, a vastly underrated album. After that track, the soundtrack ends on a relatively lower note with a Punjabi-flavored dance-y track called Mizhikalil Naanam sung by Nikhil, Ranjith and Rimi Tommy. A pretty normal track, in line with many of this genre being dished out these days from people like Alex Paul and Jassie Gift.

Short and not-so-sweet soundtrack from Deepak Dev for Christian Brothers, though Saiyyaan Ve does kind of make up for everything else.

Music Aloud Rating – 6/10

Recommended Track – Saiyyaan Ve

You can listen to samples and download the soundtrack here.

I wonder if it’s coz they were the people who introduced me to the genre, I tend to do a mental comparison with McLaughlin & Co.’s Shakti (old+new) every time I listen to a carnatic-jazz fusion album. The thing with works like Shakti’s – and I say this as a person who is first a listener of Indian classical and then a jazz enthusiast – is that they have always favored the classical ear more, giving a slight upper hand to the classical portion while the jazz played second fiddle (or guitar, as the case may be! ), or there is at least a balance between the two. In Tirtha however – and I am guessing this is due to the Grammy-nominated lead composer Vijay Iyer’s jazz background (this is my first work of Vijay so I can’t be sure) – the jazz elements seem to sideline carnatic to quite an extent.

The album surely leaves one in no doubt regarding the individual brilliance of the artists. Guitar Prasanna is awe-inspiring in his ability to juggle ragas, and migrate from carnatic to jazz and then back again, in a seemingly effortless fashion, while Vijay Iyer proves why is counted among the most promising jazz pianists of the age. Nitin Mitta’s role is understated most of the time, but when he comes to the fore he does it in style, like in the konnakol and solos of Tribal Wisdom. But there are times when the elaborate display of talent turns the song into a convoluted mass, like with Duality, the opening song. The song has the players following a complex time signature which tells big time on the listenability of the track. Ditto for Polytheism, the difference being that what was done to the time signature is done to the tone in this case. Even the title song has portions where the artists get into wild complicated improvs, but they wonderfully make up in the other sections, especially the change in tempo towards the end.

Tribal Wisdom is the longest track of all, but has its length beautifully divided among the three artists. Abundance is sedate, Prasanna and Iyer cautiously finding their way forward over Mitta’s mellow percussive template. The song also features a brief vocal segment towards the end, (presumably from Prasanna) following the guitar notes. Falsehood is another slightly toned-down track, Prasanna two-timing between jazz and carnatic modes. Gauntlet is short, racy and intriguing. And wonderfully executed. The two final tracks, Remembrance and Entropy and Time, are pretty much vintage Guitar Prasanna, Vijay Iyer letting the guitarist hog the centrestage for most part. While in the former there is a bit of jazz creeping up into Prasanna’s intricate guitaring, the latter is delightfully carnatic (barring a short piano segment), the guitarist revelling in the exploration of raga Bilahari (guess).

So the summary of the comparison? The carnatic fan side of me is still left wanting, I more of it was expected out of an album involving Guitar Prasanna. The fusion aficionado in me is pretty happy, though this definitely is not among the best jazz carnatic fusion albums I have listened to. Again, my views are greatly influenced by the classical side of things. The jazz fans might find this album to their taste but I cannot be sure of that. Yes there are some very good tracks, but in entirety it did not impress me as much as, say, another recent jazz fusion album I heard, Bada Boom. Shall be trying and listening to Vijay Iyer’s older works though, and be on the lookout for Nitin Mitta, he is good.

My fave tracks – Entropy and Time, Remembrance, Tribal Wisdom, Gauntlet, Abundance