Songs and complete credits at the end (thanks to @gradwolf for helping with the credits)
In a soundtrack that is dominated by off-beat songs, Vaazhkai Oru Ottagam is one of the relatively normal sounding tracks. The arrangement has piano and strings and brass elements coming together in a fabulous mix to back Benny Dayal’s sprightly rendition. Imsai Rani too features gorgeous and more extensively employed violins (solos by Kalyan), underlining Karthik’s ace vocal efforts throughout the song. The whistle that mirrors the strings after second verse is a real nice touch. The retro-flavoured harmonies (Jiby, Deepu, Philips, Sajan) in Vaadagai Veedu took me back to the title song of Anjali at times. That aside, a well-executed song with some splendid folk percussion from Avinash Jayakumar and Jaichaa. Jananie SV who made her debut for composer with the best song of Kirumi, gets a song in Aandavan Kattalai as well – Kaarmegakuzhali, which has the lady humming a lovely melodic piece to a laidback, guitar-dominated backdrop.
Composer himself leads the vocals on two of the soundtrack’s wackiest tracks 108 Thenga and Polambing Song. The highlight of 108 Thenga is the assortment of instruments that make up its arrangement – naadaswaram (or is it kazoo) and folk percussion amidst bluesy guitars (excellent bass by Aravind Murali). K and his chorus (uncredited) do an exceptional job of rendering Vivek’s quirky verse in the Polambing Song, (particularly loved the Polambi Polambi ta na na bit). The star in the background is the double bass (Bruno Migliari) that stands out amidst the outlandish sounds. Gandhi Thatha has Darwin Guna’s rap at its helm and is engaging while it lasts, which is just over a minute. Elandha Pazham carries an almost European flavour about it, and is set to a waltzy rhythm too – a combination that charms as expected. Yogi Sekar handles the vocals on this one, and does it well. It is only Yaaro Petha Pullai that doesn’t quite make that strong an impact. That said, there are interesting elements in the arrangement here too, and Anthony Daasan reliable as always.
Aandavan Kattalai. Composer K dials the experimentation levels a notch up in his second outing with director M Manikandan and the result is an equally engaging soundtrack!
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: Elandha Pazham, Imsai Rani, Polambing Song, Kaarmegakuzhali
Music Credits
Strings conducted by B.Yensone
Solo Violin – Kalyan
Brass instruments – Babu Irudhayaraj, Cold City Horns
Acoustic and Electric Guitars – Jai Shankar Iyer, Mark Taylor
Bass Guitar – Aravind Murali
Acoustic Bass – Bruno Migliari
Drums – Jaishankar Iyer
Various Ethnic Percussion – Avinash Jayakumar, Jaichaa
Musical Assistance and Additional Programming – Biju Sam
Artists coordination and Program Incharge – R.Viswanathan
Studios – Music from the place, V.G.P Digital, P.D.M.S, River Records,
Aura Studios, The OutHouse Studio
Engineers – Biju James, Saurabh Muthuswamy, Bob Phukan, Jaishankar Iyer
Mixed by Jaishankar Iyer at Music From The Place.
