We hereby start off the Music Aloud Playlist For The Month series. At the start of every month we shall be bringing out a list of recommended 15 songs picked up from the previous month’s releases or from earlier releases if we do not find the previous month’s songs fit enough. If available, we shall also be embedding the audio/video links here so that you can try our recommendations here itself. The playlist would primarily feature Hindi music, but there would also be songs from English or from the World music arena if we strongly feel the need of making people aware of some such song. This month though, the list is entirely composed of Hindi songs, if you exempt the Pussycat Doll remix of Jai Ho. Listen on then..
1. Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire) – Singers: Nicole Scherzinger, Sukhwinder Singh, Vijay Prakash, Tanvi, Mahalaxmi Iyer
What better song to start with than the one that got India its first Best Song Oscar. The one I recommend for the playlist this month is however the remix version of Jai Ho by Pussycat Dolls. The remix has been done very well, leaving Rahman’s original instrumentation untouched, and Nicole’s vocals have blended in well with the song. Barring Nicole’s pronounciation of Jai Ho as “J” Ho, Pussycat Dolls have done total justice to ARR.
2. Bade Se Shehar Mein (13B) – Singer: Karthik
Karthik’s voice and SEL’s mellow instrumentation wash over you in this soothing melody. The chorus do a splendid job as well, with the occasional high pitched intervention by Shankar. If you are feeling down or something, this is the song you should be listening to.
3. Aasma Odh Kar (13B) – Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Chitra
Another song from 13B, having a heavy South influence. Sung by Chitra and Shankar Mahadevan, this romantic song has a slight haunting effect about it.
4. Aisi Sazaa (Gulaal) – Singer: Shilpa Rao
Shilpa Rao’s soulful rendition is bound to touch your heart in this song which has been brilliantly arranged by debutant (in music direction) Piyush Mishra. With sounds of rain and the sparse instrumental backing, one would surely get reminded of the songs from Water.
5. Beedo (Gulaal) – Singer: Rekha Bharadwaj
Rekha Bharadwaj rules the roost in this folk song, a composition that could give Vishal Bharadwaj a run for his money.
6. Yaara Maula (Gulaal) – Singers: Rahul Ram, Aushim
With the vocals by Indian Ocean’s Rahul Ram and Aushim (according to my assumption Asheem Chakravarthy) and the rock instrumentation that comes between a philosophical song having dark overtones, this song could as well have been an Indian Ocean song. No credits taken away from Piyush Mishra though for his superb composition.
7. Duniya (Gulaal) – Singer: Piyush Mishra
If you are into the good old Hindi songs, this song will be a trip down the memory lane for you. Piyush Mishra does a decent job on lending vocals to this tribute to the legendary Rafi song from Pyaasa. The use of harmonium, tabla etc. give a bhajan feel to the song, at least for the first half.
8. Dhoop Ke Sikke (Sikandar) – Singers: Anusha Mani, Shankar Mahadevan
Another feel good song to add to your playlist, again from the SEL trio. The nursery rhyme-like motif that goes “Tee-ree-ree” is especially cute!
9. Gulon Mein, Serene version (Sikandar) – Singer: Mohit Chauhan
The composer duo Justin-Uday have splendidly retuned the classic Faiz Ahmed Faiz poem to give another soothing song for our playlist. And this sort of song is bread and butter for the singer Mohit Chauhan as he has proven many times.
10.Gulon Mein, Upbeat version (Sikandar) – Singer: KK
Sandesh Shandilya composes this faster version of the same poem, and with KK’s rendition this song is in no way behind the other version.
11. Mohabbat Aapse (Aa Dekhen Zara) – Singer: Akriti Kakkar
The flute bit that launches the song makes you sit up and notice, and Akriti Kakkar doesn’t disappoint you with the vocals either. The result, a nice romantic melody from Pritam.
12. Aloo Chaat (Aloo Chaat) – Singer: Kailash Kher
Don’t let the initial electronic loop going Aloo Chaat discourage you, as what follows is a good folk fusion from Vipin Mishra, ex-Parikrama guitarist. And he aptly chooses Kailash Kher to deliver the folk part who pulls it off in style.
13. Aloo Chaat (Aloo Chaat) – Singers: RDB, Nindy Kaur
To cover the deficiency of a disco song in the playlist, I include this song which I feel is the best disco song of the season. I haven’t heard any other work from RDB, but this song of theirs is impressive. The Arabic loop running in the background has sounded really good with the Bhangra and rap.
Couldn’t help but include a couple of songs from the two biggest hits of the previous month, Dilli 6 and Dev D, given that I am still hooked on to those two albums in spite of so many releases this month. So here are two songs, one song apiece from each of the albums.
14. Dil Gira Dafatan (Dilli 6) – Singers: Ash King, Chinmayi
Awesome is the word that describes the instrumentation of this song! Quite, yet subtle. The guitar loop that starts immediately after the initial vocals has been simply mindblowing! Ash King has been spot-on with the various intricacies in the rendition. And Chinmayi provides excellent backing. Too bad Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra didn’t give the song its full due in its picturisation. He rather tried to use the song as a mean to advertise the producers and other stakeholders of the film, like Marriott Hotels and ROMP (People might have noticed Abhishek Bachchan flying an aeroplane named ROMP06!!).
15. Dhol Yaara Dhol (Dev D) – Singers: Kshitij, Shilpa Rao
Ideally the song from Dev D should be Emotional Atyachaar, but since a lot has been heard of that song already, I recommend a different song. A second song from Shilpa Rao for the playlist. The folk song has been superbly sung by Shilpa Rao and Kshitij, Shilpa’s voice quite matching the folk style. The instrumentation by Amit Trivedi has been such that you close your eyes while listening to the song and you could very well be travelling over the North Indian countryside!
