Songs and soundtrack credits at the end. Palestinian singer Sanaa Moussa, who previously featured in composer A R Rahman’s Muhammad: The Messenger of God and Dil Bechara (and interestingly had a special mention in Mimi despite not singing, perhaps for some kind of consultative role) delivers a folk song from her homeland titled Badaweih in Aadujeevitham. A song that relies almost exclusively on the singer’s skills as the composer keeps the backdrop very minimal and expansive (reflective of the landscape the visuals are likely to be set in, I reckon). And Sanaa delivers spectacularly, making t ..read more

Songs and complete soundtrack credits at the end. If I were to rank my favourite musical instruments, one of the top entries would definitely be reserved for the African kora. An instrument that imparts an incredibly calming vibe, and therefore is often part of songs tend to be in that zone as well (remember this song from Raavan/Raavanan?). It is also an instrument that is unfortunately rarely employed in Indian music, so I have to rely on world music, or catching the instrument live (like this street performance I stumbled upon the other day). It was therefore that my ears perked up when I ..read more

Another year-end, another roundup. 15th edition of this activity that has now become a Christmas tradition for me. This year, I put a bit more effort than usual, partly to make up a bit for the sparsity of posts through the year (apologies about that – I was more focussed on instagram content during the little spare time I had). Which, in case you aren’t following, is musicaloud.gram), but mainly because some of the year’s best music happened in the web series space so I felt it deserved its own category. As a result, this time there are nine lists (10 playlists, including the consolidated o ..read more

Songs and musician credits at the end. A R Rahman has some iconic train-themed songs to his credit; songs where he has innovatively employed the rhythm of the locomotive. In Jigu Jigu Rail there isn’t much of that; the role of the train sound here is pretty much to bookend the track. However, there is something in the reggae rhythm (riddim?) that is evocative of the gentle chugging along of a train (I did find a fair few train-related reggae tracks on a cursory search, perhaps there is something in that choice?), and the video prominently features a toy train – although the highlight of the v ..read more

Songs and credits (to the extent available) at the end of the review. Also has information on which song belongs to which episode. G V Prakash Kumar gets just the one song in Modern Love Chennai, for Krishnakumar Ramakumar’s Kaadhal Enbadhu Kannula Heart Irukkura Emoji. The composer totally makes his mark with that song though – Kukunnu is total earworm material! While the melody itself is quite catchy and delivered very well by the interesting pair of singers Vagu Mazan and Ramya Nambessan, there’s also some really quirky folk-electronic fusion happening in the backdrop – the remixed version ..read more

Songs and complete musician credits at the end. After that brief dip in her output at the start of the decade, it has been nice to see Sunidhi Chauhan’s Bollywood portfolio pick up again in recent months – imagine my delight spotting her name against four songs in Jubilee! Some of the album’s top songs too, that once again showcase the singer’s versatility. I was excited about Babuji Bhole Bhaale right from the time I heard a snippet of it in the show’s trailer, and it totally delivers on its promise. Evocative of the light-hearted songs with Western-influenced orchestration from the 50s (Tad ..read more

Songs and musician credits at the end (credits will be updated as I get hold of more info) Having gotten used to the BGM version of Aga Naga from the first instalment of Ponniyin Selvan, the slight increase in tempo in the extended track took a bit of warming up to, but I am now totally besotted with this waltzy track. And one of the primary contributors to that love is the fantastic use of strings (Chennai Strings & Sunshine Orchestra). With just a smattering of percussion, it is the strings that drive the orchestration pretty much, marked by some lovely touches like the “tiptoeing” ever ..read more

Welcome to Music Aloud’s annual roundup #14!  A couple of changes this time around, mostly incorporating feedback I have received for the previous editions. Firstly, I have included separate (but slightly smaller) lists for Telugu, Kannada and Marathi instead of bunching everything up into one “Other Language Films” set. On the flip side though, that didn’t leave me with enough time to do a web series list or an instrumental/BGM list (both of which had some great stuff this year). Secondly, instead of doing a 25 + 5 honorary mentions system, I have decided to go with a set of 30 in every ..read more

Songs and complete soundtrack credits at the end. Qala’s director Anvitaa Dutt gets the perennially underrated Sagar Desai to do a guest composition for the soundtrack – Udh Jaayega by Sant Kabir. The song is a bhajan that you will find multiple renditions of on Youtube, by Pt. Kumar Gandharv, Rahul Deshpande etc. If you are familiar with Sagar’s previous works, particularly the movie Ankhon Dekhi, you will already know why it is a great idea to get the man for such a track. And the man absolutely does not disappoint here, with his own classical-flavoured (raag bhimplasi perhaps?) take on the ..read more

Songs and soundtrack credits at the end. Happened to watch Chup over the weekend. Director Balki employs multiple elements in the movie to pay tribute to master director Guru Dutt, prominent among them being SD Burman’s songs from Dutt’s movies Pyaasa and Kagaz Ke Phool; and one of the things that is indelibly stuck in your head – thanks to its placement in the movie’s promos as well – is that cricket chirp-ish wooden percussion from Jaane Kya Tune Kahi. So, here’s an instrument whose sound has not been heard in the mainstream in a long, long time – imagine the odds that it suddenly finds use ..read more