Phir Bhi…Sudeep (1995)

I got into Ghazals fairly soon thanks to the ‘born old’ head and a low tolerance towards most songs in the 1990s. At that time (and forever) Ghazals meant/wil mean Jagjit Singh to me. Trying out a ghazal from anyone who is not Jagjit singh used to be a self declared ‘Gunaah’ for me.

In 1995, I was in Class X and in came a ghazal album titled ‘Phir bhi’ and as with Magnasounds philosophy of promoting the new album, my favorite shop, (Shiv electronics, Indira nagar lucknow) had a huge poster of the album right outside the shop. To this day I dont know what was it that made me buy the cassette for a princely sum of INR 40 in those days (Papa’s money)?

May be it was just begining of the first ghazal, titled Ye dil jaata hai. The way the electric flute makes an appearance and leads us to the wonderful voice of Sudeep. A ghazal composed with a lot of love. Excellent use of guitar, non intrusive backup singers and good amount of violin. The pace is non-ghazal like whereas the words are just too ghazal like. An entire ghazal wherein the lover is waiting in anticipation of what gives in first..heart or courage.

May be it was the second ghazal Fakira na aaye . Guitar start the ghazal at a leisurely pace. A ghazal with a lot of thehraav. Singing remains top class. The pronounciation of words, the excellent music arrangement and a simple tune, the focus is purely on singing and nothing else. The ghazal has a sinking feel to it and if you feel the same, it just means that you like the ghazal.

May be it was this ghazal titled Kahein kya hum pe jo sadme guzartey hain, guzartey hain. The pace is slightly ‘geet’ like but the overall feel remains closely hugged to the sensibilities of ghazal. Excellent use of Sitar and tabla, coupled with really powerful lyrics, this ghazal is pure delight.

May be it was this old classic that has been sung by so many people that it made me curious to see how has Sudeep, a debutant treated this ghazal. Wo jo hum mein tum mein qaraar tha, tumhein yaad ho ke na yaad ho. Very subtle guitars, good backup vocal support and piano make up this ghazal so beautiful that you are inclined to think it’s not a debutant’s work. Delicately sung, hopelessly in love reminders of old days…(don’t miss the excellent violin play just before the second antraa). This will bring back a lot of memories, in a good way.

May be it was the excellent bass play with Sarod and slight drum play before this ghazal Kabhi saaya kabhi dhoop. A ghazal that Sudeep starts with a soulful hum. Powerful lyrics again. For a debutant to choose a ghazal like this and that too in 1995 is just splendid! The tune treatment is slow and marked with constant guitar throughout.

May be it was the excellent sarangi play that starts this wonderful ghazal, Bheegi hui aankhon ka ye manzar na milega, ghar chorh ke na jao, kahin ghar na milega. A very ‘By the tabla’ ghazal. There is a good amount of Santoor as well that multiplies the ‘pleasing to the ears’ factor of this ghazal. This used to be the favorite ghazal from this album of a lot of people I knew back then. It still is, I think.

Or may be it was this surreal ghazal Koi aarzoo nahi hai, koi mudda nahi hai, tera gham rahey salaamat mere dil mein kya nahi hai. There is Sarangi, Sarod and the velvet voice of Sudeep that keeps this ghazal constantly in the mind once you hear it. Tune wise, I believe this is the most innovative attempt in the album. The lyrics, the atmosphere, the guitar…I could go on and on about how madly I am in love with this ghazal since the time I heard it for the first time.

Sudeep has done some excellent work since the time this album came out. In fact, his album Irshad was reviewed on this blog in December 2011. Sudeep continues to work in his little ways for keeping ghazals alive when most of the ‘used to be legends’ are busy changing the frames of their goggles and basking in the glory of their work. If you want to get in touch with Sudeep, you can write to me. (before you think it’s a promotional post, let me tell you, he doesn’t even know of this blog)

To submit this review from the same room in my Lucknow home in which I used to hear it (inspite of the various music releases that included albums like Bombay, DDLJ, Rangeela, Barsaat and many more), is a high for me.

The album has stayed with me for 18 years and it continues to sound wonderful. To me, that means a lot and if you trust my word, do try the album out. It is available on iTunes for less than 100 Rupees.

The Shah Hussain Project – Vasundhara das (Review)

Hun Nai Hatda – A peppy number starts with Vasundhara das crooning in right measure although somewhat uncomfortable with high notes. The song has a very pleasing feel to it overall. This is the Vashundhara das we all have been waiting for since sometime. The song features Mukhtiyar Ali who recites the traditional ‘Heer’ and remains in sync with the song. A good start to the album. It can be called the ‘Music video’ song of the album.

Saiyyon Assi – Piano and Vasundhara das make another effort to treat a traditional song imaginatively. This might grow on repeated listening (not because this version is bad but for the simple reason that the traditional version of this composition is too engraved on the mind). If you haven’t heard other versions, chances are you will like it.

Sajan Bin – Simple notes of guitar start this composition. Mukhtiyar ali takes the lead in this. Excellently arranged and simply composed the problem with this track could be its simplicity itself! The track sounds very amateurish (especially the ‘Mukhda’). Vasundhara das gets some English lines in between as well. Just an average song.

Range So Range – Yet another song that touches some uncomfortable notes for Vasundhara das to perform. The Piano however, saves the song. For those who don’t understand Punjabi, there are good amount of English lines as well. The composition overall feels very cluttered.

Tum Se – A light arrangement coupled with lovely singing by Vasundhara das gently starts the song. This composition feels more like it! Words woven nicely within the tune and lightly arranged. Mukhtiyar ali accompanies Vasundhara very well. This is easily the clearest composition of the album, very clear on what it wants to sound like and thankfully remains uncluttered.

Man Atkiya – Mukhtiyar ali starts yet another Punjabi song with a tune that is oddly familiar. A simple composition.

Mera Sona Sajan – Stars very much like the Hum dil de chuke sanam’s Albela sajan. While the base tune remains consistent, the composition, in an attempt to sound layered goes haywire in between when Vasundhara das makes what can be called ‘fusion attempt’. Yet again, the Piano in this song is just top class! Mukhtiyar ali owns the song and how!

Kahun Na Powe Chain – The song is the mandatory ‘bad world what to do?’ song of the album. This song again attempts way too many things altogether. Vasundara das tries too hard. The composition sounds cluttered, yet again. In fact, to state the truth, this song tests your patience!

With most of the songs in Punjabi, the overall take up of the album remains to be seen anyway.

Overall a below average ode to Hazrat Shah hussain, but I am at pains to remember anyone else attempting this in India and hitting it mainstream. So, I will take it!

Vashindara das and Mir Mukhtiyar ali deserve a thumbs up for the attempt. Fusion might not work all the time but the effort is certainly well worth it, always.

As the album marks the return of Vasundhara das, I hope she sings more and more because she holds so much promise!

My Picks – Hunn nahi Hatda, Saiyyon Assi, Tum se and Mera Sona Sajan

The album is available on iTunes for INR 96 (with individual songs priced at INR 12), and at flipkart for INR 120 (with individual songs priced at INR 15). So your excuse for downloading it from ‘free’ sources is?

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – Music review

ilahi This song appears twice in the soundtrack. Mohit chauhan’s version has a dash of fun-n-frolic to it with Mohit getting hysterical in bits. All while accompanied by an excellent all kids backup vocal army! Arijit singh’s version is free flowing and scores slightly above Mohit’s version in terms of melody. Both versions however smell stongly of a ‘Phir se udd chala meets gurus of peace meets kasto maza’ arrangement and feel. Still, enjoyable. Immensely.

Kabira also appears twice in the album. One version sung by Rekha bharadwaj and Tochi Raina and the other sung by Harshdeep and Arijit Singh. Tune wise remaining the same, the Harshdeep-Arijit version is arranged more like a wedding song. In fact the start of this song will surely remind you of Ye kudiya nashey diya puriyaa part in the mehndi laga ke rakhna as well as Kabse aaye hain tere dulhe raja part from Kuch kuch hota hai’s Saajan ji ghar aaye song. On the other hand the Rekha-Tochi version tries very very hard to sound like iktaara from wake up sid. Sadly it doesn’t. In fact if you hear closely the parts sung by Tochi you will get a ‘Tere bina’ (Guru) feel. The song isn’t bad. It’s just too out there to please you and get your headtilt ‘Aww’!

Ghagra sung by Rekha Bharadwaj and Vishal dadlani – is wannabe desi at so many levels that it is not funny! Anyway, just hear the initial lines by Rekha Bharadwaj and when she goes ‘Kahan se aaya hai rey tu’ it will remind you of Hum hongey kaamyaab song. Anyway, this song clearly will feature Madhuri Dixit and Ranbir and will probably benefit because of that reason only. It is noise at it’s worst. Didn’t work at all.

Subhanallah – Indian Idol season 5 winner Sreeram gets a chance to sing with Shilpa Rao for this. This track reminds you of ‘Shukranallah’ (Kurbaan) A LOT! Shilpa rao appears for a very short duration in the song leaving Sreeram to own up the song. The song sounds fresh largely due to him, still there is something missing in the song. I can’t put my ear to it. May be you can?

Dilliwali girlfriend - A song that points us to a peppier Arijit Singh (along with the awesome Sunidhi chauhan…can’t get over her ‘Ok Bye..)! Although this would rank very high in the books of those who love artificial mood creation via keyboard sort of beats, the song intersects so many ‘familiar’ songs (for example – Mere haathon mein nau nau chooriyan hai from chandni and Kendi po po po from Partner) and add to that a general LOUD music arrangement. Lyrics are quite interesting though. Would I hear it again? No way!

Balam Pichkaari – Shalmali and Vishal (with a group of very wannabe desi backup singers). No points for guessing that this is the ‘Main rang barse banna chahta hu’ song of the album. A tune that reminds very strongly of Gaaye jaa geet milan ke and a mood that reminds very strongly of this, the song is plain average. Surely to get people dancing on the floor and will fool them to think ‘वाव! आज काफी देसी गाने पे नाच लिया, इंडिया इस फोल्क म्यूजिक आई टेल यू!’

Badtameez Dil – Alas! the song of the album! This was released as a single track before the album hit the stores and has helped greatly in making people believe the overall album is oh so good! The brass bands, the mood, the singing by Benny dayal, the tastier than ‘moori bhaat’ lyrics by Amitabh bhattacharya (yes! and the superlative dance by Ranbir on screen). There is nothing wrong with this song and that’s a rarity for this album. Even skeptics like me can’t stop repeating this song in spite of clear warning by Benny/Amitabh that ‘Mere peechey kisine repeat kia to sala maine tere munh pe maara mukka!’

Special vote of thanks to Pritam for introducing Arijit Singh to us and using him repeatedly. What a find!

Overall just an average album from Pritam that benefits largely by good lyrics (Penned by Kumaar and Amitabh Bhattacharya) and suffers from way too many ‘inspirations’ and noises at times. Nonetheless this album might land Pritam an award or two because it is a Karan johar presentation..! राई के पहाड़ पर तीन फूटा लिल्लिपुट! You see!

माने ना!

My Picks – Badtameez dil, Kabira (Non Rekha bharadwaj-Tochi version), Ilahi (Arijit Singh version of course!)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – O.S.T. Review

The latest offering by Mira nair features various artists and the album has as many as 14 tracks.

The album starts with Kangna,a traditional qawaali performed wonderfully by Fareed ayaz and Abu Muhammad. The accentuated bass towards the end remind us that this is for a Film and not performed for anything else. Although the duo have sung this song for coke studio pakistan as well where the duration was in excess of 10 mins, this one ends in less than 6 minutes, melodious nonetheless.

Bijli aaye ya na aaye features the otherwise serious Meesha shafi. Severely let down on the lyrics the song survives because of the lovely throw that Meesha demonstrates. Peppy. The lyrics are so bad that they actually redefine the word ‘random’. However, this for sure will be closely walking with the narrative, of which I am sure.

Kaindey ney sung by Zahara khan is up next. Performed with just a guitar and Sarod by the side for most part, Zahara appears slightly out of sync at times in this average song.

Ali sethi hums Dil jalaney ki baat kartey ho extremely well and leaves you wanting for more because the track is barely 2 mins long.

Atif Aslam croons Mori araj suno and even though he tries very hard, thanks to the varied versions of this ageless composition that we have come across, this track falls short. But it does sound very theatrical.

Measure of me by Amy ray is the best song of the album. Slow, melancholic and very high on melody. The arrangement is so simple that you might even ignore it. The backup vocal arrangement is brilliant as well.

A young man has to take a stand performed by Michael Andrews is a track filled with a lot of tension thanks to the eerie arrangement and loads of violins used. Ends quickly echoing the tension in the head.

Jannissary again performed by Michael is a slow piano piece with continuous violins. Somehow reminded me of 1947 The earth, this piece. Nicely done.

Something happened – Bass and a lot of bass instills anticipation in what appears to be an anxious track. A track that is very rich on sounds. Faintly heard someone sharpening knife, someone running through a door and then it all descends to a pause. One of the best instrumental pieces ina long time. Highly recommended.

God bless America A very short track comprising of crowds cheering and a continuous beat that eventually fades out far too quickly.

Love in Urdu by Rizzle kicks is a delicately arranged all instrumental piece peppered with subtle Sarod and guitar. Not as beautiful as love in urdu would be but a soothing and simple track.

Focus on fundamentals paints a picture of tension, yet again. Aided in just right measure with violins and a dying bass line throughout. Eerie. Tensed. Dark.

Get us both killed has got a very dark tone throughout. The riffs remind you of a particular O.S.T. Which shall not be named here. the tempo steadily rises but never peaks and thats quite eerie.

Too much blood has poured into this river With near absent vocals, this track keeps the dark undertone of the album alive. Aided by flute, the overall grave atmosphere gets a touch of sadness. The almost silent alaap is a touch of class in this track.

With Mira nair, we are sure that the music will be totally circumstantial and compliment the feel of the film. The reluctant fundamentalist is no different. Will I hear it as much as the O.S.T. Of ‘The namesake’? Well, No. The reason is simple. This O.S.T. stays so closely hugged to the film’s feel that you slip into sadness with some of the tracks of this film.

2 Thumbs up! If you are an O.S.T. Collector, do not miss this at any cost!

Go Goa Gone – Music review

With the O.S.T. of some films ‘celebrating 100 years of cinema’ hooked and cooked with, here comes an unashamedly party album that is not confused about it’s identity and presentation.

Slowley Slowley – Heavy bass arrangements and a ‘phunk’ start scream ‘party song’ right from the word go! The atmosphere is created superbly within the first minute of the song. Excellent back up vocals ensure that this shall be a ‘long play’ song at the dance floor and I am quite sure it shall be used well in the film as well. The film deals with Zombies and trust me the way the song ends, you will know it. Excellent touch, that!

Khoon choos ley – Oh the excellent start to the song! Surprising enough the song DOES NOT deal with Zombies! It is a song for our beloved ‘Monday’! The blood sucking Monday that we all love to hate! Penned smartly, arranged smartly, everything is spot on for this ‘Monday anthem’. There is a good amount of graphical description of what and how to itch and where. Fun! fun! freaking fun! (woo woo woo woo!). There is that addictive tune that will make a lot of people twist and turn on the dance-floor. DJ’s shall have an easy crack at this song. 2 thumbs up!

Babaji ki booty – We talk about Goa, party and no mention of ‘jadi booty’? Not possible! A slow reggae like treatment and an overdose of shaitaani lyrics make this song what it is. Bakar filled joyride! Quite easy to imagine the way the song is filmed thanks to ample *cough* and dialoguebaazi in the song. Special word of appreciation for Anand tiwari and his ‘discourse’ towards the end. Pass the joint and let this play! Listen to the pronunciation of ‘है’ by Anand tiwari to know how jagrata singer-sque he is . Superbly done!

Khushamdeed – A soothing guitar riff starts the song and you know this isn’t going to be a party song. A song that is paced rather fast but isn’t quick when it comes to rendition by the singer. Shreya ghosal does full justice to the excellent tune. A special thing to note in songs that are penned around a word (example – saiyyara, mashallah and what not in the recent times!), this song doesn’t over-stretch the usage of the word in the song and that’s such a relief! A lesson for others to learn. The song is thankfully not tailor made for shreya (that has been the case most often), it is a different style of singing to which shreya ghosal has adapted and adapted well. Excellent lyrics as well!

I keel dead peeepal – A fun mix of dialogues (with an acquired accent wala Saif ali khan and the rest of the cast) with some dubstep! The best part? Yes, the way it ends!

Have always believed that a soundtrack that adds positively to the film is better than a soundtrack that is good ‘stand alone’ with not much role to play in complementing the overall feel of the film. Additionally, none of the songs are excessively long and that’s just superb!

Sachin-Jigar have presented an album that stays very close to the film’s premise and gives us a good peek of the fun it would be (hopefully!) on screen. With this album, I am happy to confess that I am looking forward for the duos next work!

The craziest album of the year so far, has arrived!

My pick – entire album. Entirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre. Album.

Babaji, I love you.

Full credit list (Confirmed by the composers)

1. Slowley Slowley
Jigar Saraiya and Talia .
Lyrics : Priya Panchal .

2. Khoon choos le
Arjun Kanungo , Suraj Jagan and Priya Panchal .
Lyrics : Amitabh Bhattacharya, Sachin-Jigar

3. Babaji ki booty
Anand , Kunal , Sachin , Jigar , Raj , Dk and Bornalee Deuri .
Lyrics : Amitabh Bhattacharya .

4. Khushamdeed
Shreya Goshal .
Lyrics : Priya Panchal

All Songs composed and arranged by Sachin-Jigar
Additional programming by Hyacinth D’souza and Abhijeet Nalani .
Backing voices : Priya Panchal , Megha , Neuman Pinto , Francois Castellino , Divya Kumar , Sachin and Jigar .
Guitars : Krishna Pradhan , Randolph Correa , Kalyan Baruah
Ukele and Backpacker : Sanjoy Das (Bapi)
Clarinet , Oboe and Eng. Horn : Michael Schandler .
Vibraphone : Sukesh Gupta .
All Songs mixed and mastered @ Future sound of Bombay by Eric Pillai

Bombay Talkies – Music review…Almost!

Sukhwinder starts Give it up for bachchan! in a storytelling fashion reminding you of once in vogue the ‘natak-nautanki’ style of singing songs wherein singers used to talk/converse and then sing and repeat this midway into the song. Amit trivedi hits you then with neat arrangement almost immediately with liberal ‘BigB hain!’ and the neat neat neat beats take over and staying pretty much constant throughout. Better than the song, the inclusion of epic dialogues in the song is what makes the song different and bearable.(Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya)

Akkad bakkad  – starts in a failry shubharamb-sque fashion and Mohit Chauhan teams up with Amit trivedi to bring this song. Creating an atmosphere of a play that is being presented musically, the lyrics try very hard to cover everything resulting in ‘too much effort’ sort of impression. The song mind you is not heavy but somehow doesn’t click. Nothing wrong with music arrangement. (Lyrics – Swanand kirkire)

Murabba – Kavita seth soothes us with her return in this song wherein Amit Trivedi tries very hard to appear and impress us with his super velvet voice (and yodels mildly as well). The song is O.K. (after bachchan tribute song) when compared to the other songs of the album but that isn’t saying much. (Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya)

Bombay Talkies – Kailash kher starts the song that will make you presume that the music is by Kailasa. Shades of ‘tujhe goli maroonga’ line from LSD make it even more ‘familiar’ on the ears. Totally expected. Richa Sharma is a welcome part of the song and it’s good to have her back! The words again are very simple and again a very ‘stage play presentation’ make the song very unusual overall. (Lyrics – Swanand kirkire)

Murabba (Javed bashir) – The song stands out for the neat music arrangement and some real fast singing by Javed. Hint of brass bands as well (the slow sort) and a hurried male vocal back ups towards the end left me confused. Strictly O.K. (Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya)

Bombay Talkies (2) – The good part – Udit narayan and Kavita come are a part of the song! The better part – excellent cross reference of some popular tunes. The sad part – The song ends too soon! Would have loved to hear more, much more of this one! (Reminded me of – Rab ne bana di jodi’s – fir milengey chaltey chaltey song especially when the ‘change words on familiar tune’ game was being played by the backup singers). (Lyrics – Swanand kirkire)

Overall a below average music album by all means. I would have survived well without listening to this album actually. The only song that stands out is – Give it up for bachchan!

I guess the problem is with the packaging of the overall product. An O.S.T. must compliment the feel of the overall film. While it’s nice (and a little too evident) that the film is ‘celebrating’ 100 years of cinema, the packaging and presentation was too ‘elite’ to have come out with such a below average music album. Amit trivedi has maintained the excellent choice of music instruments and the music has a very ‘neat’ feel. That’s it.

Wondering how many lost technicians are getting their dues by the self appointed representatives of ‘Indian cinema’

(If you feel there are some details missing, that’s because I am way too tired from the music of this album…that’s why, Almostareview!)

If you still want to brave the music, You can listen to it here. Special thanks to Bollywoodhungama.com for saving my money. A firm believer in buying music from legal sources, I would have had to chase the makers for a refund!

Go Goa Gone – Tracklist (unofficial)

I know this isn’t a professional blog. Actually it’s not even a blog. I don’t even have my domain name, plus my twitter handle doesn’t have ‘music’ or ‘centimeter’ in it! So this tracklist is not confirmed at all and I accept no liability whatsoever on it’s correctness. Please consult the actual ‘blogs’ for the tracklist, client list, song list and all kind of ‘lists’.

Here is what the tracklist of Go Goa Gone looks like, almost (I think!)

1. Slowley slowley
2. Khoon choos ley
3. Babaji ki booty
4. Khushamdeed
5. I KEEL DEAD PEEPAL

Ok, bye!

Oh wait! Some people had the audacity to hint I am getting paid by Saif ali khan! To them here is the answer – You couldn’t be more wrrrrrrr rrrrrr rrrrrr rrrrrrrrong!