I will be starting a new series of posts on the best, handpicked songs of different composers. Some composers have a very large body of work, so we will go 10 songs at a time to build a series and for other smaller composers it might be covered in just a single post. If you want to know which are the best songs of a composer, it will be very useful for you. I am curating this list because in many cases all the songs in a movie/album are not always good, so I will select the best songs from the major composers starting with the Ilaiyaraja era. The obvious list for this would cover ARR, Vidyasagar, Bharadwaj, Yuvan, Deva etc. If you notice some of these composers hardly compose these days but the songs always outlive the composer and so I will also be covering niche composers like Sabesh-Murali, Srinivas (the singer, he is a damn good composer) etc.
Category Archives: Composers
Noteworthy Songs of Assorted Composers: II
I have compiled another list of wonderful songs by assorted composers. Song-Composer-Movie.
- Unnai Saranadindhen Mannava: Sabesh-Murali from Ammuvagiya Naan: A wonderful composition in Dharmavathi raga with excellent singing by Harish Raghavendra and Kalyani
- Thavamaai Thavamirundhu: The entire album is fantastic, again composed by the underrated Sabesh-Murali
- Medhuva Medhuva: Chandrabose from Annanagar Mudhal Theru, a vintage song
- Ora Kanna: Prem G Amaran from Ennamo Nadakudhu, a peppy song composed in Reetigowla scale.
- Azhaga/Roja Poovin: Vijay Antony: By 2; the former song is just fantastic set in Brindavanasaranga raga
- Azhagai Pookudhey: Vijay Antony: Ninathale Inikkum, an extremely soothing number
- Ninaithaale: The whole album by Vijay Antony is worth a listen……all melody songs, a rarity these days…..
- Thendral Thendral Vandhu: Sirpy: Raasi: Set in Madhyamavathy raga
- Solla Solla: Bharadwaj: Athithi, another lovely song in Reetigowla raga
- Rayilin Paadhayil: Joshua Sridhar: Appavi, a song set in a rarely used Arabhi raga
Ilaiyaraja’s Grand Slam Albums
I am liberally borrowing a phrase from Tennis, Grand Slam and using it in the context of Ilaiyaraja’s music. I have coined the word “Grand Slam” album just to mean all those albums where almost all the songs are very good. Every composer has had albums where all the songs are worth listening, though this trend is becoming a rarity these days. Considering the huge oeuvre of Raja, I am listing 40 albums across languages where I felt they were deserving of the Grand Slam tag, this is a random list in no particular order. I have excluded the albums of MSV-Raja collaboration as it is a topic for another blog post.
- Guru (Malayalam): Raja’s collaboration with the Budapest Symphony orchestra
- Mouna Raagam
- Agni Nakshathram
- Thalapathy
- Geethanjali (Telugu)
- Anjali: A case study on how to compose for a film based on children
- Amman Koil Kizhakkale
- Aboorva Sagodharargal (multi-genre album)
- Chinna Thambi (this movie also ran because of its music)
- Dhoni (contemporary Raja using live instruments)
- Eera Vizhi Kaaviyangal (what a masterpice album!)
- Karagattakaran
- Gopura Vaasalile
- Idhaya Koil
- Idhayam
- Kadhalukku Mariyadhai
- Keladi Kanmani
- Pithamagan
- Naan Kadavul
- Needhane En Ponvasandham
- Ninaivellaam Nithya
- Nizhalgal
- Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal
- Punnagai Mannan
- Sindhu Bhairavi
- Uliyin Osai (classical+folk+melody songs, one magical album)
- Villupattukkaran (folksy classical songs, each of them a gem)
- Ejamaan
- Uzhaippali
- Poovizhi Vaasalile
- Sri Rama Rajyam (a grand devotional Telugu soundtrack)
- Anumanaspadam (Telugu)
- Mahanadhi
- Olangal (Malayalam, a vintage classic)
- Geetha (Kannada, all masterpiece songs)
- Chinna Kounder
- Udhaya Geetham
- Kizhakku Vaasal
- Unnal Mudiyum Thambi
- Mudhal Mariyadhai