October 2018 – indianmusics.com

10: Song of the Day: Ponge Yevvanam

Song: Ponge Yevvanam

Composer: Ramesh Vinayagam

Lyrics: Veturi Sundara Ramamurthy

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam, Chitra

Movie: Paila Pachchees

Ramesh Vinayagam made his film composing debut with a Telugu movie and he composed for a bunch of Telugu movies before making his Tamil debut with Hey Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke. This song is his best Telugu song in my opinion and among his best tunes ever. It has a fantastic choral setup all through the song and SPB/Chitra sound like heaven. The composer has used a galaxy of instruments like flute, electric guitar, acoustic guitar in the first interlude (apart from the choral harmony and strings section in the background). The second interlude has a superb Veena piece. Above all, this is a very memorable classical tune and the beautiful classical and fusion orchestration elevates the song to a different level. A must-listen!

9: Song of the Day: Padiyirangunnu

Song: Padiyirangunnu

Composer: Bijibal

Lyrics: Rafiq Ahamed

Singers: Hariharan

Movie: Pathemari

Hariharan has one of the best voices in our country and he has sung some fantastic songs in the South across all the languages. We must thank A.R.Rahman for bringing Hariharan to Southern music through Roja. The song here is set in the raga Vaasanthi and it is a serene Ghazal-like tune and we know why Bijibal chose Hariharan to sing this. The great thing about this song is that there is a lot of live music with a complete Strings section, Veena and flute in the interludes. Hariharan just breathes life into the tune and this is a song you can listen if you want to have a soothing experience. The situation in the movie is that the protagonist is far away from his family for many years toiling in a foreign land and how he makes sacrifices for his family is the story. The song perfectly conveys the pangs of separation and the spirit of sacrifice.

8: Song of the Day: Saavira Janumagalu

Song: Saavira Janumagalu

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Lyrics: Unknown ( no info available)

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam, Janaki

Movie: Nyaya Gedditu

The song today is one of Ilaiyaraja’s rare Kannada songs. It’s also rare because it’s composed in a very rare raga called Mallika Vasantham. It’s one of the most haunting songs you will ever hear. It starts with melodious humming by SPB and goes into the main tune. The first interlude has a dilruba (violin-like instrument), santoor and strings in the background. This is followed by a magical flute piece, guitar and cascading strings. It goes back to the stringed instrument and ends with the flute again. The stanza as usual is as brilliant as any Raja tune. The second interlude has Mridangam solo, Veena and an extended flute piece (flute seems to sound amazing for this particular raga). This is followed by a short string and violin piece leading to the second stanza. The whole song’s percussion is only on the Mridangam and this is where Raja’s shows his arrangement skills as it allows the voices to be at the forefront. In my opinion, this is one of the best SPB-Janaki duets ever. Listen to this nectarine song below:

7: Song of the Day: Mudhal Murai

Song: Mudhal Murai

Composer: Premgi Amaran

Lyrics: Lalithanand

Singers: Haricharan, Harini

Movie: Adhey Neram Adhey Idam

Premgi Amaran is the son of Gangai Amaran (who is probably the most underrated composers, that’s another topic) and so music is in his genes. He is also a decent actor, revelling in comic roles and is quite good at that. He has composed for about 7-8 movies and probably his best song till date is this one which is in the Reetigowla scale. The singers do a great job here and the though there are many other songs in this raga, this song stands on its own. There is a lot of Veena usage alternating with flute in the first interlude and even in the stanza portion, Veena gives nice background support. The second interlude has a nice semi-classical female choral bit used with flute, followed by a short keyboard bit. It’s a very competent Reetigowla and Premgi does show potential.

6: Song of the Day: Unnai Paarthapinbu

Song: Unnai Paarthapinbu

Composer: Bharadwaj

Lyrics: Vairamuthu

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam

Movie: Kadhal Mannan

SPB is one of the best singers who can modulate his voice and he has sung so many different types of songs for the past 5 decades. Unnai Paarthapinbu is one of the songs where SPB shows his energy and I am not sure if any other singer could have done justice to this song. The song has a soft-rock orchestration, which is quite rarely used in Tamil music and Bharadwaj’s tune and orchestration are like hand-in-glove, absolutely perfect! He uses distortion guitar and drums very nicely and SPB’s voice towers over the instruments majestically, especially towards the end of the stanza when he sings, “Yen Yen Yen”. This is one of my favourite songs of SPB and I am sure he must have enjoyed this challenge. Song link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnkxqT8AXhM

5: Song of the Day: Unnai Charanadaindhen

Song: Unnai Charanadaindhen

Composer: Sabesh-Murali

Lyrics: Thenmozhi

Singers: Prasanna, Kalyani Nair

Movie: Thavamaai Thavamirundhu

Sabesh-Murali, the brothers of composer Deva have given some very good songs in Tamil music. They started off composing background scores for movies and then became mainstream composers. I always liked their sound as they tried to use live instruments. One of their best songs ever is this one from Thavamaai Thavamirundhu. The song starts with a mellow keyboard piece and Kalyani starts singing and this is one of those songs where you are captivated from the word go, because the tune is top notch. The first interlude is brilliant with a saxophone chipping in, followed by a 12 string guitar piece with acoustic guitar backings, it gives an auspicious feeling. Prasanna comes in during the first stanza and the tune following a beautiful trajectory, going low and then ascending at the end of the charanam, where again the Saxophone is played in the background. The song has only 1 stanza with a length of about 3.5 minutes. This movie is also one of my favourites and all the songs were very good, but this one was the icing on the cake. A perfect melody song.

4: Song of the Day: Kadhal Kavidhai Paada

Song: Kadhal Kavidhai Paada

Composer: Devendran

Lyrics: Vairamuthu/Jeevabharathi

Singers: S.P.Balu, Chitra

Movie: Ganam Courtar Avargale

The Bowli raga is pretty rare in film music and the song in this post is a song set in Bowli, composed by Devendran, who only composed for a handful of movies. The instrumentation is simple with Keyboard, flute and guitar. Those days the keyboard was a new instrument and they seem have experimented with it including using the pitch bender 🙂 Nevertheless, the song’s tune is very refreshing and SPB/Chitra seem to be enjoying singing this. The backing vocals have also done a good job. Apart from Vedham Pudhidhu and Mannukul Vairam (where almost all the songs were very good), this song is a feather in the cap for Devendran. Song link:

https://wynk.in/music/song/kathal-kavidhai/si_ING110004216

3: Song of the day: Ennai Konja Konja

Song: Ennai Konja Konja

Composer: Vidyasagar

Lyrics: Yugabharathi

Singers: Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan

Movie: Aadhi

Composer Vidyasagar’s music has always been a mix of the style of Ilaiyaraja & ARR. It’s almost like he picked the best of both the composers to create a signature sound for himself. He is known as the “Melody King” and there is no second thought about it. Ennai Konja Konja is a perfect example of why he is called so, The song is composed in the raga Meghmalhar and since it is a Hindustani raga, Vidyasagar unleashes its full potential all through the song. The song has Dholak for its rhythms and the first interlude is a Shehnai peace ending with some nice bass pluckings. It’s in the charanam that Vidyasagar innovates, as the tune touches some crazy chords and it adds to the overall effect. Both the stanzas end with a Hindustani vocal flourish with ease by Hariharan, he must have relished singing this song. The second interlude has Dholak beats with some bols, followed by a mellow flute piece after which we hear the divine strains of the sitar and the piece is sort of played off-beat to enhance the effect. There are not too many songs in South in this raga (which sounds close to Darbari Kanada) and this song is a worthy addition to the list. The song can be accessed from the link below:

https://www.saavn.com/s/song/tamil/Aathi/Thadakku/ClEoYgZ8cGo

2: Song of the Day: Yen Swaasathil

Song: Yen Swaasathil

Composer: Ramesh Vinayagam

Lyrics: Kavivarman

Singers: Madhu Balakrishnan, Kalyani Nair

Movie: Jery

Ramesh Vinayagam is one of the most talented composers in the industry. Though his discography is rather small, each of his albums has a couple of excellent songs. Jery was an obscure movie that faded away but this song in the movie was a very melodious one and was hardly noticed. It is based on the Brindavana Saranga raga. The song begins one a very melodious note with triangle, symbals and flute pieces. Madhu Balakrishnan has a voice texture similar to the legendary Yesudas and it suits this song very well. The first interlude has an interplay between keyboard with some awesome bass lines and the clarinet jumps in and the highlight of this song is the varied use of the clarinet all through the song. Sometimes it just comes like a breath sound but it enhances the overall effect on the song. Kalyani Nair jumps in the first stanza and she sounds really good as usual. Another highlight of the song is that most of the ending portions of the lines are sort of extended like an alaap and this is where Ramesh shows his originality as ultimately the tune has to stand on its own. The second interlude starts with clarinet which sounds very elegant, followed by Kalyani’s humming ending with a flute piece. In the second stanza, the singers continue with the same zest and at it ends on a Hindustani -style humming. In the last lap of the song, the singers voices overlap when they sing the end of the line and it adds to the songs variety. The link to the song is below:

1: Song of the Day: Thaen Aruviyil

For every famous song there is another almost unknown gem which is not so popular, which eventually fades away owing to the passage of time. The purpose of this series is to introduce the rarely known yet masterpiece songs covering different composers. The first song of this series is:

Song: Thaen Aruviyil

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Lyrics: Mu.Metha

Singers: SPB, Janaki

Movie: Aagaya Gangai

Thaen Aruviyil is the best song from Aagaya Gangai. It starts in the raga Shuddhadhanyasi with the Dheem Dhirana refrain. The song’s percussion has Mridangam which aptly fits its classical moorings. The first interlude is a melange of jal-tarang, veena, flute and keyboard and its a typical Raja interlude, his interludes always sound complete. The second interlude has Veena, female vocals (singing swaras) and Janaki humming effortlessly. In fact, all through the song there are humming counters by the two singers and it adds beauty to the song (not an easy thing to do in live recordings). The second stanza shifts to Bageshri and especially the way SPB sings “Yaen Tholaivo, Nee Nilavo” is a lesson for singers in emoting as per the raga’s style. At the end of the second stanza, the song jumps back to Shuddhadhanyasi, it sounds so seamless. All-in-all, this song is a flawless song and the tune is pure gold. It’s a pity that such songs are not sung in reality shows (will be a fantastic song in the duet or classical round). The song is available at the link below in good quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaqb9uozG9E