Monthly Archives: November 2018

19: Song of the Day: Ola Ola Kudisaiyila

Song: Ola Ola Kudisaiyila

Composer: Sean Roldan

Lyrics: Yugabharathi

Singer: Murugavel, Karthika

Movie: Joker

 

This is a nectarine song which won me over in the very first listen itself! It is very rare nowadays to be utterly captivated by a song and if there is one song in the past year which had me hooked it is Ola Ola Kudisayile. It has an enveloping strings section all through the song, giving it a symphonic feel. The flute in this sheer bliss, and it comes all through the song. A special mention must be made of the way Cello has been used, its heard very clearly and it takes the song to another level. The debut singers Murugavel and Karthika do a fabulous job with their singing. It is one of the best songs EVER in Indian music, hands down. Hats off, Sean Roldan……..

 

 

18: Song of the Day: Yera Thaaza

Song: Yera Thaaza

Composer: Vidyasagar

Lyrics: Vairamuthu Ramasamy

Singer: Sadhna Sargam

Movie: Peraanmai

If you are in a mood to listen to a mellow song, without any beats, a song which flows like a river, with just a silken voice and beautiful guitar pieces, then this is that song. It’s a very simple song which can be even sung without any instruments and yet it will sound wonderful. Sadhna Sargam has sung this very well, though her pronunciation is slightly imperfect (I feel Kalyani would have been a better choice for this song), which is understandable as she is not singing in her mother tongue. It’s a fabulous song with practically no percussion and its just the guitar and the voice, what a refreshing change!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-d4urE4uU

 

17: Song of the Day: Yaar Thoorigai

Song: Yaar Thoorigai

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Lyrics: Info not available

Singer: SPB, Uma Ramanan

Movie: Paaru Paaru Pattanam Paaru

One of my favourite pastimes is finding rare songs of composers and I feel more happy and excited when I find a rare song of one of my favourite composers-Ilaiyaraja. This song is a rare gem and it needs to be more publicised, it is a flawless song from Raja, with intricate orchestration. If you want to test a guitar player ask them to play the interludes of this song! Raja uses Guitar, steel flute (has a different sound texture as compared to the bamboo flute), keyboard/piano, strings section, drums. The song is set in a haunting scale which sounds like Sindhu Bhairavi. Each interlude of the song is so intricate and if you want to show the genius of Raja, this one song is enough. SPB, Uma Ramanan sing it with elan and there is another solo SPB version which I always prefer. This song shows that there are many, many more fantastic songs of Raja apart from his usual staple hits.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8bIMKbNkI0

 

16: Song of the Day: Mazhaiye Mazhaiye

Song: Mazhaiye Mazhaiye

Composer: Sharreth

Lyrics: Kavivarman

Singer: Hariharan

Movie: June R

 

Every once in a while there comes a song, which sounds wow and which gets you hooked from the very first listen itself. Its quite rare to find such songs in modern times but the song for today is one such addictive song. I still remember the first time I listened to this song, I was mesmerized and I listened multiple times for the next few days. The unconventional tune, the piano pieces, the bass lines and above all the singing by Hariharan is top notch. It’s also a difficult song to sing as the tune traverses up and down and Hariharan has made it sound so easy. Listen and enjoy!

https://www.raaga.com/tamil/songs/Mazhaye-Mazhaye-26828

 

15: Song of the Day: Iruvar Vaazhum

Song: Iruvar Vaazhum

Composer: Vidyasagar

Lyrics: Pa.Vijay

Singers: Karthik, Kalyani

Movie: Aadhi

Iruvar Vaazhum is a song which was not part of the movie Aadhi, but it is probably among the best in the movie alongwith Thadakku Thadakku. It can rank among the top 10 melodies of “Melody King” Vidyasagar. Vidyasagar embellishes the song with excellent orchestration using violins, accordion, guitar and keyboard. The journey of the tune is also very elegant and the way the stanza tune ends is so wonderful. it’s unfortunate that this song was not shown in the movie.

 

14: Song of the Day: Sathimalli Poocharame

Song: Sathimalli Poocharame

Composer: Maragadhamani

Lyrics: Pulamaipithan

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam

Movie: Azhagan

 

The song today is a winning combination of an excellent tune and beautiful lyrics. Maragadhamani has worked in multiple film industries-Telugu (where he is known as MM Keeravani), Tamil (his name here is Maragadhamani) and in Hindi (known as MM Kreem). Azhagan movie was a musical superhit and this song is my favourite. The tune is very deep and melodious, so strong that it will stand on its own even without any instrumentation. The composer has used Veena, stringed instruments, keyboard and violin. One of the major highlights of the song is the thought-provoking lyrics and even today this song is very famous also because of its lyrics by Pulamaipithan.

https://gaana.com/song/saathi-malli-poocharame

 

 

 

 

 

13: Song of the Day: Sutti Poove

Song: Sutti Poove

Composer: Dhina

Lyrics: Vairamuthu Ramasamy

Singers: Karthik, Sadhna Sargam

Movie: Kaivandha Kalai

The raga Sri is famous because of the famous Thyagaraja composition Endaro Mahanu and this particular song by composer Dhina is in that raga. There are very few film songs in this raga and its nice to see composers explore such ragas. This song has ample usage of one particular instrument, the Saxophone and it suits the song  very well. The orchestration also has some keyboard and electronic music but it does not sound out of place. The second interlude has a silent usage of flute which showcases the versatility of the instrument. Karthik and Sadhna Sargam have sung it well because the song has a decent range, moving from a low pitched start to the high notes in the stanzas.

https://www.raaga.com/tamil/songs/Sutti-Poove-30873

12: Song of the Day: Sivappu Lolakku

Song: Sivappu Lolakku

Composer: Deva

Lyrics: Agathiyan

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam

Movie: Kadhal Kottai

Deva has composed for over 400 movies and his career overall has been a mixed bag, some wonderful melodies alongwith with some mediocre ones (some songs were also lifted). This song from Kadhal Kottai is a very unique one with some original orchestration. I say this because in the Raja days, Deva’s music resembled Ilaiyaraja and in the ARR days, he tried to ape Rahman’s style of music. Albums like these showed that Deva could also churn out high-quality original stuff. The song starts with some Japanese like humming, followed by an introductory Saarangi piece. Then SPB starts the song and mind you, its quite a challenging song because of the range of the song and SPB sings it with so much ease! The interludes are pretty imaginative with Saarangi, Keyboard, Flute, Guitar and another style of humming which is melodious. The use of live instruments and the Rajasthani styled ambience (the scenes are shot in Rajasthan as a portion of the movie is shot there) makes this song different than the standard Tamil song.

http://www.hungama.com/song/sivappu-lolakku-from-kadhal-kottai/2681209/

11: Song of the Day: Idho Idho En

Song: Idho Idho En

Composer: S.P.Balasubramaniam

Lyrics: Vairamuthu

Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam, Chitra

Movie: Sigaram

SPB is a legendary singer but he also proves that he is a competent composer with this wonderful song. Almost all the songs in this movie are very melodious but this one is my favourite. It has a serene, free flowing tune and SPB/Chitra are as usual in top form. The orchestration is very nice and the song also has a Hindustani feel to it (SPB also said that in one of the reality shows). This is the best album of SPB as a composer, no doubts about that!

https://www.saavn.com/song/idho-idho-en-pallavi/OAAZRR54BVE