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New Releases by ARR??

Topic started by Srikanth (@ passport.proxy.lucent.com) on Mon Sep 15 10:23:15 EDT 1997.
All times in EDT +9:30 for IST.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Fri May 7 12:26:43 EDT 1999
  
  srinAth,
  
  thanks for bringing out the garden vareli and rOjA humming. appA nInga oruththar kadaisIla sollittInga. i was waiting for this situation. mmm...
  
  
• From: bb (@ bernstein.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri May 7 12:30:50 EDT 1999
  
  chandy, the main fault with nithyashree's singing was that she didn't adjust properly to singing playback, rather, she let herself go as if she is singing in an auditorium without a mike! IMO, the way she renders all those "allavaaaaaaaaaaa"s are plain shouting as far as voice rendition is concerned. her bhrigas were not that great. compare the development of the raagam with another vasanthaa song, the incomparable andhi mazhai.. even vandhanam en vandhanam explored much better than this song..
  finally, it is not debatable whether ramya's dance was classical.. it is NOT:)))))))))))
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ ss02.ny.us.ibm.com) on: Fri May 7 12:30:55 EDT 1999
  
  Ayyo ! Arul ! Saththiyama, enakku andha humming Garden Vareli-nnu thaan mudhalla thoniththu, apparum thaan Kadhal Rojave nyabagam vadhudhu ! idhu thaan oorarindha vishayama aache...innuma controversy ?
  
  
• From: Rags (@ qt-ce.singnet.com.sg) on: Fri May 7 20:54:01 EDT 1999
  
  And just to top it, the singing of NS was far below the standards even I set for carnatic singing (I am not trained carnatic singer, but hv bn at it fr a few decades now). Using nasal voice to reach uchastayi is one way and the other is to shout - both not a done thing for good carnatic singing. NS takes rcourse to both in MK. Maybe a great effort - but definitely not great to the ears.
  
  Songs needing high pitch combined with high emotive content have been rendered so very gracefully down the ages. I am sure we can list umpteen songs in that category to elaborat the sweeping statements I hv made. But just to steer clear of TFM and give it a broader dimension, hear to Md Rafi singing "bhagwan...man tarapat hari darshan..." and the famous "kahan hai..." from Guru Dutt's KKP.
  
  Maybe it is too premature to expect ARR and NS to match the std set by MD Rafi and Naushad ? Maybe it is just good enough fr a Rajini movie ?
  
  
• From: Rags (@ qt-ce.singnet.com.sg) on: Fri May 7 20:54:52 EDT 1999
  
  And just to top it, the singing of NS was far below the standards even I set for carnatic singing (I am not trained carnatic singer, but hv bn at it fr a few decades now). Using nasal voice to reach uchastayi is one way and the other is to shout - both not a done thing for good carnatic singing. NS takes rcourse to both in MK. Maybe a great effort - but definitely not great to the ears.
  
  Songs needing high pitch combined with high emotive content have been rendered so very gracefully down the ages. I am sure we can list umpteen songs in that category to elaborat the sweeping statements I hv made. But just to steer clear of TFM and give it a broader dimension, hear to Md Rafi singing "bhagwan...man tarapat hari darshan..." and the famous "kahan hai..." from Guru Dutt's KKP.
  
  Maybe it is too premature to expect ARR and NS to match the std set by MD Rafi and Naushad ? Maybe it is just good enough fr a Rajini movie ?
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 98a76155.ipt.aol.com) on: Sun May 9 23:20:46 EDT 1999
  
  Ok folks ! Here comes ESK's review ! Brickbats and bouquets welcome ! Only in the case of brickbats I will say "same to you with no return" (appadeena, neega mirror solla mudiyaadhu ;-))
  
  Let me start off by saying that this album is so much better than Padayappa that there is really no comparision ! But has it converted me into a Rahman fan ? Not really ! But I can't help wondering why this guy with so much talent is spoiling portions of his otherwise melodious songs just to make them different. To the songs now -
  
  1. Jimbalakka:
  The Islamic-sounding humming starts off powerfully, goes nowhere but trips all over itself and ends in latino-style music ! All the way from Arabia to Mexico - most jarringly ! This is what I said about spoiling his songs just to make them different ! The actual song is so pleasantly lively that the Arabic humming is #@$%^!@^ ! ARR has used very typical chord progressions throughout this song. And finally he has made good use of the bass guitar and the difference shows ! Especially the note which starts off the anu pallavi ! This song however, reminds me of "Poo Poova Poo Poova Poothirukku Bhoomi" by Suresh Peters and the "chinna mullu azhuththamaanathu medhuva pogum..." lines also sound very familiar - pudichena vidamaaten :-) But let me enjoy a nice tune all the same ! I would not rate it very high on originality. But catchiness - yes pretty good ! The first interlude shows that ARR really depends on Allah -he must have been praying while composing this song and left the tape recorder on - what else can I say about such unimaginative interludes ?
  :-( Ah ! there's that bass note that starts off the charanam again :-) Good good ! :-)
  
  The charanam starts off very melodiously ! the two chords that follow after the first two lines are what have been missing from ARR's songs. I agree that these progressions have been used about a billion times before - but there must be a reason that they have been used so often, right ? And that reason is that with similar chord progressions you can come out with any number of tunes that sound good - my request to ARR would be to continue using these time-tested methods and not sacrifice them in a vain attempt to sound different ! The nasalness of the voice reduces the melodiousness of the next two lines, but the tune by itself is really very catchy !
  The "Yen Kaadhal.." scream part could have been tuned more pleasantly :-( The charanam as usual tapers off :-( Why murder such a good tune like this ? Second interlude - thumbs down, and that'll be the case till he stops the Arabic hummings in his songs :-( Only saving grace is a few bars of bass-centric instrumentation. Overall, the song is very good and has a very good listenability factor :-) which means you can enjoy it 60 times out a 100 :-)
  
  2. Niagra:
  "Chil allava..." - how does this fit in with the infinitely more elegant - "Thaththi aadudhey, thaavi adudhey.." ? Hard to think that a person can come up with two extremes in the same song ! The very innovative recording (male voice sounding distant and radio-like) makes this a very interesting song ! but the pallavi did not end as pleasantly as it began ;-( the stupid lyrics are not worthy of being in this song. For a person who depends a lot on different sounds in his songs, I am surprised that ARR has used a very similar trumpet tone in two songs in ESK ?!!! Padu kola trumpet - then padu soopar. Yeppadi appa oruthara aala ippadi paatu podamudiyum ? One part of the song sounds so inspired (not that inspired :-) ! I mean truly inspired !) and another half so drab ? it's as if this man got a brainwave and started composing and after sometime fell asleep at his keyboard ! This song has a 5 point L.F :-) 5 times out of 10, I would excuse the poor portions and appreciate the good portions ! Interestingly, my wife rather likes the "Chil allava..." part - I find it abominable !
  
  3. Thirakaatha kaatukkule:
  Prelude - so, so - don't want to waste time on something so insignificant (starts off pretty similar to Margazhi Poove's flute piece). Hmmm...I'm so envious of a guy who can so easily come up with such catchy pallavis :-) the tune also naturally lends itself too good harmony, and ARR does full justice to it ! UK-vukkaagave compose panna paatu polrukku :-) Chitra is wasted in a vauge charanam. The charanam comes back to life only with UK's part again ! But boy ! does it comes back to life ! After Ennavale, this is the first time I find myself appreciating UK in a TFM singer's role ! How do I describe the pallavi - it is somewhat classical but also very unconventional - a very, very imaginative tune from ARR ! The electric piano tone in a keyboard is for chinna pasanga to plunk on it and feel happy - a seasoned MD like ARR should not even touch this tone, and even if he does he should stick to the classical piano - it sounds so amateurish otherwise :-( the charanam ends very imaginatively ! "Unn Kangal moodum, kaathal, kaathal, kaathal, kaathal, kaathal yosi" !!! now why didn't anyone think of this before ! I don't know what the lyrics mean, but full marks to ARR for coming up with this VERY cute charanam ending :-))) I think the second interlude is same as the prelude. "Chinna Chinna Aasai"-like humming, ARR can forget composing violin scores like IR does. A very poor attempt.
  
  I'm so glad I listened to this album of ARR's atleast for the precious stones that he strews around mixed with just so many American diamonds ;-) I really can't understand what Chitra has to do in this song ! Every single line of her's is so vague ! Out and out an UK song ! Just an intersting point - ARR could have dropped the Niagra song altogether and instead used the "Thathi aaduthey.." part in this song ! Would have made a very good combo ! L.F of 8 !!! Take out Chitra and the interludes from this song and you can happily up the L.F to 9 !
  
  Guys, it's pretty late now and I plan to review the remaining three songs tomorrow. The score so far -
  
  1. Jimbalakka - catchy song, but doesn't take an ARR to come up with this kind of a number - any Deva, Sirpi or Vidyasagar could do it.
  
  2. Niagra - 50/50. part vintage ARR - catchy, i.e., part..err....vintage ARR, uninspired stuff.
  
  3. Thirakaatha - UK is kallakings in this number. Seems to enjoy himself more now. Chitra is a passenger. Without Chitra's portions this song is really good. I cannot blame Chitra for singing a very vague tune, vaguely ! ARR is at fault there.
  
  See y'all tomorrow !
  
  
• From: Geetha (@ gatekeeper.oracle.co.uk) on: Mon May 10 06:53:01 EDT 1999
  
  Heard a song from Kandukonden Kandukonden, by Hariharan and Mahalakshmi, music ARR, filmed in Scotland, dancing by Aiswariya Rai and Abbas! It's in Nalinakanthi, with touches of Kadhanakudhookalam.....FANTASTIC WORK BY ARR!!!!! Title song of the movie....director Rajiv Menon.
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-75-46.sprint.ca) on: Mon May 10 06:55:42 EDT 1999
  
  This is what I suppose everyone calls taste!!
  
  Everyone (mostly) else who reviewed this album has praised Chitra's part and have said that they did not enjoy UK's voice modulations. And now here comes Srinath and says vice-versa.
  
  Makes me think if all these arguments about this is bettert than that and he is better than him is worth it. Afterall, everyone here seems to have different tastes. So what do you say, 'samarasam' aavOmaa?:-))
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ ss03.ny.us.ibm.com) on: Mon May 10 10:33:14 EDT 1999
  
  aruvi:
  Others probavbly appreciated Chitra's sweet voice - I really can't understand what people like in a vague tune, even though the singer's voice sounds sweet ?!!! I am reviewing this album only with ARR's standards in mind. This is not the kind of music I usually enjoy. That HE is better than him, is fact as far as I am concerned - it is one of the realities of my life just as my name is, my job is, my physical being is. I am trying to approach ARR with only ARR in my mind - and when that is the case, he doesn't fare too badly, is what I have found for myself. In fact, he is really worth all the praise showered on him. But as long as people shall try to defy my reality, I shall continue to protest and try and prove otherwise :-) I plan not to post any more regarding this until I complete my review of ESK.
  
  
• From: Gopal Srinivasan (@ 164.100.80.102) on: Mon May 10 11:09:07 EDT 1999
  
  From www.planetbollywood.com
  
  
  SHEKHAR, LLOYD WEBBER, RAHMAN.....
  What do these three names have in common? The answer is apparently "Phantom Of
  the Opera". So I saw Shekhar Kapur over the weekend, who was partying in New
  York (and incidentally was hell-bent on offering my gorgeous friend Nutan a part in
  his film!) and he kept talking about the "Phantom" project. Apparently, talks are on to
  have Rahman do some of the music for the movie along with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
  What an interesting combination!?!? Also in the cards for Shekhar is an Indian version
  of Riverdance, but this will only be after the "Phantom" musical is complete. Oh - and
  you just might find my friend Nutan in one of these projects....
  
  

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