Neethane En Ponvasantham | Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu | Assi Nabbe Poorey Sau

[senthilv.com]

What?????

So you mean to say a melody cannot be without layering
You cannot dissect music like that...everything is part of parcel of the whole..there are 1000s of great songs without any complex layering..

I think that is the perfect music..when it is whole..when you cannot dissect..when you cannot touch a note
and that is why i guess Raja does it instantly rather than taking weeks and months of trying permutations and combinations...
It is not to boast that he can do a song in a day where others take weeks and months..
He wants music to happen rather than created..

That is why he has so many songs where we feel this cant be raja as it is bad...(music just didnt happen)
Whereas others can give catchy songs after catchy songs because they always create and play all combinations and make sure it is decent enough

But the flip side is when "music happens" for raja it is timeless
music like rasave unna nambi or thumbi vaa

.. u cannot touch it..improvise it..or change it..
Music just happens and freezes

Excellent points. A music can be phenomenally good without any layering. In a way there is layering in a simple melody but on the horizontal side. On time scale. Why two notes doesn't appeal to us as music but three notes appeals as music has confounded many musicians and critics alike. We have some sort of hard-wiring for melodic music more than WCM. WCM is a bit learned quality. So a true melody with no layering could be moving. Just like a baby responding to a simple lullaby.

Look at Hollywood music output nowadays. Good temporal feeling with no long lasting feeling because their melodic quotient is completely gone. WCM has to be done right other wise it is too much noise. I prefer strong melody over average WCM.

Lastly, often great masters like Raja & MSV "realize" music as they come up with it. They are not just creative types. They manifest it.

[Shankar.P]

Gautham Menon says NEP is special...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...w/16311281.cms

[Senareb]

Surprise your friends who call you for making Sunday plans with a new caller tune from Neethane En Ponvasantham. Just dial Vodafone's toll free number 5670011 to set your favourite track.

[app_engine]

Listen to chatriyan - yaaru pOttadhu and aboorva sahotharargal - pudhu maapillaikku .. Similar feel will be there .It is probably the same chords .. Yes, sixty's feel is also there..sort of a MGR song.. probably from the choice of words in the lyrics..

nanRi Kiru sir for introducing that sweet kshAtriyan song to me

It's of the same style like pudhu mAppiLLaikku / rumbumbum (even mAmAvukku kudummA kudummA)...IMHO, these songs themselves can be called retros / throwbacks during their time

Not as explicit like 'nAn siriththAl deepAvaLi' but in some undefinable manner. (For that matter, "time bracketing" music itself is a crime IMHO, still).

In other words, such samples are not quintessential 80's, like poongARRu thirumbumA / onna nenachchEN / vAzha vaikkum kAdhalukku / mAnguyilE.

Just my 2 cents

[Sunil_M88]

What?????

So you mean to say a melody cannot be without layering
You cannot dissect music like that...everything is part of parcel of the whole..there are 1000s of great songs without any complex layering..

I think that is the perfect music..when it is whole..when you cannot dissect..when you cannot touch a note
and that is why i guess Raja does it instantly rather than taking weeks and months of trying permutations and combinations...
It is not to boast that he can do a song in a day where others take weeks and months..
He wants music to happen rather than created..

That is why he has so many songs where we feel this cant be raja as it is bad...(music just didnt happen)
Whereas others can give catchy songs after catchy songs because they always create and play all combinations and make sure it is decent enough

But the flip side is when "music happens" for raja it is timeless
music like rasave unna nambi or thumbi vaa

.. u cannot touch it..improvise it..or change it..
Music just happens and freezes

Layering does not necessarily always mean a horrendous mishmash of contrapuntal sounds.

There is an Italian word "Sprezzatura" which suggests all technical aspects, but the basic attitude and the basic emotion is very simple, but very complex at the same time.

The two songs you have mentioned cannot merely be dissected and to the average listener who doesn't care about technicalities, soothing melodies will jump at them first in comparison to layers anyway. But the layers do have a helping hand in making songs timeless. More layers result in more depth and volume, which is why we find songs which were released two or three decades ago very fresh today, as something new pops up after every listen. One should not confuse layers with instrumentation. Even a cappella's are layered! Name me one solo a cappella without backing vocals that has proven time wrong?

As a listener we sometimes block aspects other than mainstay melody and I'm not denying that melody is king but for e.g. the orchestration in "Vaanam Mella" pierces the soul completely, why? We don't know what one out of many players in the quartet feels when playing for Raaja Saab. Do they also get completely engulfed by the melody or do just wanna do their job and go home? Either way, every player has their own way and they are just minuscule part of the many layers (players) that contribute to the final product. And even if everything is done single handedly by Raaja Saab, it is still conglomerated with so many other nuances (also written by him) that don't appear obvious at first. So it boils down to the mastering of the final product, which is what manipulates us in giving our verdict for a particular song.

BTW I'm only expression my view on layers in relation to the melody which is sung and not back melodies played on respected instruments.

[app_engine]

V_Sji,

As usual, excellent post on 'peNkaL enRAl'!

Though this & pudikkala mAmu are in my 'relatively-less-heard' list, they have their own special charm

'ennodu vaa vaa'. BTW, the lyrics are by one old man called Rasayya and not Na.Muthukumar

I think all songs are credited to Na.Mu. (I don't have the CD, but remember reading somewhere that Na.Mu telling this in the release function).

Parts of the pallavi lines could have been given by IR (which is not unusual, like 'iLaya nilA') but rest was possibly by Na.Mu. Much like the 'un kaNNil neer vazhindhAl en nenjil udhiram kottudhadi' TMS song getting the pallavi from Bharathi

That way, I still think 'maRRathellAm unnudaiya idhazhkaLin ishtappadi' could be from Na.Mu and want to give him credit, unless the fact is otherwise

[Sureshs65]

app,

You may be right there. The CD credits everything to Na.Mu. In the Jaya TV program Gautham was saying that Raja had written the lines, 'ennodu vaa vaa'. As you said, Raja would have just given the pallavi for Muthukumar to improvise on. Going by the CD credits, whatever is good or bad in the lyrics of this song, is the doing of Muthukumar

[musiukunit]

BTW I'm only expression my view on layers in relation to the melody which is sung and not back melodies played on respected instruments.

I thought you were the one who said But it is the ambiance and additional instrumentation that gives a song its true UNIQUENESS

But now you say you are talking about layering in melody..thats confusing..

Like senthil V said perfectly

In a way there is layering in a simple melody but on the horizontal side.

How can there be music without layering... (horizontal/vertical)

Horizontal or vertical / dense or simple doesnt decide greatness..

[brigs]

Common to deduce that way but the rhythm of the electric guitar and the subtle orchestration is sincerely thalaivar's. Most of yuvan's rock-styled songs are too close to popular rock bands with no distinguishable style and usually alienate the main melody. Besides thalaivar has experimented with rock in yaari gagi of bhajari bete, sing swing of moodupani and many pre-85 songs.Some of the movie club,disco and item numbers of that era that thalaivar composed had rock influences.

IR experiment panna - adhu thani style. love it.
ARR experiment panna - adhu innoru style. love it too.

I'm loving NEPV album... IR has done very well. There are moments from 80s & 90s.... but hey, IR shines as melody king. Loving it

[Nerd]

Neethane En Ponvasantham - Audio Launch - Just 1.15 mins but HD quality.

WOW! Sounds so good. Don't think younger Raaja would have sounded as good as this if he were to record the original in his voice. Gives an entirely new dimension to this awesome song. Malaysia/SPB/KJY and Raaja all of them have sung this now

Vaanam Mella as shown during the audio launch.

https://t.co/9YQa49Rq

nallaaththaan irukku, Jeeva-va mattum delete pannanum eppadiyaavadhu.