If you grew up in the 90s, there is little chance that you would not know the song that was arguably a turning point of singer Shaan’s career  - Tanha Dil. But do you also know that the song was composed by Ram Sampath? Not many do, I am sure. Such was the fate of the composer, to remain behind the scenes for almost 15 years of his career despite producing some super music off and on (Khakee, . Thanks to Rajesh Roshan in 2008, the man had his biggest moment of fame until that point when the former plagiarised his Sony Ericsson jingle for the Krazzy 4 title song featuring Hritik Roshan. It took Aamir Khan though to turn things around for good when he roped in Ram for Delhi Belly. A bunch of successful soundtracks and jingles after that, the man makes his debut on MTV’s Indian adaptation of Coke Studio this Saturday (the first song featuring Bhanvari Devi and Hard Kaur was released by MTV a couple of hours back). We decided to hear from Ram about his music. And here we share it with you all.

(A big thank you to Sona Mohapatra; if not for her help we would never have got this interview done!)

Let’s start with the big one, Coke Studio. You debut on the show this season, next week to be precise. A word on what to expect and how you went about picking the songs and artists, given that they seem to be spread across geography and genres?

India is vast and diverse and I wanted to capture some of that breadth on my episode. I also wanted to enjoy myself leading a kick-ass band. For me, Coke Studio @ Mtv is as much about the band as it is about the singers and my band was an absolute delight to work with. My episode is captured completely live & I truly hope the audience appreciates that.

The concept made it easier for me to choose my vocalists. I chose to work with some of my favourite female vocalists from different genres of music across India. From Carnatic legend Aruna Sairam and Rajasthani folk legend Bhanwari Devi to Desi Hip hop pioneer Hard Kaur. From gospel, jazz and soul singer Samantha Edwards to new age Bengali folk singer Usri Banerjee & the passionate modern rock vocals of Aditi Singh Sharma to my muse Sona; the choices were easy but there are many more vocalists I still hope to work with..

You seem to have a theme around your episode and all lead performers seem to be ladies? 

My main motivation to do CS@MTV this year was because I found the right concept to work with. The concept of my episode is Devi and I wanted to celebrate and represent the various forms of feminine energy. India is probably the only culture in the world that still worships the Feminine Divine, yet we are struggling to deal with our misogyny and narrow-mindedness. It was a good opportunity for me express my feelings as an Indian artist.

You have two songs with the great Aruna Sairam on Coke Studio. A bit about that may be? How you came to choose her, the experience of working with her, et al?

Aruna Sairam is a true master of her craft & a dream to work with. It would take a whole season of CS@MTV to showcase her repertoire! She carries centuries of music in her, yet she has an amazingly modern perspective on art. I hope to work with her again in the near future.

You did the score for Celluloid Man. A documentary on India’s foremost film archivist, covering almost all of Indian Cinema. How challenging was setting the music? 

Celluloid Man is a very, very long interview in itself – suffice to say that it was a therapeutic experience as it reconnected me to the pure, artistic side of cinema and the myriad emotions it invokes within you.

Talking of older compositions, is there a plan to resurrect Colorblind, given that the indie scene is in general on a path of resurgence of late, both in terms of new bands and the exposure level?

No. I have a lot of material written for a second and third Colourblind album but it doesn’t excite me at the moment. My output of music in the last 3 years has been quite prolific, so I might think about an Indie project when I get some breathing space.

It was in 1996 that you composed Tanha Dil. Even today many of its fans do not know that it was you. Situation seems to be a bit different now though. Has the scene in general changed a lot for the non-frontline musicians?

I don’t think so! It’s still the singer of the song who gets all the attention & not much has changed. I personally, have always preferred being the play-maker to the striker, so I tend not to seek out the spotlight. I think it was Aamir’s amazing promotion of the music of Delhi Belly that got me back in the mainstream game.

You do a lot of ads as well. How different is working on jingles versus Independent albums versus movies? Which do you prefer most?

Every medium is enjoyable in it’s own way & teaches you something different. I see myself as composer who works in different media. I would love to score a video game someday; something like Assassin’s Creed would be fun..

You founded Om Grown Music Studio with Sona some time back, and although you have worked with a lot of freelance musicians, it all seems to have been for your own projects – be it ads, Satyameva Jayate.. Is there a plan to move out beyond that, into promoting music purely by other artists? 

I have always tried to work with new talent as much as possible for e.g. the guitar player (Nirdosh Sobti) and bass player (Keshav Iyengar) on my Coke Studio episode are musicians I discovered when I was a judge on Rock On with MTV. Besides, I think there are record companies and websites out there that promote music much better than I can, so I’ll stick to making music & Omgrown Music remains a platform for my musical ambitions for now..

You seem to be one of the very few musicians who has stayed clear of the social media bandwagon. Given how a lot of artists find the social channel helpful in promoting their work, any particular reason why you have let that skip?

I find social media unsettling and since I interact with an insane number of people on a daily basis at work, I prefer the quiet when I’m alone.

What are the projects that are keeping you busy at this moment, other than Coke Studio? Anything you are at liberty to speak of?

Movies, albums, plans.. all happening at the same time.. I’m happiest biting off more than I can chew!

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

The ambient feel lends well to the hip hop-based Nahna Na Nah sung by Devan Ekambaram and composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, the mix making it an engaging listen despite the familiarity in sound. New Jack Swing version of the same song is in fact a tad better than the original. The fast forwarded Extended Dance Mix however is standard (read avoidable) remix material. Starting off like a haunting melody, Pom Pom Penne does a surprise shift of gears after about a minute, taking on a brass-dominated (hence “Pom Pom” I suppose) carnival-esque mode that keeps picking up speed as it goes. Fun song, sung very well by Rahul Nambiar and Ramya NSK. While the arrangement of Mississippi is replete with yesteryear Raja references, the song as such is contemporary enough. Loved the interludes in this one – that harmonium in the second interlude in particular. And the playful banter styled rendition is carried off nicely by the hero Karthi, Priya Himesh and Premgi Amaren.

Between PSYCHO UNIT’s rap and Yuvan’s neat techno packaging of folk sounds, Run For Your Life has enough to get you hooked. However what should have been the highlight of the song, incorporation of Gana Bala’s retro singing, sounds oddly off key and hence jarring. Smart previous movie reference at the end by the way! The best of the soundtrack is the title song, just for that immensely addictive combination of wild west-esque whistles (is there flute too?) and strings. Even the Tamil-English rap by the ladies Tanvi Shah, Bhavatharini and Vilasini is laid very well over the trippy arrangement. High point of Edhirthu Nil is that it features four composers on playback – GV Prakash Kumar, D Imman, Vijay Antony and S Thaman – a factor that also adversely affects the vocals section in places. The song is decent otherwise, arrangement featuring all the anthemic grandeur that such songs come with.

Biriyani. A memorable 100^th from Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Music Aloud Rating: 8/10

Top Recos: Biriyani, Pom Pom Penne, Mississippi

The Pakistani edition of Coke Studio has had a theme around each of its episodes – something that MTV never borrowed to the Indian version. Ram Sampath’s episode stands out from the rest in that sense; the episode is themed on “Devi”, a celebration of the various forms of feminine power (he speaks of that in detail in this interview with us). Between this and the composer’s track record and the artist lineup, there has been enough to look forward to regarding Episode 2 of Coke Studio at MTV Season 3. My thoughts after seeing the episode, below.

Kattey – In his interview with us Ram Sampath had spoken about the joy of leading a kickass band on Coke Studio. And the kickass-ness of the band is in full display in this heady fusion piece – particularly Shirish Malhotra on viola, Jai Row Kavi on drums and Nirdosh Sobti on the lead guitar. But ruling all else with one stunner of a performance is Rajasthani singer Bhanvari Devi. And smartly interspersed with the earthy folk singing is Hard Kaur’s rap version of her life. The rap lyrics don’t always work, but the contrasting mix does work very well indeed!

Dum Dum Andar – This one (celebrating unconditional love, as per the makers) sees a neat incorporation of a mod qawwali piece into a gospel rendition. Ram chooses two accomplished singers in the genres – Sona Mohapatra and Samantha Edwards – both of whom do a fabulous job of delivering their parts. In the backdrop, Sanjoy Das’ guitar work stands out especially; and nice to see a lady tabla player (Swarupa Ananth in this case).

Sundari Komola – Ram Sampath revamps a song from his Colorblind days, Souls On Parade, fusing it with a Bengali “Chatka” to splendid effect! The sinister arrangement in the original is replaced with a folk-based one – the guitar + dotara (played by the awesome Tapas Roy) combo having you hooked from the word go. Being her home turf, Aditi Singh Sharma sings the original rock song segments with practiced ease, while Usri Bannerjee (singer of Manmauji in Gangs of Wasseypur, wife of singer Bonnie Chakraborty) does a super rendition of the Bengali part.

Payyada – THE song of the episode! Ram’s adaptation of the famous kshetrayya padam set to nadanamakriya raga is basically a cover of what he did in his debut movie Let’s Talk. Like in the movie, Ram keeps the arrangement at a blissfully minimal level, some basic chords being played on the strings (lute and guitar in this case, the former played by Shirish) and the occasional keys for most part. Which leaves the centre stage for Aruna Sairam, and what a recital she gives! At a recent concert in Bangalore, the singer had in fact sung another padam and said that this was a genre close to her heart.  You can feel every bit of that passion in the rendition, and combined with the ethereal flamenco-flavored arrangement, this one is a sureshot goosebump-inducer.

Piya Se Naina – After the relatively quiet Payyada, this one is pretty much the other extreme with an array of instruments making up the orchestration. But what is similar with the previous one is the fact that this one too is owned by the singer, Sona Mohapatra – the lady is impeccable with her delivery of the classical-based composition (multiple ragas, desh being a noticeable one) on Khusrao’s lines, well supported by the chorus. Tapas Roy’s mandolin rendition deserves a special mention too – loved that solo in the second interlude; only wish it were longer.

Aigiri Nandini – As a fusion piece, this one follows a structure similar to Dum Dum, in that Sona Mohapatra’s delivery of Bulleh Shah’s now popular Thaiyya Thaiyya is packaged within Aruna Sairam’s Mahishaasura Marddini Stotram. Just that here the packaging isn’t as seamless. The song gets a super start with the stotram part, building up to a high, and then things get a bit complicated. After a contrived-sounding guitar lead comes Sona’s part, which is good if heard as an individual piece, but at odds with the initial half. My favorite part of the song is that short bit towards the end where Aruna Sairam’s base rendition resonating over Sona and the chorus going Thaiyya Thaiyya.

So barring that one song, Ram Sampath delivers a winner as the teasers promised – this season of Coke Studio at MTV is already looking very very good!

Top Recos: Payyada, Sundari Komola, Piya Se Naina

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Mika Singh is at his exuberant best rendering Irshad Kamil’s wacky lyrics in Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai even as Pritam provides a happy arrangement to go with them, ruled by the ukulele and accordion in the first half and horns in the latter. The mild déjà vu does little to mar the immense likeability of Main Rang Sharbaton Ka where the composer makes some splendid use of guitars as he generally does with melodies. Atif Aslam and Chinmayi do an equally commendable job on their part, with some super support from the chorus. It is really heartening to see Chinmayi singing for more and more composers in Bollywood; she definitely deserves to be heard more. It is the reprise version that doesn’t work as much, Arijit Singh sounds oddly off-putting in this one. Hey Mr. DJ has some pleasantly surprising elements in its arrangement for a dance track – like that accordion and the banjo (suddenly banjo seems to have become hot property in Bollywood). The song however is otherwise largely reminiscent of 90s dance music and stops being fun after a while; despite the sprightly singing by Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares and Shalmali Kholgade.

There are times when I think I have had enough of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan singing melodic songs with his now-predictable improvisations. And then there are songs that make me hold that thought. Mere Bina Tu is one such – the man doing a fabulous rendition over Pritam’s flowing arrangements. The duet version works even better, with a contrast in the form of Harshdeep Kaur’s husky voice and some neat tweaks on the arrangement like the understated chorus. But for that tabla-based twist in the second interlude, Dhating Naach follows a kuthu template and is as entertaining as such songs get. Neha Kakkar and Nakash Aziz live upto the energy levels of the arrangement behind the mic. Best of the soundtrack is the pensive Janam Janam eulogizing the mother that comes in three versions. The main version has Atif Aslam crooning away amidst some lovely strings. Atif returns in the much shorter Sad version to do yet another soulful rendition. But top version is the Reprise sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, partly because of the arrangement taking on a more suitable manner with its combination of keys and strings, and partly for Sunidhi’s brilliant delivery.

I seriously didn’t expect this after seeing the movie’s trailer, but Phata Poster Nikla Hero is Pritam’s best work this year!

Music Aloud Rating: 8.5/10

Top Recos: Janam Janam, Mere Bina Tu, Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai

Clinton Cerejo. The man who heralded Coke Studio at MTV’s turn around after a widely panned first season with that super-hit opening episode of Season 2 – his Madari going on to be one of the biggest songs from the season. The man therefore had set the bar pretty high for himself in season 3, and the first two episodes haven’t helped bring that any lower. Happened to catch the episode slightly late, and here are my thoughts.

Pir Jalani – Fusion in its most definitive form, this song is a superb mélange of contrasting styles. The arrangement has some brilliant guitars and horns (arranged by Rhys Sebastian, who also arranged the brass section for Indiva’s debut album) interspersed with the folk sounds of gabgubi and khartaal and morchang and dholaks (that second interlude with the morchang solo by Rais Khan followed by the khartaal-dholak-guitar-horns conversation is one of the highlights of the song). And on vocals we have Manga Khan’s earthiness juxtaposed with Clinton Cerejo’s polished rendition that again makes for an interesting contrast. After the Mangniyars last year, kudos to Clinton for employing another folk group (again from Rajasthan incidentally), Barmer Boys, on the show this time around.

Aisi Bani – Three of the top singers from Clinton’s last season show – Vijay Prakash, Sonu Kakkar and Bianca Gomez – join the composer-singer to render the lines  Manoj Yadav puts together based on Kabir’s doha. And it is in the vocals that this song surprisingly falls short; the song is right down Vijay and Sonu’s alley and they ace it, but Bianca sounds out of place in her solo portions. The sinister arrangement is super otherwise, the strings – guitars by Clinton, Warren Mendonsa & Nyzel D’lima, Tapas Roy (the same man who played dotara and mandolin last week) on saaz and Lindsay D’Mello’s drums being the highlight.

Kalapi – Clinton is once again at his imaginative best with the arrangement here, employing a reggae base for a Bhojpuri song penned again by Manoj. Rhys’ horns section is spot on, as is that guitar solo by Nyzel. Kailash Kher’s rendition is nuanced albeit riddled with familiar tropes, but he carries off that dialect with an ease and naturality that few others can. And he is supported very well by the chorus, particularly towards the end.

Marghat – One of the songs I have been most looking forward to in this episode; been a big fan of Sidharth Basrur’s singing in the past, and his combination with Clinton would be nothing short of promising. The track starts off living upto that promise too, Clinton building up a hair-raising prelude with the help of Aman Mahajan’s keys and Nyzel, Warren, himself and Rushad Mistry on guitars. What follows however isn’t as exciting; strangely enough, Basrur’s singing in particular didn’t quite cut it for me – don’t know if it was hearing him sing Hindi for the first time.

Pinjra – Clinton gets Jonita Gandhi and Sanam Puri, singers of that superhit youtube cover of Tum Hi Ho, to sing this one. And they do an equally wonderful job here too, assisted well by Clinton and the chorus. The arrangement however isn’t anything particularly special here, and gets daunting after some time, the only standout being Warren Mendonsa’s solo in the second interlude.

Baina – The episode ends on a high, with the best song from Clinton’s set that also features the maximum number of artists and instruments. And most of them are beautifully utilized, right from the cello (P S Ramachandran) and double bass (Lavine De Costa) that ominously begin the song to the kanjira by Rajesh Srinivasan. Particularly well-placed among them are the manjiras and the veena by Rajesh Vaidya. Amidst all this is the singing by Clinton Cerejo and Vijay Prakash; Vijay especially nails the nuanced rendition of the malkauns/hindolam-based piece as expected. It is only with the qawwals that I expected a little more on the lines of regular qawwali rendition, but that is in no way to understate their contribution as a chorus around that title hook. That grand ending in itself is worth playing on a loop. Fabulous fusion song all in all!

So not as awesome an episode as I expected from Clinton Cerejo, although it helps reascertain the amazing talent the man possesses as an arranger.

Top Recos: Baina, Pir Jalani, Kalapi

- Krithika Arvind

Hi, this time its Raga Abheri, known as Bhimplasi in the  Hindustani Sangeet. This is a very simple and yet a captive raga popularized through various genres like theatre and cinema, apart from classical music. It was  one of the most favourite choices of opera writers/ composers  even in the  pre independence era.  It is very soothing to hear and almost everyone knows a song in this raga..but just that they don’t know that it is Abheri!!

Let’s get into the details. Abheri, as it is known in South Indian Classical Music ,is an Oudava Sampoorna ( meaning it takes SGMPN – five notes in the ascent and SNDPMGR in the descent). It is the Janyam of Karaharapriya the 22^nd mela, which in itself is a very pleasing raga. Just that, skipping the Rishabam and Nishadam in the ascent changes the colour and mood of the raga completely. It is more dramatized than its origin raga and hence more preferred for operas. Also the occasional usage of shuddha dhaivatham (which is a foreign note) , just at the right phrase gives an unexpected yet beautiful feel for the raga.

Some of the important phrases of this raga are GMPN,,D,,P- PG,,M PNS – NSR NS- PNSGRNS- GR, NP, GR, NP, S..  The raga has a range of about two octaves and the skipping of notes in consequent phrases is  a speciality, especially SPGRNPS is a typical phrase of the raga. Likewise NSMPG is also an important phrase.  Interestingly the Rishabam, which shares a Vadi- Samvadi relationship with the Dhaivatham, is more prominent than dhaivatham itself. This is evident from the many phrases which end on Ri and those which move around Ri. Dhaivatham on the other hand does not enjoy that importance though.

Some important compositions in this Raga are: Nagumomu of Sri Thyagaraja- immortalized by legends like Shri M Balamuralikrishna, Semmangudi Sri Srinivasa Iyer, MS Subbulakshmi and Madurai Mani Iyer  and others. The sahithyam or the Lyrics of the kriti blends so beautifully with the flow of the raga, that its very hard for anyone to not sing along or experience that high . This krithi was a favourite for elite and non-musicians alike.

This is a rendition of this krithi by the Legend Sri M Balamuralikrishna.

Bhajare Manasa of Mysore Vasudevachar  is also a very famous Krithi in this raga. This is a rendition on the Veena by Vidwan D Balakrishna.

Another famous krithi is Maname ganamum maravadhe of Papanasam Sivan. This song featured in the movie “Savithri”. The swara shuddha dhaivatham which is a rare occurrence in this raga is used in the very beginning of the song. This is believed to be the older version of raga Abheri. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Veenabheri also follows the same version. Whereas in krithis like Nagumomu or bhajare, that swara doesn’t occur.  This is thDhaivatham is Bhimplas and is also believed to be the older version of Abheri and the exact equivalent of  the modern day version of Raga Abheri modified version of the raga. “Eppadi Padinaro” of Suddhananda Bharathi is also a often heard song in this raga.  Bharathiyar’s “Vellai tamarai” is also set in this raga.

Now, let us see how this raga is presented in Hindustani Music. As mentioned earlier the raga Bhimpalasi is the equivalent  of the modern day raga Abheri.  It is a late afternoon raga.  Here are some beautiful renditions of Rag Bhimpalasi. Personally my choice is an instrumental version of this raga. Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia’s  rendition  explains more in detail how calming and meditative this raga can be!

Interestingly, Rag Dhanasri is the Punjabi version of Abheri/Bhimpalasi. It is exactly the same as the ragas under study. Swati Tirunal Maharaja’s composition  was immortalized by Smt MS SUbbulakshmi. (Ignore the titles of the video; they are wrong)

The following  is in Raag Dhanasri accompanied  by the Harmonium as accompaniment by Dr Gurnam Singh.

This is more like a khayal rendition in terms of pace , improvisation and the accompanying style of Tabla.

This raga sounds undoubtedly divine and soothing on the Sarangi. Interestingly the Dhaivatham is more often heard in the chord played on the Harmonium. This elevates the aesthetic appeal of the raga traditional kirtan of Gurmat Sangeet.

Now for some famous movie songs old and recent. Film music in the 50s seem to have been instrumental in bringing out the best of this raga by using it extensively. Almost every composer has composed in this raga. Some examples here…

Nainon me badar chaye from  Mera Saaya, Music by Madan Mohan

The use of Komal Dhaivath in the very beginning of the song gives a beautiful shade to the  emotion of the song.

The ever green Singara Velane Deva from the movie Konjum Salangai. This song was sung by S Janaki to the accompaniment of Nadaswaram by Karukkurichi P Arunachalam.

This is yet another famous song from the movie “Tiruvilaiyadal” sung by TR Mahalingam, music composed by KV Mahadevan. This song is perfect is example for the immense scope this raga gives for  high drama.

Other songs include Neela vana sung by SPB from Vazhve mayam is a ghazal type song composed by Gangai Amaran. CHinnanjiru vayadil from Meendum Kokila, Music by Ilayaraja.

Kannodu Kaanbadellam from the movie “Jeans” & Kismat Se Tum from the movie “Pukar”, both composed by A R Rahman, are also in this raga.

The list goes on and on. In part two of this article we shall see about the raga Shudha Dhanyasi/ Dhani.

(Krithika is a performing vocalist from Chennai. She is a disciple of (Bombay) Smt Jayashri Ramnath. She holds an MPhil in Indian Music . Apart from concert performances, she records vocals for various dancers and teaches music. )

The second debutant producers on Coke Studio at MTV Season 3. Well not exactly a debut, Salim was part of the Karsh Kale episode last season. Anyway, this is the episode I was most concerned about; firstly because I haven’t heard anything particularly impressive in their non-film works (the Dewarists song was decent, nothing spectacular). Their recent run in movies hasn’t been particularly encouraging either. Some of the artists they featured were the main reason I have been looking forward to this episode. So here are my thoughts after having seen the show.

Bismillah – Composers Salim Sulaiman more than double the length of their original Kailash Kher solo piece from the movie Azaan for Coke Studio at MTV, and gracefully so. Joining Kailash here is Munnawar Masoom, the man who did that amazing qawwali from D-Day, Murshid Khele Holi. And he does a super job here too. The arrangement from the original is kept as a base here, so we still get to hear some lovely harmonium bits from Firoz Shah (don’t know if he was the one in Azaan too). The composers spruce it up quite well with the guitars (same team as the Clinton episode – Warren Mendonsa, Nyzel D’Lima, Rushad Mistry) and drums by Darshan Doshi.

Rudine Rangeeli – It was Bhanwari Devi in the Ram Sampath episode and the Barmer Boys in Clinton Cerejo’s. And this time it is Gujarati folk legend Karsan Sagathia who comes and sidelines all else with his solo performance. Well almost all else, there is Paras Nath supporting the singer through the song, and closing it with a one minute long scorcher of a solo (with good backing from Darshan on drums) – DO NOT miss that! The arrangement is otherwise fairly regular but for some interesting additions like the conch and manjiras.

Namaste – More folk fusion, this time with a Punjabi folk trio led by Desh Raj Lachkani. And the rawness of the singers contrasts well with Shraddha Pandit and the chorus (Shannon Donald, Crystal Sequeira, Keshia Braganza) making for an interesting combo. The arrangement too has its high points, especially on the percussion front from Sanket Naik and Rushad’s bass. But overall there is something undeniably filmy about the techno-Punjabi-ness of the song – something that evokes a sense of déjà vu more than once. And that bogs the song down.

Kare Mann Bhajan – Salim Sulaiman’s tribute to Ustad Sultan Khan. Not the first time they are doing this by the way; Salim had joined Karsh Kale in adapting the sarangi maestro’s Kajar Bin last season of Coke Studio. And like with that cover, here too the weakest link is Salim’s singing. A pretty neat cover otherwise. While last year it was Sultan Khan’s son Sabir Khan on the sarangi, this time it is Dilshad Khan, who was part of Coke Studio’s Season 2 as well, most prominently in the Amit Trivedi episode. And the man is brilliant here with some fabulous charukeshi raga-based solos, particularly towards the end. The other person worth a special mention from the band is Jarvis Menezes, some lovely improvs on the keyboard (am I the only one who got slightly reminded of the keys section of Nirmohiya in some places, the second interlude especially?). If not for the vocals, this might well have been the song of the episode.

Sati – Haunting Vedic chants amidst the pulsating rhythms set by Taufiq Qureshi (I also see the name Shikhar Qureshi among the credits; his son?) and an elaborate strings section by the Bombay Strings Orchestra – Sati is a totally winning combination! Making his second appearance this season is Vijay Prakash who (again) aces the classical-based rendition (couldn’t figure out the raga; sounded like hindolam/malkauns but for the dhaivata) over the racy orchestration. Lovely trumpet playing by Aamir Damami too; that is interesting attire for a trumpet player!

Chheene Re Mora Chain – Composers get another stalwart for this one, Rashid Khan. And boy what a performance he gives! The veteran carries off the nuanced rendition (jog raga-based, it would seem) with ease, producing some lovely improvs. The arrangement on the other hand is highlighted by its use of strings – Warren, Nyzel and Rushad all do a fabulous job alongside the Bombay Strings Orchestra. The lyrics here are written by Shraddha Pandit apparently, didn’t know she writes songs too. But for the singing by Salim which again didn’t work much for me (singing alongside someone like Rashid Khan was bound to be a disadvantage anyway), this song is where the fusion was the smoothest I thought.

So a pretty neat episode from Salim Sulaiman that belies their recent form. Papon is up next.

Top Recos: Sati, Chheene Re Mora Chain, Rudine Rangeeli

Early this year, Malayalam newspaper group Maathrubhumi kicked off their entertainment channel Kappa TV with a bunch of interesting programmes in its arsenal. While the channel itself has received good response, one of its most appreciated shows was Music Mojo, Kappa’s own version of the studio jam session a la Coke Studio and the like. The show featured a lot of interesting-yet-unheard bands in its first Season, but few have met with the kind of phenomenal success that Kochi-based Thaikkudam Bridge earned with their set of videos that went up on youtube last week. Having quite literally sprung up with the Music Mojo session, a lot of our readers were keen to know more about the band, and so we decided to get in touch with the band’s main man Govind Menon. And here is a primer on Thaikkudam Bridge!

Your fb page says just “Built for Music” about the band. Tell us more. The origins of the band and so on?

We have put more on the FB page.. U may have a look at it now! We are still working on the page. There will be a lot to look out for there in the coming days!
As for the origin…..here’s the story.
A few months back, me and my cousin brother Siddharth (a vocalist member of the band) were discussing about doing a cover. Just to satisfy our creative instincts….
We started working on the Rahman Medley. Soon Music Mojo caught our eyes and we sent them the cover as a demo. They liked it and thats how we got associated with the programme.
Since I have been in the film industry for over 4 years now, I roped in some of my most talented circle of friends…..Mithun Raju (the lead guitarist), Ashok Nelson ( rhythm guitars), Vipin Lal (Vocalist), Christin Jose (Vocalist), Ruthin Thej (Keyboards), Abin Thej (Drums), Piyush Kapoor (vocalist, guitars).
Siddharth roped in his truly remarkable musician friends in the form of Vian Fernandez (Bass guitarist, Vocals), Krishna Bongane (vocalist), Nila Madhav Mohapatra (vocalist).
Inspite of the varied backgrounds, we hit it off really well.
Everyone decided to gather together and soon jam sessions were on!

Why the name Thaikkudam Bridge?

And the place we met for the jam sessions and rehearsals was of course near Thaikkudam Bridge, thaikkudam being a place in Cochin. Its as simple as that. Nothing fancy about the origin of the name, huh. : )

By the look of it, we have been able to garner good reviews and so yes, we are really excited to take this forward…..

One of the most notable elements in your songs has been the vocalists. You have featured not less than 5 vocalists in your episode of Music Mojo. And from varied backgrounds too. Are all of them part of the band? 

A brief profile of the main artists if you will? Some of them seem to have rather interesting backgrounds.

Most of your songs have been covers, but for two original songs. Interesting set of songs too that you chose for covering. A word on how you go about choosing the songs to cover?

While choosing the cover songs, we always had the audience in our mind… The goal was to make music for people. What they want to hear…. These songs are evergreen… each and every one of them….. Some of them forgotten, some of them never reached the people like they had to.
The two originals are Fish Rock and Shiva, as you know it. We had a gala time making them! B-)

You have been doing the arrangement for all the music so far I take it?

Yeah. That’s right. I arrange the tracks.

Covers or originals, which do you prefer?

Well, it has to be originals.

The soundtrack of the upcoming movie 24 Kaatham North is composed by a Govind Menon. Is that you too? 

That’s right too. I am that Govind Menon! : ) I have done 4 songs for the film (one promo song included ) and the Background Score too. It will be an Onam release. Really excited about my first venture in films as a Music Director.

So what is the plan ahead for Thaikkudam Bridge? An album in the offing?
Well, There are a lot of shows pouring in from everywhere. So immediate future of the band is definitely live shows. We will definitely work on an album after the shows. (and a big one at that considering the number of vocalists!!!)

Angaraag Papon Mahanta. The only producer in the Coke Studio at MTV Season 3 lineup who is known less as a composer and more as a singer. But whoever has heard his The Story So Far or Tokari from the final episode of last season would have no doubt regarding the Assamese powerhouse’s skills as a composer. And the teasers promised a folk-rich episode, so there was much excitement leading up to this one. And here are my thoughts after watching it.

Baisara Beera – Staying true to his roots, Papon kicks off the episode picking up a lovely Assamese Holi geet and fusing it with an equally beautiful folk piece from the other end of the country, Rajasthan in a loosely desh raag-flavored mélange. The rich arrangement too sees a lovely fusion of folk and western – Sugana Ram’s ravanahatha, harmonium stud Akhlak Warsi, Aslam and Hanif Dafrani’s dholaks all seamlessly melding with Kalyan Baruah and Deepak Saikia’s guitars and Tanmay Ray’s drums among other things. Icing on the cake is of course the singing – Papon is flawless as usual with the nuanced rendition, and giving him solid competition is Bhojpuri star singer Kalpana Patowary.

Khumaar – Papon’s sonorous rendition of the pleasant tune rules supreme in the pop-based Khumaar, even as Kalyan Baruah and Jeenti Dutta provide a breezy guitar-led template to go with him. That shehnai from Omkar Madhukar Dhumal (the same person who played shehnai in Amit Trivedi’s Season 2 episode) in the second half is a nice touch.

Tauba – This one sees African and Latino elements combined in an addictive package, with some Assamese folk thrown in for good measure. Once again the guitars are fabulously employed, particularly towards the end, and so are the African rhythms (Sanket Naik, Kirti Prabar Das) and the accordion by Sameer Chiplunkar. On the vocal front, the chorus comprising of Shannon Donald, Crystal Sequeira and Gwen Dias is spot on, and the outlandish sounds from Papon & co. in the interludes lend well to the African-ness of the song. Oddly enough it is the lead singing by Benny Dayal that is found wanting among all this, in comparison.

Benaam Khwaahishein – First ghazal of the season. First ghazal on the show in fact, unless I am missing something from Season 1. And a piece quite fitting of that honor too, if it is. Firstly there is a beautiful (bageshri raag?) tune from Papon, and then there is an outstanding rendition by Anweshaa Dutta (the same girl who at the age of 13 did that brilliant singing of Mere Dholna from Bhool Bhulaiya on Voice of India) with excellent support from Sanket on the tabla and Pritam Ghoshal on sarod. Nirmalya Humtoo Dey’s duduk cameo only adds to the beauty of the song. The pick of the episode, this one.

Dinae Dinae – More Assamese folk in Papon’s voice, this time with the man strumming along on the tokari as well. In the first half that is. In the latter half the song takes a surprise yet smooth turn towards Punjabi folk, and in comes Harshdeep Kaur singing what she does best. The song then heads towards a crescendo-esque finish with both singers combining their styles. (Incidentally Papon & Harshdeep are the only vocalists to have featured in all three seasons of Coke Studio at MTV)

Jhumoor – Final song is where Papon presents a North East folk composition without fusing it with any other genre (discounting the electric guitars and drums that is, they have been pretty much omnipresent in this episode). Dulai Manki and Simantha Shekhar give an authentic rendition of the Assamese tea garden song alongside the composer. That surprise change in pace in between acted as a deterrent for me, but nice listen otherwise.

So Papon delivers in Season 3 what Shantanu Moitra did in Season 2 – a winning set of songs replete with folk and classical elements.

Top Recos: Benaam Khwaahishein, Baisara Beera, Dinae Dinae

Another of the season’s most anticipated episodes because, well, Amit Trivedi. The man had delivered one of the best sets in Season 2 of Coke Studio at MTV last year, and his works in Bollywood since then have also yielded some fabulous music off and on. So high hopes. My thoughts after watching the episode, below.

Rabba – This one plays in the same space as Amit’s own Nirmohiya last year – a Punjabi flavored piece with a mild lounge-ish feel about it. While in the last season it was Shankar Tucker’s clarinet, this time it is Sukhjinder Singh with the algoza who forms the centrepiece of the groovy arrangement. Not all is hunky-dory though – the singing by Tochi Raina is just average for most part. On the other hand Jaggi does a decent job with the Punjabi rap.

Sheher – Pretty much same fate as the first song. Neat arrangement, weak vocals. Joining Coke Studio Season 3 yet again, with a mandolin in this song, is Tapas Roy who is employed brilliantly here too.  And his combination with the guitars by Warren Mendonsa, Rushad Mistry and Darshan Doshi‘s drums makes for a compelling base. But what is built over that doesn’t quite match up. The tune is just decent, and Tanvi Shah seems out of her comfort zone singing Swanand Kirkire’s lines and that tells. Amit Trivedi joining in towards the end doesn’t improve things either.

Khari Khari – Third time’s the charm indeed; Amit finally gets everything going right in this one. Kavita Seth and Rajasthan Roots’ Kutle Khan expectedly own the folk-flavored rendition. And most prominent among the artistes backing them are Arshad Khan on esraj (the same man who played those lovely cues in Maanjha and in Badri Badariya on Coke Studio last year), Tapas Roy on saaz and Sanket Naik’s percussion. That final solo bit by Warren Mendonsa with Arshad Khan and brass band-esque percussion from Sanket Naik and Darshan for accompaniment does stand out as odd, but makes for a nice listen nevertheless.

Naariyan – Amit gets two more playback singers for this one, both of whom he has worked with in the past – Karthik and Shalmali Kholgade. Between the two of them and the chorus comprising of Dawn Cordo, Murishka DCruz and Ardelia DCruz, the vocals section of this song is secure (wonder why Kausar Munir used the word naariyan in an otherwise contemporary-styled banter though). The arrangement begins with a filmy hangover of Amit’s own songs, but gets progressively better, ending on a rousing high. That whistle-trumpet (Kishore Sodha) duet is particularly nice. And trippy bassline from Rushad.

Kyun Na – Hindustani-carnatic fusion piece that interestingly seems to employ the same raga combination of yaman and kalyani that ARR used in Aao Balma. Most of the vocals are handled by Dhruv Sangari (who had sung a song in the final episode of Season 2) and Karthik (slightly disappointed that his Carnatic faculties went unutilized), with a short but very effective cameo by Chandana Bala – her jamming with Finix Ramdas is one of the high points of the song. Apart from Finix (he was behind the lovely violin portions in Madras Café’s music), the strings section also has some lovely playing from Tapas on the charango and Sanjoy Das on guitar.  The other highlight in the arrangement is the well-imagined percussion jamming that opens the Carnatic section – B Shree Sundarkumar on konnakol/kanjira, Alan DSouza on beatbox (the same guy who beatboxed to the MTV Unplugged version of Genda Phool) and Rais Khan of Barmer Boys on morchang. Would have been perfect if not for Sundarkumar’s totally redundant “Yeah Come On” and “Kanjira Man” bits. So an engaging (albeit slightly flawed) fusion piece to close the episode. Like last year, Amit stops with just five songs this time too.

So the episode has some good music, but Amit too is unable to match his own stellar performance from Season 2.

Top Recos: Khari Khari, Kyun Na, Naariyan

After Clinton Cerejo and Amit Trivedi, third composer from Season 2 to do a repeat on Coke Studio at MTV Season 3. Hitesh Sonik. Last single composer episode of the season. Hitesh’s episode was not my favorite from last season, so was curious to see if he would deliver a better show this time. My thoughts after seeing the episode.

Haal Ve Rabba – But for that short-but-superb solo by Shruti Pathak, this song is Hans Raj Hans’ show through and through; good to hear him after so long. Hitesh Sonik’s arrangement plays the support role very well, the strings in particular (Hitesh, Warren Mendonsa, Kalyan Baruah on guitars, Rushad Mistry on bass, Tapas Roy on bouzouki).

Maajhi – The soothing breeziness of the song and Sukhwinder Singh’s rendition evoke memories of folk-tinged songs such as Katra Katra (Apna Aasmaan) that the man has in the past; a factor that works against the song after a while. The arrangement does have its highs though; Tapas Roy’s oud, Paras Nath’s flute and Gino Banks’ drums during the sinister turn the song takes in the latter half. That alone does not suffice nevertheless.

Ramaiyya – Meera Bai’s multiply covered bhajan gets a trippy reimagination at the hands of Hitesh Sonik on Coke Studio courtesy an arrangement that features some beautiful flute over the addictive guitar-drum template even as Jose Gomes’ melodica bits add a nice touch to the proceedings. And carrying off the vocals in spectacular fashion is the composer’s better half Sunidhi Chauhan (the raaga seemed like maand in places).

Moh – Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar. There is a high chance that that is all you will remember after you are done with this song, such is the feel the man imparts Kabir’s lines with his immensely nuanced rendition (maru bihag raga, the comments section says). Hitesh does a fab job at his end too, making lovely use of keys (Jarvis Menezes and an uncredited harmonium player) and tabla (Vinayak Netke). The occasional segueing to Nikhil D’Souza’s English bits makes for an engaging contrast to the proceedings.

Ghar – The man behind the best song from Hitesh’s episode last year, Husna, returns this time with another of his compositions. And it is haunting as always, the man’s singing, backed well by Hitesh’s strings-led arrangement. The only problem is that Ghar has too much of Piyush Mishra in it; I was half expecting Mishra to break into O Re Duniya any moment! That still might not stop you from bobbing your head to zu zu zu.

Chan Kitthan – Hitesh Sonik makes super utilization of Sukhwinder Singh’s vocal range in this traditional Punjabi piece, with a competent chorus to support him. The arrangement too keeps the traditional feel of the song intact for most part, prominently featuring the dholaks (Yusuf Mohammad, Hafeez Khan), tablas (Manoj Bhati, Sharafat Hussain, Shankar Vitthalrao Kamble) and Tapas’ mandolin (interesting replacement for the tumbi).

So Hitesh Sonik does indeed produce a better set of songs than his season 2 episode. I like!

Top Recos: Ramaiyya, Moh, Haal Ve Rabba

You can listen to the soundtrack here (link via @prakshid)

In Ang Laga De, composer Sanjay Leela Bhansali successfully creates a haunting ambient mélange predominantly of strings and percussion, even as Aditi Paul rules the semiclassical rendition (patdeep raag, my guess). Last I heard Aditi was in that lovely song from the Tamil movie Kumki.  Dhoop has Shreya Ghoshal at her fluent best, negotiating the ups and downs of the nuanced piece with ease. The orchestral arrangement however bears a distinct SLB stamp about it and it is hard not to be reminded of songs from his older movies while you hear it. Shreya’s other song Nagada Sang Dhol too is plagued by the same problem, but there is enough energy in the singing and the mod garba arrangement to more than make up for that foible and make it addictive. Aditya Narayan’s voice bears a striking resemblance to his dad’s, and he does sound like a very promising singer. This apart, there is not a lot that is interesting about the two songs he sings in Ram-Leela. Ishqyaun Dhishqyaun has an interesting arrangement in fact, combining folk with world and techno elements quite deftly, but everything is summarily decimated by the lyrics (you might take a hint from the title of course!).  Tattad Tattad is run-of-the-mill dance material that gets tedious beyond a point (and it didn’t help that the first time I heard the song was with its official video).

Adding one more beauty to his fast-growing repertoire of good songs is Arijit Singh with Laal Ishq. The composer structures the yaman (kalyani) raag-based piece like a prayer, and Arijit renders it most soulfully, ably supported by the chorus in the right places. Bhansali’s staple singer Shail Hada gets two songs in the soundtrack, both of which see the singer in top form. Same cannot be said about the composer though in either case. Lahu Munh Lag Gaya’s folk arrangement gets monotonous after a while, offering nothing new over the five minutes. Poore Chand is relatively better off, neat arrangement and all (interesting to hear a thavil among the percussion, I think I heard it in Dhoop also), but there is only so much that the pensiveness keeps you engaged. The Gujarati folk song Mor Bani Thanghat Kare is presented with some interesting contemporary additions in the arrangement, and charms like most folk pieces do, courtesy Osman Mir’s flawless rendition with Aditi Paul in support. Ram Chahe Leela is the one song that stands out from the rest in terms of arrangement, featuring some interesting fusion of guitars (particularly the bass) with the bhajan ensemble. But it is Bhoomi Trivedi who is the highlight of the song, pulling off an exuberant yet fabulously nuanced rendition.

Ram-Leela.  A soundtrack that is quite comparable to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s last, Guzaarish, in its mix. This hangover factor is concerning though.

Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10

Top Recos: Laal Ishq, Ang Laga De, Nagada Sang Dhol, Mor Bani

Vyakul Jiyara – The man who has been consistently awesome across the two seasons of Coke Studio at MTV doubles up as producer in this (predominantly) bageshri raag-based piece penned by Manoj Yadav. And Vijay Prakash picks up some of the best artists from across episodes to support him here – Sanjoy Das and Nyzel D’Lima on guitars, Mohini Dey on bass, Lindsey D’Mello on drums, Vinayak Netke on tabla – and helping him with the additional arrangements is keyboardist Aditya Paudwal (son of Anuradha, I presume). Coming back to the song, very neatly arranged fusion piece this. And Vijay delivers as brilliantly as expected on the vocals too with some lovely improvs, very nicely supported by chorus (again featuring a lot of names from previous episodes).  Even the cameo by Hamsika Iyer where she renders Subramania Bharati’s  verses (raga sounded like neelaambari) goes very well with the overall composition.

Qalandar- Aditya Balani and Suhail Yusuf Khan produce a classical-rock fusion piece (jog raga based it would seem) in collaboration with Tarun and Gaurav Balani (all of whom have previously come out with the album Sacred World under the name Tarun Balani Collective and one song of which was part of our latest mixtape). And the band does feature a groovy arrangement like they did in Sacred World too – complete with that sarangi cameo by Suhail. What is not so much in their favor is the tune that works only in parts. Suhail’s singing is not without its flaws either, but he just about manages to hold his end up.

Paagal – Winit Tikoo Band is the group that got on the show by winning Coke Studio’s LeapFrog contest. But the man who steals the show here is the sarangi player Shahrukhh Khan who is beautifully utilized almost all through the song. Unfortunately for Winit Tikoo, he is not as good a singer as he is an arranger or a guitar player, so the best part of the song is its second half since most of it is taken up by instrumental solos – first by Winit on the guitar, which he carries off brilliantly, and then by Shahrukhh. So that is the part you might want to watch out for in this song.

Naash  - Orange Street, the most experienced group on the episode. Well at least by name, only the frontman Anirban Chakraborty remains from the original lineup (it was Anirban along with the current guitarist Donn Bhatt who did two songs for Vicky Donor as Donn & Bann). So the band here presents a not so different version of their (mishra jog raag-based, as per singer Imran Khan) fusion piece from the album Dharma. The only place where I noticed a difference was in the harmony element contributed very nicely by Sneha Suresh and Sharmishtha Chatterji. There is a lot of individual brilliance in display here – Bann is exuberant with his rap, the classical segments are superb, the dhol by Sajid Khawra makes for a nice combo with the rock elements. The sum total of these parts doesn’t seem to work that smoothly as a fusion piece, however.

Anth Bahar – Rajasthan Roots get on stage here, with their folk paraphernalia – bhapang (very close to gabgubi in sound), khartaal, morchang, manjira, dotara, flute – to produce a fusion song based on Bulleh Shah’s lines,along with Func. (of Shaair & Func). Func. plays guitar too in this song, producing some super solos particularly towards the end. Once again the individual parts are awesome, the combination not so. Kutle Khan, Bismila Khan and Aditya Bhasin handle the folk part of vocals quite well. Nancy Aren Ao has a voice that would suit the western style very well as is evident from some of her solos, but she doesn’t sound as comfortable when singing alongside the folk powerhouses.

Man Manam – A serene piece from Sonam Kalra & the Sufi Gospel Project to end the episode, Sonam and Ahsan Ali imparting ghazal-based flavor to a traditional Persian poem. The arrangement is lovely here, particularly the sarangi by Ahsan and mandola/banjo by Amar Sangam, and Amaan Ali’s tabla. Sonam’s singing isn’t exactly top drawer but I liked some touches she gives, like that yodel effect towards the end.

A mixed bag from the six producers, this episode.

Top Recos: Vyakul Jiyara, Man Manam, Qalandar

You can listen to the album here.

Jaagi Jaagi Raina – The song I fell in love with from the time the studio version went up on youtube about a year back, and still remains my top favorite among the 11 after the richer sounding album version. Vasuda Sharma deftly layers everything from the violins to guitars (mandolin too I think) to drums to keys to sax to the bass (Rushad Mistry) in a fantabulous classical fusion piece. And the lady gets behind the mic herself (as she does for all songs of the album) to pull off a finely nuanced rendition of the jog raag-based melody.

Maajhi (Go with the flow) – Vasuda’s musical plea to people to take a chill pill once again follows the classical-jazz fusion route, the former being provided by the strings while the keys supply the latter. The classical side displays shades of jog (which is one of her favorite ragas, she told me) here too in places. The apparent ease with which Vasuda straddles the Indian and Western styles in her singing helps her pull off the vocals here in style.

Giridhar – In her mod take on the Meera bhajan (most famously sung by Geeta Dutt in the 1950 movie Jogan) Vasuda once again makes good use of the immense talent at her disposal, particularly the sax and guitars – both have some fabulous solos in the song.

Barsan Laage Nain – The composer gets her Aasma bandmate Sangeet Haldipur to play keys for her in this one, and he kicks off the song with a jazz-based solo. And then the song comes, another classical-flavored (loosely brindavana saranga raga based) piece that features some interesting time signatures. In an otherwise westernized orchestration, the tabla is the only one complying with the classical base (Sanket Naik, I would presume). Like she did in Jaagi Jaagi Raina, the lady builds the song towards a crescendo-esque instrumental overdrive in the last one minute with a short but neat sargam bit.

Laagi Lagan – A mellow song for a change, although once again elaborate in its arrangement. This time it is the keys and the violin that stand out – the violin in particular with lovely solos ranging from classical (this song has a hamsadhwani base) to Arabic (or Klezmer?). Vasuda’s singing occasionally brought back memories of Batiyan from her own B-Town debut in 2010, Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu.

Calling Out To You – The breezy pop melody is handled well by Vasuda yet again, Hinglish lyrics and all. The strings are the highlight here (loved the cello) even as the keys section pitches in with some jazz improvs.

Maula – Vasuda strings together some of her favorite Kabir dohas in a sinister, pulsating mix of Arabic and rock elements. Curious sounds that abound in the arrangement, most notably the outlandish use of violin, add to the dark feel. The last third of the song is taken up by an extended instrumental bit that is led by the synth, bass and drums. Not a song you might revisit often, but the quality of arrangement is once again top notch.

Dhola – There is something very Carnatic about the way the violin that starts off this song; it is played by Sharat Chandra Srivastava of Mrigya by the way. The song is other Rajasthani folk based though, and in keeping true to the genre the composer includes a lot of folk percussion and goes easy on the other elements. Folk songs seldom fail, this one doesn’t either. Sharat is the star of the song however, with some beautiful rendition all along the way (madhmadh saarang raga, my guess).

Keep The Faith – Vasuda returns to the sinister, rock mode in this (quite contrary to the positive note suggested by the title!) – expectedly keeping it high on guitars and drums. On the synth is another guest artist, the Blue Frog man Shadaab Kadri. And like in Maula, this one too features some intriguing violin phrases.

Cruel World – The album movies out of fusion territory in the last two songs. And the guest artist she brings to this song, Dhruv Ghanekar, does truly rule this song with some scintillating guitar playing. Vasuda also employs the vocal harmonies to good effect here, but the tune as such lacks the spunk to do justice to such effects.

Never Lose Heart – The bonus track. The motivational lyrics are handled with a matching positivity in the tune as well (that magical four chords base that never fails!). The dainty arrangement is led by Karan Joseph’s keyboard shenanigans and Ghanekar’s ukulele (I think I heard an upright bass also). Nice happy ending to a well done set of songs!

Attuned Spirits. Vasuda Sharma delivers all that she promised in her crowdsourcing pitch video – a lot of Hindi music and folk-shlok-ragas with a Western twist, a brilliantly executed collaboration of world musicians, and she definitely does not let you down. This is one kickass solo debut from the singer-songwriter!

Top Recos: Just go buy the whole album here, it is totally worth the 100 rupees you will pay for it!

PS: Since there are multiple artists playing the same instrument in more cases than one, I have not given songwise credits to the instrumentalists every time. Instead below is the list of all artists who played in the album.

The third season of Coke Studio at MTV came to a close yesterday. Technically it ended at episode 8 itself since there was nothing new that came on the show in the last two episodes. At the end of season 2, I had done a compilation listing 10 best songs from the season. Of course, these were 10 of my favorites from the season, and the songs I end up frequently rerunning from the season extended beyond this 10. A lot of friends who checked out my list too would invariably ask me later for more songs from the season.

And so..this time I have decided to extend the list a bit, giving you 15 of my favorites from Season 3. The season may not have maintained the high it started off on till it ended, but it did have a fair share of lovely music to offer us from pretty much every episode (though on consistency I would rate Season 2 higher than this edition). So here are my 15. Not saying anything about the songs since that has already been done in the individual reviews. And no ranking either, just like last year. Just the song videos in alphabetical order and a full playlist at the end. Do share your thoughts about the list if you will!

 















 
And finally the playlist.

You can hear the songs here.

Tamanche Pe Disco is very recognizably RDB; its Punjabi dance template offering nothing particularly new. Among the remaining tracks, all of which are composed by Sajid Wajid, title song sung by Wajid too is severely templatized like the RDB song, this time with kuthu style elements. But this one makes for a marginally better listen for the lines (by Sandeep Nath) and due to some interesting touches from the composers (like the mock bullet sounds).  Satake Thoko tries to roll multiple interesting, retro-ish sounds into one piece but fails to work equally well as a complete package. Spirited efforts from Keerthi Sagathia and Danish Sabri though. The item number girl Mamta Sharma gets another one on the lines on her usual songs, and she sings it with her usual flair. But once again the song is so heard-before there is only so long that it has you engaged. Jai Govinda Jai Gopala fares better among the lot, but one is more Pritam than Sajid Wajid, a feel accentuated by the presence of Neeraj Sridhar at the helm (Bhool Bhulaiya in particular, due to the Hare Govinda chants et al). The remix too is the regular electronic stuff. Saamne Hai Savera is where the composers get it almost 100% right. A breezy melody in Shreya Ghoshal’s honey-sweet vocals interspersed well with Bonnie Chakraborty’s baul portions. The arrangement too sees deft use of strings with that hint of brass in places. Only thing that goes awry is Wajid joining the vocalists towards the end, seemingly channeling his inner Kumar Sanu.

Bullett Raja. The usual fare from Sajid Wajid. And RDB.

Music Aloud Rating: 6/10

Top Recos: Saamne Hai Savera, Jai Govinda Jai Gopala, Bullett Raja

Soothing guitar-led arrangement from Roby Abraham, a soft breezy melody; Parayaathe is tailor-made for singer Sachin Warrier. And he does an expectedly endearing job of the singing. Really glad to see him being employed by more and more composers apart from Shaan Rahman. The curious mix of electornic sounds in Mazhamegha, that features hints of breakbeat and jazz among other things, makes for an engaging listen. Handling the lead vocals is Ajay Sathyan while the composer does some rapping in the background.

Minnale comes with a groovy techno pop-ish base, over which is an interestingly fresh employment of Najim Arshad’s voice. Impressive end result. The only song that falls short in the overall lineup is the title song. The arrangement is neat here too, particularly the use of percussion. The vocals part (Resmi Satheesh and rap by Joslee LonelyDoggy) not so much, mainly for the lyrics. The pick of the soundtrack is Roby’s take on Raghukumar’s superhit Thaalavattom track Ponveene. While the original in itself had some slick use of guitaring, Roby builds on that here along with guitarist Mithun Raju (formerly of Motherjane, now of Thaikkudam Bridge) to splendid effect! And behind the mic, Sithara Krishnakumar does her part quite nicely too.

Rasputin may have happened for Roby Abraham almost a year after his last work, but he does impress again, for the third time in as many movie outings. Hope there won’t be a one year wait for his next!

Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10

Top Recos: Ponveene, Parayaathe, Minnale

You can hear the songs here.

Pritam had in his previous movie dabbled with kuthu elements in Dhating Naach, but here in Gandi Baat he takes it a step ahead. This one is every bit a kuthu song, but for the Hindi lyrics (penned by Anupam Amod). The Prabhudeva effect, I suppose. And with Mika Singh and Kalpana Patowary’s energy adding to the mix, there is little chance of you not being hooked to this, despite having heard the template a hundred times in the past. The replacement of the singers with Nakash Aziz and Ritu Pathak for the filmy version isn’t a great idea though, the punch is markedly lower. Nakash sounds much better in Saree Ke Fall Sa, also high on the South dance flavor (with some surprisingly brilliant employment of the violin!). Nakash is joined by Mayur Puri (also the guest lyricist for this song) and Antara Mitra. The remix isn’t much fun. Good to hear Antara after so long by the way! She gets a second song too, yet another dance-y song called Kaddu Katega. She puts a commendable effort again, but the song is too random for my taste, musically and lyrically. Pretty much the same story with Mat Maari. Fabulous vocal efforts by Sunidhi Chauhan and another long-unheard voice, Kunal Ganjawala. The song fails them though, getting into a tedious rut beyond a point. The melodic Dhokha Dhadee in facts comes as a welcome change in the overdose of dancey-ness. And like most of Pritam’s melodies, this one too works, with its breezy arrangement and all (I hear some nice clarinet in the interludes. Shankar Tucker, given he had worked with Pritam in Mausam?). Also helping the song on its way is the singing by Arijit Singh and Palak Mucchal.

R… Rajkumar. A soundtrack that is more Prabhu Deva than Pritam.

Music Aloud Rating: 6.5/10

Top Recos: Dhokha Dhadee, Saree Ke Fall Sa, Gandi Baat

The pensive mood in Anu Elizabeth Jose’s lines in Theeraathe Neelunne is very neatly conveyed by Shaan Rahman with his arrangement that sees a deft use of synth and strings. Not to be outdone in any manner is Vineeth Sreenivasan (with the composer in tow, rendering those lovely humming bits), handling the soaring notes well in his soulful and nuanced rendition. Synth dominates the arrangement of Thaazhe Nee Thaarame too; Shaan peppering the haunting, ambient background with occasional spurts of breakbeat. And with Shaan’s blue-eyed boy Sachin Warrier, Job Kurien and an almost ethereal-sounding Sayanora Philip doing a super job behind the mic, the song is a total winner! The prayer song Nithya Sahaya Nadhe (penned by Arch Bishop Late Rt. Rev. Dr. Cornelius Elanjikkal) is kept simple and minimal in arrangement, leaving singer Neha Nair to do most of the work. The tune is pretty functional, carrying about it the charm that Christian hymns generally do. The processing in the vocals could have been less though. And finally there is Thaazhvaaram, a song (with shades of abheri raga) that sees some interesting time signatures and bass (Sumesh) but is highlighted by the brilliant interplay between violin and veena (Embar Kannan and Punya Srinivas respsectively). Neha is joined here by Hesham Abdul Wahab and together they deliver a stunner! There is also a reprise version which has Neha going solo to a mostly piano-based background (played by Shaan himself), and pulling it off beautifully.

Thira. Shaan Rahman’s third soundtrack for Vineeth Sreenivasan may not have as many songs as the last two, but the quality is no less. Amazing consistency by the duo, this!

Music Aloud Rating: 8.5/10

Top Recos: All of them!

Listen to all the songs below (Thanks a lot to Vino Varghese for the link!)

Official video of Thaazhvaaram

Parasiva could make for a good dance song in a Kannada movie; its heavy-on-percussion folk base layered with some nifty guitars. And being a Kannada song, Raghu Dixit has little problem rendering it to the tee. It is in the other two Kannada songs that the man scores an A+ though! First there is Lokada Kaalaji with its happy guitars and banjos (Abigail Washburn, Bryden Stephen Lewis) bringing with it a very festive mood. The horns section (Andy Mellon on trumpet, Brendan Kelly on sax) only adds to the carnivalesque-ness. Kodagana Koli Nungita on the other hand takes a dark route, with an Arabic base (loosely based on vakulabharanam or mayamalavagowla I think) powering yet another pulsating arrangement led by the strings. While Bryden and Raghu do a neat job with the guitars, the star of the song is Mysore H N Bhaskar with some beautiful violin bits. That classical solo towards the end is particularly splendid (that segment seems to be in ahir bhairav). The fourth South Indian song of the album comes in Tamil, Amma, penned by Madhan Karky. Here too Bhaskar’s violin playing amidst the folk percussion stand out in backing the endearing tune (ananda bhairavi raga it would seem).

The combination of sarod (Soumik Dutta) and pakhawaj (Praveen D Rao, Gurumurthy) lend beautifully to the pensive mood that Rain Song is set in (thilang raga possibly), Soumik in particular playing some excellent solos all through the song. The acoustic guitar complements the combo equally well. Raghu’s singing doesn’t always work for me in this piece, but there is enough awesomeness in the song to mitigate that. While Raghu and chorus do an exuberant delivery of Niraj Singh Rajawat’s lyrics in the title song, in the background guitars and banjos and khartals come together in a joyous mix, with some Celtic elements thrown in for good measure. Yaadon Ki Kyaari is expectedly nostalgia-driven, Ankur Tewari’s lyrics talking of saaranna and mosaranna and basundi set to a lovely tune and a simple strings-led arrangement. The melodica by Varun Pradeep adds a nice touch to the proceedings. Semi-classical Sajna is the most elaborately orchestrated song of the album. The emphasis is once again on strings; Raghu, Bryden and Gaurav’s guitars joined this time by Suhail Khan’s sarangi and a violin section arranged and conducted by Manoj George. All of whom do their parts superbly and the result is another beauty that completes the fabulous album.

Jag Changa. Raghu Dixit delivers a stunner in his second private album as well!

Top Recos: All of them! You can buy the album here. Or listen to the songs below and then buy the album.