Maestro Ilaiyaraja New Albums 2011 - Hello Jaihind / Sri Rama Rajyam

[anegan]

Very sad day today to know about Chithra's loss :cry2: :cry2: :cry2:

It is very painful to hear that Chitra lost her daughter. May the lord give her all the strength to get through this tragedy.

[raj_musing]

Wonderful post KV! I was just sitting back and enjoying your write up!

Infact one thing to admire is his passion for music has never come down even a bit and his consistant search for excellence continues even in this dreadful atmosphere...

I would be more happy to see him coming with more innovative instrumentals in the line of HTNI, NBW etc...than composing for film music in this kind of market.

[baroque]

It is very painful to hear that Chitra lost her daughter. May the lord give her all the strength to get through this tragedy.
chithira .......en bommukkutti ammavukku
சித்திர சிட்டுக்கள்.... என் பொம்முக்குட்டி அம்மாவுக்கு பிலிம்
சித்ரா has sung a composition for ஸ்ரீ.இளையராஜா for a similar situation .
சுஹாசினி- சத்யராஜ் couple lost their daughter at the end of this song scene .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HITfCwpAXek
losing a child is a terrible experience.
very sorry chithra.
hang in there, cope with it the best you can all those horrible feelings...
shock, pain, guilt...
eventually you will endure the situation & find ways to honour your child's memory.

love,
vinatha.

[raagas]

KV,

Aptly put. I agree with you. That was yet one more guess-map of the change in his thoughtware over the years. It could be true. Or may be there is something more. I too felt that he is kind of trapped between schools of thought. But i admire the way he still holds unto his own school of thought, despite changing the robes of his songs. Yet, i would like to highlight one thing. Change is inevitable. Whether the change is good or bad is a subjective issue. But I feel that artists, as time progresses, must put an effort to be little more accomodative in their views about change. I am talking about views, not the artist's ability to adapt to change. thats a different game/topic. I admire R.D.Burman in this aspect. He too has seen some of the best music taking shape in front of his eyes. And he too produced some great music. And when he hit an all-time low, in 80s, due to Bappi Lahiri wave... he was still optimistic. He did not criticize the disco wave. He had every right to, given that he has seen his father - one of the Greatest Composers, do some outstanding music and seeing/interacting with other legends. Despite the disco wave, RD kept encouraging people/instrumentalists to try new things, try synthesizers, push more and get more experimental. I know it is difficult for IR to accept such kind of tolerance levels in his opinions. but just saying. Yet Ilaiyaraaja must be appreciated for his spirit. So many composers came and went in all these decades. But this man continues to charm us. And his contemporary-ness gets into amazing form sometimes.

And yes, atleast you are agreeing that there are contradictions, ironies and sarcasms. This is what I have been underlining many times - that IR fans(not all) should not be denial mode but just treat things objectively. Having admired his work over years, having an objective opinion doesnt dent admiration at all (if fans are mature enough). and this should be applicable to anyone, not just fans of a particular composer.

Just curious: if the same album Ponnar Shankar carried the name "Harris Jayraj" or "ARR" or "GV Prakash"(i know that this album is uniquely IR, but just consider a hypothetical situation) - i bet a lot of IR fans would have pounced on the album (while appreciating some songs at basic level) cribbing about synth overkill, synth violins etc. They would not even consider speculating reasons such as "did composer have budgetary constraints? did the director want exactly this deliberately?" etc. Since it is IR, there is sympathetic guesswork about 'compulsions' etc? if it were other composer, would there be any such considerations? by now, the opinions would have had fireworks in them :-) This is something I find weird. Evaluations are never without labels/biases (not just IR fans, but fans of every composer). There are only optimists(who see justifiable reasons behind flaws) and pessimists(who undermine a music, even if it has interesting stuff, by taking potshots at something or other). I rarely come across realists (just listen and decide, without any bias coming from the name of composer and over-analysis/speculation).

Back to Bavani Varugira... I like the way milliblog karthik termed this - genre bending. absolutely.

[V_S]

KV,
Just curious: if the same album Ponnar Shankar carried the name "Harris Jayraj" or "ARR" or "GV Prakash"(i know that this album is uniquely IR, but just consider a hypothetical situation) - i bet a lot of IR fans would have pounced on the album (while appreciating some songs at basic level) cribbing about synth overkill, synth violins etc. They would not even consider speculating reasons such as "did composer have budgetary constraints? did the director want exactly this deliberately?" etc. Since it is IR, there is sympathetic guesswork about 'compulsions' etc? if it were other composer, would there be any such considerations? by now, the opinions would have had fireworks in them :-) This is something I find weird. absolutely.
Again very nice write up Raagas. But I think it is plain simple, not wierd. First of all, as you said it is hypothetical. Everybody guess a composers work by the way they have approached the music with their stamp, pattern and style. We ( or I would only say for me) defend IR just because we have seen him use real instruments and live orchestra and that has been his strenghts for most of these type of projects. This is the first project we have seen him doing with synth and even I have expressed my concerns.
On the other hand, for other composers definitely we expect that they should be using live instruements and orchestra atleast for these kind of projects, is that a big sin?

Also I see that most of the time, finding faults on IR fans does not look good, but I also feel there is a vast difference in IR fans perception from 1992-2000 period to the IR fans now. Even seen many IR fans openly accepting other composers music in recent times unlike earlier days. So first of all we cannot generalize something and put 'lot of IR fans' just to be on safer side. And analyzing music without bias is utterly impossible nowadays.

[Querida]

OMG... I could not believe what I read about Chitra's tragedy...after so many years trying for a child and finally being given that blessing only for it to be snatched away so soon....I hope she can survive this tragedy...life is just too cruel at times....:cry2:

[raagas]

Again very nice write up Raagas. But I think it is plain simple, not wierd. First of all, as you said it is hypothetical. Everybody guess a composers work by the way they have approached the music with their stamp, pattern and style. We ( or I would only say for me) defend IR just because we have seen him use real instruments and live orchestra and that has been his strenghts for most of these type of projects. This is the first project we have seen him doing with synth and even I have expressed my concerns.
On the other hand, for other composers definitely we expect that they should be using live instruements and orchestra atleast for these kind of projects, is that a big sin?

And analyzing music without bias is utterly impossible nowadays.

Not at all a big sin. Even i expect them to. and we all expected IR also to. And hence some of us had concerns (though we are enjoying the album). But i only meant that not many fans have such concerns. Many fans are praise just any album or any treatment to compositions, once they see the name IR. Give the same cd to them, by changing the name from IR to something else, and they will find lot of faults with those very songs.

Analyzing music without bias is uncommon, but not impossible. I dont know why you think that it is impossible. do you think, for example, some of our fellow hubbers liked PS because of bias? or because of the merit of the album. If one is analyzing music with bias - then I cannot call that as an objective opinion at all. whats the point afterall then? Bias takes precedence over merit and if someone is analyzing something, or even IR music, out of bias instead of merit - then it is nothing but sycophancy. And more importantly, an insult to the artist too.

[raagas]

OMG... I could not believe what I read about Chitra's tragedy...after so many years trying for a child and finally being given that blessing only for it to be snatched away so soon....I hope she can survive this tragedy...life is just too cruel at times....:cry2:

Absolutely. The most disturbing news I have heard in recent times. it upset me.

[Querida]

K_V it really was delightful to read your write-up and analysis :thumbsup:

Raagas, as someone who is just enjoying reading this thoughtful debate, kudos to your questions and points. I personally cannot relate to them, but can appreciate. :thumbsup:

[V_S]

Analyzing music without bias is uncommon, but not impossible. I dont know why you think that it is impossible. do you think, for example, some of our fellow hubbers liked PS because of bias? or because of the merit of the album. If one is analyzing music with bias - then I cannot call that as an objective opinion at all. whats the point afterall then? Bias takes precedence over merit and if someone is analyzing something, or even IR music, out of bias instead of merit - then it is nothing but sycophancy. And more importantly, an insult to the artist too.
Again this is a big topic. The reason why I said impossible is just because everbody has music listening history and their likes and dislikes. I have never seen just a 'music fan'. He will be having some or other favorite (eventhough he is not fan of anybody). Their itself comes the bias. So eventhough they start approaching the music neutrally, invariably that history just creeps and sits in his brain while listening, which makes him to compare music and to/not to compromise. Only thing we can be true to ourselves little bit, but not 100% and not all the time. Even this is true with reviewers (unless the music is discussed), they have some kind of liking of particular music, trend etc, if the music does not fit in to his requirement, then even it is good, no use for them. Means there is expectation about the composer before listening to it makes them biased. I am not saying whoever (our hubbers) liked PS is because of bias, but because of bias the percentage of likeabality is more, compared to other mds fan or their favorites. So be it PS or whatever soundtrack reviewing neutrally is highly impossible IMHO.

[app_engine]

My 2 cents on bias :

-if an IR admirer likes pazhassi rAjA music, it is not bias
-if another IR admirer likes kaNNukkuLLE music, it is ofcourse bias :wink:

BTW, if not for the IR tag and the overwhelming comments in this thread, I wouldn't have bothered to even *listen* to P-S, let alone like it :-)

[raj_musing]

-if an IR admirer likes pazhassi rAjA music, it is not bias
-if another IR admirer likes kaNNukkuLLE music, it is ofcourse bias :wink:



I think its a human tendency/nature that we expect a superstar to be "consistent throughout his career",irrespective of his accomplishments/legacy/age and for that matter I think its not only ilayaraja,all celebrities from various walks of like have to undergo this.

I can quote Sachin as one example here. Despite all his legacy and accomplishments ;there were times when people criticized him and his techniques. So that’s just a part and parcel of life.

My only thought :-

At this age where he has left behind a rich legacy(which has no takers), he should still carry on and on, compose to his strengths rather than trying to do something totally different, because its human nature that we credit people for what they do NOW rather than what they did in the past.
As I said I would love to see him restricting film music(being very choosy and accept work if its really challenging, in the lines of Naan Kadavul, Pazhassi raja,Hey Ram etc etc)
and concentrate on NON-FILMY ALBUMS, because I believe that his creative cells can do wonderful contributions here.

[thumburu]

Continuing my review of Ponnar Shankar :
Kannai Padithaen - This breezy, caressing melody is sure to please most segment of the crowd
there. Starts off as many observed, in Hamsadhwani and also has Yamuna kalyani in the tune. Surprisingly, even SriRamp has done a decent job. For once, his voice is under control . Yet I have issues with that 50’s
tint in the tune that I am unable to associate Raja with. Also I am not a lover of songs from that period. If I set aside my prejudice, then it makes for a cool listen. Charanam is more alluring than pallavi. Second in my order
Thedi vandha devadhaiye - Laid back Gowrimanohari scale number with an erotic feel which is very much Raja’s home ground . But somehow didn’t work to my favor as much as the Jaganmohini “poothadhu poovu” . Infact the proceeding gets tedious during the middle of the charanam. Second interlude is very unlike Raja. Kunal seems to sing under some influence  . Third in my order.
Malar villilae – Beautiful brindhavana saranga. Usha, this Madhyamavathi’s sister is Raja’s summer gift for you.
Jmahesh is perfectly right in feeling this one resembling “poonkaatre theendathe” due to the Brindhavana saranga connection. The grandeur of the prelude, the pallavi with honey soaked shreya’s vocals and lilting chorus simply take my breath away. Aha how I love this Raja in full form with fantastic “female only” exclusive package for suckers like me. The synth beats in the second interlude is a mild irritant though. Raja could have replaced with mridhangam instead. KV is right about my not having enough of that amazing postlude. Reminds of the jaladharangam postlude in “adi penne” of muLLum malarum” . This song shares the top berth with “bhavani varugiraa”.
The whole album goes to show how choosing the right and the best in the trade singer like Shreya elevates the songs to great heights and lend them a “classic” status. Three songs from Ponnar Shankar [“Bhavani varugira” , “malar villilae” and “kannai padithen”] will find a place in my eternal play list.
V_S has made a good observation that this album is embellished with ornate chorus works

[krish244]

தெலுங்கு'ல ஒரு புது படம்!

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/telugu/article/65857.html

நன்றி,

கிருஷ்ணன்

P.S: Surprised to know that tamil was default when I started to type, so wrote in தமிழ் itself :)

[KV]

Raagas“Change is inevitable. Whether the change is good or bad is a subjective issue. But I feel that artists, as time progresses, must put an effort to be little more accomodative in their views about change. I am talking about views, not the artist's ability to adapt to change. thats a different game/topic. I admire R.D.Burman in this aspect. He too has seen some of the best music taking shape in front of his eyes. And he too produced some great music. And when he hit an all-time low, in 80s, due to Bappi Lahiri wave... he was still optimistic. He did not criticize the disco wave. He had every right to, given that he has seen his father - one of the Greatest Composers, do some outstanding music and seeing/interacting with other legends. Despite the disco wave, RD kept encouraging people/instrumentalists to try new things, try synthesizers, push more and get more experimental. I know it is difficult for IR to accept such kind of tolerance levels in his opinions. but just saying.”

Raagas, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ve strayed a bit here. This is the point where discussion moves from music to moral science, which I’m generally very reluctant to speak about.
I don’t see the point in comparing RDB’s demeanor during BL’s dominance to IR’s situation. Strange enough coming from you who is seen as an objective music listener. Now, when you say that each MD’s work is different and one has to approach their work based on its merit, rather than the name, you’ve surely got a point. But cant we also use this same parameter to gauge (why we need to do this I don’t understand in the first place!) the personality of each MD? How (and why) should there be a similarity in the way they are?

Raagas“Just curious: if the same album Ponnar Shankar carried the name "Harris Jayraj" or "ARR" or "GV Prakash"(i know that this album is uniquely IR, but just consider a hypothetical situation) - i bet a lot of IR fans would have pounced on the album (while appreciating some songs at basic level) cribbing about synth overkill, synth violins etc. They would not even consider speculating reasons such as "did composer have budgetary constraints? did the director want exactly this deliberately?" etc. Since it is IR, there is sympathetic guesswork about 'compulsions' etc? if it were other composer, would there be any such considerations? by now, the opinions would have had fireworks in them This is something I find weird. Evaluations are never without labels/biases (not just IR fans, but fans of every composer). There are only optimists(who see justifiable reasons behind flaws) and pessimists(who undermine a music, even if it has interesting stuff, by taking potshots at something or other). I rarely come across realists (just listen and decide, without any bias coming from the name of composer and over-analysis/speculation).”

Bias and prejudices, in some way, define our lives, or at least certain spans of our life. While it could lead into unhealthy spats and things like that, they also do actually spice up our lives!
To me, if a person has no favorite in a certain regard, he is mostly not a ‘follower’ in that aspect. In a conversation, if I prompt a guy to speak about his favorite, be it writer or director or composer, and if I happen to get a ‘I don’t have any particular favorites, I generally like all’, it so happens most of the times that the other isn’t really ‘into’ the thing (rare exceptions apart). I think it is prejudice that keeps us obsessed about some things, and makes us want to know more about it.
Of course, being strongly biased towards a composer, I might miss out on enjoying someone else’s work. But this isn’t an irreversible thing is what I’ve observed thus far. I enjoyed Kannalane and Thee thee many years after it was released, after all the storm about it had settled. The enjoyment is just delayed a bit, not ruled out totally.
Also, some parameters that you hold close to your heart, will make you like a song with these parameters in it, regardless of the composer. Again, just my personal observation.

Like I’ve already mentioned, what you grow up on, sometimes makes it difficult to appreciate something of a different kind, especially when you know that the new stuff is much lesser in quality/creativity.
Akon (some rap dude I guess; the poster looks more like an international ad campaign for Poombugar Baniyans) is touring India and is going to be in Bangalore for a concert. Many of my friends and cousins are going gaga over it! I can only do a :idontgetit:
The converse had happened when I was all excited about Megadeth’s and Maiden’s visit some years back!

(Pardon my self plug, but here (http://passionforcinema.com/upbringing-tastes-and-prejudices/)’s a write-up on prejudices and upbringing that I’d written sometime last year.)

Now, when it can be this way for a lay listener like me, it should be quite obvious for a senior composer like IR to be mad at things like this. (Imagine if YSR was to present ‘Yevan de unna pethan’ over a dinner on an evening, IR would quite surely go :hammer: )

[SoftSword]

got a chance to listen to bavani varugiraa from PS.
the rhythm instrument in interludes and some parts sound like 'pambai' was fantastic and sounds like it was recorded without IR giving them instructions.
it sounded exactly like how the native pambai musicians play it, i mean not just the sound, the complete flow of rhythm.
that is one instrument which i use to hear and admire every year during our local festival...
thanks ir for bringing it raw and live.

[KV]

V_S, same pinch on the Shreya observation (or should we call it obsession!). This girl is certainly a legend in the making! Like Que mentioned, the debate between you and Raagas made an interesting read.
Thumburu, good review there. I thought only the last bit of Malar villile will pass through your scanner! That’s quite a bit more than what I anticipated!
SS, certainly, certainly! Thaara thappatai kizhijifying wrt the native instruments in this album!

[kiru]

Re: raagas observation about loops and such. I think IR given a choice would definitel go for a full-fledged orchestra. But commerical "compulsions" make him use the synths and loops. Yes, there is some contradiction in his personality here. I usually ignore this because these compromises he makes allows him to stay current or still in the running of commerically viable MDs. Recording orchestras is not easy .. with the recording equipment in chennai.. the sound signature is going to come out like it is an old song. This is the reason to go for the synth.. just the texture and feel. If you want to see IR at his comteporary best and live instruments you should the hindi songs in Balki's movies a listen (even some other latest hindi movie had synths). I also feel that the cost of orchestra is misleading excuse. I dont mean to offend IR or some of his ardent fans here - you get better music out of IR the more you pay him :-)
Some big name director with a big budget production goes and pays him ARR salary then that would be an album to watch for.

Re: bias - KV has some good observations on this. I personally think a favorite MD is like a favorite store or brand. You know you will get a deal or more less all the time there. It is quite possible you will get better stuff elsewhere but you have developed a "trust"...yes that is what is is .. trust. Also, major part of it is style. I like the basslines, counterpoints and strings, which very few other MDs seem to indulge in. BTW, I do know some songs are by IR even if they are bad or I dont like them. There is quite a bit of signatures IR leaves in all his songs.

Re: Ponnar Shankar - I dont share the enthusiasm of other posters here as much. I feel it is too experimental is fusing the WCM with folk.Note, even in Pazhassi Raja IR did not force himself to do more WCM. Anyways, this album I think is very experimental with fusing different genres in a different way, including some electronica sounds in thedi vandha devathaiyE. Probably some bait to younger listeners. The recording equipment (studio) seems to be same/similar to the one in Jaganmohini or azhagar malai and even parts of the tune have similarities.
I dont see that many people find thEdi vandha like it as much as I do. I feel it is pretty organic and the tune/lyrics (interesting)/singing/rhythms all have blended well. In the other songs, there seems to be many different parts fitted together but not making a complete picture. Maybe my music sense is not so advanced to take these transitions :-) I should proabably be listeniing to looped songs like "aaRum adhu aazhamillai" :-)

[V_S]

Thanks KV. About Shreya I certainly feel, she should have born atleast some 30 years earlier, so that she would have got to sing some outstanding compositions, as I am not sure in this current whirlwind her talent will be recognized and exposed fully.
I liked you reply to raagas especially on the bias and prejudice. You put it in a better way where I was struggling for words. I know many will not agree on this, but let me try to put it simply what I wanted to convey. Eventhough we are honest with ourselves while review a music, I am not sure we are honest enough to the music being reviewed, because of the unintentional bias already existing within ourselves. Even the terms 'review' 'analysis', 'my take' are subject to dicussion as they all are totally different.

Sorry for digressing so much, but back to IR new albums.

[Sureshs65]

thumburu,

'kannai padithen' does indeed remind you of 50s Hindi melodies. As Usha had mentioned earlier, the tune seems to be inspired by 'hai apna dil to awara'. I had earlier made an observation that in the recent past Raja has been using such melodies as a base and giving them a different tinge. I find the same with the ASK duet, 'aaro paadunnu' from Katha Thudarunnu. I think this is another of his experimentations.

Yes, I think 'malar villile' should be dedicated to our Usha, for she is a great lover of Raja's 'madhyamavathi / brindavana saranga'. And yes, it is indeed a lovely female solo which can rival what he did in the 80s. Wonderful singing by Shreya.

[Sureshs65]

raagas,

While KV has written well about bias, I personally feel that many of us are honest enough when it comes to music. I don't have a problem appreciating anyone but we do expect some minimum level from the music. In case the PS tunes were actually done by another MD, I would have been stunned. I am not trying to flame here, but in my personal opinion, neither Rahman nor Yuvan nor Harris has it in them to get that sort of Hamsadhwani in the 'kanna padithen' interlude nor that twisting and turning Brindavana Saranga in the 'malar villile' second interlude. So I would have jumped out of my seat thinking these guys have improved a lot!!!! :D

[jaiganes]

தெலுங்கு'ல ஒரு புது படம்!

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/telugu/article/65857.html

நன்றி,

கிருஷ்ணன்

P.S: Surprised to know that tamil was default when I started to type, so wrote in தமிழ் itself :)
Good to see that Mohanbabu - keeping his gratitude and regard for Raaja and continuing it to the next generation.
BTW what has Raja done to previous mohan babu ventures?

[app_engine]

digression


In case the PS tunes were actually done by another MD, I would have been stunned.

Sureshji,
It seems an album called "180" is released by Sharath, the "top-class-sense-of-humor-TV-judge-plus-singer-plus-composer"...your esteemed opinions on that are solicited :-)

end-digression

[Sureshs65]

/Dig

app,

I am waiting to listen to that album. I generally like Sarath. He has decent originality in my opinion. Love his 'raavil sandhya raagam pole'. Also like a few songs from 'Thirakkadha' which he had scored and also a Telugu movie he scored. I will not be surprised if '180' is good. Will get my hands on it soon.

/End Dig

[San_K]

'kannai padithen' does indeed remind you of 50s Hindi melodies

yes, tune indeed has 50s style like paarijatha poove, oh party nall partythaan.

[Sureshs65]

Jai,

Raja with Mohan Babu may not be an earth shaking combination. The last one they did together must have been 'Shiv Shankar'. I don't think it created any great waves. Has a couple of nice songs and one 'kuthu' song which I like. Earlier to that must have been 'Kunti Putrudu' which had some nice songs. They also did one Vamshi movie together,'Detective Narada'. When Raja was at his peak, Mohan Babu was just about trying to turn into a hero from being a villain. I don't recall too many Mohan Babu as hero movies having Raja as the MD.

[writeface]

Re: PS
Listened to it many times. I have no more interest in listening to the intro song. Same with Annanmar. However, in Bhavani Varugira - Raaja has delivered the "aaththa" song of the century. What an exciting song! The transitions are seamless yet natural. I am yet to hear an intro that is as energetic and exciting as that of malarvillilE.The MangaLa vaaththiyam muzhangudhu chorus does sound KR-ish to me. I got bored of kaNNai padiththEn after few listens. Thedi vandha song is actually very well done (with the exception of the lyrics and the male voice, of course). Overall, an exciting album from thalaivar!

[raagas]

KV: I don’t see the point in comparing RDB’s demeanor during BL’s dominance to IR’s situation. Strange enough coming from you who is seen as an objective music listener. Now, when you say that each MD’s work is different and one has to approach their work based on its merit, rather than the name, you’ve surely got a point. But cant we also use this same parameter to gauge (why we need to do this I don’t understand in the first place!) the personality of each MD? How (and why) should there be a similarity in the way they are?

Fair enough! I agree. But i dont mean that I 'expect' IR 'to be like' RD. I only meant that if they (artists of a generation) are more accomodative, their horizons can broaden. RD's was just my example. I meant that - while most artists of a generation will have some issues or the other, with next generation (be it with artists or technology or the shaping up of the art form), there are few who brush aside such issues without talking much about them and try to do work in the new environment, be it successfully or unsuccessfully. Most of the yesteryear composers (in Hindi) belonged to the first set (they were critical about changing times) while there were some of them who belong to the second set. Salil Chaudhary or RD Burman are two examples I can think of. Likewise, Ustad Vilayat Khan belonged to the first set while say a Ustad Zakir Hussain belongs to the second set. I am not saying what is right & what is wrong. Perhaps the first set have valid points (change most often has some dilution, in some aspect). But just that the second set of people bothered less about all that. I gave that example only because your post talked about IR's personality trait too(of contradictions etc) - as affected by the changes in the industry.

KV: Of course, being strongly biased towards a composer, I might miss out on enjoying someone else’s work

I share your thoughts about having favourite artists and i myself indulge in getting the discographies of all my favourite artists. All my posts till now, on this topic, is about those "strong bias" people. :-) or people who flinch at openly telling - "I dont like this song, even if it is by IR". I have seen many such people (who like a song because it is my IR) and my post was about them. From your posts, I reckon you are not one among those, so excuse your self and spare me as well :-D

[raagas]

raagas,

While KV has written well about bias, I personally feel that many of us are honest enough when it comes to music. I don't have a problem appreciating anyone but we do expect some minimum level from the music. In case the PS tunes were actually done by another MD, I would have been stunned. I am not trying to flame here, but in my personal opinion, neither Rahman nor Yuvan nor Harris has it in them to get that sort of Hamsadhwani in the 'kanna padithen' interlude nor that twisting and turning Brindavana Saranga in the 'malar villile' second interlude. So I would have jumped out of my seat thinking these guys have improved a lot!!!! :D

Firstly, you dont belong to that category (who likes something just because it is by IR) - so - light theesukondi :-)
About many people being honest - honestly, I have come across only few (& you are one among them anyway).

And your reply itself is a testimony of that: "I would have jumped out of my seat thinking these guys have improved a lot!!!!" - attributing compliments to the composer (no matter who he is), and not finding some fault or the other. :-)

Take it easy guys - i think I am talking out of my observations about 'those' fans I get to meet/see/read who display less reason & more fanatism.
Yawn! bored with this topic - can we discuss anything else.

And by the way, i just read someone appreciating Thedi Vantha and asked how come no one is talking about it. Count me in... I loved that song to the hilt, after repeated listenings yesterday. Arrangements defy IR's age! But then.. most of IR's music has been defying his age anyway, all along his career. :-)

[raagas]

Jai,

Raja with Mohan Babu may not be an earth shaking combination. The last one they did together must have been 'Shiv Shankar'. I don't think it created any great waves. Has a couple of nice songs and one 'kuthu' song which I like. Earlier to that must have been 'Kunti Putrudu' which had some nice songs. They also did one Vamshi movie together,'Detective Narada'. When Raja was at his peak, Mohan Babu was just about trying to turn into a hero from being a villain. I don't recall too many Mohan Babu as hero movies having Raja as the MD.

There is a Mohan Babu (sleazy) film called 'Allari Police' that became infamous back then for having many of its dialogues muted by the censors. It has music by Raaja. There were couple of Tamil tunes and some new tunes in that album: http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/album/28-Telugu_Movie_Songs/28259-Allari_Police__1994_/
None of the Mohan babu-IR combo's caught my fancy somehow. Even Detective Narada is more a Vamsy-IR combo rather than a Mohan Babu-IR combo.

[Sureshs65]

raagas,

I was telling the truth as well as pulling your leg !!! :) I know you didn't intend me :)

Anyway, here is my take on Raja with respects to the two set of music directors you had described. When Raja speaks nowadays he belongs to the first set. But when he does music, he belongs to the second set :D I know it is confusing but then that is Raja!!! What I mean here is that he is very convinced that the current trend has not enriched our music. At the same time he knows he has lot of material left in him and if he has to continue he has to adapt to the trend. Which he is trying to do with the loops / synth and all. Even in this he is hell bent on creating his own idiom and not following the others. That is why I ask people to cut him some synth slack. Because he is trying, because he is still innovative, because he still experiments, because no one can think of the very symphonic way the whole synth plays in the interludes of 'kudhikira kudhikira', because no one can imaginatively weave a melody like 'andala lokam', no one can infuse such a seemingly unrelated beat and yet create "aaro paadunnu doori". The contradictions are there in his sayings but they are understandable because he is a man who has not given up, he is a man who is still fighting the battle. Whether he is winning or losing depends on the point of view, but none of us who follow his music can say that he has given up. Not when "malarvillile
comes up, not when "bhavani varugiraa" comes up.

[raagas]

raagas,

Because he is trying, because he is still innovative, because he still experiments, because no one can think of the very symphonic way the whole synth plays in the interludes of 'kudhikira kudhikira', because no one can imaginatively weave a melody like 'andala lokam', no one can infuse such a seemingly unrelated beat and yet create "aaro paadunnu doori". The contradictions are there in his sayings but they are understandable because he is a man who has not given up, he is a man who is still fighting the battle. Whether he is winning or losing depends on the point of view, but none of us who follow his music can say that he has given up. Not when "malarvillile comes up, not when "bhavani varugiraa" comes up.

Absolutely right! And this is why I still invest my faith/belief/time in him! No other film composer in India displayed that, except (i think) S.D.Burman. After SD, i see that only in IR.

[Sureshs65]

Was watching a Telugu channel today and saw a 'Jaganmohini' song featuring Namitha and lot of fishermen. This song was not on the CD. Was it on the silver screen only or is this a Telugu version only? (Someone who has seen the movie can clarify. That is the tricky part. Has anyone seen the movie?)

[raajarasigan]

Was watching a Telugu channel today and saw a 'Jaganmohini' song featuring Namitha and lot of fishermen. This song was not on the CD. Was it on the silver screen only or is this a Telugu version only? (Someone who has seen the movie can clarify. That is the tricky part. Has anyone seen the movie?)Is it NOT the Kattikitta raasava than ?

[Sureshs65]

RR,

I haven't heard that song more than a couple of times but I don't think that is the song.

[Bala (Karthik)]

Great posts in your debate raagas and KV.
Yet to listen to the album. Seekiram kekkanum.....

[vem]

http://chennaionline.com/movies/movie-reviews/20112618112618/Movie-Review-Ponnar-Shankar.col

A review which is like a slap on the director's face..... Mentions about the immense contribution of IR though....

Having been out of touch of Tamil movies for a while (except for IR's music), I wanted to watch this just for IR, and there came this elucidating review about the movie.

Guys with an interest to watch this--be warned.

[app_engine]

sify seems to be the promoters (http://www.sify.com/movies/specials/azhagarsamiyin-kudhirai/) of ASK and one can expect some high-praise review and positively biased BO reports...

Looks like P-S group had good rapport with them too (sify reports decent openinggu)

Interesting to see some IR's TF movies getting into the media / BO radar...

[irir123]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF3y5jDQjxo&feature=player_detailpage

Hi Friends

Releasing new audio - SENGAATHU BOOMIYILE, music by Ilaiyaraaja.

The function is on 23rd April 2011, 6.30pm at Film Chamber, Chennai.

Attached is the invitation and please visit our youtube clip for audio preview and caller tune codes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF3y5jDQjxo&feature=player_detailpage

(Sent on behalf of Agilan) !

Thank you

[Sureshs65]

Must be I am getting old, intolerant or my music sense must be deserting me. Upon recommendation from various people was listening to the music of '180', 'Avan Ivan', 'Urumi' (Malayalam) and 'Anwar' (Malayalam). I have been listening to them for the past few days. Well, they are well recorded, the beats are catchy, the pallavi lines and the chorus are catchy, but once you go beyond the surface, there isn't much imagination out there. The constructions are quite similar and the phrases quite predictable. The auto tune effects also quite predictable. I had lot of hopes of Sharath giving a different album. He has also experimented in the new way. Not much of a Sharath stamp really except for 'sandikkaatha kangal'. So after long time listening to all of them, I am back to 'Ponnar Shankar'. Against all these albums I am ready to take one 'Bhavani Varugira'. No one is yet to capture this inventiveness of Raja. Just that one song for me is enough to see that the gap between Raja and others is still huge. Any of these MDs coming up with 'malar villile'? No chance.

[San_K]

Suresh65 :lol:

Agreed on most parts. but valarura pillaigal illaiya konjam paathu pOttu kodunga

[Sureshs65]

Sanjeevi,

What I feel has absolutely no bearing on the fame they achieve :D I mean, more people like me crib, the chances of their success increases !!! andha vidathula namma avargalukku namma aasirvadham irukku :)

[jaiganes]

oh! all the new MDs are looking for is the first catchy "bit". Then they think "this is enough", now lets google to cut-paste technology and voila the song is done. I am sorry to say that this includes u1, u2 etc.,

[Sunil_M88]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF3y5jDQjxo&feature=player_detailpage

Hi Friends

Releasing new audio - SENGAATHU BOOMIYILE, music by Ilaiyaraaja.

The function is on 23rd April 2011, 6.30pm at Film Chamber, Chennai.

Attached is the invitation and please visit our youtube clip for audio preview and caller tune codes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF3y5jDQjxo&feature=player_detailpage

(Sent on behalf of Agilan) !

Thank you

Thanks for the share.

From the samples the audio quality is the best I've heard out of Raaja's recent stuff and tops the quality of PS. The songs sound superb. I wasn't expecting this audio, and yes I'm completely flabbergasted.

Raaja on a roll :thumbsup:

[Sunil_M88]

Kaathiruppen from Sengaathu boomiyile :musicsmile: I think the singer is Bela Shinde

Sounds like Koodavarviya

[V_S]

From the youtube link, it seems there are 6 songs, but only three main songs, other three songs are of 1 minute duration (En usiru, thirvizha song 1 & 2). Sikkikichu & Oram Po sung by the same set of singers. Kathiruppen is a solo. Kathiruppen does not sound like Bela Shinde (Anitha or Kavitha??). Sikkikichu and Kathiruppen are very addictive.

[venkkiram]

செங்காத்து பூமியிலே பாடலுக்கான முன்னோட்டம் கேட்டேன். சுனில் சொல்வது போல, பொன்னர் சங்கரைவிட ஒலித்தரம் நன்றாக வந்திருக்கிறது. காத்திருப்பேன், சிக்கிகிச்சு, என் உசுரு பாடல்களில் குரல் தேனாய் இனிக்கிறது. ஒத்தையில போறவளே பாடலில் தாரை தப்பட்டை பட்டையக் கெளப்புது. எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பை அதிகரித்திருக்கிறது.

நன்றி irir123 !

[Sunil_M88]

From the youtube link, it seems there are 6 songs, but only three main songs, other three songs are of 1 minute duration (En usiru, thirvizha song 1 & 2). Sikkikichu & Oram Po sung by the same set of singers. Kathiruppen is a solo. Kathiruppen does not sound like Bela Shinde (Anitha or Kavitha??). Sikkikichu and Kathiruppen are very addictive.

Sorry.....

[V_S]

Sorry.....
Sunil,
Please don't feel sorry, I was also just guessing, but since from her (Bela Shinde) voice and tamizh diction I could do a reasonable guess. Also in the youtube link there was soundtrack sleeve where the singer name was short and one word name (from what I could again guess from that tiny letters) for this song, which made me confirm, it is not Bela Shinde. Sorry, if my post hurt you.

[Sunil_M88]

Sunil,
Please don't feel sorry, I was also just guessing, but since from her (Bela Shinde) voice and tamizh diction I could do a reasonable guess. Also in the youtube link there was soundtrack sleeve where the singer name was short and one word name (from what I could again guess from that tiny letters) for this song, which made me confirm, it is not Bela Shinde. Sorry, if my post hurt you.

No you did not hurt me, so don't worry. It was my fault for not watching the video properly. The soundtrack sleeve pops up at 3.08 and it reads Kavitha for Kaathiruppen. So you were right. I stand corrected.

[sloshed]

Suresh and Jaiganes,
Sorry to interrupt this coterie and I apologize for asking you to step out of the "Raja zone" where pretty much everyone here agrees to everyone...and everything.. Had to step in coz of the ease which you dismiss others... I know all the defences are going to point to "To each his own"..."Straight to heart" ..So dont bother if you are going to go that route... There are some young MD's who have given some outstanding music themselves....Putting down raja is not my intention..but listen to this song by a so called new MD's.... it puts all raaja's song this year to shame...(maybe even tfm) ..check out the film if you want..one the best movies to come out of india....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9OFgqL85ZE&feature=related

Okie now lets get back to eulogizing "sikkikichu"....

Oh Wait here is another one if you are going to dismiss them as flash in the pan..Check this movie too..it was fantastic..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fn4LbudbaY&feature=related

[Sureshs65]

sloshed,

Nice to see you pointing to some nice songs. If you had been following these threads closely you would have seen Rajasaranam eulogising the music of Ajay-Atul. And you would have also have noted that I had also been quite appreciative of their music when Rajasaranam put up those clips. So no issue at all regarding Ajay Atul. From whatever little I have heard of them, they have done a nice job. I don't think we are stuck in a rut that we cannot appreciate good music. It is just that music directors like Ajay Atul are not happening everywhere.

[SVN]

Well, the fact that Ajay and Atul GogawaLe are being discussed in a Tamil Film Music forum itself shows the 'taste' and standards and open-mindedness of this community. Show me one forum on Hindi music wherein people discuss other musicians and their music outside of Bollywood?

Having come from a jingle-composing background, and graduating to Marathi plays and TV serials, Ajay - Atul have created a unique sound and are slowly and steadily creating a place for themselves in film music. The award-winning Jogwa and Natrang (the cited songs in the above links are from these movies respectively) happened only after a lack-lustre debut and a not-so-happening 6 years! The duo deservedly bagged a National Award for music direction for the Marathi film Jogwa. Not many know that it was Ram Gopal Varma who gave them a break in cinema!

When I heard their devotional album many years ago, I was very curious to know who this duo was. My Marathi roommate said, "must be some Southie fellows... the music is so-Madrasi'! It was hardly getting any recognition at that time during Ganpati festival. It was probably too classy or too experimental. The album was 'Vishwa Vinayak' and the songs were rendered brilliantly by SPB and Shankar Mahadevan. The arrangement and orchestration was WCM-dominated and was awesome. This was I think re-released years later as Ganesha Symphonic Chant by another label (although sadly and not surprisingly I could not find the singers name in the album's credit)! There was very little information available on the composers then. I am glad they are now getting a lot of recognition outside of Maharashtra as well.

I am keen to know more about them, their overall exposure to music genres, their influences and inspirations.

[Sunil_M88]

Well, the fact that Ajay and Atul GogawaLe are being discussed in a Tamil Film Music forum itself shows the 'taste' and standards and open-mindedness of this community. Show me one forum on Hindi music wherein people discuss other musicians and their music outside of Bollywood?

Having come from a jingle-composing background, and graduating to Marathi plays and TV serials, Ajay - Atul have created a unique sound and are slowly and steadily creating a place for themselves in film music. The award-winning Jogwa and Natrang (the cited songs in the above links are from these movies respectively) happened only after a lack-lustre debut and a not-so-happening 6 years! The duo deservedly bagged a National Award for music direction for the Marathi film Jogwa. Not many know that it was Ram Gopal Varma who gave them a break in cinema!

When I heard their devotional album many years ago, I was very curious to know who this duo was. My Marathi roommate said, "must be some Southie fellows... the music is so-Madrasi'! It was hardly getting any recognition at that time during Ganpati festival. It was probably too classy or too experimental. The album was 'Vishwa Vinayak' and the songs were rendered brilliantly by SPB and Shankar Mahadevan. The arrangement and orchestration was WCM-dominated and was awesome. This was I think re-released years later as Ganesha Symphonic Chant by another label (although sadly and not surprisingly I could not find the singers name in the album's credit)! There was very little information available on the composers then. I am glad they are now getting a lot of recognition outside of Maharashtra as well.

I am keen to know more about them, their overall exposure to music genres, their influences and inspirations.

I believe this is the song you're reffering to.

Viruddh - Shree Ganeshay Dheemahi


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXLKZxEqig

[Sunil_M88]

I found the full version, the notes are very similar to their own composition Tanha from Gayab


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIE8OCv3m9I&feature=player_embedded


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0PWZvx7SfM

One is a bhajan and the other is a pathos song. :clap:

//end digression//

[Sunil_M88]

http://www.emusic.com/album/Ilaiyaraaja-Sengathu-Boomiyile-MP3-Download/12521019.html

[Sunil_M88]

The last time I got hooked to all the songs on initial hearing was for Nandhalala. Sengathu Bhoomiyile is another addition in the support of this year being a Raaja year. :) Dear V_S, Jaiganes and lastly Suresh ji, I'm really excited and will be waiting for your respected reviews.

[V_S]

Thanks a lot sloshed, SVN and Sunil for sharing some wonderful Marati songs of Ajay-Atul. The Jogwa song was superb. The tune has great depth. The ambience makes it grand. But I was little upset on sloshed comments "it puts all raaja's song this year to shame...(maybe even tfm)". I respect your opinion, but recommending you to just listen again the 'Kuthikkira' or 'Adiye Ivale' song of ASK for its motherly, down to earth, native and innocent approach against the polished, husky, soft, rich songs of Ajay-Atul (whole albums). If you ask me I can take ASK with me for a long long time, but I cannot say the same for other.

Sunil just now got the songs from iTunes, will listen and let you know. Me too very excited! Thanks a lot for your confidence in me.

[MumbaiRamki]

En usire enna vitta is superb stuff ! just loved it .

[rooky]

ASK releasing on MAY06th. Checkout the newspaper ADs

[app_engine]

My mind was switching to 'adi peNNE' of muLLum malarum when listening to 'malar villilE' of P-S (i.e. in the saraNam portion).

This afternoon, when playing in the car, my wife started actually singing the MM song :lol: (She was hearing the P-S song for the first time and I haven't even talked to her about this).

What are the connections between these two musically?

[V_S]

My mind was switching to 'adi peNNE' of muLLum malarum when listening to 'malar villilE' of P-S (i.e. in the saraNam portion).

This afternoon, when playing in the car, my wife started actually singing the MM song :lol: (She was hearing the P-S song for the first time and I haven't even talked to her about this).

What are the connections between these two musically?



Malar Villilae - I could not spot that 80's song which reminds me when I hear this song. Is it 'Adi Penne'? No, I don't think so.
Same pinch App. I too when I first listened stuck me this song, don't know why.

[Sureshs65]

SVN,

Our Sanjeevi had posted this link of Atul Ajay in twitter: http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/just-talk/composer-duo-ajay-atul-in-another-five-years-marathi-film-industry-will-be-spotlight#story Given their devotion to Raja, no wonder you can hear some of his influence in their music. I think this is one reason why lot of Raja fans like the music of Atul Ajay. I have seen recommendation of their songs in many of Raja fan's facebook pages.

V_S: sloshed generally tries to incite people with his language, so don't worry about what he says and fall in his trap :)

[rajasaranam]

Suresh65,
Well I Remember posting that 'Natrang' songs were the most listened songs in my IPod in 2010 and I was reccomending Ajay-Atul to many Raaja fans saying their music is so similar to Raaja :-) Namma kodumai Sloshed vanthu thaan Jogwa'va Introduce Panna Vendi Irukku :rofl:
Just read that Interview by Ajay-Atul after a long time : They themselves call Raaja as God of music But When we say it Sloshed /Genesis Ellarukkum kovam Varuthu :huh:

[Bala (Karthik)]

Mikka nandri for the link Suresh/Sanjeevi



And you also appreciate Illaiyaraja a lot... what do you like about him?

Atul: (excitedly) Every one should appreciate him and he deserves the highest praise. He is like God for us. We didn't learn anything from him in person, but after listening to him we got to know what is what, what is soul and that music has the power to make you speechless.

Ajay: Many people know that music can move your body, but actually it goes beyond... it can break your heart, it can play with your heart, it can inspire your heart and we learnt all that after hearing Illairaja' songs.

:notworthy:

[Plum]

Suresh and bk - thanks for the link and shortcut paste of related contents. I actually couldn't read beyond first page due to broken links hence the extension of thanks to beekay.

Wasn't Shreya's NA for a song in Jogwa?(Plus abengali film)

[San_K]

sloshed edho try pannuraru :lol: perhaps he was not aware of Raja - Ajay,Atul connection

[Sureshs65]

Will someone give any site where we can listen to the songs of 'Sengathu Bhoomiyile'. (So that I can start appreciating 'sikkikichu' :D) The link given by Sunil has only samples and you cannot buy those songs in India it seems. Hope the CD is out soon. Till then are there any listening links?

[thumburu]

Same pinch App. I too when I first listened stuck me this song, don't know why.

Not surprising as both the songs are of same ragam Brindhavanasaranga

[thumburu]

SVN, that was an eye opener on Atul and Ajay. In my home, Vishwa Vinayaka finds regular play time along with HTNI and I have always felt HTNI's wcm influence in VV. Now I know why.

[sivasub]

Talking about Atul and Ajay, is this right?

The music composer duo, Ajay – Atul, were very enthusiastic to work on Ram Gopal Varma’s movie Shock, because they got a chance to work with Ilayaraja on the soundtrack

http://www.planetradiocity.com/musicopedia/music_director.php?conid=783&Music-Directors/Composers=Ajay%20-%20Atul

[V_S]

Not surprising as both the songs are of same ragam Brindhavanasaranga
Thanks thumburu. Good know that my first instinct worked even though I deviated later to some other songs.

[V_S]

Suresh ji,
Please check your pm.

[Sureshs65]

Thanks V_S. Got some links to 'Sengathu Bhoomiyile'. Loving the songs. Will write my thoughts in a day or two.

[Sunil_M88]

Here is another site to hear the samples.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ilaiyaraaja33

[Sunil_M88]

Finally got the album :musicsmile:

Initial thoughts, my one liner take on each song:

Oram po - The persian / middle eastern influenced synth is the highlight of the song.
Sikkikichu - Sounds a bit like Maaman kurai in the pallavi and Pollatha Madhana Paanam in the charnams.
Kaathiruppen - Definitely in the league of Nee partha and one of the few instances where the first interlude is better than the second interlude.
En Usuru - The core melody seems to be modified around Kaathiruppen with minute alterations but those pads are very soothing
Thiruvizha 1 and 2 - The former has nothing new to offer while the latter's percussion is very coercive

...now back to drowning into the album once again.

[kiru]

Atul-Ajay - my immediate reaction to Natrang was - that it betrays an admiration for IR style of music. And immediately thereafter you guys have dug up the interview. Not only I like their music, but these guys are genuine musicians I think. They say - we like rural/folk music and rock/jazz in purest form, nothing in between.I think IR also would be in the same bucket. I also believe these two (rural/folk and rock/jazz) is where real music originates. Everything in between is a only a concoction.
(personally, classical music I believe is just a refined form of the raw music people come up with in folk).

[V_S]

Oram Po - Remix of yesteryear classic. Old one starts with Raja asking his friends to clear the road. The instruments used in that song sync's up to Raja and chorus voices. The guitar chords in that song is amazing. Interludes were outstanding. The kezhavi's voice still I can hear. That bubbly young Raja's voice perfectly suited the village. That's a classic. For those who missed the original here it is. ('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNhAds4h8oA&feature=related')
Here everything is same except the first dialogue is not there. Starts singing straightaway, with synth-based rhythm. Kezhavi's voice here could not match up with the original. The female singer sings very well (Anitha or Priya?) compared to male singers. This song begs for Raja or MV, if not, as Jai pointed out earlier I would also prefer MV's junior, Tippu. At the end of second charanam when he used "Ithukku poi allatikalaama" (reminds me of Rajini's Ennada pollatha vazhkai in Thappu Thalagangal) and also 'Kizhakke Pogum Rayil'. Can't beat the original.

Sikkikichu Sikkikichu - After a long time again a fun folk song, the speciality here is, it is not just a duet, double duet (for two couples) and double bonanza. The prelude gives a feeling of icing on the cake, something like we are sliding. Beautiful and young feeling! Raja has chosen singers from Sangeetha Maha Yuddham -2. Not from 1 and not sure why. I think Anitha and Prassanna starts the proceeding. Santoor (synth based) again takes us back to those Kumbakkarai Thangaiyya days, glorious days were they. Anita and Prassanna sing the first charanam. Haricharan comes to sing the pallavi after the first charanam followed by Priya. I liked the voice of Prassanna compared to Haricharan. Most of them (including chitra chichi) were saying that, their heart beats faster when singing before Raja. But this song didn't give that impression, they were on their own and singing freely.

Kaathiruppen Kaathiruppen - With a subdued start and Reeta picking up straightaway, there is no looking back thereafter. One of the best longing song from Maestro after a long time. You cannot take a note out of this song or cannot add any additional note or instrument. What a precision and this is why he is called a Maestro. As Vicky usually says, 'no straying away business', it just flows without any distraction until it reaches the destination. How long it's been we have listened to such a flute in the interludes. In the second interlude while the flute plays, he suddenly stops the underlying rhythm and flute continues, beautiful thinking. Very good lyrics. The way he finishes the charanams and connection to pallavi is seamless. This is where mostly many music directors lose to him. You give just one bar or two bars wherever he is, he will come back stunningly without any jerks! Just because of the flute this is my pick of the album. Any thirst will be quenched with this song! Reeta has done a fantastic job! Wonderful lyrics!

En Usiru - The guitar prelude resembles me of 'Pani Vizhum Malarvanam' , but this is a meloncholic song. Beautiful song on the lines of Viduthalai Kuyil Naan, Kalagane. Much much better than Viduthalai Kuyil Naan. Reeta again, beautifully sang. As expected the interludes pulls your heart strings. The rhythm is interesting and uneven for this song.

Thiruvizha song1 - Continuation of Adiye Ivale song, very brisk song. Singers and arrangements have all gone crazy with all those whistles, nadhaswarams, dhavil etc.
Thiruvizha song 2 - Gave a divine feeling I was in front of their temple and their prayers. Only Maestro! But very short.

Raja took me to a nostalgic trip to 90's folk films like Puthu Nellu Puthu Naathu, Chinnavar, Kumbakkarai Thangaiyya with Sengaathu Bhoomiyile. Very pleasant soundtrack and synth works beautifully here. Two outstanding songs which we I can keep with me for a long time to come. Lyrics were good too. Singers did extremely good job, especially Reeta. First song could have been sung by better singers. Still ASK, still Kuthikkira and still that special 'Hai' which Maestro utters at the end of first pallavi is the one to beat!

[skr]

Fantastic Review VS..Eagerly looking forward to hear the songs once i get back from office today..

[Plum]

Think it is Gangai Amaraen(or whatever spelling he uses these days) in the original oram po

[Sunil_M88]

Thanks a lot for your confidence in me.

Looks like I'm not the only one, every one appreciates your reviews. Keep it up bro :thumbsup:

[skr]

Any links pls for listening full songs of Sengaathu Bhoomiyile ?

[Sureshs65]

'Sengathu Bhoomiyile': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgV3cD4NuQ Video release.

[Hulkster]

The links for listening the full songs are here(NOT FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!) : http://www.myspace.com/ilaiyaraajamusic/music/albums/sengathu-boomiyile-17619789

The album has a very strong earthy feel and i love it :D

[V_S]

Think it is Gangai Amaraen(or whatever spelling he uses these days) in the original oram po
Oh! I didn't know it, was sounding like Raja from whenever I started listening. Even some site say it is Raja, but if you are saying it should be Gangai Amaran. Thanks Plum.

Thanks skr and Sunil!

[app_engine]

V_S, just to avoid confusion, the singer of OrampO in the movie POP is definitely Raja. The dialog was possibly G-A.

[V_S]

V_S, just to avoid confusion, the singer of OrampO in the movie POP is definitely Raja. The dialog was possibly G-A.
So I was right:). Thanks App for confirmation.

[Sunil_M88]

Kaathiruppen all the way - The last time I heard a song from the morning right to the end of the night in continuous loop, not allowing another track to be played (obviously an exaggeration but I have been listening for lengthy durations) was for Barso Re from Guru on its release. Five years down the line and what a day it has been. This song proves that Raaja sir is certainly ahead of contemporaries. It's been over four decades since Raaja sir's debut and he is still going strong. I would like to wish him and Rahman ji all the success in continuing the same path by composing with the same fire, passion and desire over the decades to come.

[venkkiram]

காத்திருப்பேன் காத்திருப்பேன்.....

இதற்குத்தான் இவ்வளவு காலம் காத்துக்கிடந்தோம். ஆரம்பித்து முடிக்கும் வரை என்ன ஒரு இசை ஓட்டம் ! இசைக்கு இணையா குரலும், வரிகளும் ஓடி வருகிறது. ரீதாவின் குரல் இதில் ஒலிக்கும் புல்லாங்குழல் போலவே ரொம்ப மிருதுவா இருக்கு. ஒவ்வொரு முறை பாடல் முடிவடையும் போது, இன்னும் கொஞ்ச நேரம் நீடிக்கக் கூடாதா என ஏங்குகிறது மனசு.

[rajkumarc]

Sengaathu Boomiyile is a very pleasant, folksy album. Kaathiruppen and En Usuru are very soulful and the emotions are brought well by Reeta, wonderful singing. Sikkikichu is quite enjoyable too, need to listen to it more. Not much to write about Oram Po as I liked the original one much better.

[Plum]

appa nd V_S - I meant that initial dialogue piece only. The song is ofcourse Raja's in every sense

[entertainment]

appa nd V_S - I meant that initial dialogue piece only. The song is ofcourse Raja's in every sense

Im sure even the initial dialogue is also rendered by our IR.

[Sureshs65]

Lovely review V_S. You have said most of what I wanted to say :)

venki: Nice description of 'kaathiruppen' song. My favourite from this album as well.

[V_S]

Thanks Suresh ji!. Yes 'Kaathiruppen Kaathiruppen' is one song which I believe everyone has been longing from Raja since long time. No styles, gimmicks, showing-off and Raja did not try to impress the listener, just as it flows naturally and directly from Raja's heart to listeners heart. It's that simple. Repeated listening is only to quench the thirst (as I said earlier) and not to understand the song. Singing wise also very open and natural and did not try to force it to keep it soft and stylish like usually we hear nowadays. We can feel the rhythm, Reeta's singing, flute all travel simultaneously, gelled together and cannot be separated. As Hulkster very aptly said, very earthy and directly takes us to the village setting. Outstanding melody and one of Raja's best ever!.

Feels like every song in this soundtrack takes us to our own village. What a musician! :notworthy:

[jaiganes]

I gave a first highly interrupted listen..
Did not find anything new in the songs, though, they were all equally pleasant and soothing. Sikkikuchchu and kaathiruppen remind a raja music lover of his 90s vintage. (Raaja has a vintage in every decade ). One song I was heavily reminded while listening was "vayasuppuLLa vayasuppuLLa" from a Ramarajan movie. Need to listen more - I loved the preludes to both the melodies more than the songs themselves..

[MumbaiRamki]

The links for listening the full songs are here(NOT FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!) : http://www.myspace.com/ilaiyaraajamusic/music/albums/sengathu-boomiyile-17619789

The album has a very strong earthy feel and i love it :D

When i visit the link, i just see 'illayaraaja' page with no link to songs .. any help ?

[baroque]

minimalistic folkish pathos என் உசிரு....ஸ்ரீ.இளையராஜா with ரீடா

wonderful effort by ரீடா.

ஸ்ரீ.இளையராஜா himself would have missed ஸ்வர்ணலதா. நிச்சயமா ஸ்வர்ண வை think பண்ணிருப்பார்.
http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=287870&mode=100&rand=0.11204885952241639
நான் மாமரத்து கீழிருந்து முன்னும் பின்னும்......என் தெம்மாங்கு பாட்ட கேட்டு... what a eternal folk .

miss you ஸ்வர்ணா.

Let me grab my சின்ன தாயீ - CD, wonderful folk compositions with Yesudas, Swarna, Bala, Uma , Sushila and Ilayaraja.

Vinatha.

[AravindMano]

Am I the only one who dislikes Reeta's (and the other female) voice? :huh: Bad choices, I think. I already dread the possibility of one of them singing a song with Sriram Parthasarathy very soon.

[KV]

AM, I too felt she wasn't the right choice. But this girl's definitely better than Bela Shinde!

V_S, nice, detailed review! Somehow this album didn’t work much for me.
Sikkichu - pleasant song. Synth work sits pretty decently and isn't jarring. The resemblance of the starting lines to Deva’s Annamalai Annamali is a bit too blaring, no?
Oram po - classic case of digital-killed-the-folk-star.
Kaathiruppen, En usuru - passable melodies. Call me biased, but a certain Shreya Ghoshal could've made these two far more interesting.
Thiruvizha songs - scores on rawness but I dont know if IR has much of a contribution here.

Overall, its the back-of-the-hand tuning & instrumentation (yeah, I do realize this is applies to works like Thiruvasagam and HTNI also), that makes this album a very middling affair for me. Back to Ponnar Shankar!

[AravindMano]

The resemblance of the starting lines to Deva’s Annamalai Annamali is a bit too blaring, no?

It also takes me to Raja's own 'pAdha golusu pAttu pAdi varum pAdi varum'.

Totally agree with you on this album.

[rajasaranam]

Sikkichu - pleasant song. Synth work sits pretty decently and isn't jarring. The resemblance of the starting lines to Deva’s Annamalai Annamali is a bit too blaring, no?


It can also be Attributed to 'Pathakolusu Pattu Paadi Varum' of 'Thirumathi Palanisamy' :) Both AM &TP Having been released in 1992 I sincerely hope TP released earlier to AM :-P

[venkkiram]

Call me biased, but a certain Shreya Ghoshal could've made these two far more interesting.yes sir. I am calling you biased. This is like saying " a certain balu could have made kaadhal oviyam paadum kaaviyam song far more interesting. Let me know where Rita lacks? Pitching, tonal quality, bhavam, diction?

[KV]

AM, RS, yes, Paadha golusu also comes close, but Annamalai feels closer due to its sandham similarity.

Venki, I aint saying Rita’s bad; she’s fairly adequate, but her singing seems (in peter tongue) uni-dimensional to me (in fluid theory/reality-singing-judge terminology, ‘dynamics kammi').
As to why I think Shreya could’ve made it better, I think it’s that ‘adhayum thaandi punidhamaanadhu’ thing in her voice and singing.

[Sureshs65]

KV,

Somehow I am not convinced that Shreya singing would have made it any better. I love her voice but is it the voice for such type of songs? I am not sure. I would say that this song calls for Swarnalatha or Chitra more than Shreya. To be fair to Rita, though she struggles a bit in a couple of places, she is able to convey the emotion of the song quite well.

[Sureshs65]

My take on this album: I like it :) This is no pathbreaking album but a typical Raja album of the 90s. I guess everyone agrees to that. I would compare this album with 'Azhagar Malai' which was released in 2010. I find this album better than "Azhagar Malai'. That album was a bit inconsistent while this album is more consistent in its sound. Ofcourse for old timers, this album would have a 'heard before' feel and I guess that is what the director would have wanted or that is what the story needed. I am just guessing here.

'sikkikichu' is a nice Mohanam based number. The interludes are done very well without the synth intruding any way. 'en usuru' sees Raja continuing his 'Kannukkule' experiment of giving a WCM touch to a native song. Listen to 'naan pirandha nerama' from 'Kannukkulle' and you will see the similarity between these two songs. 'kaathiruppen kaathiruppen', inspite of its tabla driven melody being very 'typical' Raja, is the pick of the lot for me. I love the way Raja slowly goes into Sivaranjani towards the end of the pallavi. A very emotional song and nice orchestration. Tiruvizha song is nice but very short and generic while everyone would agree that the older 'oram po' was better.

When I heard this album for the first time I thought there would three types of reactions to it: One would be the old Raja fan who is happy that Raja is sounding familiar to him :). Second would be the old Raja fan who is unhappy that Raja is sounding familiar to him :) The third would ofcourse be those who think Raja is an old man who uses only tabla. They would be a happy lot since they can now point to this album and say, "I told you so."

All said and done, I am loving this album. It breaks new ground like 'Ponnar Shankar' did but to be honest I have been playing 'kathiruppen kaathiruppen' at the cost of 'Ponnar Shankar' for the past few days !!!

[KV]

Agree on that Suresh, Swarnalatha or Chitra would've suited better. Swarna has been snatched away from us cruelly and IR seems to pick Chitra very selectively. My automatic choice from rest of the crop is Shreya.(maybe its the effect of Ponnar Shankar; such lovely rendition in the earthy eduthu eduthu varum and malar villile, the spell from which I'm yet to recover). For the record, I'm quite a fan of Rita's Unnai patri sonnal.

[Plum]

ponnar sankar sila pAttukkaL kEttEn...so so (by IR Standards - I am not used to applying any other standards.)
kaNNai padaiththEn - yes the odathandil feel is there but somehow, when it comes to Malayalam, everything comes together perfectly - in tamil, in general, the tunes seem to be ones he himself previously rejected - stock clearance-la pazhaiya stocklAm cheap price-la sale paNdrA mAdhiri, indha mAdhiri padangaLai use paNNikarArOnnu thONudhu.
Not much else to say. The other 2 songs(bhavani varugiRA and the adi peNNE reminder - see I dont even remember the words.) are nice to hear when they are running but dont feel anything special otherwise.

[KV]

Plum, Ponnar Shankar is quite a strange brew (my initial response was - sumaara oru alavukku romba nallave irrukku). I'm not that big a fan of the two melodies in it (Kannai pidithen, Thedi vandha). But the other three songs (Annamar kadhai, Bhavani varugira and Malar villilae), though interspersed with some synth/pop stuff, have some great folk elements that make them click for me; some very delicious bits of thavil, urumi, horns, etc. (Idhukku melayum naan Shreya patthi pesa virumbala).

[app_engine]

P-S:

'aNNamAru kathaiya' is the pick for me, Madhu B notwithstanding. Raja always excels in this "story-telling" genre (katha kELu katha kELu of MMKR). This song also has "udukkai" and some other country drum sounds which are beautifully placed.

Also, this is a kind of song which is IR-only-possible at this point of time. The folk bits that appear here and there are enjoyable, though the lyricist seemed to have absolutely no imagination, wholeheartedly agree it needed VM or equivalent :-(

'bhavani varugira' is quite interesting (village worship song made in church style) and could be difficult for other composers of today to attempt.

'malar villilE' is sweet, quite tough for today's MDs (may be Vidyasagar can attempt and do a job after inspirations from works of earlier MDs).

Thanks to their thorough study of "prior-era-IR-templates" and also having adapted reasonably well, the remaining 3 songs can be done by any MD of today. And, theirs may even sound better :wink:

[AravindMano]

The folk bits that appear here and there are enjoyable, though the lyricist seemed to have absolutely no imagination, wholeheartedly agree it needed VM or equivalent :-(

Lyrics ezhudhinadhu yArO prabala isaiyamaippALar nu kELvi :wink:

[V_S]

Very nice, short and sweet review Suresh ji! And interesting views about PS by Plum, KV and App. PS is definitely one of IR best in recent times. Even if other music directors will be able to compose few songs like in PS (as App told), you have to credit only IR for this as he is the one who gave on-job training to them for the past several years (few decades). :)Just imagining how they would have even compose like him when IR was not at all in TFM (MDs like Ajay-Atul which we talked about earlier).

<App wrote>
Thanks to their thorough study of "prior-era-IR-templates" and also having adapted reasonably well, the remaining 3 songs can be done by any MD of today. And, theirs may even sound better
</App wrote>

I don't think anyone could come with such a tune as Raja did for remaining songs (except Kodi kotti koduthalum). They might sound better solely because of good arrangements and sound/recording quality, but the soul which is the depth in the tune, I don't think anyone could come up. Also that complex and grand orchestration. No way!

[kiru]

Very nice, short and sweet review Suresh ji! And interesting views about PS by Plum, KV and App. PS is definitely one of IR best in recent times. Even if other music directors will be able to compose few songs like in PS (as App told), you have to credit only IR for this as he is the one who gave on-job training to them for the past several years (few decades). :)Just imagining how they would have even compose like him when IR was not at all in TFM (MDs like Ajay-Atul which we talked about earlier).

<App wrote>
Thanks to their thorough study of "prior-era-IR-templates" and also having adapted reasonably well, the remaining 3 songs can be done by any MD of today. And, theirs may even sound better
</App wrote>

I don't think anyone could come with such a tune as Raja did for remaining songs (except Kodi kotti koduthalum). They might sound better solely because of good arrangements and sound/recording quality, but the soul which is the depth in the tune, I don't think anyone could come up. Also that complex and grand orchestration. No way!
I agree with you mostly .. but App also has a point. For eg. thEdi vandha dEvathaiyE is a pure popular format song..ofcourse discerning listeners like you might think that the tune is better than another MD..not sure many can discern this difference ..even my immediate impression was .. wow..if this had been in an urban/yuppie format.. it is the muqqala/muqqabula hit type of song.. So in a way I believe some current MDs (say ARR) can give equally good popular format songs like IR ..yes their recording/arrangements are better..(I dont think this takes way anything from IR..he has some unique skills which are very difficult to be challenged)

[V_S]

Thanks kiru for your response. I agree many will not go for tune nowadays as today's concentration is mainly on sound clarity, arrangements and most of all 'immediate catch' (in the starting lines) for a song to qualify to be popular.

Since you brought up uniqueness about Raja's musical output and why such a song cannot be composed by other MDs. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

'Thedi vantha' is a good candidate. Yes if you listen to this song for the first time, it sounds very simple. But I would say it is a big experimentation by Raja in recent times. The way tune (melody) flows seems very simple, but uneven and very natural (not forced). This simple structure might tempt most MD's today that we can do it. But there comes the trump card. As Vel said, it is a beautiful Gowri Manohari (I didn't know about the raagam aspect until Vel told us) to classical lovers, a perfect folk song for folk lovers (any listener in fact) and peppy orchestration for today's music lovers. If you lose one of them you lost it to Raja. Since he has not compromised any genre here.

Even I was little skeptical when I first posted about the humming in the second interlude as it did not fit Raja's characteristic. But luckily it ended there within few seconds. But with today's compositional (don't know if we can call it composition) trend, this feature would have dominated in the tune itself and/or in the arrangement (leave alone that second interlude) and we would have lost its folk soul, leaning towards contemporary western (folk may be?) thereby losing to classical Gowri Manohari and thereby losing our indian nativity. Definitely the song would have been more popular by doing so as per today's trend, if that is the ultimate goal. But for me, it would be just another song. I cannot enjoy a song which is a pure contemporary western song (in main melody of course) in our indian languages, which I can listen directly to them.

This tightrope-walking is something Raja has done with enormous ease to just ensure his stamp is not compromised. That's why I feel it is difficult to do such a song.

[vel]

P-S:
Thanks to their thorough study of "prior-era-IR-templates" and also having adapted reasonably well, the remaining 3 songs can be done by any MD of today. And, theirs may even sound better :wink:

kodi kotti - may be.....but kannai padithaen, and thedi vandha - tough to imagine any one (vidyasagar can try may be) dishing out such free flowing melodies that are built on classical structures..... and using that classical base in the best optimal proportion - neither too heavy nor tooo light.......just right....thats where he is the king ! the RAAJA!

[vel]

as V_S said, the trump card is the midas touch of the classical music.....blessing the behags and the gowrimanoharis with his magical wand....setting these ragas free from their bondage and liberating them to freely express myriad expressions ranging from pathos to love to any sentiment you can imagine.....and reaching them to the masses! Blessed to have Raja with us !

[San_K]

Kannai Padithen is heavenly. One of the sweetest number especially the tune from IR in recent times. what a flow :notworthy:

[Sureshs65]

I would agree with V_S and Vel on this one. 'kodi kotti' is nothing to talk about but 'kannai padithen' is superb in its free flowing gait. I definitely don't think any other MD can keep up this pace throughout the song. I love the interludes. So if you are looking at the complete song, no way others could have done this. I feel the same about 'thedi vandha devadhaye' as well. Yes, someone can point out to songs like 'thee pidikka thee pidika' in Yuvan's music and say that those erotic songs have become big hits but musically 'thedi vandha' is unique Raja.

[app_engine]

ஆஹா, நான் சும்மா ஒரு பேச்சுக்கு சொன்னா ("என்கரேஜ் அடுத்த ஜென்") எல்லாரும் அதை சீரியஸா ஆராய்ச்சி பண்றீங்களே :-)

Well, that gave out a wealth of rAgA and other highlights of IR's recent compositions, so good trigger, I can raise my collar in front of Plum :wink:

[jaiganes]

kodi kotti - may be.....but kannai padithaen, and thedi vandha - tough to imagine any one (vidyasagar can try may be) dishing out such free flowing melodies that are built on classical structures..... and using that classical base in the best optimal proportion - neither too heavy nor tooo light.......just right....thats where he is the king ! the RAAJA!
kodi kotti koduthaalum post lude - maththa MDs - konjam kashtam .. illai illai.. rombave kashtam.
Andha postlude endha patternlayum fit aagaadhu.

[kiru]

thanks V_S and Vel.. very educational.. I guess this adherence to the raagam for the whole song is what gives IR songs a continuity and character throughout..

[Sureshs65]

Was talking to fellow hubber 'eagle' and he mentioned one interesting point about the prelude of 'kannai padithen'. He said that the instruments in the prelude try to sound like the voice and when the voices join in they try to sound like an instrument. So I heard the song again today and I must say 'eagle' was right!!! Do listen to the prelude of the song keeping this in mind and you will be pleasantly surprised.

This brings me to the observation that Usha always makes. That we are like blind men trying to describe an elephant. You think you have analysed everything in a Raja song and will be pleasantly surprised when someone comes up with a different POV.

[vel]

and did that prelude have bhavatharani singing what i hear sometimes as thai thai and next as 'baby' 'baby....pls clarify :)

[San_K]

I am total surrender in front of the trio, PS+AK+SB. Paadalgal vehu azhagu :notworthy:

Raaja :ty:

The real wonder is whenever I hear one album among them, it dictates me to declare this is the best album among three. awesome

[Sureshs65]

Sanjeevi,

Same blood :)

[writeface]

Kannai PadiththEn - I have to come realize that this song is simply awesome and can be addictive! The 'ludes are amazing, and the whole song flows like a gentle stream. But, why did have to use that annoying "hip" percussion loop for this wonderful song ...

[app_engine]

My 5 yr old won't allow me to skip / FF 'kOdi kottikkoduththAlum' in the car. She says 'நல்லாருக்கு, மாத்தாதீங்க' :-)

[kiru]

.. why did have to use that annoying "hip" percussion loop for this wonderful song ...
Exactly.. it put me off too. The pallavi seems to have a hangover of valmiki song .. kooda varuviya.. I listen to both back to back to be sure.. but I cannot be that sure. Music savants pl clarify.

[Sureshs65]

Write Pa.Raghavan reviews 'Azhagarswamiyin Kudhirai' after watching a preview show. Has one para dedicated to Raja's background music.

http://www.writerpara.com/paper/?p=2220 (Review in Tamil)

[KV]

Suresh, thanks for the link. Kittathatta Nandhalala range-ku hype and expectations irukku.

"இளையராஜா. என்னத்தைச் சொல்ல? நேற்று வரையிலான தமிழ் சினிமாவின் இசை என்பது ஒரு பாகமென்றால், இந்தப் படத்தின் பின்னணி இசை, இரண்டாம் பாகத்தைத் தொடங்கிவைத்திருக்கிறது. சராசரி மனிதச் செவியும் மனமும் உணரமுடியாத காற்றின் இசையைக் கவர்ந்து வந்துவிடுகிறார் இந்த மனிதர். இவர் எப்படி இதை எழுதுகிறார், எப்படி இதை எழுதுகிறார் என்று ஒவ்வொரு இசைத் துணுக்குக்கும் மனம் கிடந்து அடித்துக்கொள்கிறது. கிராமத்தில் நடக்கும் கதைக்கு ஒரு சில இடங்களில் ராஜா வழங்கியிருக்கும் மேற்கத்தியப் பாணி நாடோடி இசை, ஒரு வகையில் நமக்குப் புதிது. ஆனால் காட்சிகளுடன் அது பின்னிப் பிணையும்போது இடமும் காலமும் இலக்கணங்களும் கரைந்து காணாமல் போய்விடுகின்றன. நேடிவிடி முரண் என்று இதனை யாராவது பெரியவர்கள் சொல்லக்கூடும். இது மண்ணையல்ல; மனிதர்களின் விசித்திரமான மனநிலைகளையே முதன்மையாகக் காட்சிப்படுத்துகிற திரைப்படம். காட்சியாகும் சம்பவங்களை மட்டுமல்லாமல், காட்டாமல் கடந்து செல்கிற உணர்வுகளையும் இசையால் காட்டிவிடுகிறார். இந்தப் படத்தின் பின்னணி இசை ஓர் அபூர்வம். இதற்கு முன்னால் ஹே ராம் வந்தபோது இப்படித் தோன்றியது."

[aruLaracan]

Couldn't get enough of "en usuru" and "kAttiruppEn kAttiruppEn".

[Punnaimaran]

PS songs are wonderful and even my children ask me to play that CD when they are in the car. My 6 year old daughter likes the song Bhavani varugiraa and sang thus yesterday : பேரேலி ஆத்தா வருமா, பூநாயி பொன்னா பொலிமா...:lol: My friends and my brother who were with me couldn't control their laughter and made her sing again and again even after we reached home. The poor child innocently obliged them every time.

[Plum]

why did have to use that annoying "hip" percussion loop for this wonderful song ...
ellAm kAraNamA dhAn - andha pAttu muzhukka heroine "hip" kAttuvadhAl, thiraikAtchikErpA hip percussion loop!

[MumbaiRamki]

Plum

LOL LOL !

[writeface]

ellAm kAraNamA dhAn - andha pAttu muzhukka heroine "hip" kAttuvadhAl, thiraikAtchikErpA hip percussion loop!

complaint vApas! :)

[writeface]

Couldn't get enough of "en usuru" and "kAttiruppEn kAttiruppEn".

aruL, Vaanga.. vaanga:) How about oththaiyila pOravaLE?:)

[Devaraagam]

I am listening Ayyan, PS,ASK ans SB...all are good now.. :)

[MumbaiRamki]

Saw ASK - a bit overdone BGM, but at most scenes , it was excellent. Esp , the one before interval was .. take a bow !!!!!!

[writeface]

How is the movie?

[raaga_kann]

Saw ASK. No words to describe the excellent BGM (as usual). The BGM for the following scenes just stand out.
1. The mid-night happenings in the village when the youths wander in the night as watchdogs
2. The thundering Violins and drums racing to an exciting intermission
3. The humurous piece when the horse chases and thrashes down all the bad elements
4. The heroine comes running from the back door of the house to meet the hero
5. The climax thiruvizha preperation score
6. Of course the sweet title score

A neat movie in Tamil which is a rarity. The subtle humour throughout the film and tight narration is the highlight. If not a mega hit, it will surely be a moderate hit. But certainly it will be a repeat affair for all Raaja fans

[AravindMano]

The ASK title score single-handedly beats every other Raja album released this year. :notworthy:

[raagas]

The ASK title score single-handedly beats every other Raja album released this year. :notworthy:
I agree! Signature Raaja! what a beautiful piece of music

[MumbaiRamki]

Did any one feel the Lajja score in ASK title score ?

[jmahesh]

Raja's Baba pugazh maalai now in Raaga.
Absolutely lovely songs.
Unnai kettu paar and Poovaram sooti are my favourites.

http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/album/TD01741.html

[raagas]

Did any one feel the Lajja score in ASK title score ?
I did. Nice to see that I have company :-) That both are on same scale (i think) also makes it easier to connect both.

[KV]

I was apprehensive about watching ASK (wasn't all that impressed with Susee's VKK and NMA) but went for the last show last evening (I think its off the screens in Bangalore). Glad I made the decision. Commendable job in filming the story, a nice, simple, warm tale that one, some extended fights, samiyar comedies notwithstanding.
IR, man, amazing stuff! Yes, at places they do sound a bit westernised for the situation, but beyond little nitpicks, boy, this brain is an ideas gallore! Several new thoughts in the score - a playful guitar and a shenoy combination for a scene (oops, forgot which scene exactly), simply brilliant! And the oboe pieces, wow! (there's a scene where the herione sneaks out from her house and makes a dash to speak to Azhagar, pullarips of India vonly!) Raaga_kann has listed some of the awesome pieces in his post)
To me, this one beats Nandhalala's score too. I can't really say if BSO was used or not, but the strings and wind sections sound quite exotic.

[KV]

There were about 20-25 people in all, at the cinema hall (Lavanya). Interestingly, there was only one name that drew whistles, IR! I hooted the moment his name appeared on the screen and heard two other whistles go off the same time! :)

[MumbaiRamki]

KV,
Like nandhala - 3-4 members from BSO were used for ASK.

[rprasad]

Amazing score. Though one can wonder if such grand orchestral music is necessary given the kind of movie , i think IR went with the emotional content of the movie more rather than just thinking of it as a village movie. But man the score sounds amazing to me. it reminded of a Hans Zimmer kind of score in hollywood(listen to inception score, the dream is collapsing track ) ,not in tune but just in the sound which was created with the orchestra. Does anyone not think IR's score suits perfectly for Hollywood/ english movies? The big orchestra sound, the motifs, themes are exactly what their movies are about and IR's music fits right into it. Just wishing.

[krish244]

IR's new kannada album "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" released. Lyrics by Hamsalekha.

http://www.supergoodmovies.com/18227/sandalwood/Music-maestro-Ilayaraja-and-Hamsa-combine-in-HRHK-News-Details

thanks,

Krishnan

[V_S]

IR's new kannada album "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" released. Lyrics by Hamsalekha.

http://www.supergoodmovies.com/18227/sandalwood/Music-maestro-Ilayaraja-and-Hamsa-combine-in-HRHK-News-Details

thanks,

Krishnan
Thank you very much Krishnan. Great news of today. Bangalore guys, please pass on your reviews.

[Sureshs65]

What!!! How come we don't get to know about these releases :( I did not enter the CD shop thinking nothing new of Raja is anyway being released !!! Will check out first thing tomorrow.

[jaiganes]

Listening to baba pugazh maalai.
This is one devotional album that is simple, yet packed with enough instrumental nuances that underline every Raaja album.
Raaja has grasped the spiritual essence of Shirdi Sai perfectly and the result is that he has got Vaali to pen the right lines, which
glisten like dew drops in the early morning sunshine - just that the songs are not dew drops on spider web that whithers away, but
honey drops crystallized and collected in beautiful silk thread - Raja's music. His music stays much like the thread, barely visible, but
all encompassing to cause that sensation of sereneness in a Sai mandir.
All the songs are to be played everyday in the beginning of the day - to create
the spiritual humility that is very much required in preparing the mind for the "path".
I am unable to put one song below the other as all of them are equally beautiful and serene.
However "Poovaaram sootti" is in some zone !!

PS: Sharanam Bhava sharanam is a classic kalyani (though there is a shade of nalinakanthi in the end) piece that is bound to remind the listeners ARR's "Shakthi kodu" from Rajinikanth's Baba.
I devote the song to speedy recovery of Rajinikanth.

[V_S]

which
glisten like dew drops in the early morning sunshine - just that the songs are not dew drops on spider web that whithers away, but
honey drops crystallized and collected in beautiful silk thread - Raja's music. His music stays much like the thread, barely visible, but
all encompassing to cause that sensation of sereneness in a Sai mandir.

Wow! excellent description Jai!! :clap: Need to listen to the songs.

[Sureshs65]

Jai,

'poovaram sooti' is the best in the album. That is the only song not by Vaali :)

[skr]

I like Aadhi Bhagawan the most..Its supposed to be based on the Hindustani Raag Suddha Saarang ..

[skr]

Radio Mirchi is celebrating Raja's b'day from today onwards with a special show daily for 2 hrs btwn 9 to 11 pm till 5th of June..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Birthday-treat-for-Ilaiyaraaja/articleshow/8529113.cms

[jmahesh]

can someone with music /raaga knowledge comment on the violin use in 'unnai kettu paar' from baba pugazh maalai
it reminds me of paa

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

http://www.youtube.com/user/kssuka
Lots of rare gems here

[jmahesh]

thank you for this link, very good audio quality for these rare songs

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

http://thatstamil.oneindia.in/movies/review/2011/05/25-azhagarsamyin-kudhirai-movie-review-aid0136.html


படத்துக்கு பெரும் பலமாக இருப்பவர் இசைஞானி இளையராஜா. மனதை நெகிழ வைக்கும் டைட்டில் இசையுடன் தொடங்கும் அவர் ராஜாங்கம் க்ளைமாக்ஸில் விஸ்வரூபம் எடுக்கிறது.

அப்புக்குட்டி அறிமுகமாகும் காட்சிக்கு அவர் பிரயோகித்திருக்கும் இசை... வர்ணனைகளுக்கு அப்பாற்பட்டது. அதேபோல, அந்த சண்டைக் காட்சியின் ஆரம்பத்தில் மவுனத்தையும், போகப் போக இசையால் அந்தக் காட்சியின் உக்கிரத்தை உணர வைப்பதும் இளையராஜாவால் மட்டுமே சாத்தியம்.

மூன்றே பாடல்கள். அவற்றில் 'பூவக் கேளு...' மிக அழகான மெலடி. 'குதிக்கிற குதிக்கிற குதிரைக் குட்டி...' ராஜா ஸ்பெஷல். துள்ள வைக்கிறது.

[skr]

Here u go - Hare Rama Hare Krishna songs (Uploaded by Vinodh)
http://music2.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=518931
http://music2.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=518934
http://music2.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=518936
http://music2.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=518933
http://music2.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=518930
Waiting for the comments to be unleashed !

[skr]

The song order is as follows ;
Balu Idhu Balu - K J Yesudas
Hare Rama Hare Krishna - Tippu
Kampuni Kampuni - V V Prasanna & Ganga
Naan Ondhu - Kunal Ganjawala
Angel Angel - Karthik & Rita

[raagas]

My initial thought - upon first round of listening all songs: Are these really composed by Ilaiyaraaja?

[skr]

On 1st hear,the only song which ive actually liked is Angel Angel..
Expected more from the KJY Song Balu Idhu Balu..

[Sunil_M88]

I've heard all songs and here is my order of preference:

Kampuni Kampuni -Typical ninties masala number, the first interlude :thumbsup: and the concluding "hey" chant are nice surprises. Only song I repeated on initial hearing.
Balu Idhu Balu - KJY is evergreen, both interludes are oustanding :)
Naan Ondhu - second interlude is v. trendy and Kunal Ganjawal sounds very youthful
Angel Angel
Hare Rama Hare Krishna

[San_K]

continuously 10th time started to listen Balu Idhu Balu - simply addicted :thumbsup:

thala appadiye spb-yaiyum konjam kavanichukkonga

[irir123]

The song order is as follows ;
Balu Idhu Balu - K J Yesudas


this song is a rehash of "Thaalattu ketka naanum yethanai naal" from Nandalala !

[Hulkster]

I loved the orchestration for all of them. I guess the extreme difference in how thalaivar usually uses synth for such movies is what makes us think if they are really composed by him. BTW Angel Angel is certainly a rehash of one of the songs in the 1990s era, if i am not wrong it is from kadhalakku mariyadhai. Rest are perfect :D

[raagas]

I gave about 5 listenings and none of the songs impressed me. The Yesudas song was more cliche`(for me) and I think IR has done much better songs than that. Honestly, it bored me. And I am not being biased about such kind of songs because there were many songs, of that kind, that I liked. The yesudas number in even Nandalala is a classic. And the less I talk about Kunal Gunjawala song, the better. Even few other songs. The Hare rama Hare Krishna song seems to be having some good trumpet usage but thats about it. And much more than Pallavi, the charanams of Angel Angel sound impressive but it is more of nostalgia-evoking feeling instead of anything innovative. I felt the charanams strongly resemble some (telugu?) songs by IR in the 1988-1995 era. It is that memory-recall drive that it sets me on and nothing more. The over-dosage of techno is not for my taste anyway.

Overall - an album that didnt please me. Atleast Ayyan had a beautiful Manasoram, but this one didnt have anything that impressed me. (This is just my personal opinion)

Done with it. Waiting for next offering! When will IR HAPPI me?

[V_S]

Thank you skr for the links. My thoughts after few listens….

Angel Angel - Angel of a song despite the ordinary pallavi. The starting humming and prelude is beautiful. Charanam is ecstatic especially the 3rd and 4th line of charanam. Synth driven interludes sounds louder but not jarring to ears. Easily my pick of the album. Great singing by Karthi and Reeta.

BhaaLu Idhu BhaaLu - I think this song is composed thinking of only KJY and his limitations about his singing nowadays. So the tune is not that appealing. Still KJY magic (still some strains) can be heard at lower octaves, but at higher octaves, we can hear the strains clearly. Somehow could not enjoy the song thoroughly due to this. Interludes are good, the first flute interlude enhances the mood aptly. But I would prefer SPB, IR or Madhu with a better tune. As San_K mentioned, why he forgets SPB always nowadays?? Definitely I miss SPB.

The next three songs tempts me to ask "is Raja 68 years old??"

Naan Ondhu - 'oyayiyaa..' humming is very different and good. Very trendy song. Kunal sang well. But I am not a favorite of this kind of singing and those freaky 'baybi' and 'ouu' kind of ending the lines. I am also surprised why Maestro is doing this kind of song.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna - Starts beautifully in classical style. Beautiful trumpets ornaments throughout the song. High energy song and I love this song. Tippu way to go! Hare Rama Hare Krishna choir is haunting! Sounds revolutionary kind song! Eventhough I don't know kannada, I could feel the lyrics are ordinary. My next pick just for the trumpet, arrangements, classical touch and the energy.

Kampuni Kampuni - Sema kuthu song! tharumaru. Good to hear Kuthu in kannada. The bass lines in last two lines of charanams are interesting. This is called Maestro kuthu!

One excellent composition and two high voltage songs, especially the title song, but definitely want more from Maestro. Tunewise it could have been better. Since recently he had given many excellent Kannada gems (not just one in each film) in Prem Kahani, Suryakanthi and Bhagyada Balegara like Shrungara, Edaya Bagilu, Mouni Naanu, Chan Chanare, Nannanne Noduvanu, Balegara, I was expecting atleast two or three compositions like this, but only 'Angel Angel' comes close. But definitely I would listen to three songs for quite some time, but only time has to tell if I would listen to it for a long time.

Eagerly waiting for Jeevitha Saagaram, another Sathyan' movie and Rama Rajyam!

[Sureshs65]

V_S,

You have saved me the trouble of writing my views since your views exactly reflect mine :) The only problem with 'Angel Angel' I have is that the second interlude is not long enough and the charanams are not long enough!!! Otherwise a lovely composition.

To me, 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' has the freeflowing nature of 'aatamaa therottamaa'. Love this song. The song is not revolutionary in nature. This seems to be sung by gangsters.

I fully agree with you on the KJY song. You can clearly see his struggle as he goes up and it is very evident that the song has been tuned (maybe modified) keeping the limitations of his voice. And due to that the power that this song could have generated is lost.

[V_S]

Sureshji,
Very happy to hear that I reflected your thoughts.:-D

[Hulkster]

Btw when was HRHK supposed to be released? If i remember correctly its shooting started around mid to late 2009. Hopefully padithurai and thandavakone release ASAP.

[Sureshs65]

Hulk,

I am someone feeling that HRHK may go the 'Nannavanu' way. It may release but not sure when. As far 'Thandavakone' is concerned, I have no clue. Neither about 'Sengathu Bhoomiyile'. I know that lot of people are eagerly awaiting 'Padithurai' music and movie. Not sure when this will release.

[KV]

HRHK – a freaky leg-bye that does little much other than push the score towards the iconic 1000 mark (if that hasn’t happened yet, that is).
Syncopations in Angel angel and some bass lines – the only two bits that distill out from the muck, for me.

[Hulkster]

Wow, hope they see the light of the day. Due to the delays in audio release by 1 or 2 years the sound-scope sounds pretty "outdated" considering thalaivar has changed to a more jazzy style of sound nowadays.

[krish244]

Interview by IR:

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tablo...-ilayaraja-552

thanks,

Krishnan

[raagas]

The exact link is: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/chennai/i-am-no-legend-ilayaraja-552

I am surprised by this, coming from him:

What does he think of the current propensity for recycling and remixing music?
“To produce a good remix actually needs a lot of energy. If it turns out well, it is because of hard work. I appreciate a good composition, whoever be the composer”.

[krish244]

Thanks Raagas for the posting the full link. After posting the news on another thread, I copy/pasted the contents here...that created the problem!

I was kinda surprised as well. Wondering if his recent experience remixing "oram po" song (in SB) speaking!

thanks,

Krishnan

[app_engine]

I don't remember IR directly critisizing remix at any point of time.

Actually he had been doing it in one form or other from early days & thru out (kabhi-kabhi, mehboobA, ezhilAL siRpamAga, unnai onRu kEtpEn etc)...

Just that he had produced innumerable originals and these were occasional kuRumbu indulgences...

[Hulkster]

Thalaivar is not against remix, he is only against remixes that spoil the flow of the original or totally bring down the quality of the former. When he talks about remixes in interviews previously, he never fails to mention this as the reason.

BTW, Happy Birthday To The Music GOD

[cry_sandiego]

This song reminds me of "SIru Ponmani Asayum" from Kallukul Eeram.- ( Sudha Dhanyasi scale?)- Also the opening progression is very similar to "Poo Eru Konum" in TIS.

IR's rustic voice adds beauty to the song.. Still catching up on Ponnar Shankar and a few other Albums.

Good song .. BTW, IR week on Radio Mirchi this week .. ( typical IR replies :-( ).

Cheers
MSK

[raajarasigan]

BTW, IR week on Radio Mirchi this week .. ( typical IR replies :-( ). but at least few of them were good..:) sample..

As Maestro Ilaiyaraaja mentioned in his interview in Radio Mirchi on his b’day June 2nd 2011,

"if you are still listening to my songs even after 30 years after it was composed, it means I have composed 30 years advance music at that time".

[entertainment]

Though I dont want to understand it wrong or criticizes Maestro, the question that pops up in my mind is that "The songs that was composed by him was appreciated by almost entire state from 1976". What does it mean? Even the people were modern enough to appreciate future music? If not can I ask him why dint he deliver Music for contemporary audiences?"

[raagas]

but at least few of them were good..:) sample..

As Maestro Ilaiyaraaja mentioned in his interview in Radio Mirchi on his b’day June 2nd 2011,

"if you are still listening to my songs even after 30 years after it was composed, it means I have composed 30 years advance music at that time".

whoa! He said that?

[raajarasigan]

Yes Raagas.. :) my comment on his statement.. currently, it is 30 years but actually it is infinity...

சில கேள்விகளுக்கு தலைவர் நல்லா தான் பதில் சொன்னார்...

[Plum]

MSV pAttu kUda dhAn ippO kEkkuROm. This sounds a bit disingenuous to me - summA oru bit pottuttAr

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

நெம்ப நாளா கேக்குறது, நெம்ப நாளுக்கு அப்புறம், விரும்பி நெம்ப டைம் கேக்குறது இதெல்லாமே காலம்கடந்த அட்வான்ஸ்ட் மீஜிக் தான்

[Plum]

As much as I detest the "dated" word in music appraisal, so do I detest this claims of "advanced", that too with a precise calculation like "advanced by 10 years" etc. We have derided the people who claim IR's music is dated here. I invoke the same clause to deride the "advanced" claim

[app_engine]

ok, possible middle ground on dating :

There is some music that is timeless, appreciated always (classics - e.g. vizhiyilE malarndhadhu)

And there is some music which gets applause when arrived and then fade away (trendies, e.g. singAri sarakku)

And there is some music that is not understood when arrived but gets appreciated only many years after (EVK)

And there is some music that never appeals (mummy pEru mAri)

[Plum]

And there is some music that is not understood when arrived but gets appreciated only many years after (EVK)

This is debatable. EVK is not, like a retro-hit or something now. adhu vandhappOvum oru small, niche group of Raja followers appreciated it and it got overlooked by mainstream. ippOvum thanks to those original niche group, it has spread among a newer small group of niche Raja followers. It is, by no means, in mainstream conscience even today - just as it was then.

[app_engine]

Plum, may be my EVK ejjAmple is not ok...there could be others that fit this category :-)

[venkkiram]

I am still a big fan of singari sarakku. I may get bored of on some melodies. But never on dappaanguthu songs which have a live wire. The main reason is I don't care about lyrics. They are the energy points. Absolute fun in listening.

[venkkiram]

As per IR's point of view, is idly an advanced one? Am eating this for the past 30 years without gettng bored.

I still don't understand the advance/old concept of IR. That means are we all listening all the songs of IR? May be 30 to 40% of songs from what IR composed sofar in 900 plus movies. Agree that those 30 to 40% songs itself a very big total compared to other MDs.

[Sureshs65]

As per IR's point of view, is idly an advanced one? Am eating this for the past 30 years without gettng bored.
.

Depends on what idly you are eating. If it was an idly made 30 years back and you like it now, then yes, it is a very ADVANCED idly :lol:

Jokes apart, I do agree with Plum largely.

[SoftSword]

Plum, may be my EVK ejjAmple is not ok...there could be others that fit this category :-)

also, i would like to condemn ur declaration that singari sarakku has faded.
naan/naanga yourtube'la adhigamaa paattha/kaetta paattula idhuvum onnu...
indha sunday kooda idhu poattu orae attagaasam.

so app, rendu rejetted...

wats evk?

[app_engine]

ok, withdrawing singAri sarakku due to protests :-)

Replacing with 'ennadi meenAchchi' :wink:

[SoftSword]

i suggest u pls give up app...
guess ur mentioning the songs which hav faded from your memory and not in general.




evk?

[Nerd]

Eera vizhi kaaviyangal (http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBIRR00125)

Friendsoda sarakkadichaa singari sarakku. Thaniyaa adichaa EVK :-)

[app_engine]

EVK = eera vizhik kAviyangaL (http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBIRR00125&lang=en)

oru thadavai kEttuppArunga :-)

[Nerd]

Eera vizhi kaaviyangal (http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBIRR00125)

Friendsoda sarakkadichaa singari sarakku. Thaniyaa adichaa EVK :-)

[SoftSword]

Eera vizhi kaaviyangal (http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBIRR00125)

Friendsoda sarakkadichaa singari sarakku. Thaniyaa adichaa EVK :-)

same blood.
thaniyaa adikradhu kammi dhaan. evk... yaroda padam? romba palasa? kelvi patta madhiriyae illa.

[app_engine]

கேள்விப்பட்டிருந்தா தான் ஆச்சரியம் :-)

This movie possibly ran only for a day or two in theater and I was unfortunate enough to watch within that (college days, a stronger IRF who used to claim 'rAsA padaththa kaNNa moodittE pAkkalAm' took us along).

Prathap Pothen hero, kuppam / kudisai dweller with jeans / guitar. Dreams of becoming a great singer 'en gAnam inRu arangERum'. Some kAdhal also happens. Achieves his life ambition with 'kAdhal paN pAdu'.

Considering that a typical trip from Thuvakudi to Palakkarai used to be a 45 min bus travel one-way in heat / irritating circumstances, you can imagine how much that fellow got back from us after the torture.

[venkkiram]

Depends on what idly you are eating. If it was an idly made 30 years back and you like it now, then yes, it is a very ADVANCED idly :lol:

:rotfl: .....

[Plum]

ok, withdrawing singAri sarakku due to protests :-)

Replacing with 'ennadi meenAchchi' :wink:

ngoyyAla, I protest at ennadi meenatchi in that list. The trumpets(not trumpetes actually, I cant remember the name of the instrument) and guitar work in first interlude alone will live on forever. Not to mention the "Coin being sundified in a echo room" effect before the saranam just starts.

[raajarasigan]

என்னடி மீனாட்சி எல்லாம் இப்பவும் நல்ல தானே இருக்கு...

app, உங்க கடேகோரி'ல வர பாட்டுன்னா late 90's rajini songs sollalam.. again, not each and every film but few songs like Ulagathukkaaga from pandiyan, ada mappula from siva, uzhaippaali lllatha from Uzhaippali.. they were very catchy and hits but not exciting now..

[San_K]

Een Uzhaippali illatha paattukku enne kuraichal. And ulagathukkaga was not super hit song even those days

[Plum]

app, pEsAma andha categoryE withdraw paNnunga. vERA vazhiyE illai :lol:

[raagas]

Yes Raagas.. :) my comment on his statement.. currently, it is 30 years but actually it is infinity...

சில கேள்விகளுக்கு தலைவர் நல்லா தான் பதில் சொன்னார்...

May be, but I disagree with ilaiyaraja. There are some horrible songs (of any many composers) made decades ago that are heard and enjoyed by people. Are they are also advanced then?

This is why I prefer raaja's music over raaja's talk. No offence.

[raajarasigan]

Een Uzhaippali illatha paattukku enne kuraichal. And ulagathukkaga was not super hit song even those daysmay be.. now I realized that it depends on the person as well... :) for app, it was ennadi meenatchi but few did NOT agree.. and so in our case..

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

There is lot to discuss. We are Raja fans. So most of us will be WCM fans too. Accidentally or Incedentally, we got ourself sublected to Mozart, beethoven, Symphony No 40, fur elise, Titan meejic, Symbphony no 9, ode to Joy, much more. should we say raja's music is timeless only if our next next next generation hear that? I know we will be framed by that time. So the now 20s, 10s (age) should understand or be exposed by us and we make sure, or they themselves make sure that they pass this info(hear this man's music, its eternal) and thus make sure raja's music is time-proof?

Ok, most of us actually started to listen his music at times we don't know what it is. Thats how we got hooked. Now we should see how many of the gen x(age range ~ 15) loving Raja's music?(atleast 50 songs are die hard)

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

The spread pattern is exactly like how WCM got spread.
The stage where we were exposed to WCM, ( we dont know waht it is, some of our elders played it in background and the music went to my subconscious mind)

to the stage where we ourselves go in search of such music. Same should happen to Raja. We all much compile a Most Wanted DVD with Raja songs in right order. Universal DVD, so that, that single piece of plastic gets passed to generations, and my grand grand grand son gets hooked, and by the time he becomes youth 15+, he will get the capability and facility to search and listen to (Raja's)music of his choice. A very good website should be ready at that time.

[app_engine]

Clearly understood that I don't qualify for dating :wink:

So, all posts on that vAbas :-)

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

App, the song u suggested, buvana oru kelvikkuri, 1st time i heard abt it, then i youtubed it, that song never turned any thing on me, infact i found rajni's action funny, after seeing and accepting him ONLY as style king. That song never felt like composed by IR, and looked like an sumaaraana song tuned by an oldie. Annakkili songs gave much more goosebumps eventho i am not a big fan of it, and that surely sounded fresh. I am saying all that from a dumb music-fan POV, not tying to wear the shoes of an music expert.

But, but, isn't it true that u selected that song ONLY becos it gave goosebumps to you? Maybe u wud have listend it as soon as it released and truly that song cud have been travelled with you all the years and still stays in heart. Now i too have favourite raja songs like that, which you surely may not like at all.

Now that is NOT the question at all. These kind of differences, odd songs be kept aside in corner. We may need to run polls(out of hub of course!). Iterate them many times. Take the songs unanimously enjoyed by most of us, be it Ilaya Nila, or Kanne kalaimaane, or Ilamai itho, or Pothuvaaga emmanasu singam et. (All these may be striked out unanimously too :lol2: ) But select some songs. Then we have to put into consolidation, who and all likes what songs. Leave aside middle-aged TN guys like us. Consider ppl who lived in North, non-TN entity, that's one set. Consider the too young gen x fans in age range of 10 - 15 yrs who have born in rahman era or end of nineties etc. Foreigners. Women, too too old TN ppl(who actually were youth during MSV/Baagavathar era). Last but not least, expert fans among us, like suresh, the guys who run different blogs like geniusraja etc and those outside the hub like director suka etc, Violin vicky, guitar prasanna etc. Even Mr.Kamal haasan(why not :D) Sort out and select totally different & unique sets. Finally arrive at conclusions about may be top 100 of Raja songs and/or BGMs. Make a CD, if Agi Music does that, nothing great than that :D . Finally, thats THE DISC which we are gonna leave to our gen x.

(Kindly discard the சொற்குற்றம்s and point out the பொருட்குற்றம்s, so that we can better the idea, if its worth )

If you say, that didn't solve the purpose of this discussion, (what exactly is dating), sorry i don't know! I just ularified what ran on my head :escape: :lol:

[app_engine]

(what exactly is dating)


:-)

Two meanings.
1. "Dating" the songs - as to what's evergreen, what's trendy etc. I have proved myself useless in this aspect and so reversing my position on EVK, ennadi meenAchchi, vizhiyilE etc
2. podhu meaning - obvious that I don't kwalify

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

when raja sir says 30 years 'advanced music', can we say the right way to say it is, there is no expiry date for this song's popularity? that means, timeless. who's time? Only my time? that means this song will stay 'advanced' till the date i live and think of this song. becos hearing and thinking this song is advancing to many years. it its not confined to only my life span, then the topic gets too vast.

Coming to your list, why reversing ur position? Its timeless for you right? Isn't it ok if still other doesn's like?

why getting away as for 'podhu meaning'? chumma adichi vidunga, kallum varalaam muththum varalaam :)

makes sense?

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

if it is advanced ONLY for 30 years, then is it out of date after say 35 years?!? At the same time, we shud realize old patterns are old patterns. popularity may stay, but still. most of the gen x wont listen to oldies(general perception) one way to revitalize it is to remix so atleast the tune may reach/stay with gen x.

Some possible ways to gauge a song's timeless reach(to an extent) :-
1. View count of a particular song in Youtube( incl repeatitions)
2. No of times a song is sung in Singing competitions
3. (tough to consolidate)No of times an old song is performed in live orchestras, where the theme is NOT 'old songs'.

[app_engine]

why getting away as for 'podhu meaning'? chumma adichi vidunga, kallum varalaam muththum varalaam :)

makes sense?

யோவ், புள்ள குட்டிக்காரனுக்கு என்ன 'டேட்டிங்' வேண்டிக்கெடக்கு?

இப்போ புரியுதா?

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

நீங்க பேரிக்கால இருக்கீங்க, அங்கெல்லாம் வாழ்க்கை நாற்பதுல தான் துவங்குதாமே :rotfl: நான் எஸ்கேப்!

(just for fun :) )

[SoftSword]

enna inga sanda.. enna inga sanda ???

[krish244]

"Gonjasufi" samples IR's SADMA (yeh hawa yeh fiza) track for his "A Sufi and a Killer" (year:2010) album. Song is titled "Sheep". Never heard of this GonjaSufi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonjasufi)!

http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/58292/GonjaSufi-Sheep_Asha%20Bhosle%20and%20Suresh%20Wadkar-Yeh%20Hawa%20Yeh%20Fiza/

I was searching for a better quality "yeh hawa" song (just for the mind boggling base guitar). I found the below link, which again talks about the sampling, but the audio quality is very good.

http://www.lemellotron.com/2011/04/18/yeh-hawa-yeh-fiza-illayaraja-1983-vs-sheep-gonjasufi-2010-original-sample/

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

The base guitar is much much more enhanced in the sampled track "sheep". I am listening on a bose headphone and its is very very addictive!

thanks,

Krishnan

P.S.: Wondering if the base is enhanced (if it is enhanced) a tad bit more!

[Punnaimaran]

Regarding Vizhiyile, the 1st time I heard when it was released. At that time I would have a feeling that I was being taken on a space trip at dawn. The "dawn effect" may be due to Radio Ceylon broadcasting it everyday early in the morning. Interestingly till now I get the same feeling as like taking off into space during the start of the song and landing on earth at the end of it.

[app_engine]

Punnaimaran,

If someone hears 'vizhiyilE' for the first time on youtube, enga pOyittu enga varuvAngaLO?

:wink:

[jmahesh]

http://www.sify.com/movies/sri-ramarajyam-in-august-news-news-lgxnCFgghed.html

[krish244]

IR's first movie in Marathi language. Uttam Singh is arranger.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_now-ilayaraja-makes-melodies-in-marathi_1559187

Movie name is "Hello Jaihind". Curious to know how the theme is handled in the movie and how IR has approached for the music/BGM.

Recently read in an article that Kailash Kher has also sung for IR. Was wondering when did he sing for IR. Looks like it is this movie.

The movie is slated to release on November 25th. The year is not mentioned though :).

From the article, it is seen the crew has great respect for IR.

thanks,

Krishnan

[V_S]

Superb News krish! Thanks. BTW how did you find out this news, amazing search!

[Sureshs65]

V_S,

krish is master of the search. I don't know how he does it but he is generally the first with all new news about Raja. He is one reason why I stopped searching :)

[Sureshs65]

Watched 'Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai' yesterday on DVD. A very simple tale and told well, though I feel he could have told it better by avoiding the mandatory villain in the second half. Lot of colorful village characters, without any depth though. Raja's music is superb. Very jazzy and fits the mood. As writer Pa.Raghavan said, Raja in this movie has scored for the mood and emotions of the movies, not for the authenticity. Certain pieces show how well Raja is clued in into all forms of music and how well he can integrate them into his own genre.

[krish244]

V_S, Sureshs65,

Thanks for the compliment, but the real master is the net and Google! I was and am always curious to know what's latest about IR's music, so I started (about 4-5 years back I guess) to search once or twice in a day using google with IR's name. Even today, I kinda religiously run the search at least once or twice in a day :).

thanks,

Krishnan

[raagas]

IR's first movie in Marathi language. Uttam Singh is arranger.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_now-ilayaraja-makes-melodies-in-marathi_1559187

Movie name is "Hello Jaihind". Curious to know how the theme is handled in the movie and how IR has approached for the music/BGM.

Recently read in an article that Kailash Kher has also sung for IR. Was wondering when did he sing for IR. Looks like it is this movie.

The movie is slated to release on November 25th. The year is not mentioned though :).

From the article, it is seen the crew has great respect for IR.

thanks,

Krishnan

The article says - "According to experts, if Ilayaraja agrees to compose music for a film that means that the film should be good" - Ahem! This is so untrue for a majority of his films (and i feel sad about it.. that he is a very unlucky composer in this aspect). I wonder if this kind of interpretation, where used as publicity, will backfire, if the film is bad.

[V_S]

V_S, Sureshs65,

Thanks for the compliment, but the real master is the net and Google! I was and am always curious to know what's latest about IR's music, so I started (about 4-5 years back I guess) to search once or twice in a day using google with IR's name. Even today, I kinda religiously run the search at least once or twice in a day :).

thanks,

Krishnan

That's great to hear and shows your passion about Raja. As Sureshji rightly pointed out, we don't have to look out elsewhere about Raja, just this thread. Amazing, as the sites you get information from were never heard of. :thumbsup:

[Hulkster]

Thandavakkone Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAp79JnxZyk)
This link is courtesy of orkut.

I think the pieces in the movie are taken from BGM score for that movie. Love the flute piece that comes in the middle. Looks like Pithamagan part 2 without Surya.

[krish244]

Negative comments about IR's music for HRHK:

http://www.supergoodmovies.com/23263/sandalwood/Hare-Rama-Hare-Krishna-Kannada-Movie-Review-Movie-Review-Details

"...The Maestro in music Ilayaraja and master in lyrics and music Hamsalekha combination has not done any wonders. Not even one song is worth remembering. The sorrow song sung by Dr KJ Yesudas is meaningful on life...."

Don't know what made IR to take up this movie.

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

Shreya Ghoshal's interview on Kairali TV. Somewhere around 4:45, she talks about IR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtyX0d5LyQ4&feature=relmfu

The entire interview (3-4 parts) is quite interesting. She has a voice that does not lose its sweetness (or shows strains), irrespective of any language ("thamizh has the zha") and any pitch. God gifted voice really and practice shows. Talent shows up even in casual singing. Voice apart, she has taken good care to pronounce the languages right. These qualities certainly make her an in-demand singer in both north and south. In the interview, she is spontaneous and shows great respect for senior musicians.

Has she given any full length interview like this in any tamil channel? I doubt.

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

Deccan herald review of HRHK:

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/180056/hare-rama-hare-krishna.html

"...Both PKH Das and Ilaiyaraja ‘amaze’ the audience with erratic and poorly selected angles and a rehash of mid-90s music..."

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

Hindustan times reports IR is doing music for Prakash Raj's next bilingual (tamil and telugu) directorial venture titled "Dhoni". Story is about a child's aspiration to become like Dhoni.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Prakash-Raj-to-direct-film-on-Dhoni/Article1-729725.aspx

I am guessing it will have more scope for BGM.

thanks,

Krishnan

[krish244]

"Director Ganesh is all set to launch the music of his film, Thaandavakone, next week.

"The background score and songs have been composed by Ilaiyaraaja sir. He has taken special care while working on the BG and his hard work will definitely reflect in the songs. His scores will be a plus for my film," says Ganesh..."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Thaandavakone-A-film-for-all-seasons/articleshow/9492411.cms

thanks,

Krishnan

[Sureshs65]

Let's hope 'Thandavakone' is a nice movie and that the music is not the _only_ plus for the movie. It has happened to many Raja films recently!!

[Hulkster]

Thandavakone Audio Launch is tomorrow : Courtesy of Orkut Ilaiyaraaja Group member HeartA

Orkut Link (http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs?cmm=34613&tid=5417072307248314095&na=2&nst=65)




TOMORROW AUDIO LAUNCH

" நாளை முதல் இசை "

http://images.orkut.com/orkut/photos/PQAAAPke9X1bleG7aVfR0o030zG5be9PtqAzGaNqdmLnlos7eV rnRFEnXOT0z8Ht3AML8uKMhkOfjh6oZRd4_px8MugAm1T1UGcu 8tuPBjp_-1Xs3HYeS_1lUaKG.jpg
Eagerly waiting AMMA Song in THALAIVAR Voice !!

” நீரால் உடல் கழுவி நித்த நித மூவேளை சோறால் குடல் கழுவும்” - இளையராஜா.




Sureshji, no worries; This fella doesnt seem to hype up his movie too much and from the looks of the trailer it seems like a neat film. Sambath in the movie should add a good presence.

[Sureshs65]

Hoping 'Thandavakone' audio releases in Blore as well. If not Rajasaranam saranam :)

[Hulkster]

Promo Songs (30s samples) from Amazon : Courtesy Of Orkut Ilaiyaraaja Community

Thandavakone Song Samples (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=thandavakone&x=0&y=0)

Promo is scintillating. Songs strongly focus on the hero's path in life. Can't wait to listen to the full versions :D

[Sunil_M88]

Promo Songs (30s samples) from Amazon : Courtesy Of Orkut Ilaiyaraaja Community

Thandavakone Song Samples (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=thandavakone&x=0&y=0)

Promo is scintillating. Songs strongly focus on the hero's path in life. Can't wait to listen to the full versions :D

Thanks Incedible Hulk, overall from first impression and samples the album seems dark excluding Aanukkulley & Kula Deivam and as for now my pick is Kula Deivam as it's the most engaging and the oriental sounding flute themes. Can't wait for the complete album though.

[Sureshs65]

Hulk,

Thanks and thanks. Loving the songs. Every song sounds melodious and the orchestration is the current Raja. Definitely will be many steps more than "Hare Rama Hare Krishna'. Tippu sounds so good in that song!!

[Sunil_M88]

stills of raaja saab from thandavakone

http://www.koodal.com/cinema/gallery/movies//_30_75201064045123.jpg

http://www.koodal.com/cinema/gallery/movies//_29_75201063950123.jpg

[Sunil_M88]

Truly in love with Aanukkulley now. Neeral Udal Kazhuv sample slightly reminds me of Madu Balakrishnan's penultimate portion in Annanmar Kathai from IRs own album, Ponnar Shankar.

[Sureshs65]

Amazon has started selling the CD but only in Pounds. The CD will end up costing more than six pounds!! Will wait for the CD to be released here!!

[MumbaiRamki]

The promos are very promising ... Very 90s style ...

[Sureshs65]

One of my friends attended the tape release function of 'Thandavakone' it seems and took the blessings of Raja. Waiting for him to return back with a CD for me. In the meanwhile, if someone has the listening links .....

[Sunil_M88]

This are different samples http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ilaiyaraaja36.

I was in misconception that this album is dark :( Now it's time for Kaattu Vazhi - praising lord shiva and Enna Pol which has a wonderful orchestration bit which has tabla backing it :musicsmile: