Best Indian tracks of the week - 26 Sep 2021
1. Torture song
OK, before you even go in to listening to and understanding the music in this track, have fun watching this delightful video which is all about the most adorable labrador. I have been planning to have one of my own and this song clearly pushed me closer to that decision. Nobin Paul is an excellent musician, probably one of the best in South India at-least, but if I have a complaint it will be that he doesn't score too often at-least at the frequency at which I desire. Vijay Prakash kills this one as the lead vocalist with his insane attitude and Nobin's vision as a arranged and programmer is showcased here. Nagarjun Sharma' writes these funny and interesting lyrics and we have Nobin Paul, Chethan Naik, Madhwesh Bharadwaj, Nikhil Parathasarathi on the back up vocals and also Arnava, Achintya, Akarsh, Abhay, Tanvee, Saanvi, Anusha, Kausthami doing the lovely kids chorus. Sruthi Raj and Kiran are outstanding on the percussions which makes you tap your feet, but the highlight is the trumpet by Babu and Clarinet by Nathan. The small interlude bit with the clarinet and kids humming in the interlude certainly reminds of ""Jathikathottam"" from the move 'Thaneer Mathan Dhinangal'. Sumesh Parameshwar the exponent on guitars, both bass and acoustic, can be heard doing his thing to perfection especially during the solos and watchout for Balasubramani's wonderful Nadaswaram intervention. The verse is such a melodious earful and Nobin has to be commended for this. The track is mixed and mastered by Balu Thankachen with assistance from Hariharan. For guys who want to listen to Nobin Paul's album that impressed me a couple of years ago , check out the movie ""Bill Gates"". The outro bit on ths track is a masterclass on the Clarinet with kids chorus and percussion adding great layers.
2. Naa Chelive
Sid Sriram is now back to becoming his usual busy, prolific best with songs across all the south indian languages. Leander Lee Marty is a indie musician who has scored a few Tamil indie singles last year but this one is definitely a stand-out number. It however straightaway and probably even in some instances further into the track reminds me of that great number by AR Rahman called "" Aaromale"" from 'Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya'. Keba Jeremiah's acoustic guitars are unparalleled with a terrific solo on the electric violin by Shyam Ravishankar. The verse begins with a sense of peace just the vocals, and drums by David Joseph but the tempo and energy picks up mid-way with a lot of work by Leander on the synth and keyboard programming. Jeba's electric guitars can be heard accompanying Sids' outstanding vocals and he sings with incredible freedom and and passion. The aalap he does is mind-blowing helped by some backup vocals by Leander himself, and Napier Naveen on the bass guitars. Chitran writes the lyrics and Music Advisor - Roger Rex is the music advisor with session management by Nisha Shankar. All recording is done by KS Maniratnam and Vishnu with Sid's vocals recorded by Keerthana. Shadaab Rayeen does the mastering for the track.
3. Song of the seas
This is the debut single of Mumbai based singer-songwriter Anoushka Sivasankar and the basis of the song is the all the Biblical reference to the splitting of the sea as we have seen and heard of in the Ten Commandments. To continue along this path of Christianity based jargon, I think this is Baptism by fire for Anoushka and God does she shine through brilliantly. The video itself a great watch and it is directed by Siddharth Ahuja with assistance by Hritik Punjabi. The track feels like a gospel with some fabulous backup vocals but the vocals of Anoushka acts like a bait that we just cant stay away from. Shivam Kale is spectacular on the electric guitar solo with a close second contribution by Shlok Chiplunkar on the drums. Anoushka does a even better job on her production and composition, which keeps you engaged all the way till the end which she has also written.
4. Veyil Choodum
Fine blame me, but I really did not know that this talented actress could sing so well. Aparna Balamurali has acted in some excellent movies and the one to remember was her role with Suriya in ""Soorarai Pottru"". We are used to actors singing away with their mediocre voices these days, but this woman is bringing her absolute A-game here in this delightful melody composed by Amith Sajan and Anjali R Warrier. Dhannajay is credited with the concept and direction. Sanwin Jenil plays the subtle flute in the background and the song at times reminds me of ""Poove Sempoove"" by Ilaiyaraja. The humming with a backup harmony is a wonderful addition to the track. KP Balamurali plays the solo Veena on the interlude aided by Keys. Meenakshi Manohar is the lyricist. Aparna is excellent with her minute vibrato and when the notes shift too she delivers it with a great touch of professional ability. There is a touch Raag Maand if I am not wrong in this track and it is mixed and mastered by Saji R.
5. Ishq Fitoori & Kahe Muskay Re
Shabbir Ahmed is a well know lyricist, and he recently impressed me with a wonderful song on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi called ""Gajanan"" sung by Sachet Tandon. Now he has this movie album as well and I thoroughly enjoyed not just 1 but two songs . This once called Ishq Fitoori is sung by Mohit Chauhan and the other is called ""Kahe Muskay Re"" by Shreya Ghoshal. The great thing about these two numbers, other than the fact that it is sung by two brilliant vocalists, is that they have some terrific instrumental arrangements and end up being loop-worthy melodies. Shabbir also pens the lyrics for the songs in this album. Dawood Khalu is his assistant in music and it is all recorded by Rahul M Sharma with Samir Dharap assisting. The tracks are programmed by Prasad Sashte and Mix & Mastered By Vijay Dayal. The instruments, rhythm and percussions we hear is conducted & performed By Dipesh Varma . We also have the solo on flute by PMK Naveen Kumar. The interlude for Ishq Fitoori is loaded with a whole of Flute goodness and Mohit shows why he never disappoints you when he performs. All the instruments and arrangements give you a feeling of a Ismail Darbar Song according to writer and reviewer Karthik Srinivas, but I feel there is some Ajay-Atul influence and magic as well. Kahe Muskay Re feels a lot of ""Chori Chori"" from the movie ""Kareeb"" and it too has some amazing instrumental arrangements especially the flute. It opens up and also feels like ""Sairat Jhala Ji""aided by some wonderful basslines, rhythm and obviously Shreya's delivery.
6. Yun Zindagi ki raah mein
This is a new rendition of a famous Ghazal sung by the legendary Mehdi Hassan. I can trust Khwaab Music (Nishant Nagar) and Divyam Sodhi to combine and provide justice to this with their own rendition. Bohot Bechain which released in May was a terrific number and I featured and reviewed it here on my blog and they have struck again. Divyam sings to perfection being slightly aloof when he has to and grabbing onto the notes with poise as well. Kirti Virmani and Shikhar Virmani are responsible for the artwork. The instruments are kept to a minimum but boy do they create a beautiful concoction with Mansij Madaan on guitars, Mahavir on the Tabla, and Amarpreet on the delectable Harmonium. All arrangements are production credits go to Khwaab. There is some Raag Behaag and Raag Khamaj influences here.
7. Kyun Chhodh gaye
Rajkumar Sengupta is a wonderful talent in sea of great Bangla musicians, but what sets him apart like Anupam Roy, Joy Sarkar and Nilanjan Ghosh, in the current crop of composers is that they all innovate and expand the horizon of genres rather than depending on the genius Rabindranath Tagore alone for their music. This one sung by Ujjaini Mukherjee is mixed and mastered by another dependable composer in Krsna Solo. Ujjaini has now made it to my list in two consecutive weeks but her style of singing in this one is miles apart from the 'Du Chokhe Harai' she sang last week. Rajkumar produces and composes this dreamy yet guitar-laden track which definitely reminds me of ""Thoodhu varuma"" sung by Sunitha Sarathy and composed by Harris Jayaraj. Prasanto Mahato plays the bass guitar and the lyrics are penned by Soham Majumdar & Devankan Chakroborty. The Esraj sound programmed by Rajkumar adds to the mystery and pathos of the track.
8. Mohabbat Ho gayi hai
Jazim Sharma is an exponent at picking some fantastic ghazals and breathing new life into them with his own renditions. He did one a couple of weeks back with ""kaahan Aake rukhe raaste"". This original beauty is set in Mishra Desh Raag with the words by the great poet Janab Farhat Shahzad Sahab. Anurag and Raaj are the composers while Jazim is involved in the arrangements. Jatin Vaswani is the producer with Partha Protim doing the mixing and mastering. Manas Kumar's solo Violin is a huge asset right through the track. The Piano and guitars also decorate the track but Jazim Sharma's vocals, vibrato and delivery, along with the violins are the brightest starts in this galaxy.
9. Bondhu re
Nisha Satpute a write, director and lyricist is involved in making an album focussing on the Navarasas of emotions. This is teh third such single dedicated to Karuna/ sorrow. This Bengali Ghazal is written and composed by Niladri Mukherjee and quite exquisitely conveys the emotion of sadness and I do sense an influence of Raag Saraswathi in this. This could also be thanks to the emotive singing by Pranab Biswas. Atharv Joshi has produced the track. Apurv David's percussion arrangements come to light and they take us straight to the lands of Bengal. There is a lot of talented musicians involved here with Nitin Muralikrishna mixing and Tushar Pandit mastered track. The interludes are woven with the splendid sounds of Sarod by Sarang Kulkarni and we have the flute played by Mrugendra Mohadkar. All the artwork is by Pranav Pammi and animation is by Shivam Kumar. We cant wait to hear what the other 6 emotions are going to be conveyed as in musical form.
10. Sale
Who doesn't know the band ""Euphoria"" if you were born and raised in India? They took the whole nation by storm with some amazing music that was sung by every boy and girl and Dr. Palash Sen was admired for his on screen presence and singing. Well this album ""Sale"" could be one of the biggest musical comeback stories in Indian indie space and after listening to the 7 tracks i Can assure that they are certainly back. All the songs here are composed by Palash Sen while he and a few others have written the songs together. The 3 tracks I loved the most are ""Baavra"", "" Kesariya Balam"" and ""Khwaamkhaa"" and each of these has a different genre and taste which further showcasing the talent of the band. Some of the musicians who has contributed to the success of this project are DJ Bhaduri on bass guitars, Aditya Shankar Benia on all the acoustic, and electric guitars, Prashant Trivedi on all the drums, Tabla and percussions including their programming. Rakesh Bharadwaj plays the Khadtaal, Rajasthani Dhol and Dholak in ""Kesariya Balam"". Vishal Dixit contributes on the Piano and Synth. In Khwaamkhaa there are some amazing tamil vocals sung by Viashali Barua and Krutika Muralidharan with Lokesh Anand playing the Shehnai. Also Murad Ali plays the Sarangi in Kesariya Balam. ""Baavra"" has father and daughter , Kyna Sen, doing the lead vocals and is very reminiscent of the 2000s' Bollywood music which had some good pop thing going on. Kesariya Balam is a wonderful slow melody with the fragrance of Rajasthani Soil covered all over. It is sure to draw your attention with an intended sense of melancholy. In""Khwaamkhaa""we have a rock/pop track accompanied by great drums, electric guitars and a catchy humming that will never leave your head.
11. Rangu Raate
Vijay Prakash makes it two in a week with another typical performance here for a song which I loved. The guitars stand out and they are played by Siddhart Kamat who also does all the music programming which play an effective part in this song loaded with a lot of sounds in the background. The singing reminds me of the days when Vijay Prakash numbers for AR Rahman in Tamil which had a romantic expression just like this one. V Nagendra Prasad is the lyricist and Bharath himself does the mixing and mastering. The song is elaborate with two verses and it maintains the melody not just in the opening lines, so credit to the composer for that
12. Naakaamyaab
This 3 man band from Bhubhaneshwar has been creating singles and an EP too before this and their aspiration is to become a rock band creating impactful music. Their EP Bahaane is something I am yet to listen to, but when you have a 3 track EP and 2 of the 3 are worth mentioning and reviewing, then it is quite something. In their latest EP ""Peher"" I loved ""Naakaamyaab"" the most followed by ""Kahin"". The band comprises of bassist Satyam Nayak, guitarist-vocalist Ashutosh Verma and guitarist Aditya Atmakuri who also has written the lyrics and composed the tunes. Naakaamyaab is slow , sober and a rock ballad with a wonderful harmony, and programmed strings and keys running in the second layers. The guitars are impossible to neglect and Ashutosh's vocals possess the perfect texture for the emotion that the track sets to create. ""Kahin"" is a more peppy love track which sets your heart racing and the hero is again the guitars here and sets the perfect environment for a long drive and this could be your perfect companion.
13. Leharaayi
Sid Sriram again and this time for a Malayalam Supremo called Gopi Sundar who has been busy in Tollywood of late. The earlier songs in this album were quite good and to round things off Gopi ends things on a high note with this splendid track. Chirag Samtani plays the acoustic and bass guitars and he becomes an irreplaceable asset in this track. The track has a more EDM touch as well which is not something you would hear from Gopi, but it works damn well as he programs for the track as well along with the composition. OK Gopi's fantastic solo on the Nadaswaram acts as the perfect interlude connecting the pallavi and charanam and the wind instrument also keeps playing in the second layers in the verse. Balakrishna Kamath smartly plays the Mridangam as the it replaces the beats in the second interlude. Babu VK is the music production manager and the track is engineered by Ajil Kurian, Gopi Sundar with Mixing and Mastering by Shadab Rayeen. There are portions of the track which make me think if there is an influence of Abheri raaga in it. Sreemani is the lyricist.
13. Dont you drop
O Daapun is a duo from Assam and the great music from the corners of our country never stop surprising. Siddhartha and Bhargav Hazarika are brothers from Guwahati who have been inspired some great global artists especially John mayer but the more I hear this wonderful track I sense similarities to another band former by brothers who went by the name The Bee Gees. What I love about this track is the level of instrumental programming that has gone into it. It starts off with the guitars and I already hear the Hammond Organ, and even the Trumpet, all within the first 10 seconds. It is a wonderful song with some excellent singing and some worthy programming and production that brings in the Trombone and Saxophone as well. The bass guitars, drums and harmonies add great layers and let us not forget the cool, attitude that the vocals provide. Who wouldn't wanna just sway to this number which has elements of dance/pop and even jazz with all the scat singing in the end. Musicians from Assam sure do kick some Ass.
14. Clouds of Rain
This Delhi based singer-songwriter apparently drew inspiration for his music from various great sources like Jimi Hendrix, John Mayer, Eric Clapton and Santana. The music that flows through this track clearly has been influenced by the great works of these geniuses as Varun who resides in Singapore now shines with ever note composed and delivered. He co-produced this track with Bharath Rajeevan who is the man behind the Keys and the bass guitars. Mukul Jain has mixed and mastered the song. The vocal delivery of Varun is sharp and pitch-perfect and goes like knife through butter. The guitars and harmonies are simple yet they resonate so well creating an aura of romance and tranquility. As we head further the Keys become more prominent along with the bass guitar in the background and listen to the creatively added whistle sounds closer to the end of the track. The writing and even the title is apt as that is what the song feels like when you watch the skies hoping for rain.
15. Tere Sang
This track is bound to catch your attention thanks to the beautiful voice of Deepanshi Nagar as she hums her way into your hearts right from the start. Mohiit Manuja has written and composed the track along with Sayam Qureshi. Mohit does way more than that as he plays the guitars and also provides the backing vocals, along with all the music production. The track has some excellent acoustic and bass guitars, and I love the Tabla sounds being programmed into it as well. Sagar Agale has mixed and mastered the track. The pleasant vocals of Deepanshi do wonders to the output of the track and makes you want to hear it over and over again.
16. Faasle
Raghav Chaitanya is a name I first heard sing in this excellent song composed by one of my favorite composers Anurag Saikia which was called ""Ek Tukda Dhoop"". Ever since I have been impressed with his indie projects as he is a very capable composer as well. Now we have this excellent track called Faasle which is composed, produced, performed and mixed/mastered by Raghav. The lyrics are written by Shashank Tyagi. The guitars dominate the scene at the beginning, but not for long when you hear voice as he excels at the falsetto even though it is just a bit. As he sings the title, you also hear the thump of the beats and a mild harmony in the background. The song's elevated quality is simply because of Raghav's fantastic singing and when you listen to him sing ""yeh dooriyan"", you get closer to the track emotionally.
17. Pyar
Ashwyn's music is unique and almost a dance and synth pop style that has something to cherish every-time like how impressive his ""Sell your soul"" was. Pyar is interesting even because though it has a hindi title it is an entirely English number by the Bengaluru-based musician. Clearly this song is written and composed by a man who is expressing his love. The keyboard programming is top-notch and I love that repetitive pop/dance music that keeps playing in between all the singing. Ashwin Sriram is one guitarist/producer you wanna keep you eyes and ears open to.
18. Dhoore Koodurukkam
The last track to be chosen and reviewed this week is a Malayalam melody with heavy influences of the guitar composed, produced and arranged by Kishore Krishna. Kishore has also played a role in mixing and mastering the track along with Biju P Jose. Sreemon plays the guitars with Evugin Emmanuel singing the male lead vocals. As the beats start thumping Evugin serenades with his voice and some likable vibrato. The lyrics are penned by Vishnu Vijayan. At the interlude we hear a wonderful solo on the slide guitar played by Adhil and lush playful piece on the violin follows by Krishna Raj. I am tempted to write that probably there is some Nalinakanthi raaga playing here. Amala Mohan is the female lead singer and though she starts off quite late she strikes hard with her base scale singing which was way too impressive. The track is engineered by Vinod and Abin S Vincent . the outro has an excellent background violin touch with Evugin's vocals going on.
Author
I write album and song reviews of Tamil music every month for Behindwoods. You can also call me a sports nut, especially football, and I used to write articles on sportskeeda.com. I am a die-hard Argentina football fan and have travelled to South Africa and Russia to witness the FIFA world cup games. It is not just music, I love movies as well and you will find me quoting dialogues and moments from a lot of movies, as I believe every movie teaches me something new about life itself.