Top Indian Songs of the week - 26 Dec 2021

This is the week's best music from across the nation. Music from every state written in every language, composed as a part of Movies and by Indie artists is listened to and after analyzing more than 300 tracks released in the week ending 26th December 2021, I have rated and reviewed the 15 absolute best tracks in the country. This is truly India's ONLY multilingual music review and music curation page. Week after week, without any breaks you will get the review and links to the best work from musicians all over the country.

Find the full playlist of Top Songs this week on SPOTIFY

1. Oruthi

Why doesn't he score more often? Vishnu Vijay is a renowned flautist who has worked with greats like AR Rahman, but I have been following and supremely impressed with his scores. If you don’t know or haven’t heard his compositions, listen to “Aaradhike� from Ambili and some of the songs in “Nayattu�. In this new movie “Bheemante Vazhi� I already love 2 songs with this one topping the all-india charts for the week, and the other one also is lovely sung by Haricharan. The title track has Hari in full flow and and it is slowly a testament to him becoming a pan-India singer, he just sang in ‘Atrangi Re' last month. The track is dominated by his vocals and the live Esraj played Arshad Khan. Haricharan stunningly delivers the stanza, with some alterations to notes that you would least expect. Coming back to the chart-topper, Oruthi is outstanding and the way it starts off in its slow pace and the predominant solo sounds of the Shehnai by Pandit S Ballesh. Vishnu himself sings it like in that Anthony Dasan style. The strings section is in top form thanks to Chennai Strings comprising of Vinay Kumar, Chandru, Fagan, and Seenu on Cello. Nellai Balaji conducts it but Vishnu handles all the arrangements. Keba Jeremiah on Acoustic guitars and Keith Peters on bass are so crucial in their roles in the interludes and the secondary layers through the track. The stanza has so much going on, behind Vishnu’s vocals and if you listen to it with your headphones on, you will be n for a musical treat. Just wait for the second interlude, which is laded with strings and it reminds of some of Maestro’s greatest compositions. Muhsin Parari is the lyricist, Divine Joseph and Kashyap Rammohan are the recording engineers, Sujith Sreedhar has mixed and mastered the track. The track is produced by Vishnu, and vocals are produced by Lijesh Kumar. Ramesh Vasudev and Rahul CR provide all the technical support and assistance.

2. Meera

This movie album probably is one of the best in the country in 2021, and definitely along with ‘June’ the best Marathi music album of the year. Rohan Gokhale and Rohan Pradhan bring their A game for this album called “Piremâ€?, and I thoroughly fell in love with 3 tracks viz. ‘Meera’, ‘Man Jhala’ and the title track. Savaniee Ravindra, Harshwardhan Wavre and Rohan-Rohan are the singers. All arrangements and programming is by Aditya Kudalkar, with Rohan-Rohan working on additional arrangements. The flute is played by Shashank Acharya. These are the credits for ‘Man Jhala’ which is quite different from the other tracks in the album. Jasraj Jayant Joshi sings the splendid track ‘Meera’ which has some diabolical basslines and wait for the flute interventions in the background.  Jasraj delivers a superlative singing performance and probably the best of the year. The whole track has an inherent melody and that is continued in the verse. The change of tempo happens in a couple of places in the track and that is so subtle yet succulent. Shashank Acharya steals your heart with his flute solos. ‘Man Jhala’ is a very typical slow and mellifluent Marathi number. Rohan Gokhale and Ketaki Mategaonkar sing the title track which is a breezy fast-paced love song that’s heavy on guitars and drums.

 3. Bondhe Maya Lagaiche

Of late I am enjoying this new surge in folk music from all over the country and artists in an effort to resurrect rustic classics are presenting them in gift-wrappers that look dashing and entice us. The song was originally written and composed by Shah Abdul Karim. Sharoni Poddar’s singing is top-draw and she gives these subtle vibratos even in the higher scales and all this make for some delightful hearing. The Miliputs have truly delivered an extremely enjoyable number by just refurbishing an old lost classic. Without the guitarists, this would be incomplete and that is why Debmalya Dey and Shounak Das on guitars & Krishanu Halder on bass play a vital role in the supreme sound output. The track is produced by Debmalya and mixed & mastered by Anindit Roy. Debashish Das stuns you every second with his drums. The track shifts from folk to classical/ traditional Hindustani after the 2^nd minute and I do sense some influences of Raag Behaag here.

4. Prison For Fears

I am on a mission to pick best of Indian music every week, and now that 2021 has ended I also am going to pick the best Albums/EPs of 2021 and ‘Fractals’ is definitely one of them.  Here I am only featuring the one track that stood out for me but at least 3-4 were impressive in this 8 track album. Anubha Kaul's singing is magical showing immense vocal control right through. Kush Updadhyay is on guitars and is the man behind the composition and production. Larry Goldings is on the Organ, along with Jeff Babko on Organ, Rhodes and Piano. Gino Banks plays the drums and percussions for this track and you can sense   a very fluid composition where the tempo is not constant. IN the album however there is also Jay Row Kavi on drums and percussions and Andrew Kanga on just drums. Let us not forget to pay attention to the bass guitars, which are running in a parallel universe thanks to Tony Grey and Tim Lefebvre. Kush himself is scintillating in the middle where there is a solid electric guitar solo aided by some bass-lines and high-hat drums and I suggest you just enjoy the limitless powers of music. Kush and Anubha write the lyrics, with mixing by Jehangir Jehangir, Kuber Sharma and John Paterno. Shawn Hatfield does the mastering and Jayesh Joshi the artwork. For the album Anurag Naidu does the piano/string arrangements.

5. Sanchariyagu Nee

Kannada movie space once again rocking it thanks to some super talent and I am soon going to cover a article and topic featuring the best young composers from all the South Indian movie space. As a teaser, I am announcing here that Nakul Abhyankar is there in it. I wont be wrong if I claim that Vijay Prakash has had one of the busiest years among Kannada vocalists and more importantly 90% of them are chart-busters. Keba Jeremiah’s acoustic guitars and Kareem Kamalakar lead the way on the solo flute sounding so serene. Raghavendra Kamath has penned the lyrics. Rakshita Suresh’s vocals are impeccable and sweet and when she sings the Anu Pallavi I get the feeling there is some influence of Raag Maand. Subhani can be heard playing the Oud, Mandolin and Saz in the background layers, especially enjoy the thumping rhythms by Sruthiraj. Arshad Khan once again for the second time in this week plays the wonderful Esraj, which is soul-stirring and generates all the pathos. Keith Peters plays the bass guitars, and Sunshine Orchestra handles the strings while Vijay Prakash totally soars in the stanza singing the higher scales. Ramya Bhat Abhyankar handles the supervision, and the track is mixed and mastered by Suresh Permal.

6. Inside Out

Thermal and a Quarter a.k.a. TAAQ had a great run back in 2020 with a fabulous album called “A world gone mad�. I liked more than a few numbers in that and one of the topped the charts for that month across India. I am glad they are back, and as they say “with a bang�. This one has been in the works right through the pandemic, and unlike their usual head-banging rock styles. This one can be called a soft pop, something we would heard a lot in the 1980s. Listen up and enjoy the groove and funk induced by Bruce Lee Mani’s singing, and Lesli Charles’ bass guitars. Within the first 1 minute of so you are already witness to so many instruments and the arrangements are spellbinding. Bruce has also written the lyrics and played the guitars along with Tony Das. Leslie is also on the keyboards but what grabs my attention is Gautam David’s Tenor Sax and Ananya Raja’s backing vocals. Its certainly the last in this order of credits but Rajeev Rajagopal breathes all the coolness into the track on his percussions. Leslie produces and mixes as well while Mrinal Anand and Leslie are the recording engineers. The harmonies are not only excellently delivered with styles but the arrangements deserve special credits. At the 2.43 minute mark there is a noticeable shift in the style moving from pop to Jazz thanks to Gautam’s solo on the Sax. The track is mastered by Kimberly Rosen and all the cover art is by Pia Meenakshi.

7. Sai Narayana

One more song from Bhoomi 21 makes it to the list and this time the track is composed and written by not just one individual but a vast team i.e. Sri Sathya Sai Students. Raj Pandit lends his voice for this one and all the production and arrangements are by Salim-Sulaiman and Raj. The track starts off in a way of resembling Ghulam Ali’s “Chupke Chupke� and maybe that is why I sense a Raag Kaafi influence. Jarviz Mebezes is on the keyboards, and you will enjoy the harmonies which includes Rajiv Sundaresan, Rishikesh Kamekar, Yashita Sharma, Yashika Sikka, Deepti Rege, Archana Gore, Aditi Prabhudesai, Jitendra Tupe, Umesh Joshi, Janardan Dhatrak and Dattatray Mestri. The live strings add to the grandeur and they are orchestrated an conducted by Jpajisingh Valecha. ID Rao is stunning on the clarinet which adds that element of mystery. Raj Pandit’s vocals are pitch-perfect and the lyrics bring about unity through a respect for all faiths. The Big drum is played by Sulaiman, and Salim plays the Piano. Rushad Mistry handles the bass guitars, The track is mixed and mastered by Aftab Khan, with Vatsal Chevli assisting on mixing.

8. Nathni

The track is a dedication to all the festivities surrounding the girl’s wedding. We have some massive starcast of musicians for this track, with Shravan Shridhar on the Violin, Omkar Dhumal on the Shehnai, and Sanjoy Das on guitars. Dipesh Varma plays a huge role in the track playing the live percussions, rhythms and also arranged and programmed for the track. This is a folk number that gets a massive face-lift. There might be influences of AnandaBhairavi raaga set in Carnatic music. The live instruments are terrific in portrayal and arrangements. The Viioin solo and Shehnai keep intervening with some wonderful basslines. Aishwarya is excellent in her delivery and how she gives those tantalizing vibrato sticks to your mind. The percussions are a crucial segment in the track. Stuti Karani, Mishel Shah ad Lipika Nag are the backing vocalists and the track is mixed and mastered by Tanay Gajjar. There are some influences of maybe Desh Raag and even Pilu during certain segments. The bass guitars are terrific and they constantly provide a funk t this folk. The verse is quite elaborate as well and seems more like a Bollywood melody.

9. Oh Penne

Malayalam Indie music rises and shines bright, and we have had some awesome numbers in 2021, even though the movie music space is vast. Sai Menon writes, composes and performs this beautiful track and he sounds a lot like AR Rahman, and that is a massive compliment. Check out the clarinet which adds such a cool quotient and although the song is pretty straightforward and simple, it does keep you hooked for the duration.

10. Fly

What do you do when you feel low on energy, and just a power boost or kicker? Well just take anything that provides a rush of sugar right! Yes that is what I can compare Dhruv Visvanath’s brand of music to. It is instant gratification and after consistently impressing since 2019, this time it is one more splendid track called “fly� and I recommend that you not just listen but also watch the video which has some interesting and clever stuff going on. So for the video the credits go to Arsh Grewal who has written, produced, directed and animated it. Dhruv does almost everything else for the song, as he writes, composes, performs, produces and mixes the track. We have heard songs where the guitars are just sidekicks and add a nice mellow layer, but here guitar strumming is hard and strong and plays the hero. That’s not taking away any credit from Dhruv’s singing which is of superlative quality as usual. If you listen closely there is some element of the track “Toxic� by Britney Spears. The track is mastered by Keshav Dhar.

11. Udd Chaliyan

Jasleen Royal has been around for a while now, making forays into Bollywood, and there area few songs where her delivery is very apt and suited for the track and this one certainly fits that bill. This track is from the movie ‘Velle’ which has some good music and that track has Shahid Mallya has the male lead vocalist. Aditya Sharma writes the beautiful words. Unlike all the slow tracks, this one is slightly more peppier as a composition by Jasleen herself. The keys are played in the background constantly providing the foundation but Shahid’s singing is phenomenal especially they way he reaches the higher scales almost reminding me of B Praak. Lijin Jolly Alex mixes and Devang Rachh masters the track. The track has some tonal similarities to Swedish singer Emilia’s ‘Big Big World’.

12. Enthoram Naalayi

We have a soothing melody from Malayalam here sung by Unnimaya Nambeesan. The way she sings “elelo elelo� puts your mind to rest like any great lullaby would. Vimal Nazar and Reneesh Basheer are the composers for this movie “Mudi�, and listen to the acoustic guitar and bass guitars, which act like the backbone for the track. Mehd. Maqbool is the lyricist, and Kiran Lal does the mixing and mastering. Again this track proves how simple music with basic instruments and arrangements can tantalize you.

13. Adhuri Kahani

It is time for another Marathi melody, composed by Vishal Sadafule and Samadhan Vartak with lyrics written by Kedar Kotkunde. Acouple of months ago Hrishikesh sang a tamil song, and I couldn’t believe it was a Marathi vocalist who could deliver these words so well. The track has a beautiful piece on the Mohan Veena as the interlude played by Manas Gosavi along with the Tabla played by Shubhankar Kurlekar. The stanza continues melodically with some excellent vocal performance by Hrishkesh. The track is mixed by Samadhan, and the recording engineers for vocals and veena are Abhay Koyadwar, and Omkar Desai records the Tabla.

14. Why Arjan

I heard this whole EP by Arjan Dhillon, but this one track was beautiful and mesmerizing. Arjan has sung, written and composed the track and Harwinder Sidhu has produced it. The singing is very good for sure but that programmed bit of a wind instrument is what really grabs your attention. It is an ideal song that can give you company in solitude and a drink in your hand.

15. Kde – Kde

That is 2 punjabi tracks in a row. Wow listen to this and its gets your foot tapping for sure. The acoustic and bass guitars keep the track really groovy with some essential synth programming as well. The harmonies are also quite nicely arranged. Harvi has written, composed and sung the track. You don’t have to wonder why and how the guitars are splendid, well I could just explain in two words, Shomu Seal. The arrangements and programming is by Harmony, with Gurjinder and Akash working on the mix and master