Top Indian Songs of the week - 7th Feb 2022

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 350 tracks released in the week ending 7th February 2022, 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.

1. Gaye Mausam

I listened to this song a while back, and I straight away out in one my folders to be reviewed later, as I knew this was good enough to be a chart topper in any week/month. Somehow due to an error a few days later as I was getting ready to write my reviews I was stunned because I knew this song was missing from that list. Yet my retention and the songs quality were both so high that I knew I was missing out on a super song. Thankfully when I read the name of the artist and the song my memory helped me recall this song on a spotify playlist. Otherwise I would have missed reviewing this song forever and that would have been criminal. Here previous single called “Saiyyan Bina� was splendid and here she does one up on that. Avanti Patel composes, arranged and performs in this superlative track that makes your love for music grow multi-fold. Zaee Manerkar plays the Piano and completely handles the string section, and you can hear the viola by Shruti Bhave fiddling you into submission right from the very beginning. Akshay Jadhav makes it two weeks in a row as he mildly plays the Tabla. The female harmony which has Avanti herself, is a beautiful layer and it is existent through the track, which shows the creative composition and arrangement skills of Avanti. I could sense some similarity to the Sindhubhairavi Carnatic Raag and hence there must be some influence of the Asavari that. The interlude has the Viola, Keys and humming all beautifully set up to open up into the Antara where Avanti does some excellent aalap without ever overdoing it. The bass guitars keep playing faintly and Rahul Deo lets his strings do the talking on the acoustic guitars and bass. The second interlude involves a string section in the background as the tempo also slowly heightens and the second verse has the Tabla absent for a brief while where the acoustic guitar shows up more prominently. Ayan De does the mastering and Rishi Bradoo is also the sound engineer. The track is a wonderful modern Ghazal and it keeps you wanting to play this on loop more than a few times. Parveen Shakir writes the lyrics and Vivek Chaturvedi directs the lyrical video.

2. Dil ka Gehna

You come across so many songs these days and just a poster and title can sometimes make you judge before even listening. I almost did that mistake here, but as I heard this I was pleasantly surprised. That is why I listen to every song I can lay my ears and eyes on without prejudice or any preconceived notions. Then when I saw the composer’s name I was even more convinced, it was Rajat Nagpal whose prior songs I have come to like, especially “Dil ko karaar aaya�. One more interesting observation is that this song uses the Mridangam as the percussion medium, it is a south Indian classical instrument. Since the 1950s itself more than countless songs in Tamil movies have used the Tabla, yet why is it so rare to hear a Mrindangam in Bollywood. Well this is a topic of debate for another time, but I am just glad about the arrangements. Rajat composes, produced and programs the track with the scintillating voice of Yasser Desai who grabs the opportunity with both hands. The guitars are solid and show a touch of class thanks to Rhythm Shaw but you know the Strings truly steal the show thanks to Anna Rakita who is part of the quartet and she also arranges it. Rahul Sharma with Samir Dharap assisting records the guitars. The strings don’t perish even for a second and the sound of the quarter against the backdrop of the Mridangam is just treasure to the ears. Rana Sotal is the lyricist, with mixing by Rajat and Rahul Sharma, mastering by Naweed and sound engineering by Dmitriy Zaytsev

It is nice to see Sooraj Santhosh sing more, and he does these vocal performances for his own compositions and other as well. This song strikes you at the right points of your heart the very moment the female voice begins. The song is from an upcoming film called ‘Sabaash Chandrabose’, with the musical scores by Sreenath Sivasankaran. The way these lines are sung, reminds me of hat famous song called “Manamagale Manamagale� by Ilaiyaraja composed for the movie ‘Thevar Magan’. I could be wrong, but maybe that is why there is some Suddha Saveri influence here. Sooraj hums his way into the song and you know what he is about to deliver. I think the flute that accompanied the female vocals was excellent in notes, execution and arrangements. The guitars along with the percussion are extremely folkish and soothing. Sreenath Sivasankaran is someone I haven’t heard before and he already created a massive expectation for his future projects. As we movie into the verse I am reminded of “Bridavanamum Nandakumaranum� sung by AM Raja and P.Sushela from the movie ‘Missiamma’, and now I’m positive it is set in Raag Suddha Saveri. However when I discussed about this with Sreenath, he believes there is a stronger influence of Aarabhi Raag in it. VC Abhilash is the lyricist and the track is mixed and mastered by Abin Pushpakaran. The track has some subtle Keys and Ukulele as well added to the mix. Haritha Balakrishnan is the female vocalist who fills in all the gaps quite well, and she does a savvy job with the limited opportunity in the track. 

4. Kaise main kahoo

Geetesh Iyer probably was a household name back in the day after his ravishing performances in the Indian Idol contest, and he then moved to a fancy job in the Bay area. Stand up and give your appreciation for the way he still keeps himself deeply connected to music and comes up with these worthy numbers from time to time. I have already featured him before and this is his best yet according to me. The style is probably a modern take on a Ghazal and it is probably classified as Lo-fi Ghazal to be precise. Geetesh writes, composes and sings this and maybe the purists will complain, but I find this as evidence of creativity. The singing is spotless with his mild vibrato and teasing ones in between, but the Keys are a great addition to this track along with the beats. Nirmit Shah mixes, masters and produces the track and he’s been doing pretty well with Ananya’s “State of the art� and Yohan Marshalls “Act like� both of which have been reviewed by me. Geetesh goes beyond than just fusing Lofi and Ghazal, he also gets English rap sort of a segment and when the swaras are floated around I sensed some Hamsadhwani. Apparently it is his favorite raaga, and he named his daughter after it, Dhwani. Deepakshi Aggarwal does the animation for the video. 

5. Bheega Bheega

I released a post on Instagram a few days ago appreciating the music composers of Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein and specifically mentioned Bheega Bheega and Monk Theme as favourites from the album. The composers are new age musicians Shivam Sengupta and Anuj Danait and Anuj himself sings this tranquil track. The violins and guitars are out-of-this-world good and Anuj has a certain element of simplicity and honesty in his voice, which is what keeps this track grounded yet soaring at the same time. Look at the Keys and mild humming in the background and you are sure to fall in love with the track. The choice of percussion and the way they alternate and improvise on the beats is something very interesting. Yadnesh Raikar will rock you to sleep with his sleight of hand on the solo violin, just wait for the end of the track. This is accompanied by the Ghatam on the percussion creating almost a Carnatic texture. Simone Scazzocchio is the mixing engineer and Jett Galindo masters it.

6. Sajni

The Yellow Diary is becoming like the big book of good music these days. I have always enjoyed their brand of music and singing especially by Rajan Batra. Rajan and TYD just created a fabulous track couple of weeks ago called ‘Udaan’ which was featured and reviewed here and now this slow-burn killer of a track. The lyrics are written by Rajan himself, we have some Kosher Keys played in the track by Himonshu Parikh who has also produced the track and provided backing vocals. The opening half is all about the mild tempo, Rajan’s singing and strong presence of the Piano. The notes are creatively written and not something that u can sing along and predict what is about to come. Sahil Shah slowly makes his presence felt with the drums and we have Vaibhav Pani the producer/guitarist on electric guitars accompanied by Stuart Da Costa on bass guitar. The last 1-minute is a super fun ride tat will take your vehicle at breakneck speed right to the edge of the cliff with rock-styled drums and guitars. Sid Sirodkar has mixed and mastered the track with Abhishek Khandelwal and Dilip Nair on recording.

7. Bandish Blues & Run

I only know him as the drummer, who almost stamps this presence in every song composed and produced by Salim-Sulaiman, but he is also part of a band called The Darshan Doshi Trio. When I came across this album by the trio I found to be exhilarating, as I anyway love pure instrumental pieces, and so this is a gift to anyone who enjoys the dominance of these masters performing live during a tour. Darshan plays the drums, Rhythm Shaw is on the guitars and Avishek Dey is the bassist and when you hear 5 of the 7 tracks you live and feel the absolute freedom with which Rhythm Shaw freestyles and improvises without any shackles. Darshan binds the 3 together and the energy and adrenaline oozes in all directions providing terrific rhythm and percussion to the proceedings. Avishek underlines the prowess of the bass guitars as his strumming is like the soul of EP, calm, consistent and celebratory. I specifically loved 3 tracks viz. “Night in Tunisia�, “Bandish Blues� and “Run�. For this week’s top songs in India, I have picked the latter 2, as in “Bandish Blues� Varijashree Venugopal performs with scintillating precision and passion. The song is set mostly in Raag Jog and she feels much at home literally in Bangalore with her aalaps sometimes making you shake your head in total approval and appreciation wishing you were in the crowd. Rhythm sizzles on the electric guitar and Avishek is a close accomplice if playing such killer guitars was a crime. Darshan alternates the tempo as and when needed and this track is proof that even classical Indian music can be presented in a different style to suit audience tastes.

‘Run’ is Vasundhara Vee’s composition and I have already featured and reviewed it in this space many months ago and here it is Jazz fusion at its prime performed live in Delhi. The percussion straightaway sounds much different to “Bandish Blues� and The Darshan Doshi Trio offer evidence of their versatility working with various vocalists and performers. Vasundhara is simply setting the stage on fire singing in a tongue-twisting fashion, which is difficult to even fathom let alone perform. I get the image of an Aretha Franklyn when I hear Vasundhara and she makes Indians proud. All the tracks in the album are Mixed & Mastered by Abhishek Ghatak 

8. Khatm Khali Raatein

Pune must be like the breeding ground for some of India’s most talented musicians, just like the North East and Kerala have been for a long time now. Old Highway is a 4-member band hailing from this city are soon releasing their album called “Ziist�. And this is their first single and does it even sound like a debut single? Absolutely NOT. Juliee Sakhare who first founded this band is the vocalist and Pianist and she raises the bar with her vocals. She exhibits a wide vocal range and is ably aided on the electric guitar by Amit Bhatia. The two make a lot of improvisation, which is extremely riveting and effective. Let us not forget the drummer Jeet Sharma who picks his own moments to shine and shy away as well like in the mid-segment when there is a brief lull with only Juliee’s singing audible. It all on gathers steam back again as the song gets back to full swing with Amit on electric guitars and Sidd Sharma on bass guitars sizzle in this guitar tete-a-tete. The track is mixed by Nitin Muralikrishna, mastered by Ronak Runwal and recorded by Rohit Shrivastav, Samarth Kale and Akshay Raut.

9. O Re Jiya

Maati Baani is oen of my favorite bands in India for sure, as this duo has impressed me on more than a couple of occasions with their singles. I loved ‘Garje’ and featured and reviewed it here because their style, purpose and execution is one of a kind. The duo comprising of Nirali Kartik and Kartik Shah use their musical potential and talents to bring this world together through that same medium. When we collaborate, we tend to coagulate As one inseparable binding force.Maati Baani does exactly that by getting some global musicians on board in their musical pieces and now they are on a journey to experiment with Folklore, where they will be releasing 3 singles and Anubha Bhat is the Project Manager. The first one is like a grand opening and one can only assume things to get even better as the other singles release. O Re Jiya is many of India’s own musical styles connecting with each other and also adopting some of the western influences like Rap as well. Shruti Nayak is the lyricist for this original composition by the duo. Nirali is the one who is profusely talented and she renders her Hindustani vocals here while Kartik Shah plays the guitars and Keys. The track starts off with some stunning Konnakol by Somashekhar Jois and just bass guitars by Paata Chakaberia. The clap sounds are the rhythm providers and you now in the first 15 seconds what kind of a joy ride this is going to be. Amit Mishra is the expert percussionist in te track who also plays the Tabla later on.  I have heard many Jugalbandis before in Classical music, but never one before with the Konnakol and bass guitar, Kudos to Maati Baani and team. We have Varun Mishra and Nikita Deshpande on the chorus and Shankar Tucker engages us on the clarinet in a cool breezy fashion and these are not regular instruments we hear in the classical style.replacing something like the Nadaswaram. When I hear this union of musicians I sense that this is set in Raag Bhimpalasi. SIRI intervenes with her Kannada Rap and she just elevates the track with some style and chutzpah, I can only say OK SIRI well done! The track is produced and arranged by Kartik Shah while it is mixed by Francisco Nicholson and Mastered by Xavier Collado. 

10. Tanhaapan

Fresh music always enthralls me, and isn’t that why I am in the business of music reviewing? Aint’ it even sweeter when a new artist, at least to my knowledge, comes along and immediately sweeps you off your feet with his/her music. Dhruv Kapadia writes, composes and sings this beauty as I am playing this multiple times till it completely enters my system. The song has some excellent Keys that provide the fillip to Dhruv’s vocals, and Gaurav Kapadia’s hi-hat drums are like the mild salt to perfect the recipe. The Pianos are brilliant and I get a feeling like I am listening to “Believe� by Elton John. The guitarists too are on a roll here with Jeet Pathak on bass, Mayank Kapadia on lead guitar, and Nandish Chorawala on acoustic guitar. Nandish digresses into a solo act in the middle reminding me of that piece in “Hotel California�. The humming bits are effective as well with Mihir Bagdawala on backing vocals and he has also recorded the track. The track is mixed by Gaurav and Mihir with mastering by Anurag Singh. The verse has some interesting segments and notes and I love the Harmonica followed by a electric guitar solo 

11. Jaiho Anthem

Many songs get released on special days like the Republic Day, but very few make an impact. Most of the songs are redundant and sound more jingoistic rather than inspirational. This one impressed me as Suresh Bobbili I a talented composer in Telugu movies and this one is a single from the album called “Jai Ho Indians�. Yazin Nizar is at his best in such songs which demand much more vocally, than a soft tender song. Here he sings in such a high scale and he hardly strains a muscle. Suresh Bobbili has a good mix of live instruments and programming to keep the listener interested and engaged through the track. Balu does the programming and Malya Kandukuri is the co-ordinator. At the interlude after a charged up Pallavi and Anupallavi we get a more pacified interlude with Sandilya Pisapati on the violin solo. There are some catchy rhythms and the tune here at least reminds me of Raag Hamsadhwani. Anil Robbin and Chiranjeevi M handle the rhythms and Kasarla Shyam is the lyricist. The charanam is like a ride in itself with a slow start helped by Keys and it moves into a zone of aggression with stronger rhythms. Yazin’s singing beautifully explores the falsetto mode a few times and this is when the song exhibits rock-style tendencies with Subhani on Guitars. We have Ramachandra Murthy on the flute and finally this song is as much Yazin’s as it is Suresh’s.

12. Kapaas

This is Aseem Sharma’s second single from the album “Kapaas�, and I did already love, feature and review the earlier single called “Jugnu�. This one is a beautiful Ghazal styled melody that is more eye-catching than the morning dew. Assem writes, sings and composes this song which to a great extent reminds me of “Zindagi maut na ban jaye� song from ‘Sarfarosh’, just that this one is gentler and slower in tempo. Gurpreet Singh’s Tabla and Adnan Ali Khan’s flute are two vital cogs in this wheel of music with Adnan really delivering a masterclass. The track is produced, mixed and mastered by Udit Saxena who himself is an excellent singer/songwriter. Upon hearing more of this and comparing with some great numbers from many geniuses in India like “Bada Natkat� by RD Barman, and “Pazhamuthir cholai� by Ilaiyaraja I sense Raag Khamaaj, and when I had a word with Aseem he believes this is more a derivative of the Khamaaj Thaat. Kashay Sharma is the guitarist whose strokes add a western flavor to this classical core.

13. A game for two

Shrea Suresh a.k.a. Shrae sent me her song which was her debut single. I am always keen to listen to any new music and God was I elated when I heard “A game for two�. She is about to release a new EP and one cannot wait for the whole package. Shrae writes, composes and sings this experimental Jazz track and it just emanated from a tune that apparently was playing in her head one fine day. She gets some sloid support in the form of Raag Sethi and Compass Box Studios wit Raag producing and playing the guitars and basslines as well. Don’t they just know to produce the best music? Shrae’s singing is that of a seasoned professional and the delivery is reflecting her complete confidence in the song. Nayan Kapadiya’s Keys and Raag’s bass guitars are like two more solid layers hiding behind the fabulous vocals of Shrae. Shivang Kapadia is on the drums and this gently helps the track move along, even as layers of harmony and a nice solo on the electric guitar by Raag intervene the scene. Sshe sings “tell me what you need from me�, I can only say that we want to hear more of her and nothing else. Harmish Joshi plays a mild interlude on the saxophone and flute and after a brief phase of scat-singing, we have a pitch alteration and the whole team doesn’t put one wrong foot forward in this track. Protyoy Chakraborty has mixed and mastered the track.

14. Little deer

They call themselves “Khoya Firdaus� and when I talked to Atharv Shukla and Pritpal Sudan who are the band members, they tell me they were originally named “Firdaus� meaning Paradise in Urdu. Then maybe from an inspiration from “Paradise Lost� by John Milton, they started calling themselves “Khoya Firdaus�, meaning Lost Paradise. The songwriting, production, mixing and mastering credits belong both to Atharv and Pritpal.  The singing is phenomenal here by Atharv as every note I hear I feel drawn in like a rat to the pied-piper, with solid guitars by Pritpal. Listen to the strings and arrangements in the background and your heart will blossom with love and positivity. The programming and production deserve a huge applause. As things slow down, we also hear a gentle solo on violin and ever arrangement is unique and flawless in my opinion. I have been a huge fan of “The Western Ghats� and this duo just like that band is beginning to create a brand of music that is wholesome, rich and creative.

 15. Raathire

When you try hard and barely get an opportunity to show case your talents, you quit your firm and become an entrepreneur as long you have the idea, desire and determination to succeed. This applies to a musician who is waiting for the big break, but ultimately you can go it alone, that is the life of an indie musician. Damini Bhatla has had her brush with playback singing, but she takes the plunge yet again after a good attempt at a Telugu track back in January 2021. I was critical then and gave her my feedback, but this one which means “Twilight� is as pure and beautiful as that time of the day itself. Navneeth Krishnan produces, mixes and masters the track which tilts towards being an experimental fusion of pop and Jazz. The soft and tender vocals mildly traverse over the surface of strumming guitars and drums. The harmonies are layered and well arranged, and then Damini opens up into the higher scales and I loved the notes in different ends of the octave. The writing is by Damini and Kittu Vissapragada who is a renowned lyricist in the Telugu industry. The video is directed by Shruthi Sharanyam with DOP as Amosh Pulthiyattil. I am reminded of “hey Goodbye Nanba� in Tamil or “Hey good bye Priya� by AR Rahman, just based on the style of singing and tone of the song.