Top Indian Songs of the week ending 21st February 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 500 tracks released in the week ending 14th & 21st 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. Oo Aadapilla

There are some voices you will travel miles and pay money to hear, and yes to me Ram Miriyila is one of them. His voice has been a huge reason for me liking many of the new Telugu songs, and this one too is an absolute delight. Manonmani’s Sarangi adds a great layer of accompaniment but let us not forget Babu and Maxwell’s Trumpets and Trombones, which make it cool. Jay Krish deserves the credit for creatively bringing the traditional Sarangi and western Horns into the picture. It is not just that, Jay also handles the keyboards synth and rhythm, which are all crucial elements in the composition. The use of beats and then the Mridangam as well work quite effectively. The track is composed, arranged and programmed by Jay with lyrics by Ananta Sriram. The guitars both acoustic and bass definitely make the journey worthwhile and Roshan Sebastian mixes and masters the track. The song in my opinion has traces and influences of Raaga Aarabhi in Carnatic music, and it is a bit more apparent with Ram’s singing style. Jay impresses in converting a classical raaga base into something modern and breezy like this, and he has now got a good string of compositions like “Madhura Wines� and “Raaja Vaaru Raani Gaaru� where I liked the songs.

2. Besabri Anwesshaa is a fabulous singer whose capabilities are well known to any listener who has been following her since her childhood days, but of late she has started showing her potential as a composer as well. I did really enjoy the track “Balcony� she composed and performed more than a year ago, and now she does it again with this track as she also writes the lyrics here. The song has been a huge hit on Youtube, and it is quite justified as well. The highlight is definitely the singing where Anwesshaa and Abhay Jodhpurkar battle it out with their superior vocal abilities where they each do vibrato at lightning speeds. The track is produced by Akshay Menon and mixed and mastered by Kohinoor Mukherjee. I hope I am not wrong, but I did sense elements of Raag Kaapi as it is known in Carnatic, known as Pilu in Hindustani. The Piano is played right through and it along with guitars makes it one very melodious number.

3. Isai After moving away from Masala Coffee the band, both Sooraj Santhosh and the band have been prolific enough with their new releases, and hat is good to see and hear. The song is conceived, composed, arranged and performed by Sooraj and I can assure that this is one difficult number to compose and perform. The Keys and the Kazoo make for a great intro piece When you hear the song, you can sense the notes being very unpredictable and that is why you need to hear it a few times to get a hang of its trajectory and progress. There is definitely some influence of Raag Sindhubairavi in the track. Girishh Gopal pens the lyrics while another excellent Malayalam composer Varkey has also arranged and produced the track. The keys are beautifully arranged, while Sandeep Mohan on guitars and Josy John on bass have a field day in the background. You can also listen to harmonies in the background, which add a very classical texture, and you hear the bass guitars stunningly adorn the background layers. Sayanora is the female vocalist whose singing creates the element of pathos and mystery. Rithu Vysakh plays the Violin and Cello, and Finny Kurian mixes the track, while Idania Valencia masters it.

4. Priyathama Shekar Chandra just appeared a month or so ago on this list and blog with his score for the movie #Bro, for a wonderful song performed by Yazin Nizar and set in Abheri Raaga. This one for a new movie has Sid Sriram enchanting us on vocals, with lyrics once again by Anantha Sriram. Shekar and Samuel excellently play the Keyboards. The stanza is devoid of any rhythm percussions, as it opens up, and this tranquility mixes well with the rest of the track which has some energetic rhythms by Shekar. The song reminds me a famous Harris Jayaraj number “Azhagiya Theeye� from the movie ‘Minnale’ sung by Harish Raghavendra. Sandilya Pisapati waves his usual magic in the interlude on the solo violin, and his fiddling appears even in the stanza at the perfect junctures. Prateek Naganatham is on the guitars and he fills is aptly when needed and Raam Gandikota has mixed and mastered the track.

5. All Divine Very few people in India, really appreciate Hip-Hop and rap music, and even fewer can actually create enticing music in that style. Many stars in Bollywood and indie space sing rap with horrible lyrics and absolute no creative style or substance. Brodha V knocks it out of the park with this amazing number. This song is very personal to him and you can feel inspired by the English lyrics written by himself and the words in Malayalam penned by fellow singer-songwriter Benny Dayal. The song also features international icon Steven Knight from the group ‘Flipsyde’ and the Violin is another deal-breaker for this track thanks to Aditya MP who plays it like divine intervention. The introduction of the Malayalam lines is also gold and it sounds a lot like Raag Karaharapriya or Reethigowla to me. After ‘Neeye Oli’ last year by Santhosh Narayanan and Shan Vincent De Paul, this track has once again re-ignited that love for Hip-Hop. Akash Shivakumar has both mixed the track with Brodha and he has also recorded the track. Chris Gehringer has mastered the track.

6. Manasantha Jen Martin and Sathya Narayanan are two budding musicians and they do more than well with their indie releases in many of the south Indian languages, and I have reviewed and featured them as well. This one too is extremely catchy with some splendid live instrumentals especially Trumpets and Trombones played by Martin Vijay. This is in-fact the highlight of the track and Jen must be applauded for all his arrangements and composition as well. Anurag Kulkarni is the lead vocalist and he sings it without breaking a sweat with some support from Jen on additional vocals. The Trumpets and Trombones keep playing in the background layers and they keep your interest levels from dropping at any instance. The song has some excellent programming as well and you can make that out in the interlude, which has an elaborate arrangement of Violin sounds, and this is all the work of Pranesh S. Sathya Narayanan and Kalyan M are the music advisors, and Haresh Harsh plays the role of creative consultant, with Hari Shankar mixing and mastering the track. The stanza continues to titillate the ears just like the opening lines with Vijay on acoustic guitars and words by Bhaskarbhatla. The song ends with some excellent improvisation on vocals by Anurag and the horns section.

7. Drift along & Seeing faces I came across Keshav Iyengar more than a year ago when he worked with Finix Ramdas the violinist in this mind-blowing track called “The great escape�. After following him and writing reviews and featuring him previously, we have him in an all new EP called “Seeing faces�, where I enjoyed 2 tracks viz. ‘Drift along’, and ‘Seeing faces’. Listening to him sing with the guitars sounds like a bit of Eric Clapton himself, and each of the 3 numbers offer something different and engaging. Jeson Marion Jose Filip plays the Keys while Keshav composes, produces, sings and plays the guitars on all the tracks. Drift along is simple with exquisite strumming. The title track is another excellent number with absolutely cool bass-lines and Keys, but the high point is the classical Hindi vocals by Nagesh Adgaonkar and how the two extreme ends of the musical spectrum conjoin seamlessly.

8. Waisa Hi Tha He calls himself a bad banker, but he definitely is a very good musician, according to me. Many months ago I reviewed and featured Aditya Kambhampati’s single ‘Lalten’ and I loved it, this time the song is got a tinge of pathos to it, but it still score pretty well for me. The track is composed, produces, arranged, and performed brilliantly by Aditya, with lyrics by Aditya Karhadkar. The Viola or strings are programmed I think and they keep playing in the background creating all this tension and mystery. The guitars are like the backbone of the song with portions in the interlude. The song offers great scope for singing as well as Aditya moves across the vocal scales and he is ably supported by some excellently arranged harmonies. Saurabh Kajarekar mixes and masters the track.

9. Vannu Pokum We know of their acting prowess over the years of watching Malayalam Cinema but to hear them singing musical notes so well comes as a real surprise. Mohan Lal and Prithviraj deliver their vocals with a lot of confidence and honesty and Deepak Dev, the composer, must be lauded for his faith in these actors to perform the song. Deepak plays almost a single-handed role in the output of this number as he composes, arranges, produces, records, engineers and mixes the track. He also delivers the backing vocals along with Evugin. Over the the last couple of years when I hear songs dominated by the Ukulele, they generally end up being very simple without any creativity, however this one surprises. The backing vocalists play a solid role in adding elements that uplift the quality the song. Vinod Varma plays the guitars and Ukulele, and while singing Prithvi shows that he is more comfortable with his Vibrato as well. The song doesn’t have a formal structure of pallavi and charanam, but that does not take away anything from its overall tune and likability. Madhu Vasudevan is the lyricist and Donal Whelan masters the track.

10. Ek Mutho Icchera Akash Bhattacharya writes, composes and sings this sweet melody that is such a breath of fresh air, especially if you are someone who follows and listens to Bangla music. There is a tendency to sound very classical when it comes to music from this region but Akash creates a number that can be appreciated by the younger lot of music lovers as well. He is also the produces and plays the guitar along with his vocal performance in an very delightful fashion. The mixing and mastering is by another very accomplished musician Rupak Tiary who has been featured multiple times on my list and blog. Listen to an excellent interlude by Akash on the guitar as he excels at improvising along the way and the notes traverse into some classical touches. The stanza is well written and we have some backing vocals, and strings all beefing up the track.

11. Pride & Joy Soham Pathak a.k.a. Yush! A few months ago was featured and reviewed with his awesome track called “Indian Summer� and his style of music falls under the genre of electronic pop, which is not very complex, and sticks to a relatively shorter duration. The song’s rhythm and tune makes up with any other shortcomings if at all. Yush! And Rahul Kannan produce the track with the latter mixing and mastering, while former writing, composing and performing. The synths and keyboards are effective and keep the cool quotient up, and I am impressed with the humming portions as well.

12. Khwaab I used to think that covers of songs/originals were not of great value. I am wrong for two reasons, viz. 1. A singer or producer can add layers of creativity that can at times sounds better than the original as well and 2. The artist showcases the talent and at the same time, imitation is the best form of compliment to an original. Anumita Nadesan is one such star who rose to fame with her cover of AR Rahman’s song from Jodha Akbar, but when I hear her original I understand why the internet world loved her. There cannot be any greater validation when two stalwarts Rajan Batra and Himonshu Parikh (of TYD) get involved in writing and production respectively. The way the song transforms from the lines “Har zubaan mein naam mere� says a lot about the message of this track as well, as Anumita fantasizes a future of stardom and how every artists would dream of that day. It is somewhere here that I sense some influence of Raag Hamsadhwani. Shikhar’s guitars are resplendent here and Hanish Taneja does a fine job on mixing and mastering.

13. Story to tell The reason I keep expanding my musical coverage is so that no genuine talent misses out on a feature. Its is not only Indians inside this geographical boundary that I focus on, but a Panvi Podder living in Ireland also deserves an audience and appreciation for her work. This is het debut single, but sure doesn’t feel like it as she shows the skills of a seasoned campaigner in writing, composing and performance as well. The song talks about marriages and how a couple needs to reinvent to keep the bond growing stronger. Panvi’s singing is fraught with minute elements of vibrato and her technique and stability in delivering the vocals irrespective of the scale is well on display. The Piano by Archit Anand is like a companion that will never leave your sight, enhancing the songs class and substance. Ananda Dhar James is on the bass guitars and acoustic guitars and he also has produced, mixed and mastered the track and certainly played a part in the songs impeccable outcome. Piya Podder, Archit and Agransh Anand sing the harmonies to great effect and that keeps playing in your head. Panvi’s freewheel styled singing in the outro section is a stupendous effort. The song’s video credits go to Pooja Sreenivasan.

14. Chal Chal Chalo Hema Chandra Vedala is zany, absolutely on fire singing this track with loads of energy, exuberance and elan. Anudeep Dev is the composer, and he mixes some classical Carnatic with electronic pop and modern sounds , and that too with finesse. Sandilya is the go to man for violins in Tollywood and he creates a piece here mostly set in Raag Bhairavi in Carnatic music in the interlude, and Hema Chandra does a short and savvy aalap to go along with it. Arun Chiluveru strums the guitars, and they are all on fire as the stanza comes to end, you will be tempted to shake your body and move your feet. Pramod plays the flute and all the programming is handled by Bharath Madhusudhan. Abin Paul has mixed and mastered the track with lyrics by Simhachalam Mannela

15. Kahin Mat Janna There is no better feeling as a music reviewer than coming across a fresh name and you get blown away by his/her work. Sudeep Swaroop is the composer for this new album Side A/Side B and the very first song itself was a humdinger. The track has one more hero and that is the performer called Rahul Rajkhowa and it is right smack in the middle rock-n-roll music, something we only are accustomed to from the US back in the 1960s and 70s. Raja Sen and Sudhish Kamat are the writers for this track with recording engineers Rohit Singh Bhau and Sudeep Sinha. The drums and Keys with the trumpets completely bamboozle you and it is only matched by Rahul’s startling vocals. The electric guitars are another indispensable element and you can hear the solo being played I the background, so I suggest you wear some good earphones to enjoy the magic happening in the deeper layers.