Here are the best Indian songs of last week. There is some terrific debut by some musicians, especially check out the top ranking track sung by Shankar Mahadevan.  A few songs in this list are from the last month of 2022. 1. Meri Khushiyon KaMusic Composer: Sathish Nair Arranged & Programmed by: Vijayan Vincent Lyrics: Rashmi ViragLanguage: HindiGenre: Filmy MelodyI was puzzled when I heard this song in Hindi, wondering how and when did Bollywood start making such good songs. I was almost certain that this a south Indian song and I turned out to be right. The song is from a movie called "Regina" which is being made in Tamil and dubbed in other languages. Nowadays the trend is to release music in multiple languages with various singers. I loved the Shankar Mahadevan version in Hindi to Sid Sriram's versions in Tamil and Telugu for the simple reason that Shankar is a far superior vocalist. In-fact the song sounded very much like a Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy melody that the trio were experts in back in the 2000s. It is his outstanding voice that drags you deeper into the song but never you forget to pay attention to the plethora of background instrumentals. Sathish Nair makes a lasting impression as the composer, and his aide Vijayan Vincent must be equally appreciated for the arrangements and programming because this song is elevated thanks to its arrangements of the Strings section. Balaji & Team plays the Strings with Cynthia on the Solo Violin, Viji on the Cello, Selvaraj on the Double Bass. The way Shankar sings "Sach kehta hoon, meri duniya hai tu" and it feels like listening to that great song "Maa" from 'Taare Zameen Par'. I can hear the brilliant woodwinds in the background as well in the anupallavi section. Bruce Lee Mani plays the acoustic guitar and Alaap Raju is the bassist. The Solo Violin catches your attention in the interlude reminding us of songs like "Poove Sempoove" by Maestro Ilaiyaraja. It is closely supported by acoustic and bass guitars. Vijayan and Sathish handle the Keys and Rhythm programming. The lines "raat bhar jag ke" clearly sounds like the lines "kadhal devadhaiye" from the song 'Germaniyin Senthaen Malare" by Ilaiyaraja. Senthil Prasath is the recording engineer and Hari Shankar has mixed and mastered the track. Let us not forget to applaud Rashmi Virag for the brilliant words. @msathishnair @vincent_vijayan @shankar.mahadevan2. DardArtist: Asim Azhar  Music Composer: Kumail Abbas, Hassan Ali, Asim Azhar, Qasim AzharLyrics: Kunaal Vermaa Music Producer: Qasim Azhar Language: HindiGenre: Indie popThe song immediately impressed in a jiffy it started with a pretty mundane line, and then the next line that follows stuns you. Azim Azhar is a vocalist, who goes solo on vocals but the melody is composed by Kumail Abbas, Hassan Ali, Asim and Qasim Azhar. The opening lines tell you the whole story in a nutshell and that is the prowess of lyricist Kunaal Vermaa. "Bhale roz rulaana, hasaa bhi de naa". The best line that transforms into something brilliant is" sau dafa rootho toh ek bar mana bhi lena", it gets a kicker from Asim's throbbing vocals, lead abd bass guitar notes in the background and those interesting rhythms. Dilawar Hussain plays the guitars and a big round of applause to Qasim for his outstanding production. There are additional vocals in the background too and it is just cool and catchy as a whole package. The track is mixed by Chris “TEK” O Ryan and mastered by Joe Bozzi. I love how all the frills come to a pause in the stanza and it is just the guitars and the vocals that glide through. The delivery here in the first set of lines is with a classical flavour and immediately the notes shift into something modern with a pop twist in the line "kya zyaada maangte hai".@asimazhar @kunaalvermaa @qasimazharofficial 3. Raat (2022)Sung, composed & written: Shrinidhi Ghatate Music Production: Rhythm Shaw Language: HindiGenre: Indie PopShrinidhi Ghatate is upping the ante now and after a phenomenal English single called "Wildflower" two weeks ago now it's a Hindi track. The versatility of Shrinidhi is on full display here and she so easily shifts the style of delivery from coolness to caution. Rhythm Shah plays the guitars and produces this track. Shrinidhi has written, composed and performed this track with such fine elegance. The keyboard programming and vocal harmonies stand out and the line that sticks to my mind is "madhoshiyan, khamosiyaan sama hai raat ka". The lead guitar solo just past the 2nd minute creates a very different tone in the interlude and from there on, even the stanza sounds different from the opening and title lines. Pankaj Borah does the mixing and mastering. The label is Ahaibam Records. @rhythm_shaw @pankajborahb @dusshbag @ahaibam_records @shrinidhighatate4. Fool Artist: Emmanuel de Noronha Lyrics: Emmanuel de Noronha Producer: Emmanuel de NoronhaThis 21-year old multi-instrumentalist and producer from Goa goes solo on this one and comes out a winner in all aspects. Emmanuel de Noronha has written, composed, produced and sung this endearing single called 'Fool" and from the very first notes on the Piano, you are bound to fall in love with one. Soon enough, the brilliant backing vocals and humming join in along with some terrific synths. The drums are a great introduction when Emmanuel sings " I was only good until I let you go". The song feels like listening to Rick Astley and some of his great singles like "Never gonna give you up". The bridge section came as a good surprise and I loved how the pitch of the song shifted gradually through the bridge section rather than being abrupt. @emmanueldenoronha5. Enlightened! Written, Recorded Produced by Rounak Maiti Language: EnglishGenre: Synth-popThis Bengali boy from Mumbai moved to Los Angeles for his education and has been around since 2011 this multi-instrumentalist impresses massively with this new single. The track is written, composed, produced and performed by ROunak Maiti. The song represents all the brilliant synth-pop music I grew up listening to in the 1990s. It felt a lot like "Take my breath away" by 'Berlin'. I love the writing as Rounak sings "Bring me an empty canvas, so I can recreate the space between your eyes". The notes deviate nicely into something more unexpected with the lines " Another reason to hot the killswitch again". The track is mixed by Sanjay Das and mastered by Matt Jeffries. The label is Pagal Haina Records. @rounakmaiti 6. Jhoom Le Tu (2022)

Here are the best of Indian music for the week ending 8th January 2023. Out of these 11 songs only 2 were released in 2023 , while the remaining were released late in December 2022. 1. Muttathe MullaSinger: K S CHITHRAMusic: by 4 MUSICS Lyrics: B K HARINARAYANANProgrammer: NIHIL JIMMYLanguage: MalayalamGenre: Filmi Melody4-Musics have been creating songs in Malayalam mostly and sometimes in Tamil and they do a wonderful job in creating untarnished melodies rich with live instrumental activity. I have featured them before but this one is probably their best yet. It is sung by the evergreen Diva KS Chitra, and it is almost beyond belief to hear her sing even today with this kind of vocal stability, control and impact. The group 4-Musics from Kochi has members Biby Mathew, Jim Jacob, Eldhose Alias and Justin James. The song has such a beautiful Pallavi and Anupallavi section with Chitra at the peak of her powers. It is set probably in Hamsadwani Ragam and the flute by Rajesh Chertala and acoustic and bass guitars vt Sumesh Parameswar decorate the track with great fervour. The way the Tabla starts off reminds me a some of Ilaiyaraja's greatest works and we have Anand and Boby Mathew playing the Tabla. The interlude has Cochin Strings in total domination mode, and with a few more Flute interventions, the song moves into a delightful stanza. It is such a rich melody that probably will end up being one of the best Malayalam releases of 2022. The strings and flute play cat and mouse in the second interlude. Balu Thankachan is the mix and master engineer, with Shekhar, Adhurv Babu as recording engineer @the4musics @kschitra @rajeshcherthala @thebaluthankachan @nihiljimmy_2. Zariya Tu Performed by RomyWritten by Romy, Sufi KhanLanguage: HindiGenre: Romantic BalladI did feature a song already called 'Maang Loon' a couple of weeks ago but did claim that the EP 'Zariya' has even better songs. So here it is, with a brilliant romantic ballad called 'Zariya Tu'. It is written by Romy and Sufi Khan with vocals by Romy. The sound of the acoustic guitars, bass, the string section in the background and the thumping rhythms all keep you incredibly glued to the proceedings. One more thing that works in favour of Romy is the amazing vocal harmonies arranged to perfection. I have a feeling there is a great influence of Raag Pilu (Kaapi Ragam in Carnatic). The song with some reverberating strings. I also love "Naina Pech Ladaayen by Romy and Simran Choudhary in the same EP and it has a sort of Latin Jazz feel to it, a groovy number that will make you want to dance. Finally, the slow sizzling melody called "Tu Mera Banja" sung by Vivek Hariharan and Madhubanti Bagchi is like an ode to AR Rahman's Bollywood music of the 2000s. Some amazing rhythms and keyboard programming along with fabulous singing intertwined with a melodious stanza make it a wonderful track.  @mainhoonromy @vivekhariharan @bagchi_mb @thisissimran_ @philosufi167 3. Mon Re Krishikaj Janona Lyrics & Music: Ramprasad SenMusic Arrangement: Joy SarkarSinger - Arijit SinghLanguage: BanglaGenre: BalladIt has been a while since we heard some good music in Bangla and finally it takes Joy Sarkar and Arijit Singh to get there. The song is composed and written by Ramprasad Sen a saint and poet who lived in the 13th century. Joy Sarkar the composer and producer, handles all the arrangements for the song and he also plays the Saz and Guitalele. The wonderful brass and strings section can be heard in the background and it can be credited to Souptik Mazumder and Achin Sarkar who have programmed. Arijit's vocals touch your heart unlike many of the Bollywood songs, where he goes about singing like a man with no heart, and maybe the bad compositions in Bollywood are to blame for that. Bubai Nandy plays the flute and Goutam Basu is the recording, mixing and mastering engineer. The Piano keeps the song grounded in its stated intent of being a slow and sombre song. It sounds very much like a Rabindra Sangeet owing to its slow tempo and structure. Ramprasad Sen is someone who brilliantly combined the Baul and Kirtan styles in his compositions. Sukanto Singha, Anirban Sinha Chowdhury and Joy all have taken up recording duties in the track. Arijit does remarkably well in transmitting the pain of the protagonist. I also am intrigued to listen to the Shreya Ghoshal version now.   @joythejoyous @arijitsingh @bubaibansuri 4. Fool's GoldPerformed by ruhdabehWritten by ruhdabehLanguage: EnglishGenre: R&BThis is the second successive EP that Ruhdabeh has released in a really short time and I did feature one single back in the earlier collective and in the latest called "about hue" I loved 'fools gold'. Tanay Purlekar is the producer, and Ruhdabeh has written, composed and sung this with such elan. Deivat Tapodhan is the man on the Piano that just feels like magic. She sings with such honesty and is filled with real emotion and the Piano aids in every note being delivered. The most favourite line that shines in the composition is " I realised, I can't even look her in the eye" and the notes drop towards the words in the end in the most unexpected fashion. Ruhdabeh raises the tempo in between and so does Deivat in harmony on the Piano. Her vocals are splendid and soar without shackles.  @tanay_parulekar @ruhdabeh @deivat_t 5. GabrieliteVocals/Acoustic guitar/Composition/Lyrics by Darren FernandesArranged by Ser O DuoLanguage: EnglishGenre: BalladDarren Fernandes is someone who I am featuring for the first time, and what a way for the artist to make a debut on my weekly charts. First of all the lyrics appealed to me right from the moment he sings " Or are you scared of your raging mind". The Flute at the beginning by Tomas Carrasco reminds me of Ian Anderson in Jethro Tull. Moa Edmunds Guevara plays the gentle nylon guitar. The track is sung, composed and written by Darren, as he also plays the acoustic guitars. The accompaniments on guitars and Flutes are constant and keep you hooked like listening to the Pied Piper. Thomas Juth does the mixing and mastering and all the exceptional backing vocals are done by Carrasco.  @darrenfernandesmusic 

This the list of the best Indian songs of the final week of 2022. I have handpicked these songs from over 350 songs across languages and states. 1. Keh Do NaVocals: Karan Verma Music: Swastik-The BandLyrics: Rohit Joshi, Mohit JoshiLanguage: HindiGenre: Alt-RockJust a couple of weeks left for 2022 to draw to a close and the good music keeps coming in like goods on a conveyor belt. The Chandigarh-based Alt-Rock band has been around for a while and this has to be one of their best work yet. The highlight has to be the scintillating solo on the Violin by Jatin Chhabra. Karan Verma sings pitch-perfect vocals but nothing comes close to the impact of the Violin. Rohit Joshi on guitars and Abhishek Thakur on the bass accompany all along and they spice up things in the interlude. The stanza has some fantastic vocals by Karan, where he not only delivers some very tough high notes but also sings some unpredictable and tough notes. "Bekakar ka yeh silsila mera jo mujhko" and this line is followed by "kyun" sung in very high notes, and then Kunal follows up with a humming in falsetto. Raghav Bhutani is on th3 drums knowing when to pause, and when to smash things at the last 1 minute, especially with a fiery electric guitar solo. The song has the best of both the Alt-rock as well as the Filmi Bollywood styles. Keshav Dhar is the recording as well as the mixing and mastering engineer for the track. @swastiktheband @malsonsmedia @keshavdhar 2. O Rendu Prema MeghaalilaMusic Composer: Vijai BulganinLyricist: Anantha SriramSingers: Sreerama Chandra & Kids Chorus (Veda Vagdevi,Harshita,Tanishka,Ujjwal,Anagha & Veekshith)Female hummings: Lakshmi MeghanaI cannot write enough about Vijai Bulganin, it always seems short of praise. He is a serious talent and I can only thank God that such a brilliant composer lives amongst us. Having grown up in the age of Maestro Ilaiyaraja, I have high standards for music appreciation so Vijai should feel really proud of his accomplishments and scoring quality. Just do listen to the opening lines and the title line sung by the children in chorus. The melody is so rich and pure that you will just feel your heart melt. The finer points which set Vijai apart are the brilliant rhythms that you hear when the title line is being sung. Anantha Sriram is the lyricist and along with the kids, Sreeram Chandra is the lead vocalist. Lalit Talluri is at his best, blowing you away literally in the interlude on his Flute. Be sure to hear the delicate but definite bass notes by Shallu Varun in the interlude and he is accompanied by Abin Sagar on the acoustic guitar and Ukulele. Sreerama topples you with his incredible vocal quality and the ghamakas in the high-pitch notes are pure gold. Do pay attention to the Chennai Strings Orchestra in the background with Sreerag Dennies on Strings programming and arrangements, and Enzon being the conductor of the live strings session. Those segments reminded me of Maestro's "Oh Butterfly". The violins are running on riot towards the end and Lalit Talluri finishes the song by playing the song's title notes. Bhuvanesh Narayanan does the Keyboard programming with Balu S on additional programming. Anudeep Dev handles the vocal arrangements and the recording engineers are Anand Gurrana, KK Senthil Prasath and Bhanu Prasad. The track is mixed by Balu S and mastered by Rupendar Venkatesh.  @vijai_bulganin @anantha.sriram @sreeramachandra5 @lakshmimeghana @rupendar_venkatesh @lalittalluri @abinsagar 3. KojagiriSingers - Shreyas Puranik & Aanchal TyagiMusic - AV PrafullachandraLyricist - Jitendra JoshiSong Composed, Arranged and Produced by AV PrafullachandraLanguage: MarathiGenre: Filmy MelodyThere two very important pillars in Marathi music industry are Ajay-Atul and AV Prafullachandra and the two brilliant composers are going head to head with the former scoring for 'Ved' and the latter for 'Godavari'. Last week we had 'Besuri' at the number 1 spot, and this week it is 'Kojagiri' at number 2. I must appreciate AV for roping in a brand new talent called Aanchal Tyagi. People who read my blog last week might be knowing Aanchal from a fantastic crowd-pulling track called 'Saajanwa'. The male lead vocals belong to Shreyas Puranik with lyrics by Jitendra Joshi. This song is so stylish and probably traverses through more than a couple of styles. The initial singing is happening at the lower end of the vocal range and both Shreyas, and Aanchal excel. Jeetu Thakur plays all the live strings that you keep hearing in the background, and he just is strikes you with the creativity in the interludes. AV Prafullachandra is obviously credited with all the arrangements, programming and production work. The lead vocalists also get to explore and exhibit their higher end of the vocal range later in the stanza and it is so impressive to hear Aanchal sound like a seasoned campaigner. The live strings are present non-stop and never for a moment are the arrangements seen even marginally dull. The track is mixed by AV and mastered by Shadab Rayeen. The recording engineers are Rahul Sarma, Samir Dharap and Chinmay Mestry. Listen to the layers of the flute as we come close to the second interlude. Here it is just like a masterclass on how to have live instruments arranged and young musicians can learn so many things just by listening to this track. The humming and the flute are all loaded with quality as we approach the song's outro.  @aanchalmusic @avprafullachandra @shreyaspuranikofficial @jitendrajoshi27 @shadabrayeen @samirdharap9 @4. DuniyaMusic Composed & Produced by: Salim SulaimanLyrics: Dr. V. Nagendra PrasadSingers: Vijay Prakash, Salim MerchantMusic Co-Produced by: Raj PanditSalim and Sulaiman, I always believe are responsible for spreading the love of music all across the nation and the way singers from all corners of the country are brought on board are worthy of appreciation. The duo composed and produced the song as part of the project Bhoomi 2022. The song creates a setting of a forest dwelling community singing this, with all the high-octane backing vocals by Rajiv Sundaresan, Muheet Bharti, Aditya Kalway, Suhas Sawant, Yashika Sikka, Darshana Menon, Umesh Joshi, Janardan Dhatrak, Aditi Prabhudesai, Dattatray Mestri, Deepti Rege and Archana Gore. The live rhythms form an important component and they are arranged by Taufiq Qureshi and Raj Pandit, but the live rhythm performances are by Mumbai Stamp involving musicians Arun Solanki, Gautam Sharma, Keyur Barve, Jignesh Patel and Omkar Salunkhe. Vijay Prakash can be heard singing about the earth and its residents calling for "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". Anshuman Sharma does all the additional production. Very few could have delivered this kind of vocal performance, as Vijayprakash is on a roll here. The Keyboards are played by Raj Pandit, and Muheet Bharti is the bassist. It is not only the vocals, harmonies and rhythms, we also have some solid strings and brass section instruments in the background and they are stunning making you speechless. Tanuj Tiku produces these segments and Japjisingh Valecha conducts this session. Vijay performs the Konnakol and Swaras as part of the elaborate vocal performance and you are just glued to it. The recording engineers are Raj Pandit, Vijay Dalal and Abhishek Khandelwal. The track is mixed and mastered by Aftab Khan with Vatsal Chevli as the mixing assistant.  @salimsulaimanmusic @kaviratna_v.nagendra_prasad @tanujtiku @anshuman.sharma1 @vijayprakashvp @taufiqdjembe @rajpandit17 @muheetbharti @omkr99 @keyurdrums_official 5. Siva TerePerformed by Madhubanti BagchiWritten by A.M. Turaz, Sanjay Leela BhansaliLanguage: HindiGenre: GhazalAnyone who has watched or even been abreast with Bollywood for the last 10 years or more, must know that two very famous movie directors also compose music themselves for their movies, viz. Vishal Bharadwaj and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Sanjay has scored some amazing music in his recent movies like "Padmavat", "Gangubhai Kathiawadi" and "Bajirao Mastani". The song's opening lines have a resemblance to Kumar Sanu's "Sochenge Tumhe Pyaar" and that is why I feel there is a Raag Yaman influence. Madhubanti Bagchi is a fantastic vocalist, and she has been featured a few times by me in some Bangla songs, but this is probably one of her best. Sanjay uses the slow pace to create that massive impact of the Ghazal form and his generous use of the Tabla, Strings, Sitar and Sarangi all create such important layers in the song's beauty. Madhubanti is in top form singing "Khuda ke liye tu" in 3 to 4 different styles in the stanza, each time adding new ghamakas and improvisations. AM Turaz is the lyricist and he achieves an equally powerful impact with his words as have Madhu and Sanjay. 

Here is the list of Indias' best songs from across the independent and movie music space. After listening to more than 350 songs across languages and states of India. Do drop in your comments at the bottom of the article. If you are a musician submit your song on the website or DM me on Instagram. 1. BESURI Music - Ajay - Atul Lyrics - Ajay - AtulSinger - Vasudhara VeeLanguage- MarathiGenre- Filmi Melody/ Western Classical FusionJust last week I reviewed 'Ved Tujha' from the album 'Ved' by Ajay-Atul and these giants of Indian music prove their worth with another massive hit in the same album. In my opinion, this one is superior to the earlier song with some scintillating scores. When you have Vasundhara Vee doing the lead vocals, you probably have a winning formula already and this is the second straight week featuring a song of hers after last week's 'Garden Variety Hater' with Shalmali Kholgade. Ajay and Atul write, compose, program and arrange with Vijay Dalal being the recording and mixing engineer. The song is loaded with Pianos, Synths, Keyboards, and a persistent strings section. The sound design is fantastic and I had no doubts that this would climb to the number 1 spot in India for the week, the moment I heard it. Vasundhara sings it with such panache, and I have not heard many vocalists who can improvise and do vibrato with incredible ease and efficacy. Chinmay Mestry is the asst. sound engineer and the track is mastered by Donal Whelan. Who else but Rithu Vysakh could have played the Solo on the Viola and Cello with such impeccable style and grace? This will go down as one of the vocal performances to remember.  @ajayatulofficial @rithuvysakh @vasundhara_vee @chinamay.jpg 2. AINAVocals - Kaushik RamachandranMusic, Lyrics - Catastrotrophic DisintegrationLanguage- HindiGenre- Hindi RockHindi Rock bands are plenty, especially in the regions of Mumbai and Pune, and this is the first time I am featuring this band called "Catastrotrophic Disintegration", and Ill soon be listening to all the tracks in their debut album "Aaina". The title song is a heavy rock track infused with the goodness of Indian classical music, and 'Aaina' is probably set in Raag Charukeshi. Kaushik Ramachandran is the lead vocalist and he has vocals that allow him to tread into both the rock genre and classical Indian style. We can hear the influence of the guitarists Akash Prabhakar on rhythm guitar and Nandkishor Kumavat on lead guitar. Kunal Dalvi is both the lyricist as well as the drummer and the bassist is Pratik Borgaonkar. Kunal is a bundle of energy on the drums and the electric guitar solo is fierce once we get past the 3rd minute.  @catastrophic_disintegration3. CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSEComposed by Sanyanth NarothWritten by: Sanyanth Naroth and Abraham Zachariah Produced by Easy WanderlingsVocals - Pratika GopinathLanguage- EnglishGenre- R&B, Soul'Caught in a Parade' will certainly go down as one of the best indie EPs of 2022 in India and I have already reviewed 'Mayflower' a month or so ago. The song was slow, and sober and grew on me thanks to Nikhil Dsouza's vocals and the usual musical creativity of Easy Wanderlings. This one is the perfect example of the band's superior quality in composition and the talent pool that they boast of in terms of instrumentalists. Pratika Gopinath is the lead vocalist and she just serenades me into oblivion with her voice and the best line for me is "Everybody loves you, nobody needs you". Sanyanth Naroth composes the melody with lyrics by Sanyanth and Abraham Zachariah. The Clarinet in the interlude is played by Patricio Böttcher and Pedro Alvide, and what makes this a very enjoyable R&B/ Soul track is Varun Venkit's percussions. Abraham plays the drums and all the guitars are strummed by Sharad Rao. We can also feel the presence of Synths and Keyboards and it is Nitin Muralikrishna who does all the programming including the strings. The use of trumpets and trombones in the background gives the song the texture of Latin Jazz and Zion Mathew handles all the additional keys. I love the introduction of the flute towards the end, played by Siya Ragade and accompanied by backing vocal harmonies featuring Sanyanth Naroth, Sharad Rao and Joel Johnson. Shardul Bapat, Kartik Tate and Arnav Lalsare play the Violins. The track is mixed by Nitin, and mastered by Ronak Runwal.  @easywanderlings @graysparkaudio @ronakrunwal @palindromamusic @sanyanth @pratika.gopinath @malayvadalkar @radrao.g @shardulbapat @siyunever @zionmathew @abezch @sakshicrajan 4. SAATHVocals by Amira Gill, Haricharan, SathyaprakashWritten by Kausar MunirMusic- Santhosh NarayananIt has happened after a long time, and I just can't wait for the rest of India to find out about the incredible talent and abilities of composer Santhosh Narayanan. He is without doubt India's finest composer in my opinion and I felt elated when he first posted on Instagram about his project with Ashwini Iyer Tiwari on a new web series. The song is breezy, and melodious and makes for some loop-worthy listening. Santhosh excels not in in the underlying melody alone but also the arrangements and production that go into making the final product. The guitars and Ukulele are played by the talented multi-instrumentalist Aditya Ravindran, while all the strings section arrangements are by Karthik Manickavasagam. The first few seconds, the song starts and with the opening guitars and Ukulele, you know it lies right up there in the Santhosh zone of quality. The vocals must definitely belong to a seasoned artist, such is the authority and conviction in her delivery. No, it was Amira Gill ,who has been featured by me a few times especially working with Amrit Ramnath in 2022, and gets a great opportunity to perform for Santhosh. The opening lines tread along being very soft and classical, and that is why Amira's delivery is so pure painted with a tinge of Hindustani classical infusion. Santhosh gets the perfect vocalists for this one with Haricharan and Sathyaprakash being two male performers with gifted vocals. Amira displays that she possesses so much vocal variation and a wide range just in the lines "aa milke kaat le saare mushkilein" and then "manzilein safar mein ek saath hein" on wider ends of the vocal range. The interlude on the Violin immediately made me think if this was resembling a song composed by Govind Vasantha. I later find out that the Violin was played by the man himself, hence the quality. The song has so much to offer with a long pallavi and anupallavi, lasting close to 90 seconds. Sathyaprakash is so good that you feel your heart being moved by his voice when the stanza begins. I love how the lines"meri jaan, tu mere liye naa bani", are sung differently by the male lead just before the interlude. The presence of strings and the upright bass is so impactful. The best line of the stanza is "Na hai tu andhera, na hoon mein ujala", with the harmony of male and female leads and when the notes transform into something magnificent " bondh boondh mein bhi, milke samundar banein", you just end up surrendering to genius. and here too Amira soars into the high pitch with amazing elegance and impact. The last line with a synth loaded "Mere liye tu na bana" is where Santhosh gives a modern touch, deviating from the rest of the track, and even the Sathyaprakash and Amira move away from the classical touch to something more playful.@musicsanthosh @dsathyaprakash @amiragill @haricharanmusic @kausarmunir @adityaravindran95 @karthikmanickavasagam5. SINGARA SIRIYEMusic: B Ajaneesh Loknath Vocals: Vijayprakash, Ananya Bhat, Nagraj Panar ValturMusic Production: Bobby C R, B Ajaneesh LoknathLanguage: KannadaGenre: Filmi MelodyI know it is delayed, but it is better to feature it than completely miss or forget. Everybody talks about 'Varaha Roopam' because of the controversy (read my article), but this song is a masterpiece in its own right and reminds me of the heydays of Maestro Ilaiyaraja. Ajaneesh plays the keyboards, but I love how it starts with a folk song right at the beginning performed by Nagraj Panar Valtur. The way Ajaneesh moves from this part to the melody shows his genius, and he uses the bass guitars and flute by Kiran as a bridge. Once Vijayprakash starts we hear the wonderful rhythms by Kalyan Chakravarthi, and live percussions by Venky & group. The strings section is mesmerising and it is Chennai Strings Orchestra, conducted by Yenzone Baghyanadhan. Ajaneesh and Ganesh Karanth are heard on the backing vocals. The best part about the vocals is that Vijayprakash sounds mischievous while Ananya Bhat sounds shy and hesitant, just like the protagonists are shown on screen during the song. Also if you notice when Vijayprakash sings, it is the funky bass guitars that add decibels, but it becomes the serious sounds of the strings when Ananya sings. Kudos to the vocalists for bringing out that emotion to perfection. Balesh plays the Nadaswaram in the second interlude. The track is mixed and mastered by Sajayan Kumar with recording engineers Sajayan, Biju James, Narasimha Kruthi and Ashwin Prabath. @ananya_bhat_official @b_ajaneesh @vijayprakashvp6. MAANGLOONPerformed by RomyWritten by Kabul Bukhari, RomyLanguage: HindiGenre: This is another candidate for best EP/Album of 2022 and I will be featuring a few more songs but let us start with this one composed and performed by Romy. To me, it sounds like Raag Hamsadhwani straight away. The vocals are terrific, sung at a high pitch and accompanied by interesting rhythms. The flute solo, string section and acoustic guitars all decorate the interlude but the thumping percussions take the cakThe stanza is well-written and composed with Kabul Bukhari and Romy working together. I love the line "Tujhse tujhe, rabb se tujhe maangloon" and then followed by the humming. @mainhoonromy @kabulbukhari  7. NA JAANE TU NA MAIN JAANU Sung by – Vishal Dadlani & Shilpa Rao Music Composed by - Parth Bharat Thakkar Lyrics by - Chirag Tripathi Music Arranged & Produced by - Jarvis Menezes Language: HindiGenre: Filmi Melody/ PopManas Kumar plays the violin right at the beginning and you know that there is something to expect in this song. The Piano and drums dominate most of the instrumentals right at the beginning and it is refreshing to hear Vishal Dadlani after a long time. The interlude is a clincher as Manas' violin steals the show, and Parth must be appreciated for the wonderful composition of the melody. The arrangements and production credits per se go to Jarvis Menezes, so he is the man to have wonderfully arranged this interlude as well.  In fact that bit of the interlude was apparently written by Jarvis. Shilpa Rao takes over in the stanza and Parth and Jarvis experiment very well with the sounds and the Chords never sound repetitive or uninspiring for once. The humming is a fitting way to end the song and the production of this song is just breathtaking. @parthmusic @vishaldadlani @shilparao @chitrivichitra @kavyalimaye17 @himanshushirlekar255 @chinmay.jpg @samirdharap9 @manasviolin8. DO YOU CAREPerformed by: Meba OfiliaWritten and arranged by: Mebarisha Rynjah, Adiel MassarProduced by: adLBackground vocals: DappestThis is the second song from Meba's album after featuring 'My best behaviour' last week. This gets you into that mood of nodding your head right from the beginning and the stringed instruments pique your interest without wasting any time at all. I also sense maybe the presence of upright bass, and before I could pinpoint we get some violins, violas and cellos in the background. Dappest is the one involved in the background vocals and that keeps coming in between Meba's lead vocals and the instrumental arrangements. The Keys along with those finger flips all play second fiddle to Meba's amazing delivery. Listen to the part where she sings, improvises and does the vibrato around 'what you want, what you need, there is a thin line if you see'. Adiel Massar, Mebarisha Rynjah can pat themselves on the back for the arrangements, that is nothing short of genius. Adiel does the production while he and Mebarisha write the lyrics.  @mebaofilia @dappesst @fraapemusic @emerdjence.in @cassidygodwinmusic @_adlmusic 9. MERI ZUBAANSinger - Kamal KhanLyrics & Composer - JaaniMusic - B PraakArranged and programmed By Gaurav Dev, Kartik DevLanguage: PunjabiGenre: Filmi MelodyI feel alive not just listening to good music, but living and experiencing the consistency of terrific musicians who keep creating at an envious frequency. For all those who believe that music today has fallen off the cliff, just check out my weekly charts and here after Ajay-Atul's 2 songs in 2 weeks, we have Bpraak and Jaani combining for the 3rd song in the album 'Moh' to be featured in my weekly rankings. Paras Nath blows you away constantly with his flute interventions, and unlike the other two songs, it is not Praak as the vocalist, we have Kamal Khan singing here. The tune and melody are not new and sound like something we would have heard. It is the programming, arrangements and production that sets it apart from the rest. Listen to the interlude on the Flute solo and you will be mesmerised by Paras' performance. Bpraak produces and it is Gaurav Dev and Karthik Dev on arrangements and p[rogramming, so they deserve the huge credit. The rhythms and keyboards do enough to elevate the song. Gurjinder Guri & Akash Bambar have done the mixing and mastering. The outro is phenomenal with Kamal's humming and Paras playing the flute probably in the Darbari scale. 10. ZARA PAAS TOH BHAITHOPerformed by Shreya GhoshalWritten by Rajib Mona, Ravi BasnetProduced by Life & Music For those of us who are fans of 1990s Bollywood music, this could be just what the doctor ordered. There were many talented musicians back then, like Jatin-Lalit and Nadeem-Shravan who paid a lot of attention to the underlying melody and also made sure there were a lot of live instrumentals. Here too Rajib-Mona, the composers start things off with a Saxophone, and then the strings section and guitars decorate the song enough even before Shreya Ghoshal sings a word. Ravi Basnet is the lyricist and we have Shreya being at her best, emoting like many modern-day singers cannot even attempt. The way she sings " Zara paas to bhaitho", you are tempted to sit right next to her and listen. The acoustic guitar interlude is something we have been missing for quite a while, and with the strings, I am certainly transported back in time. A major push comes from the arrangements and production and that is why Rajib Roy Chowdhury deserves credit @shreyaghoshal @rajibdroychowdhury @uniyalsona @movementcreationsllp11. RUBAAIYAAN Music by Amit TrivediVocals by Shahid MallyaWritten by Swanand KirkireLanguage - HindiGenre - Retro MelodyI have already said this feels like a true comeback by Amit Trivedi, and to have 3 phenomenal songs in one album is worth raising a toast for. Rubaaiyaan is sung by Shahid Mallya, a fine singer and I am happy he got this opportunity to deliver a fantastic song. The clarinet right at the start draws you in and the rhythms and keys all point to a golden time in Indian music as well. It is accompanied by the Woodwinds and strings section. The best-sounding line is when Shahid sings " Dil di Rubaaiyaan", and I am melting in joy. The interlude is rich with so many things happening, like the introduction of the Sarod mingles with the Clarinet and strings, and the gentle Tabla in the background. It shows that Amit as a composer was hugely impressed and inspired by the music of the 1960s and hence he can re-create that magic and yet sound original. The last line with both SHahid and Sireesha sounds like a dream. Swanand Kirkire pens the beautiful, emotional words.  @itsamittrivedi @sireeshabhagavatula @shahidmallya @anvita_dee @swanandkirkire  12. LAUT AA MERE DES Music Composed & Produced by: Salim Sulaiman Lyrics: Shradha PanditSingers: Shreya Ghoshal, Sattar Khan LangaMusic Co-Produced by: Raj Pandit, Anshuman Sharma It is a juggernaut, the Bhoomi project and every sing that gets composed, produced and performed hits the right note without disappointing the music lover. Salim-Sulaimain duo now call up Shreya Ghoshal in 2022 for this track after "Muraliya" in 2021. Along with Shreya's ingenious performance, we have the rustic, folkish exuberance and earthiness of Sattar Khan Langa. Muheet Bharti and Nyzel D'lima play the guitars and it is the Mandolin by Tapas and Muheet that keeps intervening at important junctures. Shreya keeps you glued with her opening slow aalap-styled singing, and then Salim-Sulaiman get their A-game on with the heavy synths and keyboard influences. Salim plays the Piano and keyboard along with Anshuman Sharma and Raj Pandit. Amir Khan Bhiyani plays the Trumpet and we also get to hear the bass guitars by Rushad Mistry and Darshan Doshi on drums. I cannot point it out right but I feel both Desh and Kaapi( Pilu) Raagas are in the mix of things. The moment when Sattar Khan starts is such a high pitch and he delivers it with such style. The traditional percussions come into play with Satyajit Jamsandekar, Naeem Khan on Tabla, Aslam Dafrani and Satyajit on the Dholak as well. Raj Pandit, Muheet, Habib Khan and Kheta Khan all join the party through the backing vocals and chorus. Kheta Khan plays the harmonium and Feroj Khan plays the Morsing. Closer to the 4th minute, Shreya takes over completely and performs with such stylish and subtle vibrato, as though she has been handed a free hand to sing the way she likes. Aftab Khan has mixed the track along with mix assistant Vatsal Chevli. The recording engineers are Aftab, Raj and Muheet.  @shreyaghoshal @shraddhapandit @salimsulaimanmusic @nyzeldlima @rushad1981 @anshuman.sharma1 @rajpandit17 @muheetbharti @mixedbyaftab @sattarkhanlanga @13. KHAMOSHIMusic - KolamaVocals - Ashwin ThomasLanguage- Hindi/MalayalamGenre - Rock FusionRitic Joel plays the Keyboards and also produces and mixes this beautiful fusion track that brings the best of both worlds of Alt-Rock and Indian Carnatic Classical music. Just like Samil-Sulaiman has mastered that art, there are bands like Kolama in India that perform in this genre of Indian Rock fusion. Ashwin Thomas is the lead vocalist, and then Blesson Jacob and Edwin Antony are the guitarists. The song starts with a tinge of Abheri Ragam ( similar to Bhimpalasi in Hindustani). Kevin Verghese is the bassist and the pounding drums are played by Thomson George. The way Ashwin shifts from Hindi to Malayalam and back is seamless. @ash_thomas_156 @kolamamusic  14. ONE - KUKUBHPerformed by Kukubh, Mayank SharmaWritten by Kukubh MegwalProduced by Kukubh MegwalGenre - Alt-RockI loved the song 'Pacman' by Kukubh and Mayank Sharma a few months ago and I have been waiting to feature his next. Well here it is, and it is nothing like you can predict. That is what makes the song very exciting and Kukubh provides exactly what a music lover needs, quality combined with creativity. It sounds like a normal Soul/pop song with just the gentle guitars by Kukubh Megwal's vocals and bass by Mayank, but I dare you to think that way. The composition is quite complex and Kukubh does one step better with the programming and production. The use of the strings section is just beyond compare and he excels in getting the arrangements and execution spot on. The lines" I have been living here, but I see no difference" just comes out of the blue and that is the mark of an intelligent and committed composer. Just pay attention to the exuberant strings section in the background during these lines, accompanied by electric guitar and drums. This is a 9-minute track and so expect many moments of magic it will be a true music lover's delight. Kukubh also brings in the Flute and woodwinds to add to the incredible spread already on offer. When we near the 6th minute it is just spoken word poetry along with the guitars. Enjoy the silence and tranquillity after the initial half of belligerence.

Here is the list of India's best songs from across the independent and movie music space. After listening to more than 350 songs across languages and states of India. Do drop in your comments at the bottom of the article. If you are a musician submit your song on the website or DM me on Instagram. 1. MukilammathanMusic: BijibalVocals: Shahbaz Aman, Sithara KrishnakumarWritten by Bijibal, Harinarayanan B KGenre: Semi-classicalLanguage: MalayalamThe two vocalists Shahabaz Aman and Sithara Krishnakumar are among the finest and they pick only the best songs just like this one. Bijibal has composed this semi-classical melody that touches your heart with every note. There is an inherent sadness in their delivery and both Shahabaz and Sithara never lose track of the messaging and style of singing needed. Bijibal is immensely talented and consistent as a composer and he brings in all the wonderful elements of live instrumental music. Listen to the mesmerizing Veena in the interlude and this is where I felt that maybe there is a Raag Jog (Naatai in Carnatic) influence but the song probably has many other Ragas in the mix. The background strings section is so effective and it keeps you invested. The rhythms are simple but it is the vocals of Sithara and the accompaniments on Keyboards, Flute and melancholic humming that make you weep. The second interlude has the flute solo and Shahabaz continues to enthral just the way Sithara did in the first stanza. Harinarayanan BK has penned the words. 2. Sakkare PuttaMusic composer: Charan RajVocals: Meghana BhatMelody co-composer: Narayan SharmaMusic programmed by: Narayan Sharma Language: KannadaGenre: Filmy MelodyCharan Raj is an absolute genius and he will be among India's top 5 composers according to me. He gets even better when he works with this composer/producer/instrumentalist Narayan Sharma and the two have worked on the melody of this amazing song. The song immediately reminds me of Santhosh Narayanan's "Ey Sandakkara" from the movie 'Irudhi Suttru'. The strings in the background by Cochin Strings are fantastic and they too remind of the older song. The brilliant addition of the flute solo by Nikhil Ram in the background and all his interventions are the hallmarks of Charan and Narayan with the latter handling all the production. Keba Jeremiah plays that lovely acoustic guitar and there are segments where I am reminded of Santhosh's song " Vennila" from 'Vellai Yaanai' especially the interludes, the flute and the percussions. Let us not forget how brilliant Meghana Bhat is on the vocals as she keeps adding the oomph factor with huge generosity in the song. The combined effect of the flute, Keys, strings and percussions by Shruthi Raj is beyond magic. The song only keeps getting better as we hit the stanza and the melody of the song is elevated by all the multiple instruments and kudos to the arrangements and production. Venkatesh Bhat is the music supervisor and the recording engineers are Divine Joseph and Vishnuraj. The track is mixed and mastered by Sujith Sreedhar.  3. More Saiyyan JiSinger: Maninder ButtarLyrics: Jaani Music & Composer: BPraakLanguage: HindiGenre: Filmy -Folk MelodyHow many times do I have to say this? B Praak is a treasure and he is a diamond in the rough if I have to refer to music, in general, coming out of Punjab. He is not even singing in this venture and yet he just amazes me with the terrific production. The melody is not entirely new and many songs have similar notes, but it is the arrangements, and programming that magnify the goodness of this track. The Shehnai and Dhol and Dholak are a great combination making the wedding scene and setting come alive and Praak executes it perfectly. Maninder Buttar on vocals is full of life and maybe the song's style and genre don't suit B Praak as a vocalist with his heavy and high-pitched style of singing. In a way, the song does also remind me of Pritam's "Kabeera". The acoustic, bass guitars and vocal harmonies are huge factors in making the song feel fabulous. Gurjinder Guri and Akash Bambar have mixed and mastered the track. I especially love the chorus singing " tere bin mera, kaun piya re" in the second interlude. Jaani is the lyricist. 4. Trishna Antarman KiVocals and Composition: Nihira Joshi-Deshpande Lyrics: Apoorva Kulkarni Genre: Semi-classical FusionLanguage: Traditional HindiNihira Joshi-Despande is an exotic bird or a rare gemstone and although she might not be popular like some of the other modern-day female composers, she is right up there among India's finest. In-fact, if I have to rank some of them purely based on creative talent, Then Nihira will be the number 1 composer. Many months ago she released a Hindi song with a Latin Jazz twist which placed it right at the top of that week's chart. In this latest EP, I am quite confident she will set the guns blazing and the first track is a testament to that fact. Nihira's vocals are just accompanied by keys and it is set in Raag Hamsadhwani. The flute comes in when she sings "Bansuri". Carlos Cano plays multiple instruments like the flute, Vibraphone and all the percussion and he also handles all the arrangements. There is a massive intervention segment on all these instruments making it much more than a classical Hindustani-styled track. Hernán Milla González plays the Keyboards and the recording engineers are Amey Londhe and José Fernando Tercero with the former also mixing and mastering the track. Apoorva Kulkarni is the lyricist 5. Garden Variety HaterPerformed by Shalmali Kholgade, Vasundhara VeeWritten by Shalmali KholgadeProduced by Sunny M.R.Language: English Genre: Alt-popWe have already seen Shalmali's earlier single called 'Chills' from this EP and just like Nihira, Shalmali too is a prodigious talent. She is immensely underrated as a singer and composer and I am always ready to bet heavily on her. Here she performs along with another worthy compatriot in Vasundhara Vee. The two lead vocalists set the stage on fire with some amazing Tenor Saxophone , Trumpets and Trombones in the background played by Jovan Quallo, Steve Patrick and Joshua Scalf . Sunny MR is the genius at work here producing all the songs in this EP and the credits for arrangements and programming go to him. I can keep writing about the vocal performance and I can only view this as a beautiful battle between two astounding performers. 6. Phero Na NajariyaMusic by Amit Trivedi, Lyrics by Kausar MunirVocals by Sireesha BhagavatulaLanguage: HindiGenre: Retro MelodyI have been critical of Amit Trivedi over the last couple of years as he has been one composer who has fallen from grace. I remember being mindblown by albums like "Fitoor", "Dear Zindagi", "Lootera" and "Udta Punjab". His journey since 2019 has been nothing worth mentioning, so I was suspicious when I heard that Amit was the composer for this film called "Qala" based on a musician's life. To my greatest surprise, the songs in the album have been refreshing and I am glad that Amit has probably redeemed himself. The album has at least 3 amazing tracks, and to score music like the 1960s without sounding repetitive and uninspiring is one heck of a feat. This song takes me to a happy and contemplative space and Sireesha Bhagavutula is outstanding to say the least She is a vocalist who has been recently featured a lot on my weekly charts and I am elated to see her name in all the tracks of the album. The use of the Tabla, Harmonium and Sitar is exquisite and they create the aura of Retro music. As the song progresses we also hear the Sarangi in the interlude. Sireesha continues to sing with impeccable control and she never goes overboard keeping substance over style. Kausar Munir is the lyricist. 7. Aas Ka SoorajMusic - Ashu ChakrabortySinger - Javed AliLyricist: Amrendra VatsLanguage: HindiGenre: Filmy MelodyThe song has a Raag Jog influence in my opinion and the music is composed and produced by Ashu Chakraborty. He also has done all the design of rhythms and additional programming for the song. Ashu is someone who I have not reviewed or featured before and that is why it is very exciting to review his song from the movie 'Shadow Assasins'. Javed Ali is the lead vocalist with lyrics by Amendra Vats with some interesting messages. We can hear the impact of the grand orchestral music in the background, especially the strings section and it is Debasis Shome who has done all the orchestral arrangements. Sanjoy Das the exponent of guitars has also done the guitar design. Samir Dharap is the recording engineer along with Sanjit Giri and Soumen Paul. Soumen is also the mixing and mastering engineer for the track. The highlight was the introduction of the Saxophone in the interlude because not only was it a pleasant surprise, but it also was wonderfully executed and arranged. The song is very slow and melancholy-filled and Javed's singing  8. Sun Aye MiliSong Composed, Arranged and Produced: A.R. Rahman Singer: Vishal MishraLyrics: Javed AkhtarMusic Supervisor: Hiral ViradiaLanguage: HindiGenre: Filmi MelodyAR Rahman is not yet done, and if he is down, he is certainly not out yet. Ignore him at your peril, I guess. This movie is a remake of a Malayalam hit movie called 'Helen' and though the movie does not have great reviews, I liked a couple of songs, especially this one. Vishal Mishra is a composer/singer to watch out for, and If you have been following him or at least read my blog, his name would have been a regular. I am just stoked to see him performing for AR Rahman and just glad he is getting what he deserves. The strong points of the track are his vocals, the Sitar by Manisha Rai which keeps playing beautifully right through, and the vocal harmonies by El Fè Choir team. The movie is about survival instincts and ARR has gotten the right arrangements and production done to instil that feeling in us to make us experience what Mili herself is in the movie. Saar Singhal has conducted and arranged for the Sunshine Orchestra. This song could have been easily handed to Arijit Singh, but it would have sounded like 1000 other older songs, and it is only the fresh voice of Vishal that smashes this one out of the park. Dont you just love the vibrato bit "gunguna raha hmmmmm aaaa", and get up and give an ovation to Sarthak Kalyani for performing this incredible line. The rhythm programming, keyboards and the fast-paced Sitar in the background are pure gold. Sarthak is on the additional vocals and Keba Jeremiah. It has been a long time since ARR has created even a glimmer of magic like this, keep playing this on loop. The recording engineers are Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Sarthak Kalyani, Suryansh Jain, Prashanth Venkat, Nitish R Kumar, Dilshad Shabir Shaikh, Sivakumar S, Pradeep Menon, Aravind MS & Krishnan Subramanian. The track is mixed by Nitish Kumar and mastered by Suresh Permal, with iTunes mastering by Riyasdeen Riyan.  9. Mathe Mathe Muhu ModakeMusic: Arjun JanyaSinger: Vijay Prakash, Anuradha BhatLyrics: KavirajSome people don't seem to like his music, but from what I have heard over the years, I believe he has got quality and he never composes plain mundane uninspiring songs. Arjun Janya is the man being talked about here and check out this latest track sung by Vijay Prakash and Anuradha Bhat. Sound design, by Rajan, all the keyboard programming by Sharan Rao and rhythm programming by Aneesh Solomon deserve credit for their quality. David Selvam on guitars and Napier Naveen Kumar on bass are stunning. Bala plays the Nadaswaram and the song feels like an influence of Sumanesa Ranjani Ragam. The song has a good stanza as can be expected from Arjun and it gets glorified thanks to the lead vocalists. The track is mixed and mastered by David Selvam. 10. Ruk JaMusic Composed & Produced by: Salim Sulaiman Lyrics: Shradha PanditSinger: Sonu NigamMusic Co-Produced: Raj Pandit, Muheet BhartiLanguage: HindiGenre: Pop fusion The Bhoomi project continues and we have one more feather to the cap now in the 2002 collection. This one is sung by one of my Bollywood favourites of all time, Sonu Nigam and it is composed by the dynamic brother duo of Salim and Sulaiman. The Piano and keyboards for the spine of the song and we have Salim playing it and Sulaiman as always playing the Zen drum. It does remind me of the famous song "Pardesi Jaana nahin". Sonu is a master of using all his vocal strength and adding to the melody;'s beauty. It is a lesson for even other popular artists in knowing how to use ghamakas without being unimaginative and repetitive. Momin Khan Niazi plays the scintillating Sarangi in the interlude along with Darshan Doshi on drums. Salim-Sulaiman has a knack of writing musical notes with a lot of unpredictability and it happens here too in the opening parts of the stanza. The song is produced brilliantly by young talents Muheet Bharti and Raj Pandit who have been featured numerous times on this blog. Just listen to the change in style at the end of the first stanza, when the Tabla replaces drums and we have Ojas Adhiya and Naeem Sayyed playing. Muheet and Nyzel D'lima are on guitars and Jarvis Menezes is on the Keyboards along with Raj. It is always a dream to listen to Salim-Sulaiman songs especially in the Bhoomi Universe because of the immense effort and varied elements in every song. Rushad Mistry is the bassist, and all the wonderful Strings section and Brass section Orchestra is conducted and arranged by Japjisingh Valecha. This galaxy of young talent working under Salim-Sulaiamn's tutelage is the greatest gift the composers have given us. There are moments I sensed some Raag Charukeshi as well. The recording engineers are Aftab Khan, Raj and Muheet with Aftab on mixing and mastering duties and Vatsal Chevli assisting on mixing. 11. SaajanwaComposer : Abhijeet SrivastavaLyrics: Shayra ApoorvaMusic Produced by Aman Moroney, Ashish Manchanda, and Abhijeet Srivastava Vocals - Aanchal TyagiLanguage: HindiGenre: Indie popA couple of months ago visited Aman Moroney's studio, after the composer/producer invited me to have a little chat with some of his students who were learning music at The Media Tribe, an institute for music production. He played me a song that was set to release and I was blown away by the sheer magic in this woman's voice. Aanchal Tyagi was discovered after she was doing online covers of famous songs. She has now sung in a few songs with some great producers like Sashwat Sachdev and even sung in Marathi for AV Praffullachandra. This song will make you swoon and swing in joy as the melody composed by Abhijeet Shrivasta is sweeter than nectar, Aman's production is an example of turning something from 'Good' to 'Great'. The track is produced by Aman, Ashish Manchanda and Abhijeet. Just listen to Aanchal's vocals and you wonder if this is Shreya Ghoshal herself with a few years turned back. Aman plays the acoustic and electric guitars along with the Esraj as well. Ejaz Hussain plays the Sarangi. There is a strong chorus team involving Utkarsh Wankhede, Bhushan Meshram, Tejaswini Khodatkar and Gayatri Nagose and some fancy work follows after she sings "Main tumse haar gayi". This is where we hear both the Esraj and Sarangi. The stanza oozes of some rich musical quality and Abhijeet's tune is extremely catchy. Vaibhav Duratkar plays the Tabla, and all the vocal production and backgrounds are by Ghospop. The recording engineers are Jignesh Shetye, Dhaerya Malhotra, Aman and Abhijeet. The track is mixed and mastered by Ashish and Aman at Flying Carpet Productions.  12. SaavanGuitars/Composition/Production- Ritwik Shivam Vocals - Pritam Goswami AdhikaryLanguage: HindiGenre: Alt-RockIt was a few months ago in early 2022 that I featured and reviewed a song called 'Panchi' by the band Aarlon. Now they are back with an even better song that is bound to captivate you. Ritwik Shivam is the composer and producer and he also plays the guitar, the incredible vocal performance comes from Pritam Goswami Adhikary. Piyush Rana is also the guitarist and has penned the words for this track. We have the electric guitars and drums working in tandem along with the incredible delivery of Pritam, all making it one fine Rock song. Ankit Ganguly is the bassist and Prankeet Borah is the drummer. I love how the song shifts from being something on steroids to something as peaceful as the morning sun. This is one helluva song that will be most suited for lonesome listening and introspective thoughts.  13. TimeWritten and performed: Shujan De and KokoProduced by: Chirak JamioLanguage: EnglishGenre: Soul/PopThe song is titled 'Time' but the timing of its release did not matter to me. I remembered for a long time that this song moved me so much but I had completely forgotten to feature and review it back then. Thankfully I recollected it just time before 2022 ends. The song is performed by Shujan De and Koko with the immaculate production of Chirak Jamio. The strumming of the guitar breaks through like daylight at the turn of dawn and Shujan's voice reflects the vulnerability of a man in love. Until now the vocals and guitars keep you engaged, but when the brilliant strings section in the background turns up, I just succumbed and surrendered to the beauty of the song. Koko's vocals are incredibly pristine and complement Shujan's vocals. This song keeps you grounded and without realising the eyes shut down and the ears open wide to absorb the song's notes and arrangements in its entirety. I feel tears when I hear "who we are to fall in love". The track is mixed and mastered by Kevi Pucho with all the recordings happening in Element Indie Studio, Dimapur Nagaland.  14. Best BehaviorPerformed by: Meba OfiliaWritten by: Mebarisha Rynjah, Adiel MassarProduced by: adLLanguage: EnglishGenre: Soul, R&BRecently one of my favourite Indian musicians Shalmali Kholgade share a post on Meba Ofilia's album 'Untitled.SHG' and her amazing work. at about the same time I also listened to her music and it was nothing short of stunning. This brilliant hip-hop artist/songwriter hails from Shillong and she is one more source of evidence that North East India is the most talented lot in Indie music. I'll be featuring one more track called "Do you care?" next week but for now let us enjoy this, which just symbolises India's place in global music. It feels like listening to Tina Turner and my favourite line is "Still I put on my best behaviour" accompanied by the rich strings section in the background. Adiel Massar deserves all the credit for the music production, programming and arrangements involving rhythms and keyboards. There is some very interesting vocal harmonies section as well. Mebarisha Rynjah, Adiel Massar  15. Evariki VaraeMusic - Leon JamesSinger - Harish SivaramakrishnanLyrics - Ramajogayya SastryLanguage: TeluguGenre: Semi-classical fusionHere we go, and I am all praise for Leon James, as getting two songs from the same album featured is not an easy feat. Two weeks ago I wrote about "Avunanavaa" sung by Sid Sriram and composed by Leon and here is another beautiful song set in Reethigowla Ragam and sung by the great Harish Sivaramakrishnan of one of India's greatest bands Agam. The song has all the great assets of this incredible Raaga and Leon arranges and programs it with Violins, guitars and spectacular rhythms and keyboards. Ramajogayya Sastry is the lyricist and we can just fall in love with Harish's exquisite ghamakas. The Flute solo intervention and humming by Harish form a nice interlude ending with a brisk Violin solo. It becomes a worthy duel between these two instruments in the outro. 16. Kya KareinSingers: Ananya Birla & Ankur Tewari

1. DeshMusic, Lyrics: Bridge MusicVocals:Genre: Semi-classical FusionLanguage: Hindi The core team of Bridge Music is formed by Sam Alex Pasula, Sober Emmanuel, and Nehemiah Kulothungan, who are also musicians, songwriters and producers. The team has some splendid musicians as well starting with Sober on lead guitars, Vineeth Methuselah on bass guitars, Solomon Raj on drums, Stephen Netto on Keyboards, Joel Udai on electric guitars, Sathwick John on guitars, Jesh Abraham as the Flautist, Sephas Wesley as the sound engineer. The idea of Bridge Music is to identify great young musical talent and produce songs every year. This Song 'Desh' was one of 8 released in 2021 but I came across this on streaming platforms just recently. I hope to listen to the rest and cover them as well and I am sure they will be featured even if they are half as good as this. The songwriters are a big crew for this track featuring Sheldon Bangera, Hemant Sharma, Natalia Kashyap, Balaji Kumar, Stephen Netto, Aneesh Daniel, Sheenu Mariam, Solomon Raj & Rachel Meghna. There are modifications by Anand Paul, Samarth Shukla, Prakruthi Angelina, Rachel Francis & Nehemiah Kulothungan. The main vocalists are Aneesh Daniel and Prakruthi Angelina but they get some splendid support from the backing vocalists Natalia Kashyap, gang vocals by Silvanus Brightie, Jim Eliot, Rachel Diana & Vindhya Naidu. Sam on Piano and the other lead and bass guitar players keep everything neat and of supreme quality. The production is superlative and it shows when a semi-classical melody is presented with modern flavours. Sheldon plays the acoustic guitars but the electric guitars are not far behind in creating the impact. Solomon Raj is a constant source of energy on drums with Sanjeev Sanju on Indian percussions. The keyboardists are Stephen Netto and Stanley Sajeev. There is a bridge section where the two vocalists Aneesh and Prakruthi simply sizzle with a folkish touch and here I get a feeling there is a resemblance to Raag Desh. The outro is a masterpiece as well heavy on alt-rock styles, as the chorus performs aided by guitars and drums almost feeling like a song by Coldplay. I have tried my best to capture elements of the song but I probably haven't even reached the halfway mark of the song's intricate layers. Just listen and feel blessed, and embrace the quality of the music. The recording engineers are Sabi Thankachan, Stephen, John Sathwick and Ashish Joseph. Same Alex does the mixing and Alex Solano does the mastering.  2. Dil Dubda JaaveSung, Composed, Lyrics: Pallavi IshpuniyaniMusic production: Avijeet SatapathyGenre: Semi-classical FusionLanguage: TraditionalPallavi Ishpuniyani has never been featured on this website before but what a brilliant debut. She goes solo with writing, composition and vocals in this semi-classical melody but all the credit for music production will go to Avijeey Satapathy who does a fine job. The keyboard programming combines well with the rhythms. A nice piece of the Sarod gets introduced followed by the Flute solo in the interlude. The electronic pop and synth-heavy programming are a creative way to deliver a classical melody that Pallavi has composed. Praveen Muralidhar has mixed and mastered the track. Suketu Bhuva and Dhanada Phatarphod are the Label executives.3. HygienePerformed by Atharva PhadkeWritten by Atharva Praful PhadkeLanguage: EnglishGenre: Alt-RockI am thrilled to just review this song, which is one of the very best I have heard from all over India last week. It very well could have taken the No.1 spot, that's how amazing this track is. Atharva Phadke has written, composed and performed this vocally. The song starts with some sensations of guitars by Atharva and Shubham Vaidya on drums. Atharva has a great voice and he utilises to great effect. The guitars, drums, bass and Keys combine with immaculate precision and style and the song is beautifully worded as well as Atharva sings " Trust me on this topic, Profound is misery, God knows I deserve to be free". There is a mild interlude on guitars and it slowly fades into the background. This song is the epitome of the talent India can boast of musically and even dethrone global stars. Atharva excites me as a music journalist and I urge you all to keep a close eye on this lad. 4. Bheegi AnkhiyaanLyrics: Nishant Kushwaha Featuring Vocal: Krishna BonganeVocals: Ashish NaskarGenre: Semi-classical fusionLanguage: HindiThe band Yugaant puts on an insane show of talent on this track and it is always one of my favourite genres i.e. India Classical fusion. Siddharth Shenoy is the producer and he plays the Keys and sings the harmony vocals. He also handles all the programming on keyboards. Krishna Bongane is the featured lead vocalist and his brilliant aalap sounds a lot like Raag Patdeep to me. Ashish Naskar is the band's lead vocalist who also sings in this beautiful track. I could close my eyes and fly away into space listening to the opening minute of vocal brilliance. Pratyay Mishra then starts strumming the guitar and Harsh Damania is the bassist. Bhushan Chavan plays the acoustic and bass guitars and within a few seconds, we move from Indian classical to rock style. Sukhpreet Singh plays the Beatbox and Vishal Bhanushali is the drummer. From here on it is a joyful ride of mixed styles and Yugaant delivers on both fronts. Siddharth, Bhushan, HArsh and Pratyay all play backing vocalists for this. After the 4th minute, it is all about the lead and electric guitars and drums and we are in for a rock-fest. Sidharth and Ashish are the recording engineers, and the latter also does the mixing and mastering.  5 . Itne BurePerformed by Tyesha KohliWritten by Tyesha KohliProducer: Fisher ThompsonLanguage: Hindi/EnglishGenre: Indie Pop, BalladShe is a rising star, and you too will start becoming fond of this performer with every new release. Tyesha Kohli was just featured last month with a sweet track called 'Sweet Sweet Boston', but this one is superior to that one in every way possible, according to me. This is also interestingly bilingual and Indian artists need to do something like this because it could be appealing to listeners to hear both Hindi and English and could have a farther reach, and the artist too can show diverse skill and variation when they can write in more than just the 1 language. Tyesha, has written, composed and sung this but she owes Fisher Thompson for the fabulous production. Gopi Vadsak does the photography work for the song cover. The sound of the Piano is beautiful like poetry, and the transformation from English to Hindi lyrics happened so smoothly and credit to Tyesha for that. I really hope singers like herself are given a chance in the Bollywood movie space, just so that their talent is given some recognition. The guitars engage with the beautiful basslines, but nothing captures the melancholy of the track like the strings section in the background. Tyesha does exactly what the song demands in terms of her improvisation, vibrato and so on without ever overcooking the good recipe. Listen to her elongate the line beautifully "Am I wrong to pick a fight" around the 2.25-minute mark. Even the bass guitar notes modify themselves so nicely in the background and all this means that the programming and arrangements have been executed quite well. She brings out the pain in her voice and message so effectively singing " she lenge ab yeh bhi abhi, ooh ooh ooh". Once that happens the drums, Keys and guitars build up in energy to sound cathartic. 6. So long, already againMusic, Lyrics by Anoushka MaskeyProducer: Pranay BakshiLanguage: EnglishGenre: Indie Pop, BluesAnoushka Maskey is probably the first name that comes to my mind when someone asks me to name the brightest and most talented vocalist in the Indian indie space. Here is Anoushka Maskey once again proving what I believe in strongly and exhibiting her full potential in this track. Anoushka has written, composed and sung like a beautiful cadence. Pranay Bakshi, her usual accomplice in art does fantastic production along with mixing and mastering the track. The slow burn of the guitars is followed by Sahil Mathew's stunning bass guitars. After that, you cannot help but stay focused on her vocals and what she is capable of doing with that blessed voice. The travails of long-distance relationships couldn't have been better expressed than through Anoushka's vocals and words. She is a magician with impeccable and inexplicable tricks that she keeps unleashing with her vocals. The slow beat of the drums, the keys and the vocal harmonies all are engaging layers brought together by Pranay. I feel it when she sings "I'm closing my eyes, IM parting my lips", and that can be achieved only by a capable vocalist who excels in expressionism. 7. Tu ShaamilSinger - Jazim Sharma & Himani KapoorFeaturing Artist - Jazim Sharma & Tajasvi SharmaLyrics - Saaveri VermaComposer - Rimi DharMusic Producer - Sanjay JaipurwaleLanguage: HindiGenre: Filmi Melody, Light musicRimi Dhar is a respected composer and I look up to her as one of the beacons that would someday make the lives and prospects of women music composers much brighter. Jazim Sharma the vocalist, Rimi, Saaveri Verma have all been featured more than once on my weekly charts and when these masterminds combine the end result is bound to be this good. The melody is a very relatable tune but it is Sanjay Jaipurwale's production that adds a different texture and colour to the song. Jazim opens the account as the lead vocalist and we can hear accompaniments on the Keyboard. The best line is the title line where Jazim brings all of his vocal creativity, and then the electric and bass guitar interventions make you take notice. Himani Kapoor is the female lead vocalist and the two complement each other quite well. The track is mixed and mastered by Bhaskar Sarma. Partha Protim Das is the recording engineer and the moving lyrics are by Saaveri Verma. 8. WalohaWritten & Performed by Ali SaffudinRecording, Production & Mixing: Ritwik De, Amar PandeyLanguage: KashmiriGenre: Alt-Pop, Alt-RockIt starts with the effect of AR Rahman's 'Dil Se' title track, helped by strong guitars, and rhythms. Drummers Suyash Gabriel, Aman Singh Rathore and Aveleon Giles Vaz are involved and help in raising the ante of the track. In the album released by Ali Saffudin "Wolivo", this was my favourite track. The song is produced by Ritwik De and Amar Pandey who have also been recording and mixing engineers. Ali has written, composed, played the guitars and sung this gentle giant. The singing is inspirational and you can hear him putting all his effort and sounding excited and emotional like he means every word. The electric guitars are stunning, to say the least treading on the 'heavy metal' style. I can just urge you to play it in full blast and let go of your shackled emotions. The song is cathartic and will make you experience satisfaction at another level. There are layers of vocals, and the guitars keep altering their tempo. Prash Mistry is the mastering engineer. The visuals are by Yashovardhan Singh and the illustrations by Ajinkya Dekhane. 9. AasmaanWritten, composed and produced: Arunansh BhattSingers: Divyansh Sharma, Sai SilpaLanguage: HindiGenre: Indie pop, Soft balladAfter hearing some Heavy Metal, it is always perfect to calm down the nerves and cool the emotions. There cannot be a better track in this week's line-up than Arunansh Bhatt's "Aasmaan". Arunansh has composed, written and produced the slow, sentimental pop ballad and we have Divyansh Sharma and Sai Shilpa as the lead vocalists. The humming in the interlude aided by the Piano in the background is heartening, and then it is followed by the Sarangi. The opening of the stanza with the Tabla makes it delightful adding to the tranquillity. There is a tinge of Asha Bhonsle hidden in Sai Shilpa's voice, at least that is what I felt. I also did sense some Raag Bilawal in the song in segments. Arjit Agarwal does the mixing and Rima Biswas does the artwork. 10. Dil Khuda Tu Sung, Written and Composed by: Aditya KalwayMusic Produced by: Aditya Kalway and Muheet BhartiLanguage: HindiGenre: Synth-popThese young musicians are our hope, and I am putting my eggs in these baskets that will safeguard our musical future. Aditya Kalway is a brilliant, vocalist, composer and lyricist as well. He has written, composed and performed this number and this is probably the 4th single that I am featuring. Add to this we have another supreme talent in Muheet Bharti who is also a singer/ songwriter and he has joined hands with Aditya in producing this. The label is that of genius brothers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant and they never seem to stop promoting our nation's best talents. The Keyboards are like the Bazookas for this one as the song has a huge influence of synths and it works juxtaposed against Aditya's vocals. We can also hear some lofi-styled output and I love it as long as it doesn't dominate the melody. Ravi Romana has mixed and mastered the track. Aditya sings this with incredible control and do listen to his groovy ghamakas as he sings " Ab kar diya khudko, tere hawaale".   11. Find you therePerformed by Mohit MukhiWritten by Mohit MukhiProduced by Mohit Mukhi, Soutrik ChakrabortyLanguage: EnglishGenre: Indie pop, BluesI am glad I found him here. Mohit Mukhi is a debutant for me on my website featuring India's best music every week. But this feels like breathtaking baptism as I am convinced that Mohit has some amazing things to offer music lovers in 2023. He has written, produced and performed the song that feels like a slow Elton John song, and memories of "Candle in the wind" come to the fore. Mohit sings and plays the guitars, and we have Mayank Singh Rawat on drums and Smit Hajare on bass guitars. Soutrik Chakraborty has co-produced the song and he also is the mixing/mastering engineer. It is nice to hear a secondary layer of vocals and also Aditya Ahir's Keys. I love how Smit continues to impress on the basslines despite being so much lower on the spotlight and decibel levels. The lead guitar solo is free-flowing and a major highlight, combining with the female and male harmonies. Heather Andrews is the backing vocalist and the outro is a refreshing change, out of the blue as the focus is just on acoustic guitars and Keys now. Ashish Anand is the recording engineer and all the artwork is by Drishali Motwani. 12. Andhala ChandamamaveySinger: Sid SriramLyrics: RehmanMusic: Gopi SundarLanguage: TeluguGenre: Filmi MelodyAfter a super project called "Nitham Oru Vaanam" a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu, with 3 fabulous songs, Gopi shifted focus to a Telugu album and this is proof that Gopi Sundar is in no mood to stop right now. The Mohan Veena at the top starts things off and Gopi goes for glory by picking stalwarts like Sid Sriram as the lead vocalists. The sounds of the guitars, Mandolin probably (or maybe the Guitalele) are just way too cool and the arrangements deserve applause. The rhythm programming is another plus for the song, but Gopi's tremendous use of the Guitalele works wonders for me feeling like a leaf out of the US Country music book. At a time when musicians have stopped creating marvellous interludes, Gopi somehow still follows the old-school style and that is fantastic for music lovers like me.13. What worldPerformed by Thermal And A QuarterWritten by Bruce Lee Mani, Leslie Charles, Premkumar Rajeev Rajagopal, Tony Jason DasLanguage: EnglishGenre: Jazz-rockThermal And A Quarter were once rated as the best with some terrific songs back in 2020 in my weekly and monthly charts for their brilliant album "A world gone mad". Bruce Lee Mani on guitars and vocals enthrals us as Rajeev plays the drums and Leslie Charles plays the bass guitars and Tony Das is on the guitars. The most intriguing part of the song is however the Tenor Saxophone by Gautam David. He is on fire, spewing even more as the song moves forward. Closely matching him on energy and enthusiasm in the track is Rajeev's drums and percussion. Ananya Raja of the band 'Kelvikkuri' can be heard singing in the background right through. This is one song that would have brought down the roof while being played live. 14. Pehli DafaPerformed by Sunny SubramanianWritten by Alok Jha, Sunny SubramanianLanguage: HindiGenre: Semi-Classical fusionThe moment the violin solo by Manas Kumar hits you, I could sense a bit of Raag Jog, and the melody started flowing with the acoustic guitars as well. Sunny Subramanian and Alok Jha have penned the lyrics, with the former composing and performing. Just the vocals, guitars and mild percussions drive the song forward, and it magnifies into something bigger and more impactful when Manas plays the Violin. The structure and the underlying melody are simple but it is the live instruments and arrangements and production that conquer the heart 15. Lullaby for the Anxious BonesWritten & Composed by - Raman Negi Vocals: Raman NegiSong Produced by : Gaurav Chintamani & Raman NegiLanguage: HindiGenre: Alt-RockI think it is official, Raman Negi would be the single artist to have appeared in most of my weekly charts for 2022. It is not a simple feat, to be among the top 15 on more than 6-7 occasions, meaning that all these songs have beaten 400 other music releases across India in the respective weeks. Raman's songs are like beating 97% of others in terms of quality and to achieve this so many times is something I'll stand up in ovation for. The guitars, the vocals, the composition, the live instrumental arrangements and I could keep piling up on the great factors that make his songs amazing. Raman and the usual suspect Gaurav Chintamani playing the acoustic guitars, with Raman on electric guitars and Gaurav being the bassist as well. The collective symphony of all the guitars and drums is like paradise on earth and that is what I experience when I hear this music. The acoustic guitar riff keeps playing but the bass guitar adds a layer of creative beauty. Raman's vocals are unique and his style of diction and delivery always pique my interest. Shantanu Sudharshan is the drummer and he keeps at it right through. Just past the 1.20-minute mark, we hear some fantastic electric guitar notes and then it is followed by the lines "paanv tale sar ke ye zameen, dilon mein fat raha aasamaan". We have another fantastic solo by Raman on electric guitars past the 2nd minute and I can just ask music lovers to cherish and enjoy his work. I feel like a lullaby and I am put into a tranquil state when I hear Raman sing "hai bas dhuaan dhuaan". Gaurav has mixed and recorded while Chris Athens has mastered the track. The video was shot and directed by Maan Boruah. 16. Tere NishaanComposed by: Nidhi Wagle & Mihirr DWritten by: Nidhi WagleSung by: Nidhi WagleProduced by: Mihirr DLanguage: HindiGenre: Blues/ PopNidhi Wagle had requested that I listen to her new single a few months ago. I was keen, and when I listened to it, I was nothing short of blown away. The vocals are just an essential part of a song, the vehicle or medium that transmits the song to the listeners. Not just that, it is the primary source of expression in the song, sometimes even more important than the melody and the words. I have to apologise that I have delayed the review of this fabulous performance due to some oversight. Nonetheless, here is one of the best songs I have heard in recent weeks with probably one of the best vocal performances as well. The song has a tonality and tempo that reminds me of Stevie Wonder's "I just called to say I love you". Nidhi and Mihirr DD have composed the melody, and Nidhi has wr

Here is the week’s best indian songs from over 350 music releases across languages and states1. Jitthe PyaarMusic, Lyrics: Mitika Kanwar, Muheet BhartiVocals: Mitika Kanwar, Muheet BhartiMusic Produced: Muheet BhartiLanguage: PunjabiGenre: R&B, Indie popThis is one of those rare songs that blew me away the very first time. I remember sharing this with many music lovers as proof that great music still exists here and keeps getting created if you look for it in the right places. It is my honour to write a review of this song and there can be no other song that can vie for the top spot, and mind you, the list that follows has some breathtaking music as well. Muheet Bharti is a fine musician who I believe will create wonders in the future and here he and Mitika Kanwar work to write, compose and perform this single. When I had a word with her, she tells me that the idea behind this song was to create awareness that Punjabi music was much more than just promoting violence, aggression and male ego. Here is Mitika through her music and lyrics telling music lovers and people to raise their consciousness. As much as the song's underlying tune, its production is very important as well and that is where Muheet's skills make a foray. It is an unbelievable ride that you have to experience as a music lover, and Mitika's singing is nothing short of unbelievable. The vibrato and measure approach to ghamakas is just a lesson to even some distinguished singers, in being creative and not singing like a broken record. The Keys and rhythms provide some mild decoration along with the saxophone in the background. I am guessing that there is some influence of Raag Jog. I cannot begin to describe the pleasure I get when I listen to Mitika's aalap, as it feels like she is a Godsend. This could very well be 2022's best vocal performance in my opinion. Muheet does some insane arrangements and only he could have envisioned all these instruments conjoining and adding the R&B flavour. Aftab Khan deserves praise for mixing and mastering along with Vatsal Chevli as the mixing assistant. Muheet joins the party late, but he shows why he is also an essential player, and he too adds some fantastic aalap, especially towards the end. The two bring the creative freedom of Jazz and intertwine it with a classical scale. The Executive Producers are Shivansh Jindal and Radhika Mistry, and who else but Salim-Sulaiman could have promoted and presented this with their Merchant Records Label? 2. Aise KyunComposed: Anurag Saikia Lyrics: Raj Shekhar Singer: Rekha Bhardwaj, Anurag Saikia Music Produced by Oblong Sioni, Ishan DasLanguage: HindiGenre: Ghazal, PopThe top performers and talents can never be in the dark for too long, as Anurag Saikia appears on this week's charts at the number 2 spot. He has been having a busy year with movies as well as OTT content and after "Anek" this web series on Netflix 'Mismatched S2' boasted some good content and music. This is a ghazal version and who better to sing with panache and poise than Rekha Bhardwaj. Raj Shekhar writes the touching words and we have Anurag also playing a vocalist here. The song is produced by Guitarist Ishan Das and Oblong Sioni. You feel the love and warm embrace when you hear Rekha's voice and the Keys in the background keep the mild pathos and longing alive. Gauranga Sekhar and Arabinda Neog have done all the additional programming. Ishan Das and Abhinav Bora are the guitarists and you can hear the Sitar played by Bhagirath Bhatt. She shows us what shes made of with those delicate twists and ghamaks like in the line "sab kuch kah kar hee sab ko bataana jaruri hai kya". Bhaskar Jyoti Kalita and Kiran Vinkar play the Woodwinds in the interlude aided by some well-arranged vocal harmonies as well, the backing vocalists being Gauranga Shekhar, Bishal Sharma, Arabinda Neog, Pratikhyaa Sharma, Dipakshi Kalita and Kavya-Kriti. The impact of the Tabla by Sanjiv Sen and the bass guitars is unbelievable and there is no match to the unison of these two. Sanjiv Sen goes creative and does a very basic but enticing play on the Tabla when the stanza ends. The second interlude is a very classical intervention on the Sitar and it is just heartwarming. Nijei Nijok and Alok Punjani are the recording engineers, and the track is mixed and mastered by Pankaj Borah with Pranjal Borah as the mix assistant. I hear a mix of influences like Raag Khamaj, Raag Bilawal and Raag Yaman in various segments.3. Then ThulliMusic: Kailas Lyrics: B.K Harinarayanan Singers: K.K Nishad, Sruthy Sivadas Music Production: Ebin Pallichan & KailasKailas Memon has had a very successful 2022 and I have featured all the 3 songs of the recent "Vaashi" composed by him. This is one more splendid melody composed by Kailas and produced by Ebin Pallichan and Kailas. I love that Kailas always goes all out in his instrumentals and the huge array of live instrumentalists is a huge blessing for the song. Bonny Abraham plays the Oud, Saaz that add a middle eastern flavour while Anurag Rajeev Nayan plays the Ukulele and Mandolin. KK NIshad is someone I am hearing for the first time and I am quite impressed with his voice. The background layers of the Ukulele and Mandolin are fascinating in the Anu Pallavi. Sruthy Sivadas is the female lead vocalist and she compliments the male vocals perfectly, and all this sounds amazing with Josy John on bass guitars in the background layer. Roopa Revathi joins the parade with her solo Violin and the full impact of the strings section is felt when Sruthy sings the Anupallavi in a higher pitch. The Cochin Strings comprising Josekutty, Francis Xavier, Carol, Herald, Danny, Francis, Jain M.P, Mariyadas and Sekar on Cello are a grand presence. The interlude is a cadence of all these amazing instruments beginning with the Saaz and then the Violin. Aravindh S Krishna plays the Darbuka and all the brilliant rhythm programming is by Aswin Sivadas. Sujith Hydher, Midhun V Dev, John Glady, Amal Mithu and Priyamali are the recording engineers, and we have Midhun doing the mixing and Balu Thankachen on mastering. 4. Aankehin JudiSinger - Papon & Monali Thakur Composer - Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam, Himanshu Joshi, Nikhil RaoLyrics - Varun Grover Language: HindiGenre: Indie PopIndian Ocean the mercurial band of the 1990s has been scoring music for some amazing movies in the 2000s, like 'Peepli Live', 'Masaan', 'Gulaal' and now they have scored for 'Chakki'. I loved two songs one being "Aankhein Judi" and the other being "Kyun". The song starts with a wonderful whistle by Rahul Ram and then some solid strumming on the guitars and bass by Nikhil Rao and Rahul Ram respectively. Then Papon takes over and does what he does best serenade! Amit Kilam can be heard playing the percussion and drums and it is now Monika Thakur's turn to become the lead vocalist. A renowned member of 'The Revisit Project', Abhay Sharma plays the Saxophone in the interlude in a scintillating style and the stanza gets better with Monika singing in the lower pitch and a simultaneous higher octave layer in the background with the lines " Tu chand, Tu Katori ". My favourite line is the one that follows going "Tu hai dason dishaen, Tu dard tu dava hai" giving so much meaning and also a tinge of sadness thanks to a possible Raag Charukesi influence. Varun Grover does a fine job with the lyrics. Mukul Jain is the recording engineer, and we have Shantanu Hudlikar on mixing and Amit Kilam on mastering. 5. AvunanavaaMusic Composed, Arranged & Produced - Leon James Singer - Sid Sriram Lyrics - Ramajogayya Sastry Language: TeluguGenre: MelodyLeon James has been riding a very tangible wave of appreciation and success in Kollywood but it is nice to see him score some good music in Tollywood as well. He ropes in the most famous vocalist in South India, and Sid Sriram does what is expected of him bringing all the elements of love to the forefront. A chorus team is a group of well-established playback singers like Sinduri Vishal, Maalavika Sundar, Sushmita Narasimhan and Triya Sushma. The sound of the Ghatam goes quite well with Keba Jeremiah's acoustic and bass guitars, and it is thanks to Leon's rhythm production. The title line is the highlight of the song as Sid brings in more variations, but it sounds even better with Vishnu Vijay's flute solo playing the same notes. Keerthana Vaidhyanthan sings the solo vocal in certain segments. Leon James as a producer/composer depends heavily on the Piano and here too we can hear all the accompaniment, especially in the stanza. The closing lines of the stanza with the string Piano chords as Sid slowly raises the pitch of delivery is fantastic to hear. Sayee Rakhsith stuns with his Solo on the Violin in the second interlude, and the flute notes we heard are now sung by the chorus. David Joseph plays the additional drums and we have Avinash Satish as the vocal producer, Lijesh Kumar as the recording engineer, and Rupendar Venkatesh on mixing and mastering. 6. Nilaathumbi Nee Music Composed and Arranged by JAKES BEJOY Singer: VIJAY YESUDAS Lyrics: JOE PAUL Music Producers: JAKES BEJOY, EBIN PALLICHANLanguage: MalayalamGenre: MelodyJakes Bejoy is in the thick of things and is one of the few music composers in the land who is exemplary and shows the younger lot how one can be good and consistent and never compromise on quality. Jakes has composed, arranged, programmed and co-produced the song, with Ebin Pallichan involved in the production. The initial humming and guitars by Godfrey Immanuel and Sumesh Parameshwar create that feeling of love, and romance and Vijay Yesudas stamps his authority with than unmistakable voice. Joe Paul writes the lyrics and all the lovely arrangements are thanks to the session prepared by Daniel Joseph Antony with Maneeth Manoj assisting. Vijay's voice reminds us of his father's magnificent vocal presence. During the Anupallavi we do hear some mild Lo-fi influences and it is Midhun Anand who has done the mixing. The Anupallavi which comes after the title is the best of the song with Vijay exploring the higher pitch and a strings section in the background. Josy Alappuzha plays the flute solo in the interlude along with Keys and strings in the background. The way Vijay sings in the lower vocal pitch sounds incredible and shows his wide range. The strong presence of Synths and Keyboard programming is very effective in the song. Daniel Joseph Antony and Jisto George are recording engineers. 7. Mazha PattuLyrics: Anwar AliSinger: Govind Vasantha, Anne Amie  Mixed and Mastered: Amith Bal Language: MalayalamGenre: MelodyThe genius and mastery of Govind Vasantha are on full display here and he moves you into a state of amazement with the sounds, melody and lead vocals. Anne Amie is one of my favourite vocalists in India, and she can sing better than anyone else in the lower pitch, Govind picks her for this song as the perfect fit. We have Keba Jeremiah on guitars and Naveen Kumar as the bassist. Govind has composed, arranged and even sung and he probably is the composer with the most delectable voice. The male chorus is very effective and continues to keep us hooked along with the guitars and bass. The highlight is the Keyboard chords, sounding like Woodwinds, that follow and the notes just haunt you. Somehow I feel that there is an influence of Raag Keeravani. The Piano that follows in the interlude has a very strong similarity with the Piano notes that we have heard in AR Rahman's "Vennilave Vennilave". Anne Amie will make you feel heavy in the heart as she sings in the heart, and the stanza is filled with such quality and Govind shows such vulnerability as he sings "Dhoore Dhoore". The track is mixed and mastered by Amith Bal.  8. Aane Se PehleSinger/Composer - Ami Mishra Lyrics - Kunaal Vermaa Music Producer and Guitars - Vaibhav Pani Language: HindiGenre: Indie PopAmi Mishra is someone I am hearing for the first time, but when I read about him I realised he has composed a couple of songs in Bollywood for famous albums like 'Hamari Adhoori Kahani' and 'Half Girlfriend'. He is no novice and you can make up your mind on that when you hear him singing like an absolute pro. He has composed the tune as well but a huge upliftment comes Vaibhav Pani's production. The sounds of the song are exquisite thanks to the programming and arrangements and he also plays the guitars. The best line is when he sings Kunaal Vermaa's amazing lines " Main main nahi tha, tere aane se pehle" followed by a mild vibrato and a superb humming. Samrat Awasthi does the backing vocals and the track is mixed and mastered by Pankaj Borah. Vaibhav does a fantastic solo intervention on guitars, and we also have a good bridge section. 9. Is Shheher MeinSinger & Composer: Yashita Sharma Lyrics: Yashita Sharma Music Producer: Bhushan ChitnisLanguage: HindiGenre: Alt-popI love the fact that singers just don't wait for the final call from composers to perform in a movie, but write, compose, perform and produce based on their ability and network in the music circle. Yashita Sharma has sung in '2 States' and 'Dil Dhadakne Do' but she is also an indie artist. I have featured a couple of times for songs like 'Mila Yun', and this one is another feather to her cap. The song is written, composed and performed by Yashita but produced by the famous Guitarist/Producer Bhushan Chitnius. The song belongs to the Alt-pop and Alt-Rock genre and the live instrumentalists play a vital role. Amit Gadgil is the bassist, and he also plays the synth bass, with Bhushan on guitars. Archit Shah plays the Keys while Chinmay Roy is the drummer. The pop era of the 2000s is rekindled and Yashita uses her voice to great effect to give that impression of freedom, confidence and heightened spirits. Bhaskar Sarma has mixed and mastered the track with Bhushan handling all the arrangements. Past the 2.30 minute-mark we have a bridge section with some good humming and strong guitars. Partho Pritam Das is the recording engineer, and amidst all the accompaniments, Yashita smartly uses a segment to just silence the instruments and does some improvised singing 10. Water-loo Song Credits: Lyrics/Composition/vocals/rhythm guitars- Gurpreet Gulati (Joerocks) Music Producer: Vaibhav Ahuja and JoerocksLAnguage: EnglishGenre: Alt-rockThe song is a fantastic take on a bad unfortunate event, and how one can put a positive spin on it. Here the protagonist Gurpreet Gulati drops his phone in the Loo, and then when sees the Waterloo station in UK, he finds it to be a weird coincidence. The song is almost like a full-on solo project with Gurpreet a.k.a Joerocks writing, singing, composing, playing the rhythm guitars and co-producing it. The guitars, drums and Horns section in the background are just an impounding presence. Shailendra Wakhlu plays the lead as well as additional rhythm guitars, and let us forget the constant bass guitar support by Sajal Sharma making it ooze with funk. Vaibha Ahuja who works on all the Raman Negi compositions has played the thumping drums, he has also mixed the track, with Parth as the mastering engineer. All the cover art is by Simi Gulati. The supporting vocals we hear in the background is by Mandhir Sikander. I really look forward to the rest of the songs by this Delhi-based singer-songwriter in his upcoming EP. This is a simple song in terms of composition and structure, but the live instruments and arrangements truly more than compensate. 11. Yaar Zaahir Singers: Ustad Rashid Khan & Palak Muchhal Music: Sandesh ShandilyaMusic producer: Himonshu Parikh Language: HindiGenre: MelodyI had to rub my eyes and see it a few times to see who the composer was because right from the moment it started I assumed it was an AR Rahman score. The sounds and the opening humming with the keyboard programming were just like a leaf out of the genius' book. It felt like "Tere Bina " or "Ae Hairathe", and this meant to be a huge compliment to the composer Sandesh Shandilya. Palak Munchhal does a brilliant job of singing her lines and I am entirely consumed in the saccharine vocals. Ustad Rashid Khan is perfect in his role as the male vocalist and the strings in the background are the master stroke. Sandesh has arranged the vocal harmonies as well as the strings. Let us clap for Himonshu Parikh who has produced and programmed and been the man behind the wonderful sounds we hear. The stanza is rich as well and Rashid Khan keeps getting better and to some extent supported by Yash Mishra and Himonshu on backing vocals. Irshad Kamil writes the beautiful and touching words "Mein dhundu tere chehare ko baadal mein sada" and we have Shomu Seal as the guitarist in the track. The track is mixed and mastered by Bhaskar Sarma and we have Mandar Wadkar, Ameer Shaikh, Ranjit Prasad and Nitin Kayarkar. 12. Nee Chaaredu KalleVocals: Armaan Malik & Sanjana KalmanjeMusic: Sagar MahathiLyrics: Krishna KanthLanguage: TeluguGenre: MelodyThis is a musician who has been handed over some envious pedigree. The composer is Sagar Mahathi who is the son of composer Mani Sharma and he has composed, arranged and programmed this song. The vocalists are the dashing Armaan Malik who has now made a name for himself in Tollywood and the female lead is singer Sanjana Kalmanje who just got married to Sagar. The singing has some support in the form of guitars, synths and backup vocals. My favourite line is the title line and it is followed by the guitar and Tabla combination. Then you will get stunned by the Flute solo in the interlude, and the stanza has Sanjana mesmerising in full flow. The song is just full of goodness and positive energy and I cannot stop playing this on loop. It also cements the fact that Armaan Malik is probably one of India's topmost playback singers. 13. ChillsSongwriter(s) - Shalmali Kholgade Music Producer - Sunny M.R. Vocals - Shalmali Kholgade Music Arrangement – ZIA & Sunny M.R. She is undoubtedly one of India's supreme singers and composers. Shalmali Kholgade is the one name I will root for when it comes to searching for India's finest female music composer and someone who can topple any male domination in the industry. Just check out her Marathi album 'June' and her previous indie EP "2X Side A". Now it is time for '2X Side B' and it is damn good. Other than 'Chills' I also love 'Garden Variety Hater'. Shalmali excels at the writing, composing and singing parts and she gets some spectacular creativity. It is not her vocals but the superimposing vocals in the background thanks to singers like Hricha Narayana, Sianna Gomes and Harjot Kaur. Sunny MR is a master when it comes to producing, arranging and programming and he gives us a blinder here. Zafar Ansari a.k.a. ZIA and Sunny do the arrangements and it is Zafar on Keys, Synths and the Vocoder. Roland Fernandes is the bassist but a huge part of the domination comes from ZIA with the Synths and Vocoder sounds. Sunny mixes and Colin Leonard has mastered the track with Ritvik Shah as the recording engineer. The song is so catchy that we could forget to pay attention to Shalmali's brilliant vocals and improvisations. 14. Urimeytee MeghaleyMusic: Mark K Robin Vocals: Harini Ivaturi Lyrics: Krishna MadineniThe movie 'Ghost' has some good music score by Mark K Robin and this one caught my attention the most. Harini Ivaturi is the lead singer and the song is a very pleasant melody, the semi-classical tune is aided by some creative rock and synth-heavy pop style texture. The backing vocals help and add weight especially when the notes shift higher in pitch. The strong presence of drums, electric guitars and strings makes for some excellent listening. The best line is "Nuuve Kadha, Emai na", and towards the end we have a Flute solo to help us through the outro and this is where I felt a sense of Raag Hamsadhwani. The humming by Harini and the bass guitars is a solid end to the track. Krishna Madineni is the lyricist. 15. Salooq Singer - B Praak Lyrics & Composer - Jaani Music - B Praak Arranged and programmed By Gaurav Dev, Kartik DevLanguage: PunjabiGenre: Semi-classical MelodyAfter 'Sab Kuch' this song had io be featured in the album "Moh". The combination of Jaani an

Here are the best Indian songs of the week 20th November 2022, picked from over 350 song releases across the nation1. Maanegi Kis TarahComposed and Sung: Aasa Singh Lyrics: Aasa Singh, Rishikesh PathakMusic produced: RAWNAKAdditional Production: Aasa Singh Language: HindiGenre: Jazz/Pop Here is the best song of the week it was a song shared by the producer with me to see what my feedback was. I had no words and my only way of responding was to tell RAWNAK that it is good enough to be among the best songs in the country. Aasa Singh has composed, written and sung this gentle, and tender melody. The melody is catchy and Aasa makes it even better with his voice which has a tinge of an Arijit-impression, but is likeable for sure. Aasa has never been featured by me before and I am glad he is discovered now, as he also does backing vocals and mixes and masters the track as well, an all-rounder for sure. The layer of backing vocals doing the humming is great but the most impressive is the genius ID Rao's Saxohone that hits you in the interlude. The arrangements are made such that you hear the sound of the sax, like waves in an ocean, coming at you one after the other relentlessly. Aasa sings in falsetto so beautifully at the beginning of the stanza and you have to love the style and delivery here. The way Aasa experiments and improvises with his vocals is delightful and the outro is just the saxophone and drums in full and free flow. The production by RAWNAK stands out when you hear all the elements together.   @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 2. VeadhanePerformed by Srinisha JayaseelanWritten by Rambabu GosalaProduced by Bekkem Venu GopalSrinisha Jayaseelan is a noteworthy performer who has this larger-than-life attitude in her vocals and there is not a genre or style she cannot adapt to. Here she goes all out in Opera style singing. The Piano and the Strings section along with the vocal harmonies create an unforgettable impact. Bekkem Venu Gopal has produced the number with lyrics by Rambabu Gosala. The end of the opening lines brings about some rock flavour with the heavy drums and electric guitar. Listen to Srinisha's singing and how aggressive her delivery sounds and that is she is so skilled as a singer. The moment the stanza starts, she uses a voice laden with sadness to sing, and that is aided by the solo Violin. Srinisha also employs some very mild yet tangible vibrato. @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 3. Oceans Written, Composed & Performed by Hanita BhambriProduced: Raag SethiLanguage: EnglishGenre: Indie pop, soft balladThese guys at Compass Box Studios are like an ocean of music, unassailable, vast and deep. If it was Gouri & Aksha with Chirag Todi last week on 'Paper Boats', it is Hanita Bambhri 'Oceans' that Raag Sethi produces and his gang play instruments for this week. Hanita has been around for a while now and I have featured her before but this is probably one of her best yet, as much as her composition and vocals play a role, the production, arrangements and execution of love instruments bear importance and relevance too. Raag plays the guitars and Harmish Joshi is on the clarinet. Hanita's singing is spotless and she sings like a Goddess on a mission who will turn anything into ambrosia. I listen to this line "When you kiss my lips, do you feel the oceans of emotion?", and I could sense the feeling, and that painting become real in front of my eyes was only possible because of the solid writing and even better singing. The moment the line " Do you miss me when I'm gone" ends Harmish is at his sizzling best playing the Clarinet there. The track is mixed and mastered by Protyay Chakroborty and he also lends his voice for the backing vocals. 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The search Produced by RIATSU (Shadaab Kadri)Lyrics/Composition/Vocals by Shilpa AnanthLanguage: EnglishGenre: Synth-popShilpa Ananth is one remarkable artist who I shall blindly trust to make stunning music every time she releases one. I have already featured her two times for songs "fear" and "i dwell" and this time 'the search' (pun intended) for great music ends. She combines all strengths and knowledge of music styles into one and blending things this well is no mean task. The track is produced by RIATSU with mixing by Ishan Naik and mastered by Jett Galindo. The production is ethereal with keyboard programming given some strings in the background and then a repetitive riff that sounds other-worldly. The writing is quite good as well talking about the way power can corrupt a human being and this dilemma and the state of the mind Shilpa is in, is brought out wonderfully through the contemplative voice and eerie background sound and tone. "what will I do in search of power, who will I turn into when it's over?", she asks and the influence of classical Carnatic aalap is visible in many places. Vocal harmonies arranged in the background also work like magic and add to the mystery. @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}   5. Find love Written, composed and sung by Abji GeorgeProduction by Ashish Kujur - Gray Spark Studio, PuneLanguage: EnglishGenre: Indie PopThis guy seems to be a regular performer and most of the time it is him singing a Michael Jackson number. I am more interested in writing about this beautiful pop melody written, composed and performed by Pune-based singer-songwriter Abji George. Ajay Majethia is stunning on his guitars, like the hero's closest friend on screen. The romanticizing of the sing happens predominantly happens thanks to the acoustic guitars. Ajay also mixes the song and Nitin M Krishna does the mastering at Gray Spark Studio. The artwork is by Shruti Purkar and lyrical video is by Jhanvi Ambasta. The strumming and the tone of the song remind me of "More than words" by the band 'Extreme'. The singing, the chords on the keyboard, and the backup vocals are all coming together so beautifully and it fills the heart with joy listening to them together as well as if you focused on them individually. The acoustic guitar plays second fiddle sometimes to the lead guitars and the combination sounds flawless. The electric guitar is heard playing some fantastic notes in the background and try and listen to that to experience some more musical bliss. The change of the vocal pitch happens without any hiccups and then we have a guitar solo in the end like icing on the cake. @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 6. Karumban Inningu VarumoMusic Composed, Arranged and Produced by: M. JayachandranLyrics: Rafeeq AhammedVocals: Narayani Gopan, Nikhil RajLanguage: MalayalamGenre: MelodyEnjoy this energetic number from Kerala composed by one of Mollywood's stalwarts M Jayachandran. he has composed, arranged and produced this song that is bound to get you all pumped up also because of the way Narayani Gopan sings. Rafeeq Ahammed pens the lyrics and Nikhil Raj is the lead male vocalist. It starts off like a pop number thanks to the Keys and western percussions and even the harmonies. Then the brilliance lies in how it shifts to a rural Malayalam folk number thanks to the change of the percussions, and Nikhil's singing. The male chorus team has Arun Gopan, Nikhil Raj, Unni Elayaraja and the female team has Narayani Gopan, Poornasree Haridas, Anna Baby, Neethu Naduvathettu. Kamalakar and Durga Prasad are the flautists with the Mohana Veena and Veena played by Bhavani Prasad. Mithun Maaliyekkal plays the Keys and with Kalyan on rhythm Alap Raju plays the additional instruments. The strings section is obviously enhanced thanks to Cochin Strings' members Francis Xavier, Francis T S, Carol George, Herald and Josekutty. Unni Elayaraja plays the Violin Solo and also conducts the musical session. The interludes are rich and it is where Jayachandran stamps his authority. The recording engineers are Akshay Kakkoth, Sai Prakash, Emin, Mithun Manoj and Avinash Satheesh and the Orchestra Coordinators are KD Vincent and Dawn Vincent. The track is mixed and mastered by Harishankar V. The vocals by both the leads deliver all the right flavours of the land Kerala. @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 7. Talli Singers: Bann Chakraborty and Sunidhi ChauhanMusic Composer: Bann Chakraborty Language: HindiGenre: Dance-popThe movie did not make any impression on viewers when it was released on Netflix, but 'Plan A Plan B' has 3 fantastic songs, 2 of which are composed by Bann Chakraborty who was part of the New Delhi rock band 'Orange Street'. I loved both his scores for "Talli" and "Keh do ke" by Bann. The first song is a lovely dance Jazz number and the Horns section is huge plus for the song. Ramon Ibrahim plays the Trombone and he also arranged and programs the Horns section. Rhys Sebastian Dsouza plays the Tenor Sax. I have not heard Bann sing before but he makes singing sound easy and against a celebrated vocalist like Sunidhi Chauhan, he stands his ground quite well. Saibal Basu's guitars drive the song into that peppy mode and other than that the keyboard programming contributed heavily as well and I am assuming it all comes together thanks to Abhijit Nalani's production. Ginny Diwan is the lyricist and she gives as much meaning and energy as the drums and instruments in the song. It reminds me of "Papa Kehte Hain" purely because of the tone. Hanish Taneja mixes and masters the track. The song has a few lines which get repeated, so the trick lies in singing the lines differently every time and Sunidhi smashes this bit. The other song is a slow number that is perfect for some ballroom slow dancing. We have Vivek Hariharan and indie singer-songwriter Maalavika Manoj as lead vocalists, Neil Mukherjee playing the guitars and the song is produced by Aditya Pushkarna. Vivek is a wonderful singer and I have come to hear him so much thanks to composer Anurag Saikia. Maalavika just eases through with her vocals and it makes me glad to hear artists make the crossover into mainstream Bollywood music, just because it gives them more visibility. The song has a very European flavour maybe thanks to the sounds of Accordion that I presume to hear in the background. 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Sob Loke KoyMusic & Lyrics: Alo The BandProducer: Akash AgarwalaLanguage: BanglaGenre: Rock, Folk fusionThe song is part of the new album called "Baulana" by the popular Kolkatta band 'Alo', and I just loved this song the most. There are 5 songs, which are refurbished gems from Bangla folk and the band just gives a brilliant spin to the originals. Syamantak Sengupta is the front-man on vocals and guitars, Sarthak Paul on drums, Arko Roy on guitars, Bubla on bass, Jaydeep Ghosh on Keyboards, Debasmita Sengupta on backing vocals, Bipra Bala on the Flute. The vocals are phenomenal giving a Baul tone to the song, and the guitars and Sitar decorate the song and there are some fragments of Raag Shanmukapriya that I sense. In the stanza it is all about Syamantak's deeply involved and emotional delivery that stuns me. The second interlude is a bea

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This is the week's best of Indian music across languages and states, covering more than 350 song releases from movie albums and the independent space @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Helvetica Neue"; panose-1:2 0 5 3 0 0 0 2 0 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; border:none;}p.Default, li.Default, div.Default {mso-style-name:Default; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:8.0pt; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:120%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Helvetica Neue"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; color:black; border:none; mso-style-textoutline-type:none; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth:0pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap:flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join:bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit:0%; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash:solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align:center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound:simple;}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; border:none;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 1. Maaripoye - Jakes Bejoy Music Composed and Arranged by JAKES BEJOY Singer: KARTHI Lyrics: KRISHNA CHAITANYA  Language: Telugu Genre: Synth-pop/ Dance-pop   I, some time ago mentioned that I am happy that Jakes Bejoy is making in-roads into other music industries like Tollywood and he is getting better with every album. This one is a Tamil and Telugu bilingual movie and I had already featured one song in Tamil a few weeks ago. This one is a very upbeat number produced by Jakes Bejoy and Praveen Ninan with Jakes composing and arranging as well. There will be memories of Ilaiyaraja's movie album 'Anjali' with the kids chorus and disco/pop similarities. The kids singing are Kichan, Nandu and Idazhika. The male adult voice belongs to Karthi and the song had many elements which work right like the funky groovy bits, and the programming and production are of supreme quality. Sumesh Parameshwar is just spot on with his guitars, and to add more to the song we have a rap segment as well with Travis A King singing the rap verses in the interlude. The 90's synth-pop is an enjoyable experience and it is Daniel Joseph Antony(assisted by Maneeth Manoj) who prepares and arranges the session. Sumesh's bass guitars provide that oomph at every instance and then obviously Jakes' keyboard and rhythm programming. The track is mixed by Balu Thankachan, with assistance from Hariharan and Paul Daniel. John Gethin masters the track along with Daniel, Midhun Manoj and KK Senthil Prasad as recording engineers.        2. Tafriyan Music: Sameer Uddin Lyrics: Shellee Singers: Neha Bhasin, Devenderpal Singh Language: Hindi Genre: Lullaby, Soft Melody I never knew or tracked Neha Bhasin when she was part of this all-women band called 'Viva', but in her recent avatar as a solo performer in the indie space, I have enjoyed her music. This is a score by her spouse, composer Sameer Uddin for the Netflix movie 'Jogi', with lyrics by Shellee. Natasha Pinto is the champion of the song driving it forward with her gentle and tender Keys. The harmonies in A Capella style are beautifully executed and arranged with Abhishek Nailwal on backing vocals. Jitender Thakur plays the Violins and Viola, giving it a European or Sicilian flavour. Devendrapal Singh is fantastic as the male lead vocalist giving out the wonderful emotions of this love track and you are sometimes torn between choosing the lead vocals, or the harmonies or the amazing instrumentals. Meir Shitrit plays the Bouzooki and the track has Chris Athens on mastering and Tanishk Lalla as the recording engineer. The song is a masterclass on arrangements of vocals and live instruments. Rashi Bagai is the Executive Producer.         3. Oh Darling Performed by Priyanka Nath Written by Jonathan Edward, Priyanka Nath Language: English Genre: Alt-Rock  Priyanka Nath was very impressive the last time she had a single, and I have been waiting for her next. It is a delight that the latest one is even better in my opinion compared to her previous single "Run". She has composed, written and performed the number that has excellent lead and, backing vocals. The interlude has a nice section on the electric guitar, and when combined with the drums we have a very enjoyable alt-rock number. Just before the bridge section, there is another longer intervention on the electric guitars, giving a lot of weight to the quality of the number. The bridge section takes things into a calmer zone, but the drums perfectly up the ante as we approach the end. Jonathan Edward produces this number.      4. Antaragini  Vocals: Aman Raj Music: The Lost Symbols Language: Hindi Genre: Rock   Their brand of music is just consistently inspiring, as I don't think I have ever featured any other Indian band so many times on my weekly charts. Their album 'Gharq' has had at-least 4 different singles that have made it to the top 10 songs in India during various weeks. Songs like "Khwaab", "Riha", "Surkh" and "Nindiya Re", are reflective of great Indian Rock music and "Antaragni" is one more that breathes fire. Aman Raj is the lead vocalist, with Gunjan Soral on lead guitars and backing vocals. There is also Jubin Choudhary on guitars and Rahul Sharma on bass with Arun Singh Naruka on the drums. The song is supposed to refer to our inner fire and desire and when you hear this number you can feel that sense of desire and passion even without a single word uttered. Kudos to the composition and instrumentals for making that possible. Just let the opening guitar notes flow into your head and you will be drawn immediately. From there on it is Aman's vocals that raise the energy levels. Not for a single moment, the guitars play second fiddle, and the same goes for the drums which just keep the energy pumped on. Just past the mid-way-mark, we have a guitar and strings-based duel and union leading up to the bridge section. The feeling is transcendental in the bridge section with the vocals and electric guitars. Gunjan and Arun make merry in the minute-long outro section.      5. Khan Market gang  Production by Moses Koul Composed, Written : Kraken Genre: Jazz-Rock, Hip-hop Language: English By the title, we know that this is a New Delhi band, and I have never known about them before this single. This band was formed back in 2015, and in this return avatar they have released an entire EP with some very good numbers that don't generally conform to a style. This particular single is as good as an instrumental piece and I loved the guitars and rhythms particularly. Koul plays the guitars and reminds me of Durwin Dsouza's sensational "Ever Young". Suyash Gabriel is brilliant on drums, Vipul Verma is cool and stylish with his vocals. The bassist os Divij Kapoor and Reuben Das does the Keyboard programming. The song is everything you can wish for when you want to just let go of your emotions and break free. The track is mixed by Krishna Rao and Donal Whelan masters it. The artwork is by Hideo Diakoku     6. Paper Boats Composition: Chirag Todi, Gouri Ranjit, Aksha Kini Lyrics: Gouri Ranjit, Aksha Kini Producer: Raag Sethi Language: English Genre: Indie Pop, R&B I have been waiting eagerly for Raag Sethi and Chirag Todi and the usual suspects who work at Compass Box Studios. Here they are but they have raised the bar with two phenomenal singers who go together as 'Gouri & Aksha'. I have featured Gouri Ranjit Aksha Kini in a few reviews of mine and they are nothing short of fabulous. This moving R&B number has the heavy upright bass right at the beginning and it is Chirag Todi on guitars and Raag playing the bass guitars along with his arrangements and production. Harmish Joshi plays the Woodwinds ever so mildly, and there is so much happening in the background with Protyay Chakraborty teasing you with the strings section. Chirag reminds you of some Santana sizzles as he plays the guitars taking us into the world of Latin Jazz. There is also that extended freedom of creativity displayed by the instrumentalists, heartening to see. Gouri and Aksha perform on different pitches and still display such splendid harmony and union. when they sing together. The delightful drums are by SHivang Kapadia who knows exactly how to make his presence felt without drawing too much attention. Drona Acharya mixes and masters while Tushar Kejriwal does the artwork.      7. Tu Hi Nahi  Composition/Lyrics/Vocals by Piyush Bhisekar Language: Hindi Genre: Ballad The union of the pleasant guitar strings being plucked along with the haunting female humming is magical right at the start. Piyush Bhisekar plays the acoustic guitar and he has gone solo in composing, writing and performing this number. Piyush's vocals are soft, but the emotions that come out show vulnerability with that tender shake that he exhibits. Srinibas Misra plays the bass guitar and you can all along hear the backing vocals performed by Shubha Mukherjee. Those amazing lines "Saath chalna tha, par tu hi nahi" show pain and longing vocally and lyrically. As the song moves along Shubha not just hums and she starts singing the lines and enters the fabulous string section. Piyush and Shardul Bapat compose the strings section with arrangements by Shardul. The performers on the strings are Shardul, Arnav Lalsare and Kartik Tarte. Just when you thought this is a fabulous number, it gets even better with the heart-warming Santoor played by Ninad Daithankar. I listened to this song and fell in love with life itself and music as its greatest bounty. Robin plays the electric guitar and Piyush plays the percussions. The track is mastered by Ronak Runwal, and Malay Vadalkar mixes and does the recording.    8. Ghar Jaane De Vocals, Additional Composition and L