Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 113: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
10 songs this week. Some of these are the ones I missed adding last week in the deluge of the backlog. Plus, a few new songs. YouTube has all the songs, while JioSaavn is missing 2.
Clik here to view.
Aana Mere Pyar Ko – Aki Kumar (Jatin Lalit/Aki Kumar) – Hindi: A very enjoyable and funny (music video) rock-n-roll remix by Aki Kumar. The bluesy edge Aki adds to the song makes it seem completely alien from the original we have heard, yet when the actual song starts, the familiarity sinks in and makes it more interesting.
Nit Khair Manga – Sona Mohapatra and Ram Sampath (Indipop/Traditional): Trust Ram Sampath to reimagine a well-loved and well-known folk song in his inimitable pop-rock sound. And Sona Mohapatra to breathe life into it impeccably. This is a beautiful labor of love and thoroughly enjoyable.
Sanjoy Das’s guitar stays in your mind long after the song is over.
Vaaren Odi Vaaren – Sathyaprakash (Tamil/Indipop): Sathyaprakash composes and sings this single that puts a lot of onus on his dependable singing. And he doesn’t disappoint on both fronts – the tune is a lively faux-folk sound that Rahman concocted long ago when working with Bharathiraja that sounded markedly different and more modern than what we had been used to till then – Ilayaraja’s more authentic and earthy folk sound. But we have gotten used to this by now and Sathyaprakash’s tune does have a lovely lilt that keeps it interesting.
No Pelli – Solo Brathuke So Better (Thaman S) – Telugu: This is Thaman magic all the way – one heck of an instantly catchy tune with the usual sounds he is known for. Add Armaan Malik to the mix and you get an earworm!
Ee Vaanavum – ASAR (Sudeep Palanad) – Malayalam: I really don’t mind composers reusing their own template, particularly ones that are very good. Sudeep seems to be confidently repackaging his own outstanding ‘Jeevante Jeevanay’ from Sameer in Ee Vaanavum. The sound anyway is more associated with Shaan Rahman, and instead of Karthik, who sung Jeevante, Sudeep sings this one himself.
Athirinmeloru Maramundenkil – Samaya Yathra (Satheesh Ramachandran) – Malayalam: Satheesh uses the sound of an ambulance siren as a backdrop for his song and when you see the music video, you can understand why. It gets on the nerves after the first few seconds, but you also forget it amidst the otherwise rhythmic song very well sung by Anil Ram.
Moti Veraana, Radhe & Pavansutt – Amit Trivedi (Indipop): It’s great to hear Amit Trivedi unshackled from the constraints of a film script and almost script his own private Coke Studio of sorts with AT Azaad label and stream. The tunes are very folksy and earthy, but also original with the impeccable Amit Trivedi touch that seemed to be on the wane, or too familiar, with this film projects. While all 3 songs released so far are incredibly rhythmic, Moti Veraana’s Gujarati rhythm easily is the best so far. Radhe and Pavansutt, modeled as Krishna and Hanuman songs are almost quasi-bhajans, but with a phenomenally catchy outlook. Amit also chooses excellent singers to join in, in all 3 songs – Osman Mir in Moti Veraana, Neeraj Arya & Arunima Bhattacharya in Radhe and Devenderpal Singh in Pavansutt. I can’t wait to see what more Amit produces in this exciting phase.
Leaders Of Men – Thermal and a Quarter (Indipop): One of the lead singles from TAAQs new album that was released in March 2020 (that was earlier released as a single in 2019), the track has the very familiar and comforting TAAQ sound with superb guitar, as expected. The bluesy rock and the searing lyrics offer a strangely interesting mix.