Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 118: On JioSaavn | On YouTube
17 songs this week. YouTube has all 17 songs, while the JioSaavn playlist has 15.
Clik here to view.
Title song, Friendzone, Taare Ginn, The Horizon of Saudade, Khulke Jeene Ka, Maskhari, Main Tumhara, Mera Naam Kizie & Afreeda – Dil Bechara (A.R.Rahman) – Hindi: My review of the complete soundtrack.
Khayaal – Abhijeet Srivastava & Prateeksha Srivastava (Indipop/Hindi): Abhijit and Prateeksha were both part of the 2009 edition of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs, though their musical journeys went in different directions since then. Abhijeet has been associated with songs like Bharat’s Chashni. This song, composed by Abhijeet, is a sweet and charming melody, made better by the spritely musical soundscape that always seems to be doing something in the background. The vocals are easy on the ear and the ‘Dera ri reera’ phrase, used later with words (Ik tere liye mein…) is a particularly lovely phrase.
Dhoop Aane Do – Vishal Bhardwaj (Indipop/Hindi): Gulzar, Vishal and Rekha… and not for a film! That’s yet another composer going independent after my list from 2 weeks ago – Amit Trivedi, Ghibran and Sean Roldan! This is a splendid trend. Dhoop Aane Do could easily be a song from a film directed by Vishal and, in another period, sung by Suresh Wadkar. The tune is rich and lush, sinking you into the dhoop effortlessly, complete with a splendid saxophone solo by Abhay Sharma to close the song.
Chandni – Vibha Saraj & Raajeev V Bhalla (Indipop/Hindi): Regardless of the number of vowels he adds to his name, I think I could recall Rajiv/Rajeev Bhalla to other songs like Bhojhal se, from I Am (2011) and Abhijeet Sawant’s pop album Farida where he scored for ‘Dil Fakira’ – both of which I remember fondly! Chandni is a great listen too, with a punchy electronic sound underlining Vibha’s very impressive vocals over the sedate tune.
Zara Thehro – Amaal Mallik (Indipop/Hindi): The differently l’ed Malik/Mallik brothers pull off a lovely melody in Zara Thehro that has only one aspect that scores badly – the choice of Tulsi Kumar, no doubt influenced by the fact that Bhushan Kumar bankrolled this effort. To the brothers’ credit, they have a wonderful tune that is eminently listenable, despite Tulsi.
Dilli Di Kudhiyaan – Amit Trivedi feat. Yashita Sharma (Indipop/Hindi): 22 years after a Punjabi sang an ode to Gujarati women, we have a Gujarati man singing his ode to Dilli kudis! Yeah, Jasbir Jassi’s 1998 Jaidev Kumar composed Dil Le Gayee Kudi Gujraat Di has its converse – Dilli Di Kudhiyaan! Both songs refer to popular folk Punjabi songs too, incidentally – the 1998 song riffed on ‘Jind Mahi Je Chaliyo Patiala’ while Amit’s song riffs on the iconic Punjabi track, ‘Mera Laung Gawacha’! With Shellee’s colloquial lines, Amit’s song is a catchy listen too.
Chinna Chittu – Quota (Allen Sebastian) – Tamil: While I haven’t particularly warmed up to Mohan Srinivaash Jagatheeshan’s singing or voice, Allen’s tune definitely has a warmth that keeps the song steadily enjoyable. Add to that Joseph Camillus’s lines that hark back to a very different, simpler times, the song comes together fairly well.
Aithalakadi – Pineapple Express (V.Harikrishna & Yogeendra Hariprasad) – Kannada: Pineapple Express appropriate (with credits and permission, of course) the 2008 Kannada film song from Gaja, composed by V.Harikrishna and turn it into a stadium-style kuthu song! Given the powerful shenanigans they layer it in, the original sounds tame in comparison!
Dirty South – Gurbax & Beats Antique (Indipop): I’m not entirely sure why the track is called ‘Dirty’ South, but it has an intriguing mix of a nadaswaram-like sound and some music that can best be described as Indian exotica Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It is punchy and very interesting, though!