Shwetha has come to stay!

I may have to go back on my earlier statement about Manjari replacing Chitra in Malayalam but she has one hot contendor in veteran singer Sujatha's daughter Shwetha

who is ruling the charts in Malayalam and very soon maybe in Tamil too. Check out the lovely number "Naan Tharai Nila" from "Rameswaram". She sounds very much like her mother.


After watching contestant, Teenu Telence on Asia Net Idea Star Singer 2007 sing K S Chithra's "Neeraja Dala Nayana" from the album I was tempted to check out some of her devotional stuff, songs I used to listen a lot during my SabariMala yesteryears. I came across some gems here they are. First the album "Hare Mukunda" from which the song is taken. There are two others "Amabalapuzha" and "Oru Nooku Kaanuvan" that are also pleasing though they tend to sound like movie songs. And who can forget the "Jaya Vijayan" duo. Check out their Tamil offering "Alialai Kanna" where Chitra sings two memorable songs, "Natha" and "Ezhumalai Vaazhum". The songs are so good and I wasn't surprised to find two other Malayalam songs "Devi Kumaranaloor Ammae" and "Nilpoo Njan" from the album "Devi Gaanam" tuned to the tunes of the Tamil songs or maybe it was the other way around. One other song you may like is "Oru neeramengilum" from the album "Kannanaam Unni Vol 2".
Check them out. Very pleasing.

Smash hits from A R Rahman

Today being the audio release of Vijay's new movie "Azhigiya Thamizhmagan" I chanced to check out the songs and I am already playing the three smash hits from the movie for the n'th time. These hits starting with "Kelamal Kaiyile" sung by Sriram Parthasarathy and Saindhavi which must be your first song make this one very sought after album. The other big hits are "Ponmagal Vandhal" and "Nee Marylin Munroe". "PonMagal Vandhal" is an old number tuned to todays rap and modern beats. It is going to be another classic like what A R Rahman created a few years ago with "Thottal Poo Malarum" for the film "New". MusicIndiaonline this time hasn't loaded the songs but find them on Raaga. Enjoy Azhigaya Thamizhmagan!

Two new lovely songs

After watching countless times the delightful video of the "Arab Nade" song and listening to it like a daily ritual for several days now I cannot but stress the beauty of this song from Yuvan Shankar Raja from the movie "Thottal Poo Malarum". Another lovely song is from the Malayalam movie "Neivedhyam", probably the most watched and requested song on the Malayalam channels these days. It is called "Kolakuzhal" and it is sung by the children of veterans Yeshudas and Sujatha, Vijay Yeshudas and Shwetha. Shwetha's voice is so similar to that of her mother. I cannot believe she said to me she wasn't going to pursue singing a year ago when I met her and her mother at a relative's marriage reception.

"Bheema" has two very good songs

Harris Jayaraj scores again with new songs for Vikram's next film "Bheema". Maybe the other songs will or may eventually become hits after multiple listens but for now two of them stand out. "Siru Parvayale" sung by Karthik and Harini (whose voice only seems to get better with age) and "Enadhuyire" by Chinmayee, Sadhana Sargam and others. Check them both at this link for Bheema on MusicIndiaonline.com.

Once again, some lovely songs from the recent past

As it always happens there are songs that bowl you over with the gradual passing of time. Here's one, from the Tamil movie Vattaram called "Idhu Naana". What a lovely song and I cannot help admiring Kalyani Menon's voice and delivery. This is the same lady that had sung "Adi Thozhi" from the Parthiban Movie Thendral. Credit should also be given to the sensous number taken around the Athirampally waterfalls with Adisaya and Arya that also lured me to this number.

The other song that kind of missed my ears is "Nee Oru Puzhayai" from the Malayalam movie "Thilakkam". I defy even veterans to sing this song because it has to only be sung with a cool and a calm as Jayachandran does in this lovely number. Jayachandran is literally on a comeback trail in Malayalam not to forget he is still singing great songs in Tamil. Now that Yesudas is almost out of the music scene in Kerala it is wonderful to see Jayachandran still entertaining his Malayalee fans with hit after hit.

Of the other songs that I thought I missed one is "Thaaliye Thevaille" from the Vishal movie Thambirabarani. After a while it is nice to hear a good song from Bhavatharini. The other is also from another Vishaal starrer called "Maana Madurai" sung by Shankar Mahadevan but I haven't found the link yet. Let me know if you do.

Illayaraja strikes again in Malayalam

Too much of other pre-occupations has led me to post so late but not that there has been a dearth of good new songs. In Malayalam, Illayaraja had done it again with two lovely songs in the movie Vinodayathra, songs that are the most requested and played now in rainy Kerala. I am not sure who the singers are but "Kaiyetha" my favorite could be a Manjari number. The other, the duet "Mandhara Poo" may be sung by Madhu Balakrishnan and Majari again but not sure about the female singer. Check them out, they are lovely.

Sivaji has one sure hit

The much awaited Rajnikanth starrer has one big A R Rahman hit in "Sahara Pookal" sung by Udit Narayanan and Chinmayi. Inspite of the poor tamil sung by Udit (which has been widely accepted these days from non-tamil speaking singers) it is a lovely song. But the song also brings to mind familiar tunes and music of other songs but cannot recall which ones. Click here to check out the song from musicindiaonline.com. Unfortunately some of the other links of the remaining songs do not work. Maybe in the coming days they will. But for now enjoy this lovely song.

Yuvan's new offering...

I must begin by saying what a surprise it was to see Chitra and Manjari on the cover of the popular malayalam fortnightly "Vanitha". I had written about Manjari saying she could replace Chitra on an earlier post on MadrasBee.

Now for the lovely songs from Yuvan for the movie "Chennai 600028". First up is "Un Paarvai" by Vijay Yesudas. Vijay sounds very different but it is the best song to come out after his marriage. The magic combo of Yuvan and Vijay is evident in this lovely song. Using real drums (certainly doesn't sound synthesized) and violin background score, Yaaro (Love) sung by S.P.Balasubramaniam, Chitra and chorus. Barring some clumsy moans/tunes/music somewhere in the middle it is a good number. A variation of the same song titled Yaaro (Friendship) is Ok except for some goofing in the amateurish singing (or that's how it sounds). Finally there is the song sung by Yuvan which is likely to become a hit with the young cricket audience is "Ulla Vaa". Check them out.

Two good songs, one a must see/watch

Ever since I saw these guys on the Vijay Awards Show some three or more weeks ago I had no one to talk to about them. But now since the word's around and more people searching for their music I must say "check them out". The video of their song "Madai Thiranthu" their cover of Illayaraja's hit from the movie "Nizhalgal" is a must hear. Check them out at the link below on YouTube . The other song I have been listening to quite a bit is "Unn Siripinil" the latest from Harris Jeyaraj for Goutham Menon's new offering "Patchai Kili Muthu Charam". This number is going to be on the lips of many for quite some time. The other songs of the movie don't make a mark though they are bound to become popular. Like "Karka Karka" from Vettaiyadu Vilayadu there may be another number from Patchai Kili that might win my ear later.

Take a listen to this man - Prem Joshua

I had the privilege of listening to him on the iTunes Store and though I won't rate him a successor to Ananda Shankar, he is good to listen to. Prem Joshua is an adept flautist and sitarist. I read that Anoushka Shanker, Pandit Ravi Shankar's daughter and an accomplished sitarist herself is a big fan of Prem Joshua and I am not surprised. The music is great for a long ride, exotic choreography or as Ananda Shankar and Tanushree did, good for dances too. According to the article in Wikipedia there is a dancer from Singapore who is already creating such dance performances tuned to Prem Joshua's music. Some of the songs I would highly recommend are "Saroja Part 1" from the album Yatri, "Dakini" from the album Sky Kisses the Earth and "Bolo Hari" from the album Dance of Shakti. Check them out. They may be next best and new thing you were searching for in music.

Mithoon scores again and other Lovely new songs

Mithoon, the man behind Atif Afsal's "Tere Bin" from "Bas Ek Pal" scores big with songs for the movie "Anwar". The song that is frequently played is "Maula Mere" sung well by Roop Kumar Rathod. The music compostion is good. The other one, "Tose Naina Lage" by Kshitij and Shilpa Rao is another one very good on the ears. Pleasant and lovely.

And from the others, "Ey Hairathe" by Alka Yagnik (a hit for the 'Ek do theen" girl after a quite a while) and Hariharan is a melodious number from A R Rahman for the film "Guru".

In Tamil songs from "Unnale Unnale" the next and anticipated offering from Harris Jayaraj has a good one in the title song sung by Karthik and Harini. "Vaigasi Nilave" sung by Madhusri (her tamil is bad though) and Haricharan is listenable too.