The next big singing sensation on the Indian Music scene.....

In my earlier post on MadrasBee, and I had mentioned Manjari and Shwetha and to some extent Kalyani Menon and Gayathri too as the successors of Chithra. However I erase them all because we do have a winner. She is here, she's come and just waiting to conquer. Instead of explaining the who and what I would request you to follow the link to my personal blog where I have explained it all.

Roopa

A delightful malayalam song and another good one from 2005 I missed

The song "Vethyasthanaaya Barbaram Baalan" from the movie "Kadhaparayumbol" has become stale with overplay yet it is a delightful song you must listen you if you have missed it.

There are a couple of others I missed down the line. The first one is from the movie "Taj Mahal", the new version that came out in 2005. It has one delightful song in "Apne Zulfen" sung by veteran HariHaran and composed by the late legend Naushad. Note that there is a music intro to the song that lasts several minutes before the actual song begins.

One reason why I was able to check this song was when Ritvik Rajan sang it so well at the Asianet Idea Star Singer 2007 show. Ritvik is out of the competition but I must mention him because he is also a "special" child. He is visually impaired and he also cannot communicate properly. However his singing is perfect. Check his performances at the Idea Star Singer competition here. Unfortunately the site has removed his "Apne Zulfen" performance and I was not able to locate it on Youtube. Maybe you could try. The performance is one that will bring a tear to your eye. Sung so well, the guest on the show, Jyothirmayi even confessed she was in love with Ritvik after his performance.

Tare Zameen Par has two good songs

The movie wasn't bad though it seemed to have as many songs as any commercial Hindi movie. Two of them however stand out, the tile song and my favorite "Kholo Kholo" with lovely guitar from Ehsaan and good vocals from Shankar who I guess is the singer. The song neatly fits in with the video of the movie. Check it out. Tare Zameen Par

kailash Kher again

Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa are currently redefining the rules of IndiPop and why not with an album as this!

I have been wanting to write about this one song and the album ever since I heard Hesham Abdul Wahab sing it so well on Asianet's Idea Star Singer 2007 competition.



In fact Kailash Kher himself would have appreciated the performance.

Unfortunately the links for the songs weren't working on musicindiaonline.com for a long time. Currently No.2 on the Indipop countdown on musicindiaonline.com, this is a must listen, "Saiyyan" from the album "Khailasa Jhoomo Re" .

Other songs:

"Babam bam" - starts of in a folkish manner but quickly moves into modern beat and bass. The song has a very "Laia O LaiLa", the evergreen classic from R.D.Burman from the film "Sholay". Nice devotional and mystic feel.

"Jhoomo Re" - The title song, more Khawali'ish. Nice racy number with little of western instrumentation. Good singing from Kailash.

"Chhap Tilak" - What an absolute stunner! Terrific singing from Kailash well complimented by the instrumentalists, notably guitar, bass, flute and the drums. Bass by the way is taken care of by ace bassist Naresh Kamath who also plays for the Malayali Alternative Rock band, Avial.

"Joban Chalke" - Starts well but soon mellows into a poppish number but does good to hold our attention with a catchy beat and singing. A slighly long song but not bad.

"Tere Naina" - Lovely ballad, sung well with lovely music from the musicians.

"Daulat Shohrat" - Was in his previous Khailasa album too that I had reviewed. This version is a better one and sounds more like the original with real drums being played instead of synthesized ones.

"Tu Meri Jaan Hai" - Another love song sung to the accompaniment of Indian instruments. Kailash's singing grabs out attention although it is less catchy as the rest.

"Yaar Sajan" - Lovely reggae number. Lovely singing and lovely music.

I can't wait to sample his latest offering "Ya Rabba".

Joshua Sridhar makes some long strides

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, 2008! And let us begin with some lovely music.


Check out Joshua Sridhar's new offering for the Tamil movie "Kalloori" and you will be convinced. "Un Arugayil Varugayil" is a melody that is going to be sung for a long time. The most talked about line in the song will be "....Ithu Yenna Ithu Yenna Iravodu Pakalodum Athikarrikum..." is a well sung and studio edited well. And then there is the Theme song that even rivals A R Rahman's theme for the movie "Bombay". Lovely numbers you cannot afford to miss.




Vijay Antony (these days seen without his moustache) of "Dialamo Dialo" fame has a new offering for the movie "Kadhalil Vizhunden". Check out the song "Thozhiya". Worth a listen.

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.