Dev D's Emosanal Attyaachaar

Been listening to a lot of new music this past week. From the desi scene, the soundtrack of 'Dev D' had me hooked from the time I listened to the track 'emosanal attyachar'. The movie is supposed to be a modern version of devdas. Curious on what it was all about, I caught hold of the soundtrack and was surprised to see the track listing of 18 songs, which includes some background themes too. The music is by Amit Trivedi, a newbie in the industry whom we last heard in the movie 'Aamir'. The opening track 'Aankh Micholi' itself gives a glimpse of what to expect from the soundtrack. Most of the tracks have rockish or clubbish elements thrown in with loads of experimentation going on in the background too. The opening beats of the track 'Dhol Yaara Dhol' reminded me of a song from Rahman's classic 'Meenaxi'. But thankfully the similarity ended there and the soung turned out to be a melodic treat with a folksy touch. The 2 Dev chanda themes are enjoyable, especially the 2nd one with a nice whistling tune accompanied by some evocative work on the keyboards and cello. 'Dil Mein Jaagi' sounds like a 60s easy listening track and its sure to make you nostalgic. 'Emosanal attyachar' is the star track of the cd. The brass band version is sure to make you laugh with lyrics like

'Bol Bol why did you ditch me,
Zindagi bhi lele yaar kill me, ...
Tauba Tera Jalwa,
Tauba tera pyar,
Tera Emosanal Attyachaar!'

The rock version gives the song an entirely different feel, a more serious one. I loved it more. 'Ek Hulchul si' is a track in the good old classic rock mode. Also loved the veena work in the melodic 'Paayaliya'. Many more songs are there in this cd. These are the ones which impressed me after 3 listenings. The singers credits also has surprises. Most of them are newbies. And most of them have done a good job too. Overall, in this soundtrack I can see a lyricist and composer going wild with experimentation. Its sure to have you hooked. Hope movie is as good. Anurag Kashyap being the director, we can expect something revolutionary.

Other music Recommendations
1.Voyage-Rajhesh Vaidya
A fusion work by keyboardist and veena exponent Rajhesh Vaidya. Have some nice reworkings of carnatic favourites like 'Raghuvamsa Sudha', 'Nagumomu' etc.

2.Namaste-Karnatrix
Karnatrix is a well known fusion band started by guitarist John Antony. Those who have heard the classic 'Ponveene' from the malayalam movie 'Thalavattom' will identify him as the one who played those wonderful lead guitar parts. This has also reworked versions of 'Nagumomu', 'Namaste' and 2 other original compositions. The sarangi and guitar provide a perfect blend which can take you to heights of ecstasy.

The Honour of Proximity!

Been awarded again. The honour of proximity comes from Usha, the blogger poet who been very kind with me by giving me another award. The citation reads,
"The voice that speaks up for those without one, adds more to those who do have one, instigates one to go on forward, and be an Indian :)."
Thanks a lot for that. I would like to award this to the same people whom I awarded the brilliant blogger award, butterfly award and Free spirited & independent blogger award.

your crusader Praveen

Rock On!!!

Bought the soundtrack of 'Rock On' and been listening to it for the past 3 days. Totally rocking and refreshing. A whiff of fresh air among the mushy romantic (blatantly lifted) tunes and remixed crap. The film is about a rock band being formed in India and the soundtrack fits the theme to a T. The trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy deserves a warm round of applause. After the touching and inspiring score for 'Taare Zameen Par', they have broken new ground with 'Rock On'. It surprised me when I saw Farhan Akhthar's name in the singing credits of more than 5 songs in this album. And he has doen a good job with it too. Am still finding it hard to pick a clear favorite from this album. From the thumping title song to 'Sindbad the sailor', the songs oozes attitude. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy has cemented their place as the second best among the current lot of music composers in bollywood. First, of course, is A.R.Rahman. This soundtrack is sure to take the country by storm. Hope the film matches it.

your crusader Praveen