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Ada Music - A Review

Posted by Ramya Shankar on Friday, May 23, 2008 in ,
A.R Rahman only puts his fans in a dilemma with this album. It is very hard to pinpoint one song as a favourite. With Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na music also released simultaneously, I am in a state of utter confusion. Anyways, I love this album so much that I had to pen down what I thought of Ada's musical journey by ARR.

Ishq Ada hai - Rashid Ali
Rashid has a voice that could have the narcotic feeling on you. Especially the varying pitches at which he sings, leaves you in a phase where you don't want the song to end. Personally, I love the part where he sings - "..ishq gila hai, ishq sila hai, ishq ibaadat ka silsila hai" around 1.20. There's so much pain and power at the same time. And the careless guitar strumming throughout the song and in certain pauses is brilliant.

Hawa Sun Hawa - Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
Alka Yagnik sounds a lot younger than her other recent songs. Whenever Sonu says "hawa", there is a hollowness to his voice that makes you feel like a gush of air just passed across you. Beautiful flute interludes. I've always felt Sonu's pronunciations are brilliant. A completely refreshing song.

Gumsum - Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
What variations! Sonu Nigam is on a roll. Just listen to the way he opens the song. The notes are hit bang on target. It makes your neck go backward and forward. Very catchy beats. And the bass guitar (??) or the drums(??) at the end of song surprise you. Totally unexpected and it makes you want to pose like the guitarist of a rock band and strum the air.

Gulfisha - Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan & Vivian Chaix
The song opens with Vivian's chanting of what sounds to me like Parseltongue. And Sunidhi is one person who can beautifully carry off a base voice as well as high notes. The way both Sonu & Sunidhi sing the word "Ada" is very flirtatious. Finally, there is an alaap done by Sunidhi which gradates to Vivian's chanting and closes on a very mysterious note.

Meherbaan - AR Rahman
Oh my god !! I'm stoned. This song gives you a sense of hope and the feeling of being loved by all. He surprises you with his pitch at the end of the song which is very unlike the soft start. I have a thing for ARR's way of singing words with the "Z" sound in them. The man and his magical strings. Could it get any better? From the be-swaadi ratiyan in Guru's Tere Bina to the be-zameen and be-aasman in meherban, you couldn't ask for more, trust me.

Tu mera hai - Chitra, Sukhwinder Singh, Naresh Iyer
This sounds very familiar. I really can't place it now. Chitra sounds very Bollywoodish, and her octaves for 'Ya Rab Shukriya' match Sukhwinder's right amount of power for a song of love. I had gooseflesh when I heard it for the first time. Naresh's interludes have a twinge of pain that makes you want to sympathize with him.

Hai Dard - Udit Narayan
This one is going to take me a while to like. A song of lament and when by Udit Narayan, you expect a twist in the movie when this comes about. It falls short when compared with the other songs in the album.

Ishq Ada hai (female) - Parul Mishra
Intoxicating. Parul's voice is so wholesome and round. Its like a very sharp knife slicing through butter. She's 20 years old but has an addictive sound quality about her voice. This is a little different from the male version in its organization and inducement of a classical touch. Her alaaps are brilliant. What pitching ! I hope ARR uses Parul more in songs to come.

Milo Wahan Wahan - Alka Yagnik, Jayachandran
Jayachandran is the link. The opening of this song is the BGM from Kannathil Muthamittal. These type of songs are Alka's forte in Bollywood. She comfortably carries the song, while I feel Jayachandran pronunciations sound a little enforced. But if you concentrate on his voice quality, that's not a problem at all. Is there a male chorus singing along with Jayachandran at the end ? It sounds as one voice actually.

Meherbaan (Instrumental)
I feel so happy just talking about this song. If ARR's voice is also to be slotted as instrumental, then this is rightly classified. Listen to the portion from 1.20 to 1.40 and the guitar transition from then onwards, his voice sounds nothing less than an instrument.
All of us have to be Meherbaan to ARR for giving us such a beautiful album. (Meherbaan means grateful)

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9

Dream Girl

Posted by Ramya Shankar on Thursday, May 08, 2008 in , ,
She was a dreamer of sorts. Rather, she was a dreamer in all sorts of ways. From the reckless swinging of arms, the little hop in her walk, the constant ruffle in her hair, the unshaped eyebrows, the dragging of syllables while talking and all other things not primp and concise.
Today, was one of her days, where her mind was at its best to dream. She lazily crept out of bed and hopped between the papers, wires and other myriad objects strewn across the room. The sight of the place could give her mother the spooks and merely thinking about it, made her chuckle. She finally made her way to the journal lying open near the bean bag. She grabbed it with one hand and started her search for a pen that wrote amongst the million other nothings scattered around. Several futile attempts later, she found a crayon box with most colors missing. She pulled out one and plopped on the bean bag which gave a menacing whooshing sound. Pulling her knees close to her body, she propped the journal on her knees and began scrawling with the crayon across the unruled pages. A few lines later, she threw her journal aside and called a landline number in India from her calling card and spoke the words - "miss you maa" in to the voice mail before hanging up.
How she hated the time lag !!!

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