Posts Tagged ‘Rohwit’

The Humma Song vs Humma Humma of 90s

Posted: December 20, 2016 by moifightclub in music
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Humma Humma, Bombay (1994) – Constrained spaces, two lovers unsure of what they have got into and where they have landed. A Muslim girl who has come to a strange place with a Hindu boy. She does not see the familiar green fields in this big city that does not allow one inch of privacy. Here they cannot hug and perhaps steal a kiss without a bunch of eyes looking at them.

Cut to – night. Hormonally charged souls moving around and somehow the constrained space becomes a propeller rather than a deterrent. And then they hear a celebration where a viking and a beautiful lass indulge in a musical foreplay and mind you, the girl is not singing. Her moves are not fake; they don’t need her to wear shorts.  She can make you pant just by exchanging a look with you. The man has to woo her, so the man tries. There is not a hint of ‘hotness’ in the voice of Remo Fernandes. What you hear is pure energy that isn’t auto-tuned or sanitized to sound just perfect in the earphones. This song is for big bad music systems, where the sound will hit your heart in a way you will feel you are getting a heart attack and you thank God when the song ends, because you will rewind and wait for the ‘dhichak dhichak dhik dhik aah‘ that launches you into space and you feel like you haven’t felt before, perhaps like when you felt someone you love for the first time, breathing out on your neck.

The Humma Song, Ok Jaanu (2016) – Cut to an India where a young couple cruising around on a bike, where the guy is not applying brakes ‘strategically’ so that he could feel his pillion’s body against him. The pillion is already ‘one’ with the rider. They do the snake-moves driving instead. Why? ‘We float-on-the-road-babeh’ that’s why! Meeting and finding a place for meeting isn’t a cause of worry.

We aren’t in a dim lit room, our rooms have mood lighting. The song isn’t humma humma, it is The Humma Song. The sense of occasion and anticipation is moaning from the title of the song. It is 2017, the man needs to be wooed too, so the woman sings as well. She has to. It is not a bad thing, Shashaa Tirupati is brilliant. The song starts too self-aware; there is an excellently written rap portion which perhaps captures the mood of the original song to the T. The only time the shehnai sounds like lovers climaxing is when the rap ends and leads you right to it. There is greater bass; this one is for the headphones of smart-phones. This one is for the silent clubs in London. No-one has run away from their village, no one is dying to ‘do it’, they want to do it right. Of course they love each other; their filter-rich Instagram will have you believe that. They might not have the sexual energy of Manisha-Arvind which was more driven because the couple reached a place of certainty from an uncertain past, but what Shraddha-Aditya have is a surety about how their love will be expressed in that place where they don’t have to ‘steal’ a kiss or a hug.

It is easy to chug the new one away saying the earlier one was a classic and frankly if that would have been a way of life, we would have never heard Indian classical music’s gift to us that is called a Thumri. We re-create, we laugh at purists, for they don’t know the delicious taste of fusion. Is all this wrong? No, it is just the spirit of times where we now exist. If we oldies are unable to search chemistry in them, may be we should stop looking at the The Humma Song and look at Humma Humma again, because while the latter had liberation written all over it and the former has self-aware celebration tattooed on its neck. Both are fine. Let us leave it at that.

The Humma Song is targeted at the generation that has grown up listening to and watching Humma Humma on Boogie Woogie and other dance shows. This was all much before they were hit by the highs of wifi, 1080p videos. Post-wifi the world spiraled down to booze parties with songs and gentle gyration to the tunes of Humma Humma and other such songs. The way you hear Jubin hum The Humma Song is a perfect example of that. Booze parties or not, we need just the right amount of thrust to float and while we are at it, a new video with fresh colors and high resolution won’t harm either. The old one, till the last I checked looks pixelated on all YouTube channels it is available.

Finally (and this is where my music reviewing is coming in the way), let us look at the composer of the song. He had a promising future at the time when the song came out. He had to prove himself with every beat that made way from his studio to the music stores that the promise bestowed on him was right. He is comfortable now. What did you expect? Same energy? Na! This is a self-assured way of showcasing to ‘YOLO’ folks – “Look, I can be hip too!”

Personally, I would take raw, unfiltered energy any day, to carefully constructed noise. Passion is best expressed uninhibited, where you break a glass or two while you are at it, forget the mess it will create. Let me rewind (not ‘repeat’) Humma Humma, but I won’t judge you if you like The Humma Song, in fact I would try and hum the song like Jubin, as I sit and reminisce about how The Humma Song would look like with the visuals of Humma humma, isn’t that lovely?

– Rohwit

(P.S. – I still haven’t seen the video, I would like to see it when the film comes out to find out if it fits the narrative like those baggie pants of 1990s or does it look super chic like ‘tights’ we see today. Both are fine, been there did that)

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy – Music Review

Posted: March 25, 2015 by moifightclub in cinema, music, Music review
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When there is no competition, you generally don’t get good products, because sooner or later, producers of those products would hallucinate and think they are Gods, and their consumers are insignificant. This theory fits perfectly when we think of film music in our country. If you don’t believe me, try to remind yourself of 5 film albums which you liked last year. Got my drift?

We live in times when everything should make money for the makers. Music has to be catchy enough for caller tune. Who cares if people forget about the music 3 days after the promos end! Last year, it was Haider, a music album that enveloped the feel of the film and not compromising with the melody in the process. The first quarter of this year has ended and Dibakar Banerjee has given us Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.

The album starts with immensely talented Madboy/Mink jiving on Calcutta kiss. I don’t know about you but I never thought we will witness such vibrancy and joie de vivre in a film song. The song kicks it and does a kick ass job at it. It has a deliciously flirtatious vibe, and my God, it is amazing! Saba Azad is a Goddess and I love the way she economizes her vocal spend on Hindi film songs. A wise man told me long time back that Sneha Khanwalkar might create good sound but she has a long way to go for making a melodious song that sticks in your head. Now I don’t know how they will use all songs in the film, but if used well, I challenge you to come out of the hall and not have ‘Bach ke bakshy…tu jhoootha hai makkaar‘ playing in your head. With this song, Sneha builds a villa on the already cemented spot that she occupies – one of the few, very few good musicians of our times whose songs will outlive us all and future generations will try unsuccessfully to find out the ‘formula’ behind the varied sounds she produced in her lifetime. I don’t know Sneha but I would love to know the questions she asks the maker when she is given the brief on the song that she has to make for a particular film. She gets it right every time!. Double pat to the lyricists of the song (Sneha and Dibakar, we are told)…whoever came up with beh gaya jo khoon uska kya blood type hai?!! The ‘bach ke bakshy tu jhootha hai makkar‘ has the same deadness to it, which some of us would remember experiencing when we heard kiley ka rahasya‘s title song.

I have always had a bone to pick with the non-film music scene in India, which has more often than not tried hard to bollywoodize itself to get validation (read recognition and money). The almost disgusting attempts at aping our innovative and rich neighbors’ music scene have failed because we try to put a bollywood touch to everything, and the sound gets hijacked. In comes ‘Byomkesh in love‘, and you feel not everything is wrong after all. The song has been fused well and in spite of English words in between, you will surely smile at the thumri-sque complaints of the singer asking her beloved to stay with the ‘other’ woman. The only other time it was done so beautifully was when Ram Sampath created this beautiful song. That was 13 years ago. In spite of somewhat average lyrics, what will arrest your attention in ‘jaanam’ is the tripping Synth arrangement in the song. Suryakant Sawhney does a great job at giving us a retro but not dated love song.

There was a time when to make your film song ‘hep’, you had to have a song from Suraj Jagan. It worked but not totally, may be because the songs always wanted mass acceptance from Bollywood music lovers who are overfed with silly items songs and template of rondu-rotlu songs. Thankfully ‘Life’s a bitch’ by Akshay De is NOT at all like that. The song doesn’t try to pander to ‘General population’ and keeps the death metal ( is it?) feel alive. Akshay de is angry and his rough (yet never out of tune) singing makes it up for a song which you will either love, like I do or hate! Nothing grey here. Chase in Chinatown marched passed all of us in the first trailer of the film. The music and the mood of this track is elevated a great deal by Vyshnav Balasubramaniam. The rap is rough and much like ‘life’s a bitch’ this might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the track is trippy and one that fits the stealthy title to the T. Yang Guang Lives – is a meandering track that has interesting sound to it.  IJA has created this more like a background score with occasional commentary. Thanks to the superb pace of the entire O.S.T., this track might wear you out because it breaks off a lot in between. It won’t be wrong to conclude that the track is more a film piece than a song piece. That said, the track will give multiple orgasms to bass junkies.

Dibakar got 7 composers to make 7 songs. I am not the most vocal advocate of bringing hajaar composers in one O.S.T because I feel that the sound of the film gets compromised and doesn’t stay uniform. Thankfully, it is not the case here. For all we know, Dibakar would do a ‘kahaani’ and not include any song in the film. Even then, every note that you encounter in this album wraps itself around the feel of the film so well that it makes you want to see the film immediately!

We dont know what the film has in store for us. All we have got so far is just an eerie anticipation of something sinister which is about to unfold and the music just enhances that feeling. I cannot ask for anything more from an O.S.T..

Super like!

Let us know which song worked for you and which one didn’t.

– @rohwit

Jagjit Singh (08 February 1941 – Forever)

Posted: October 9, 2014 by moifightclub in music
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Not everyone listens to Jagjit Singh these days. Not everyone knows Jagjit Singh. For the those of us who have grown up with his ghazals, it is an impossible task to pick up the ‘favorite’ or ‘top 10 ghazals’ from the vast treasure-trove he left behind for us. On his 3rd death anniversary, this post is not an attempt to pick his ‘top’ ghazals.

Yours truly is known to gate-crash any music discussion about Jagjit Singh that takes place on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. This post is a result of my secret excursions to various discussions about Jagjit Singh and how those discussions are almost always hijacked by somewhat ‘popular’ ghazals from the man. I am enlisting few ghazals which I haven’t seen being discussed much. I have deliberately chosen albums from the later part of his life because the ‘sound’ agrees more to a first time/new listener.

1. Aaj fir unka saamna hoga – This was first featured in the album Love is blind. By the time of its release, the ‘jagjit singh album release event’ was anticipated eagerly by ghazal lovers. The mood, the anticipation all pitch perfect here, I particularly love the first antara that goes

आसमान रो रहा है दो दिन से,

आपने कुछ कहा सुना होगा..

2. Aap se gila aapki kasam – This was featured in the album ‘Unique’. Hear the helplessness in Jagjit singh’s voice when, in the first antara the part comes that goes ‘उसकी क्या खता, ला-दावा है ग़म’ and you will know what I mean. Jagjit Singh is to be credited with bringing a better ‘sound’ (thanks to his earlier days collaborator, Mr. Daman Sood, the magician sound engineer), to Indian ghazals. Hear how the violin takes you to your loved ones, everytime it appears in the ghazal. That said, my favorite part in the ghazal remains

खीचते रहे, उम्र भर मुझे

एक तरफ खुदा, एक तरफ सनम.

3. Main Rahe Meena rahe – This was featured in Mirage for the first time and was an HMV release. I remember buttering my parents properly to pick up the ‘sheer magic’ version of this cassette. Sheer magic used to be a ‘better’ quality cassette by HMV. Side A, last ghazal it used to be. Just hear the rich use of rubaab in the ghazal along with the melancholic yet flirty flute to get lost in the magic of this beautiful ghazal. My favorite part remains

हश्र भी तो हो चुका, रुख से नहीं हटती नकाब

हद भी आखिर कुछ है कब तक कोई दीवाना रहे

4. Mausam ko isharon se bula kyu nahi lete – This was featured in the album titled Sajda. The pace is delicate, the words are probing and Jagjit Singh captures the tone of a lover in a charming way which we haven’t come across since he has left us. My favorite part remains

तुम जाग रहे हो, मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगता

चुपके से मेरी नींद उड़ा क्यों नहीं देते?

5. Dushman ko bhi seene se lagana nahi bhooley – Yet another ghazal from the album Mirage. I rarely see this ghazal being discussed. Apart from the wonderful rubaab that starts the ghazal, hear the veiled anger of Jagjit singh in the antara that goes ‘कुछ लोग अभी आग लगाना नहीं भूले’. My favorite part remains

ये बात अलग, हाथ कलम हो गए अपने

हम आप की तस्वीर बनाना नहीं भूले

6. Dairo haram mein – This one comes from the magnificent album titled ‘face to face’. I haven’t come across many ghazals of Jagjit Singh which are composed in this tempo and sung with such attitude! Just hear Jagjit singh (ably supported by the wonderful backup vocalists) goes

तूफ़ान से हम टकरायेंगे

तुम अपनी कश्ती को संभालो

7. Ye kaisi Mohabbat – Featured in the album ‘Desires’, was released by Weston if I remember right. Penned by ‘Gumnaam’ (Surinder malik), it pretty much would be one of the best pieces of poetry that you will come across all ghazals from the maestro. My favorite part still remains

वो दामन हो उनका, के सुनसान सेहरा

बस हमको तो आखिर हैं, आंसू बहाने

8. Ishq ki daastaan hai pyaare – This was sung by Jagjit singh in Shimla concert If I remember right. It was then released by HMV in an album titled – Live with jagjit singh. I cannot remember any other ghazal  that used a seemingly ‘ghazal inappropriate’ word like ‘pyarey’ so well. My favorite part remains

हम ज़माने से इन्तेकाम तो लें

एक हसीन दरमियान है प्यारे

9. Din guzar gaya – The ghazal that Jagjit Singh sung along with Chitra Singh. It was featured in the album ‘Someone Somewhere’. There is love, submission and pain all in one ghazal. Hear it to know why it is perhaps the most heartbreaking ghazal of this list. I can never go beyond my favorite part which remains

उनकी एक नज़र, काम कर गयी

होश अब कहाँ, होशियार में..

10. Ye Zindagi – A somewhat gloomy Nazm which was featured first in ‘Insight’. In my view it somehow got overshadowed because ‘Garaj baras pyaasi dharti pe, phir paani de maula’ and this ghazal from ‘Neem ka ped’ was also featured in the same album. If there was ever a composition that made you pause and reflect, it is this!

I can go on and on but when Jagjit Singh decided to stop on 10 October 2011, it is impossible that I would enlist anything beyond the number 10 in this post. Do suggest your favorite ‘not so popular’ work from Jagjit Singh.

Not everyone listens to Jagjit Singh these days. Not everyone explores Jagjit Singh. I wonder why.

Rohwit

ग़ज़ल का साज़ उठाओ, बड़ी उदास है रात

Posted: August 3, 2014 by moifightclub in music
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मैंने ग़ज़ल सुनना तब शुरू किया था जब जगजीत सिंह की एक ग़ज़ल (बड़ी हसीं रात थी – ‘दा लेटेस्ट’ एल्बम se) मैंने किसी gathering में सुनी थी. ये शायद 1993 की बात है. उससे पहले बस ‘निकाह’ की ग़ज़लें सुन कर उनका मज़ाक उडाना काफी अच्छा लगता था. जो 1993 में शुरू हुआ फिर वो कभी रुका ही नहीं. जगजीत सिंह के एलबम्स आते रहे और मैं उनको खरीद खरीद कर कंठस्त करता रहा. Teenagers के intellectual वाले sub-group में काफी प्रचिलित थे जगजीत सिंह तब. माँ पापा ने काफी चिंता व्यक्त की थी क्यूंकि मेरे एक अंकल ने कहा था ‘रूप सुहाना लगता है’ सुनो, ये सब क्या मर्सिया जैसा sound करने वाला सुन रहे हो? खैर, वो अंकल शायद अपने बाल काले करने में लगे हैं आज तक. मैं सुधरा नहीं.

जैसे मेरे फिल्म वाले दोस्त आपस में लडते रहते थे – अमिताभ या विनोद खन्ना? कौन बेटर हैं? या फिर माधुरी या श्रीदेवी? सोनम सबकी undisputed फेवरेट थी मगर किसी ने ये बात पब्लिक नहीं की थी. इसी तरह ग़ज़ल सुनने वाले ‘बाबा’ लोग भी लडते थे – मेहदी हसन, ग़ुलाम अली या जगजीत सिंह? कौन बेस्ट है? (better का आप्शन नहीं था, सब को अपने idol को बेस्ट की पदवी ही चाहिए थी). ग़ुलाम अली और हसन साहब की classical पकड़ पे काफी कुछ कहा जाता था. जगजीत सिंह ने ग़ज़ल को ‘mainstream’ बना दिया – ये बात एक आरोप के तौर पे कही जाती थी. मानो ‘ordinary’ लोगों का ग़ज़लें सुनना जैसे पाप हो.

जब जगजीत सिंह जी थे, उन दिनों काफी लोगों ने ग़ज़लें गयी. लता मंगेशकर, आशा जी, हरिहरन, पंकज उधास, चन्दन दास,विनोद सहगल, सुदीप मुख़र्जी etc. ने खूब अच्छी ग़ज़लें और गीत गा कर ग़ज़लों को जिंदा रखने की खूब कोशिश की. यहाँ तक कि मनोज कुमार के सुपुत्र कुनाल गोस्वामी ने भी ग़ज़ल गायकी में अपने हाथ रवां करने की पुरजोर कोशिश की. इनके एल्बम का नाम ‘सुराही’ था और राज कपूर ने इनको ‘लांच’ किआ था. मैंने आज तक कभी इतना बेसुरा एल्बम नहीं सुना – ये और बात है. मुझे पूरा यकीन है कि मैं कुछ नाम भूल रहा हूँ. ग़ज़लें हमेशा से हिंदी फिल्म में भी शामिल की जाती थी. इन दिनों भी फिल्मों में ग़ज़लें खूब बजी चाहे दिल आशना है में पंकज उधास का ‘किसी ने भी तो न देखा’ गाना या फिर जगजीत सिंह का सरफ़रोश में ग़ज़ल गाना हो, सब काफी मशहूर हुई.

फिर जगजीत सिंह चले गए.

पूरे तीन साल हो जायेंगे अबकी अक्टूबर में उनको गए हुए.

इन तीन सालों में, ग़ज़ल एक genre के रूप में एकदम गायब होती सी दिखी. फिल्मों में भी ग़ज़लों का use काफी कम होता दिखा. शायद आयटम नम्बर्स के शोर में ग़ज़लों का कॉन्टेक्स्ट.

रेडियो को ही ले लीजिये. एक्का दुक्का ‘होशवालों को खबर क्या’ या फिर ‘तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया’ बजाकर एक खानापूर्ती करते हुए सब लोग ग़ज़लें भूलते से जा रहे है. ‘ग़ज़ल सुनने वाली ऑडियंस रेडियो नहीं सुनती’ – ऐसा मुझे बताया गया था कुछ दिन पहले. शायद ये बात सही हो लेकिन हम फिर भूल रहे हैं की ये approach सिर्फ उन लोगों की बात कर रही है जो पहले से ग़ज़लें सुनते हैं. क्या नयी ऑडियंस को ग़ज़लें सुनना पाप है? एक दो रेडियो stations ने कुछ ग़ज़लों के प्रोग्राम्स शुरू किये हैं…तलत अज़ीज़ और रूप कुमार राठोड अलग अलग radio channels पे सुनाई देते हैं, पुरानी ग़ज़लें लोगों के लिए बजाते हुए.

इस दौरान कुछ एल्बम ज़रूर आये,  मगर कोई भी एल्बम पॉपुलर नहीं हुआ. ऐसा क्यों? एल्बम ख़राब थे? नहीं. मुझे ऐसा बिलकुल भी नहीं लगता. जो बात इससे भी ज्यादा disturbing है वो ये है कि काफी सारे एल्बम आये और चुपके से चले गए. कितनी बार नयी ग़ज़लें सुनने के लिए एलबम्स ढूंढे मगर जो मिला वो ६ महीने से ज्यादा पुराना निकला. कोई शोर शराबा नहीं, प्रमोशन के नाम पे एक छोटा सा प्रेस रिलीज़ और कुछ भी नहीं. हम सब में से कुछ लोग होंगे जिन्होंने शांति हीरानंद का नाम ज़रूर सुना होगा. अब अगर मैं आपसे पूछु कि आप में से कितने लोगों ने शांति हीरानंद का ग़ज़ल एल्बम सुना है? एल्बम का नाम है  ‘जो आज तक न कह सकी’. गए दिनों के कुछ ग़ज़ल एलबम्स आयेे.

श्रेया घोषाल के लेटेस्ट एल्बम का sound काफी फिल्मी था मगर एल्बम बुरा नहीं था.

अमीता परसुराम ने भी कुछ ग़ज़ल एल्बम रिलीज़ किये, जो की उन्होंने खुद लिखे हैं, इनमें से एक ग़ज़ल एल्बम में रेखा भरद्वाज ने भी चाँद ग़ज़लें गयी

सुदीप मुख़र्जी ने काफी कोशिश करी है और हाल ही में  गुलज़ार साहब के साथ मिल कर उन्होंने Prithvi थिएटर में कुछ ग़ज़लें present की.

शान्ति हीरानंद का एल्बम ‘जो आज तक न कह सकी’ भी एक अच्छा एल्बम था.

कुछ ग़ज़ल एल्बम जो मेरी समझ में आये, उनके बारे में यहाँ पढ़ सकते हैं आप.

http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/kahun-aur-kya-ghazal-album-review/

http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/ishq-lamhe-feat-ustad-rashid-khan-music-review/

http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/humnasheen-ghazals-by-shreya-ghosal/

http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/jagjitsingh/

http://almostareview.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/phir-bhi-sudeep-1995/

मुझे पूरा यकीन है कि आप के पास कोई एक और एल्बम होगा जिसके बारे में बाकी लोगों को मालूम नहीं होगा

मैं खुद को जगजीत सिंह का काफी बड़ा मुरीद समझता हूँ. मैं ये नहीं मानता कि जगजीत सिंह के बाद ग़ज़लें बनना बंद हो जाएँगी. एक genre किसी भी artist से कहीं ज्यादा बड़ा होता है. उसमें एक ठहराव आ सकता है मगर वो रुकना नहीं चाहिए. शायद ऐसा ही कुछ हुआ था जब नुसरत फ़तेह अली खान साहब का निधन हुआ था. क़व्वाली को ‘fuse’ करना थोडा आसान है इसीलिए क़व्वाली चले जा रही है. पर ग़ज़लों का क्या?

कुछ अक्लमंद लोगों ने ग़ज़लों में फ्यूज़न घुसेड़ने की काफी कोशिश की. मैंने हमेशा ‘purists’ की ‘rigid’ सोच का मज़ाक उड़ाया है. शायद ग़ज़लों को ले कर मैं एक ‘purist’ हूँ. मुझे नहीं लगता कि ग़ज़लों में ज्यादा फ्यूज़न मुमकिन हैं. अगर आपने नहीं सुना है तो हरिहरन का एल्बम ‘काश’ सुनिए. उसकी पहली ग़ज़ल को (जिसका टाइटल ‘काश’ है’) मैं ग़ज़लों में ‘fusion’ के इस्तेमाल का milestone समझता हूँ. हरिहरन ने धुन को नहीं छेड़ा है. बस कहीं कहीं नए instruments ला कर माहौल काफी ग़ज़लनुमा बना दिया है. इससे कुछ भी ज्यादा मेरी समझ के बाहर हो जायेगा और मैं उसे शायद ग़ज़ल न मानू.

आप क्या सोचते हैं?

कोई ग़ज़ल एल्बम recommend करिए, बड़ी उदास है रात ..

– देहाती उर्फ़ @Rohwit

Highway Music – Nashe mein ud jaaye re haaye re

Posted: January 27, 2014 by moifightclub in cinema
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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what’s the best thing about 2014 so far? Well, a new A R Rahman album is already out. Hallelujah! And over to our music man Rohwit for some musing on maestro’s music.

So the periodical excite-fest for music lovers (Also known as AR Rahman’s new album release time) blessed us early this year. Lyrics are penned by Irshad ‘dependable’ kamil and Kash-Krissy

Patakha guddi – A lot of techno and synth sound accompanies the electric duo of Sultana and Jyoti Nooran who are fierce to say the least. The arrangement is not complex. As has been his habit off late, AR Rahman keeps the ‘hook’ of the song almost non existent. The song just flows and sways you in the process. The words of Irshad Kamil are no less Patakha, mind you. If you see people forming a ‘train’ on the dance floor to a 2014 film song, this would be it.

Maahi ve* – AR Rahman on the microphone again. The song gives you a feel as if it was to be (tune wise) a part of the album ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’. No doubt this is a long drive song with a simple and ‘sticky on lips’ tune. It also gives out that feeling when (no matter how fucked up things are), you want to believe, everything is fine just because the special someone is with you.

Kahaan ho main* – is sung by Jonita Gandhi. The arrangement and the overall presentation of the song (at least when you hear it) doesn’t sound like it will fit into a film that has a truck driver and a kidnapped village girl in the lead. The extensive use of keyboard lends a very hoity-toity character to the song in context of the film. Would be interesting to see how this pans out on the screen. The song is hummable in a very ‘1990s sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy’ way. Also, the overall feel has a very ‘Meena Kumari complex’ feel to it.

Wanna mash up* –  In the days when anything ‘hep’ has to include ‘kaan-faad’ dubstep, ARR avoids the overuse of the same and gives us this vrooming piece of beauty! Kash, Krissy and Suvi Suresh have jointly penned this bombshell of a song that is guaranteed to take you back to ‘You either HATE it or LOVE it’ times of AR Rahman’s music. It teases and tempts in ways we thought were never possible with A R Rahman at the helm (Lemme dominate your body! Ahem!) . Oh the calls of ‘BOY!’ Hell with the context of the film, give me this any day! All Thumbs up on the way the song ends/climaxes! No pun intended.

Sooha Saha – Zeb and Alia Bhatt jointly present this delicate song with superlative arrangement by Rahman. Don’t worry if at times you feel someone will go ‘Kya bataaaon maa kahan hu main’ from Luka chupi. Thank God that Zeb hasn’t allowed herself to be ‘Rahat-Fateh-Ali-Khan-ised’, so you can expect something new from every song she chooses for our films. At times sounding like a doting mother, Zeb lends so much depth to the song! Alia Bhatt does a good job in adding the innocence to the song. The violins towards the end is a touch of genius. A song जो सीधा कलेजे को छूता है.

Patakha Guddi (AR Rahman) –  Many a times, I have felt that AR Rahman and Sachin Tendulkar have been put under so much pressure that they stopped having fun at work. This song is where we hear AR Rahman going bezerk! Excellent Prasanna gets mad on electric guitar towards the end in a song that is layered unlike it’s female version. Don’t get fooled by the subdued start that the song has. It is explosive by the time ends! Kudos to Rahman for attempting Punjabi and double kudos for his ‘naam rab da naam sai da’ chanting. You don’t get Goosebumps, You get Goosemountains!

Implosive Silence* – is sung by Jonita Gandhi. Kash and Krissy have penned whatever there was to ‘pen’ in the song. The arrangement remains hauntingly simple. The song appears to be sung in reverse (or treated like that). Let’s accept it, we do look forward to an ‘instrumental’ piece in A R Rahman’s album. We have been treated like royalty since ‘Bombay theme’ days and this piece here does the same and goes a step forward. Top class composition and top class atmosphere. Too much feel without words, trademark Rahman!

Tu Kuja –  a traditional song sung by Sunidhi Chauhan gives out a trance like feel from the beginning that stays throughout. An old composition in which Irshad Kamil has added Hindi words to make it relatable. Arrangement wise, the song sounds cluttered, and you are left with the feeling that it should have been sung by Rahman himself. It’s not a bad song, just that in comparison to the level of the album, it pales a bit.

Heera* –  is an old writing by Saint Kabir that has been presented by Rahman in his trademark ‘grand’ style with enough Violins to make you cry with pleasure. Shweta Pandit has sung this in an almost whisper like fashion which compliments the overall feel of the song (For a second, we thought it’s Tulsi Kumar who is singing…o the horror!)

Irshad Kamil is ‘Vishal-Gulzar’-ing with A R Rahman very fast and that’s such a delight to witness.

We have always believed that an album has to compliment the overall feel of the film. While we don’t know how the ‘hoity-toity’ numbers would compliment the feel of the film, we give a thumbs up to this album!

You see the *mark ahead of songs? Those are the songs we feel are a bit hoity-toity under the context that has been set by the teaser/trailer of the film so far.

AR Rahman saar, you remind us of the worldspace tagline…There is so much to listen (when you are at the helm!)

What we couldn’t understand – What’s with the sound quality of the album? ARR is known to be very careful around the same but this album sounds just like the old fake Jai-Mata-Di-cassettes which were a cheaper alternative to HMV cassettes. We understand T-Series owner said that he doesn’t need good musicians to sell music, but, sir, are you sure of what you are selling?

What happened with Coke Studio (Pakistan) Season 6?

Posted: January 15, 2014 by moifightclub in music, WTF
Tags: , , ,
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Our regular music contributor Rohwit is angry. He is in full Hulk mode. Here’s why.

Coke-Studio-Season-6

Background

Like every year, the entire commune of music lovers (and cynics) waited for the new season of Coke Studio Pakistan to air, and despite so many delays, it finally did. The modus operandi was different this time. It was to showcase what ‘logistics proof’ fusion can achieve thanks to technology. The melodies were handpicked by the studio and were given a twist by recording a part of it live in Pakistan and add to the same with musicians outside Pakistan, by way of post production.

The result

Clearly communicated in their press events and in Pakistan local media, the season was expected to have 8 episodes. However, much to everyone’s surprise, after episode 5 came an abrupt announcement that it was the last episode of the season.

The hate

Not many liked the new sound because of many reasons. Some were logical (stating they missed the wholesome feel to it and so forth). What took my goat was when I heard few really stupid stuff from the so called musicians who I used to adore. Calling the producer of Coke Studio a ‘corporate douchebag’ and venting out their venomous reaction seemed kind of ‘khattey angoor’ish to me because they haven’t been invited to the Studio thus far.

Anyway, here are some really stupid ‘reasons’ doing rounds with our modest replies to them. Feel free to add your reply or questions

1.       The local musicians were ignored by collaborating with outside musicians

Yes, you are right. After all it is only Coke Studio Pakistan’s duty to put the entire country’s musicians on the world map. Everyone else can continue aping this movement and sing the same old compositions with shoddy camera work. More so, when the studio communicated right from the beginning that this time they will attempt next level of fusion by mixing their sound with foreign musicians, they should have totally ignored foreign musicians. Makes sense. Isn’t it?

2.       In one of the song, the local musicians’ footage was cut. Blasphemy!

Very sad that in the final edit the musician got edited out. Can you ask that musician to return the cheque because apparently he was looking at a TV appearance, and couldn’t make the final cut?

3.       Imagine! For listening to music we now have to see T.V.!  (click here)

Err what? Please read the point allegation number 2 above. It wasn’t supposed to be about T.V, yet people are up roaring against this? Confusing. Can you repeat the question please? This time without being in the influence of substance abuse? Thank you.

 4.       Non musician corporate douchebag shouldn’t be the project manager of such a movement.

Absolutely right. To us he looks like a failed corporate executive. I mean why give out the music for free when you can make money by selling it? Right?

Our Submission

Coke Studio Pakistan has always been about music, and the fun the band has been creating with that music. Of course, this year they went a step ahead and tried to present their music to the world at large by treating it differently with ‘foreign musicians’. We feel the season went great and was pleasantly different from what we have all accustomed ourselves whenever a mention of Coke Studio Pakistan is made. They tried something new this year, just like they tried something new when they kick started season 1. Rather than jumping up and down literally forcing them to pre-end the season and keeping us all devoid of the experiments that Coke Studio is known for, we could have allowed them to go on.

Our folk music will always be a treasure trove. The art is to produce it and arrange it in a way that it reaches maximum people. For that, sitting with a 12Kbps file will not help. Let the art out. Let it be explored. Let people mix classical with new, serious with silly…let it all flow. Somehow whatever is good will stick. That’s the beauty of art in any form.

Like we read in an article somewhere – Past all borders, music begs for us to look deeper, when understanding the idea of what is ours. Can we do that? Or is it too tough?

– Rohwit