eden,you are right.it stars Meena&a couple of new guys.
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eden,you are right.it stars Meena&a couple of new guys.
Hey, the songs in 'Ponmudi Puzhayoram' are now available at musicindiaonline. Problem is, I couldn't play the songs on my web browser. :-( Oh well, maybe later on...
Alright... now I'm listening to the songs in 'Ponmudi Puzhayoram.' Sadly, they don't sound too fresh; the orchestration is repetitive and cheesy (trying to sound Westernized, with overemphasis on computerized music). Furthermore, the tunes don't really offer anything new; IR hasn't used any raagas other than the hackneyed Keeravaani, Mohanam, Mayamaalavagowla, and Sudhadhanyaasi. 'Maan Kutti' and 'Naadhaswaram Ketto' are nice melodies, to be fair. But even so, the only song that really sounds up to par is the Ilayaraja solo, 'Pandathe Nadhapuram', which has some haunting violin (?) passages.
Vijay buddy, if you depreciated the songs in 'Manasinakkare,' I can't imagine you would appreciate the songs in this album, which sound even less inspired and even more formulaic.
"Vijay buddy, if you depreciated the songs in 'Manasinakkare,' I can't imagine you would appreciate the songs in this album, which sound even less inspired and even more formulaic."
Nitya(formerly purv?), as far as new albums of IR are concerned, I have come to a stage where I dont check them out automatically aymore unless otherwise I hear uniformly good reviews from anyone. I probably listen to a song or two at the most. The last 2 years have been rank-bad for IR albums and its getting worse. Lets see what Mumbai Express has in store. But he seems to have lost inspiration in MFM too. Sad. And why is KJY and Vijay Yesudoss(who doesnt sound any better than his aged dad) being repeatedly used? Dont they have any other male voices around in Kerala?
Secondly I differ from you in that I dont consider mere usage of a rare raga as a mark of inspired work. IR could still use the same "hackneyed" ragas that you mention and can still come up with inspired numbers. If you listen to "Guru" you will see my point. Most ragas in that album have been used hundreds of times before but yet overall its a great album. So its not just the scale, overall the work seems less inspired and the presentation out-dated. The freshness present in Yaathramozhi and Guru have been missing for a looong time.
I am surprised because, for someone who is working on something as serious as TIS, I thought it would atleast reflect a bit on his filmi compositions,kind of like a mild hangover, but it hasnt so far. In fact the effect has been reverse.
Ponmuid Puzhayoram is interesting and energetic, not bad at all. A couple of songs are vibrant, rest will take time to find favor. Exciting music composing is all about people, a certain sense of stabilty and inspiring moments. IR still has those elements around like Kamal, Tamil Maiyyam, many new admirers in foreigners, etc... Creative artistes can only achieve so much in a vacuum, to sustain that creativity further they need a lot of support....
I expect a lot of Mumbai Express, film and music. Nothing less.... (by the way, any news of Divorce / Moods of IR?)
Vijay, that's right. I was formerly 'purv;' as you can see I've matured. :-) Well, you're right that raaga doesn't make or break a song; I can name lots of great songs in Mohanam, Keeravaani or Aabheri raagam. In fact, in my opinion, 'Sadamaada Pechukellaam' in Karagattakari was a fresh composition (sadly the only fresh composition in the album IMHO), and that is set to Mohana raagam. 'Malargalile Aaraadhanai,' 'Malayoram Veesum Kaathu,' 'Aagaaya Thaamarai' are all great songs in Keeravaani raagam. As for Mayamaalavagowla, there are also a lot of wonderful songs, eg., 'Poonkathave Thol Seravaa', 'Madhurai Marikkozhunthu', 'Anbe Vaa Anbe Vaa', and more.
On the other hand, some songs in less conventional raagas (as far as films are concerned) such as Aarabhi, Bhoopaalam or Lathaangi or even rarer raagas not used often in either films or Karnatik concerts like Swarnangi, Champakamali (Ni3 counterpart of Malayamaarutham), or Veenavadhini can be harrowing to listen to, as these raagams certainly take some skill to handle melodiously.
So then, which Malayalam male singers would you rather hear than KJY or VY? Biju Narayanan? Unnimenon? G Venugopal? MG Sreekumar?
Finally, I wasn't just referring to the raaga of the songs in 'Ponmudi Puzhayorathu,' but also to the orchestration, tunes and overall presentation. If you feel like praising the usage of Western fusion in the songs in this album, I suggest you listen to the song 'Omane Thankame' from Ravindran's 'Mizhirandilum,' a song I feel has used Western fusion far more expertly.
Regards,
Nitya
Nitya/Purv and Vijay,
Good discussion.. But let me look at this from a different angle ( no way defending IR or disputing your views )
"All good things have to come to an end " is a universal fact..IMHO, you guys have always looked at the high bar that IR has set himself.. But i guess it does not make any sense to expect every single album to be at or over the same bar.. It's one thing to have some expectation but comparing his every composition to the best of his compositions seems like an incomplete thing to do..
I listened to Karagaattagari songs and nothing stood out even after a few listenings.. (After Purv's comment, i am inclined to go and listen " Sada mada " song again) ..but i then I was not expecting it to be as good as Karagattakaran.. so it did not come out as a big dissappointment for me..
I have a lot of expectations for TIS and I am sure IR will not dissappoint.. But to expect Karagattagari and other mundane TFM albums to be gems, i guess is not right.. IMHO .
Then the question is - he was able to give fabulous gems for similar mundane Ramaraajan movies years ago .. Yes True.. but then that was a point in his career as he was growing or reigning the TFM.. but in my view, other than making some money or as a personal obligation to the crew involved in that movie, i do not see any motivation for him to even compose a song ..Vijay, I am surprised that you expect IR to be fresh after 850+ movies and 25+ years of FM :-))).. In all our admiration for his abilities and what he has created so far, we seem to forget that he too is a human and is ageing.
If you are commenting about the quality of TIS then its a different thing.. THis is one project where he has repeatedly said that he is so interested in doing it , it was his lifetime dream etc .etc and has put in so much efforts....
For example, you cannot expect Sachin to play like he used to in his prime.. You cannot expect KJY to sing Poo maalai vaangi vanthaan or SPB to sing "Ilamai ennum poongatru: again like that.. Everyone has their peak and after that it is just a matter of tiem before they fade away..
Now you would ask, then why does he accept movies..who knows-- like i said - money , personal or other reasons..
All i am saying is I am glad that he is still playing and atleast scoring a century occassionally :-).. Virumaandi and Konji Pesalaam will stay in my memory for a long time..
"Aathaara Sruthi " from KP and Unna Vida from Virumaandi are such a fabulous song.. I would not mind trying 4-5 albums of his to hear one /two such gems..
Just sharing thoughts guys.
CHeers
MSK
MSK, he is doing less albums these days(less than 5 last year), so I dont think its all that unfair to expect atleast 1 great song/album and I havent gotten that so far in Karagattakaari or other movies. But the truth is I am not expecting big things out of him anymore in TFM or MFM, so anything good from him will be a pleasant surprise and anything medicore is not a big disappointment anymore. The bar has been lowered already as far as I am concerned. In fact it has been lowering for the last 10 years or so. I just thought TIS work might have had a slight hangover onto his film albums, but thats not been the case. I guess he just sleepwalks through TFM these days unless otherwise it happens to be Kamal or someone big he is working with.
What's really a wonder to me is, why does IR insist on doing movies with ageing actors? That might make for his lack of effort in the songs... and it may be just my feelings. Or maybe, he's just plain past his prime. Too bad there's no one to take his place; his sons haven't shown even 1/5 of IR's class in the 70s to mid-90s (with a possible exception of KR's 'Dum Dum Dum'). But come to soft, melodious numbers, forget it! They haven't shown they can come up with a song nearly as melodious as 'Malargalil Aadum Ilamai Puthumayi' or 'Kaathalin Dheepam Ondru!'
But I still can't understand why he undertakes a project like 'Ponmudi Puzhayorathu' and then presents such tried and tested fourth-rate content. Come on, the style of orchestration seen in this album is synonymous to that he was doing back in 1997! Even though 'Naadhaswaram Ketto' and 'Maan Kutti' ('Pudhuppatti Ponnuthaayi' leftovers??) have some catchy moments, they're nothing new. They're synonymous to other recent IR songs like 'Iniya Nadhi' (Manasellaam), 'Vayasu Pulla' (Annan), etc., etc., etc. But the really sad thing is, it's the whole TFM and MFM industries that are seeing an altogether lack of inspiration. I got a chance to see one or two songs in 'Kaathal', by Joshua Sridhar; they're anything but fresh. Maybe this will change in the future... hopefully... hopefully...
Regards,
Nitya
MSK,
this is what all are doing comparing IR with IR and coming to a conclusion that his present albums are not up to the mark. If at all these people try to compare IR with present genre of composers they will find IR's albums far more refreshing than these composers.