Raja's New Albums

V_S wrote:Thanks app ji and Nerd. Live orchestration would have taken the songs above NEPV as the ideas deserved execution by the musicians, but melody rules. kaalaththin kattaayam, these songs don't get into everyone's ears .

V_S wrote:

unga appan pEra solli solli - First time when I listened to this song, I jumped out of joy as I remembered a film called Madagascar 3 and hence poured my one-liners here and in twitter. In that film, there is one tiger called Vitaly who has exceptional skills in jumping through the ring without the ring slipping (which we used to see during our childhood days). As and when he jumps through successfully, he brings in another smaller ring and tries to jump through. He continues in the same fashion till the ring reduces to the size which adorns our fingers. He also adds fire to the ring at last. Breath-taking!. Even with the same ring circus formula and Tiger doing the same 'jumping' thing, the audience didn't not get bored. Why? because they didn't see the ring and the same tiger alone, they see a challenge in every opportunity. Thus the audience were pushed to the edge of their seat to see if the tiger will succeed in this test as the ring becomes smaller and smaller. Inspiring stuff. Vitaly fails for the first time, but ultimately conquers. Ultimate test of temparament and creativity. Please watch this film if you haven't, nice film. You might wonder what relation this song has with that film. It definitely has, we will talk about it little later.

This is the first song I heard in this soundtrack as Ilaiyaraaja's name was on it. I could straightway connect to this song. A Classical treat from Maestro. Definitely this song also begs to be heard with live orchestration. It is a totally new song having no shades of his earlier songs. When we know this song has abundant energy, it also has boundless innovation. Cracking start to the song with trumpets, violins (all synth but) and that seducing rhythm pattern. I was blown straight-away by the stunning situation similar to adi raakkumuthu raakku. There the husband celebrates the occasion and praises the motherhood. Here the husband is asking her wife to bear a child which will bear their name and tradition. The former lyrics has a matured and serious tone, whereas here it is sarcastic and funny. Gangai Amaran after a long time with his brother. I am in total love with the lyrics and they way it fits the tune. The first lines are so funny that when I keep recalling its meaning, I cannot stop laughing. Straight-away connection!. Husband is asking his wife to bear a child which will scold her father and also to scold a scolding father (that's him) . 'unga appan pera cholli cholli thitta oru puLLa peththu thaa, thittugira appanayum thittugira pulla pethtthu thaa'. 'vaarthai jaalam' at its best after a long time. The choir (male and female choir alternate) which follows every line of pallavi and anu-pallavi substantiates the sarcasm behind those lines. Brilliant ideas. I love the humming there. Maestro even changes the humming in the next line. When we think the pallavi lines are little chopped and not continuous (I don't think that way, beautifully constructed ) he springs a last line of anu-pallavi where we get to hear the soul of the song. How beautifully he adds; 'antha puLLa kodu chella kiLiyE', the line which I listen again and again. Rhythmic arrangements are truly out of the world, it took some time grasp it. Just this aspect deserves a thesis.

Now comes the Maestro only territory, the orchestration. This time it is a new territory even for Maestro as he does not have his men behind him to play for him. This song has more difficult orchestration even compared to the earlier one as Maestro opted for WCM style orchestration. He could have easily chosen a easier route (based on the budget) but he didn't do so. That's where the confidence and authority comes in again. In the earlier song he has to look for the sounds of mainly veena, flute and little bit of violins, but with WCM he has to completely rely on violins/cellos, layers of it. On top of it he also uses trumpets to its maximum effect. In the first interlude, the cellos and trumpets form a counter-melody too. After some time, we get to hear vocal harmony, like never before. Our hearts goes out for it. Stunning sequence of melody!
yeh muthu pOla puLLa undu
yeh pethu pOdu peththu pOdu
yEn aasaiyOdu kekkurathu
ada aLLi kodu aLLi kodu
yeh thagathagathom yeh thagathagathom yeh thagathagathom thagathagathom
yeh thagathagathom yeh thagathagathom yeh thagathagathom thagathagathom

In the second interlude the intense shown in violins is still more aggressive. Hear the layers of violins. One layer plays in staccato mode while other layer plays in tremolo fashion. Male choir join with shehnai forming another rare shehnai-vocal counter-melody. First time ever! When shehnai and choir join along with another keyboard sound, we could even think if the rhythm arrangement has been changed, but it's not. If you hear everything together, we can definitely hear a new rhythm arrangement, but Maestro is actually playing the same pattern, but see how he mesmerize us with the rhythm by adding these subtle layers. Then santoor joins in with violins for a racy finish. He brought out the WCM orchestra in front of us with a wonderful harmony of layers of synth instruments and vocals. I would say this is the biggest accomplishment by any composer given the constraints.

Coming to the charanam melody, it is so vibrant even it is short. Nicely written lines by Gangai Amaran. No voice other than Maestro could have brought the soul effectively. What started as a rollicking fun song, now gets transformed into reality. Maestro's voice brimming with soul when he sings these thoughtful lines. The mood completely changes here. Again the humming here after first two lines is not sarcasm, as we can hear, it actually extends what Maestro is trying to convey. What a brilliant move by Maestro! Also please hear, Maestro has now changed the rhythm pattern (only in charanams) and he seamlessly changes it back during pallavis. How many in the name of innovation? The best touch is the last line when he finishes with aplomb; 'appan pOla puLLa vanthaa appanukkum kooda pala buthi mathi solli kodukkum', I am torn into pieces. I am still awe-struck in all these 35 years on how is he able to finish so convincingly every last line of charanam without any ambiguity. Such a sheer joy to listen to these lines. I pray God to give me million re-births only to listen to Maestro's ending charanam lines and how he connects to pallavi.

munnavanga senja thavam seikayil veLangum (aaaa…)
nallathethu kettathethu pOga pOga theriyum (aaaa..)
paattu moottai vandi vechcha vElayellaam
kottom pOttu attagaasam thaan nadathum
appan pOla puLLa vanthaa appanukkum kooda pala buthi mathi solli kodukkum

solli thantha viththai ellaam avanukku peragum (aaaa…)
appadiyE puLLa vazhi arputhama thodarum (aaaa…)
nalla vedhai kettu pOi muLaikkaathu
nambu kondu vaanam vaththi pOgaathu (not sure about this line )
selvam endraal piLLai selvam sErntha selvam eppozhuthum unnai vittu velagaathu

Please don't miss the guitar pizzicato after the last line of charanam, lovely.

Brilliant, unconventional folk melody wrapped in ICM and WCM outfit with Maestro's signature all over. No complaints whatsoever. Now coming to the question I posted at the start. What's the relation between this song and that movie? Maestro yet again proves how he creates a boundary on his own and also knowing that with every outing the boundary gets shorter (as the essence of this raagam has already been churned out a lot by him), but he knows the way to emerge successfully. Vitaly fails for the first time, but Maestro never fails. The song in question is composed in keeravani raagam. While he has scored lot of songs (>70 songs. Wow!) in keeravani raagam (compared to other raagams), this song comes as a breath of fresh air which is unbelievable to think that it is again in same raagam, as it completely broke the expected parameters already composed by Maestro. While I look at his list of songs in this raagam I only feel dizzier. It is like a director giving him a different situations every time and asking him to compose a song in the same raagam, but no shades of his earlier songs. On top of it, choosing WCM style orchestration (equivalent to adding fire to the ring) with no team behind him to play for him. Imagine the difficulty and the steepness to climb. Innovation is not just breaking the boundary every time for no reason (ignoring the demands), it is how you restrict yourself and come out successful (complying with the demands). Anyone dare to take this challenge?

jaiganesh wrote:Raaja shows us with CN that he is the king no matter what constraints he is placed under.

kamalaakarsh wrote:Listen to Naadi Thudikuthadi songs here: http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/moviedetail.asp?mid=T0003673

My initial reactions from a very fleeting listening: This album might take time to grow. CNC had classical tunes but this album is not like CNC. NT rides heavily on synth arrangements (CNC too, but then, the overall bouquet was mixed). A lot of western influence (Caribbean stuff?) in NT. I have a feeling that overall, this album might not generate as much positive response as CNC. Just a guess!

app_engine wrote: thalai muRai, the BM project seems to be for real

இளையராஜா தலைமுறைகளுக்கு இசையமைக்கிறார். தாத்தாவுக்கும் பேரனுக்கும் இடையிலான உறவுதான் படத்தின் மையம். இந்தப் படத்தில் நடிப்பதில்லை என்றுதான் இருந்தார் சசிகுமார். பாலுமகேந்திரா கேட்டுக் கொண்டதால் பேரனாக முக்கிய வேடத்தில் நடிக்கிறார்.

பாலுமகேந்திராவின் ஆதர்ஷ படமாக தலைமுறைகள் அமைய அதிக சாத்தியமுள்ளது.

kiru wrote:NT is 80s melodies reborn .. the sound engineering mix is a bit raw .. with a little bit more thought to the lyrics and different singers this would have been one of the hits of the 80s (discounting some carribbean soundds) . I like Na. Muthukumar but why is he writing 'grama purathil etc' !!

mythila wrote:
1. She has range problem that is very evident in this song
2. Her pronunciation . I couldd decipher "koottal kaNakku" only after Karthik sings that.
3.Her voice is a tad too loud for Karthick's muffled nature. I would have infact preferred this song as a launch pad for newbie Saptha and reserve "kaalaiyile" only for ShreyaG.

jaiganesh wrote: Jaiganesh Vazhkudai ‏@JVazhkudai 1m
@Raaga_Suresh @r_inba @balakarthik78 @kamalaakarsh @_Drunkenmunk @mayilSK @sicmafia Naadi thudikkudhadi - sooperngov. if u luk past oollala.
Nadi thudikkudhadi is Raaja at his age playing out of his comfort area, using some loops - but the man's core strengths shine through!
VeLi naattin grama purathil - the bass line in the pallavi is "BACK with a BANG" and the first interlude with all the trumpets - is AWESOME
En Dhevadhai is first cousin of 'yaarum thodaadha ondrai' from ajantha -another shreya raaja beauty of a song.. Nadi thudikkudhadi winner
En Dhevadhai piano play in the pallavi - whatta construction and the second interlude - breathstopping
En dhevadhai - BEAUTY OF THE YEAR!!! that first violin cello interlude and the ones that creep in between charanam - WHOA!!
Kaadhale illaadha dhesam - i managed to get through the first part of prelude and then i saw a gold mine staring at me..
en poo nenjai prelude is so 'garage' and then it wakes up to reveal this beautiful indian melody chugging along in a reggae.improv'd heavily
Na.Muthukumar writes "Poovukkellaam yaar thandhadhu aan vaasanai" - nice sir - thats the way to do it.
Now listening to en poo nenjai from Naadi thudikkudhadi. fabulous experimentation

jaiganesh wrote:

kiru wrote:NT is 80s melodies reborn .. the sound engineering mix is a bit raw .. with a little bit more thought to the lyrics and different singers this would have been one of the hits of the 80s (discounting some carribbean soundds) . I like Na. Muthukumar but why is he writing 'grama purathil etc' !!

lyrics are not as bad as you are making it out to be. some very cute word plays by Na.Mu. Overall - very satisfying album completely different from CN and as usual Maestro is anything but predictable when it comes to music.

mythila wrote:Thank you for your encouragement V_S ji.

On Naadi Thudikkudhadi : Gave a hurried single listen from the link Vinatha has given in the other site. I am interested in this album. I may spend more time listening to Naadi Thudikkudhadi . I need to grasp what IR is doing here.

Note : I listened to NT without having any expectation . I was infact expecting another Gundello Godari kind...

One thing is loud and clear. This album defies the age of this septuagenarian.



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