Manadhil oru paattu - Song of the moment - Vol 1

Don't know about the reliability of this transcript of an Ilayaraja interview in the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa show (ostensibly in promotion of Cheeni Kum) but a rare quote from IR on ARR.  Says, " Rahman is doing good work - but he has been made to do a lot of things that give people a wrong impression of his music."

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=350846

More detailed excerpt here:

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=350497&TPN=2

Thanks CK for sharing the IR interview, haven't come across this one before. Very interesting read and the responses are as direct as any other interview from IR. His response to the ARR question is probably the only one I have come across. He does acknowledge that he was not ARR's teacher in the classical sense and that's something that matches with ARR's recent & earlier interviews where he never mentions IR as his guru in the musical sense.

Yeah, he pointed to Anand Milind about as directly as he could have within the boundaries of courtesy.   

Despite having access to private vehicles, during my recent trip to TN, I was insistent to myself that there had to be at least one travel on bus

Also, my preference was to do it alone, if possible

Looks like it wasn't going to happen - because of the very short duration & having to meet literally 100's of people who were missing me for years.

Then I got that opportunity to do a Dindigul to Trichy (when one of the trips got us delayed beyond expectation and I could push my bro to drive away without me)  

I got into the bus, kept the bags in place and was looking around if they will play TFM or not - there was no sign of speakers and stuff like that

As always, my cousin (who is known to those who read the SPB-IR thread) came to rescue by a phone call...(to be contd.)

contd...

He returned my call and wanted to know where I was and wanted to meet me immediately (due to circumstances, we haven't met for a decade). I wondered, that fellow is in Chennai and I'm at Dindigul...

He asked me to get out of the bus as he'll reach the bus station in minutes to meet me
(We met briefly and thus I had to change the bus).

The next bus I got into welcomed me with the terrific "kaN maNiyE pEsu"

In a second, I got transported to college days (when I listened to the very song on a similar trip).

It felt so good to listen to rAsA and recognize that he still has his segment on TN buses!

What a satisfaction!!

The bus continued with rAsA for 30 minutes or so. There was some crowd for a small place in-between (Vadamadurai) and the bus had many people standing...

And I noticed this middle aged lady "singing along" varam thandha sAmikku and such classics while having to travel standing! She was even tapping her fingers on the handle above the seat that she used as support while standing...

I also looked at the relaxed faces of other passengers who seemed to enjoy the soothing songs, those classics of rAsA!

Reminded me of the 1000's of bus trips when multiple difficulties of travel were simply wiped-off merely by a single rAsA song that got played on the occasion!

(Well, beyond those 30 min, I had to endure torture for 1 hour or so The driver switched to older NT solos - which I could normally live with for 15 minutes or so max. If classics, a little longer. However, these were no classics - stuff like 'nadhiyinil veLLam karaiyinil neruppu', 'nANayam manushanukku avasiyam', 'nenju poRukkudhillaiyE' etc)

app_engine wrote:contd...


(Well, beyond those 30 min, I had to endure torture for 1 hour or so :oops:The driver switched to older NT solos - which I could normally live with for 15 minutes or so max. If classics, a little longer. However, these were no classics - stuff like 'nadhiyinil veLLam karaiyinil neruppu', 'nANayam manushanukku avasiyam', 'nenju poRukkudhillaiyE' etc)

app,
     .. enaku indha experiences - during my 20s.. kedachu iruku.. Raja songs kaeta sandhosham apadiaye kanama poi irukum... pidikadha paatu vandhale... adhuuvm ipadi bus trip il.. romba kashtama irukum.....
Thalaivaiyae varum sila samayam....

apo varum oru feelings.. BUs la irundhu apaidyae kudhichidanam nu............  

app_engine wrote:BTW, I came to this thread to post the nice experience of a recent visit to a hamlet in TN where loudspeakers were blasting their preferred numbers for a marriage function...

Except the "Adiyila sEthi solli" by Deva, all the other songs that got blasted out were IR-folk of 80's, leading me to conclude that such numbers continue to thrill the TN villagers...(Interestingly, the audio fellow also played "Asaiyila pAththi katti" within minutes after playing that KSC number by Deva )

It was pullarips to hear 'andha nelAvaththAn' alone, with no other MM songs on that loudspeaker-cast!

authority on TN villages reckons only AR's 'Maanuthu Mandhayule' gets played on all occasions and rants on adakkam/headweight/seevu
Ratman reduces Woody Allen to Vivek level,  are they getting senile or just white lies   

One of my top discoveries of 2013 

Vidaitha vidhai - As V_Sji says, a brilliant Darabari kAnada fusion. The climax of the song for me is around 1:16, when after the frenzied guitar strumming and picking, the sudden violin strokes with the gentle tabla beats in the background evoke a state of suspended animation . The second interlude also has some fantastic Veena-guitar fusion. The pallavi melody is instantly catchy- in my recent Chennai trip,nearly everyone who caught me whistling this tune or playing it on the guitar immediately asked me what song it was and wondered how they hadn't heard it.  .  I have actually come to like this more than the other eternal favourite in the rAgam- Aagaya veNNilAve. This is also a more sprightly, buoyant song. Yes, despite what Prabhu's comical prancing movements and risible gymnastics suggest, I have always considered Aagaya VeNNilAve to be a song for a much heavier situation. Here is Vidaitha vidhai:

fring151 wrote:One of my top discoveries of 2013 

Vidaitha vidhai - As V_Sji says, a brilliant Darabari kAnada fusion. The climax of the song for me is around 1:16, when after the frenzied guitar strumming and picking, the sudden violin strokes with the gentle tabla beats in the background evoke a state of suspended animation . The second interlude also has some fantastic Veena-guitar fusion. The pallavi melody is instantly catchy- in my recent Chennai trip,nearly everyone who caught me whistling this tune or playing it on the guitar immediately asked me what song it was and wondered how they hadn't heard it.  .  I have actually come to like this more than the other eternal favourite in the rAgam- Aagaya veNNilAve. This is also a more sprightly, buoyant song. Yes, despite what Prabhu's comical prancing movements and risible gymnastics suggest, I have always considered Aagaya VeNNilAve to be a song for a much heavier situation.

Heard it first a couple of years back in a Twitter Raaja quiz from the 1st interlude and one of my all time favorites now. Terrific song. Raaja's unique brand of fusion, i.e. not fusion but the genres interwoven so tightly between the grains and pixels that it's impossible to prise them out from inside this one song.

Thiruvannamalai 2 weeks back. Rajangahame dhAn engengum. nInga poi sollikittE irungadA. itunesla selavu paNNum pretensive 30+ pasanga support mattum ungaLukku. vAimai vellum.
poi sonna vAikku iRaivan veppAn Appu

Wizzy wrote:
authority on TN villages reckons only AR's 'Maanuthu Mandhayule' gets played on all occasions and rants on adakkam/headweight/seevu
Ratman reduces Woody Allen to Vivek level,  are they getting senile or just white lies   

Well. he did not just say 'maanuthu mandhaiyilE' is popular .. it was paasamalr song then and now it is Rahman song..
Oh my goodness.. what happened to some 30 years worth of contribution from a dear friend ???
Like they say in tamil.. naakula narambu illathanala .. ethuvEnumnaalum pEsalam..
Well.. lesson for all us ..like that Clapton song.. 'nobody knows you when you are down and out' (only commercially for IR)

kiru wrote:
Like they say in tamil.. naakula narambu illathanala .. ethuvEnumnaalum pEsalam..

When someone is truly speaking truth, there is no need to have the intro "indRu nAn solvadhellAm uNmai (nEththu mundhA nAL ellam poi sollith tholaiththEn)"

Absolutely in love with this Chiru song:
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCgQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D85q8IZ-c3hQ&ei=OAzUUrS-IMuUrgeWnYHgCQ&usg=AFQjCNE5mdmt2rmWSUVOhhwDb3QPLLX3Hw

Naneelokam rammanalEdhu
nEnI janmanu immanalEdhu
sardhaga nenochEsA
.....
Vishranti lEnE lEdhu
Vishranti lEnE lEdhu

"vishrAnti lEnE lEdhu" - Veturi rocks

While scanning thru the 1986 IR songs to determine "hit" status, got a chance to listen to this song for the first time ever, from "enakku nAnE needhipathi" :

ichchendru ichchendru muththam

KJY-SJ number in a familiar 80's style, with some sweet drumming - ordinary pAdal varigaL but given an exotic feel by the terrific singer pair!

The album also has KSC singing a "thirudA thirudA" song in a style somewhat alien to her

http://www.radiospathy.com/2014/01/blog-post_16.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_f71niWZU0

Soulful composition ....... Soulful Renditiion........

my favourite #Raja90s song:

https://soundcloud.com/balamani-1/kathum-kuyile-kathum-kuyile-un

nee paadhi naan paadhi kannaa.... ahir bhairavi with flute, guitar pattukku paattu! 

Replaced with Raja Paattu....
thanks, App_Eng   

Jazzy piano roll and upbeat Raja dance number!

kaalam kaalamaaga....

Anbu malargalin solai idhu

http://tamiltunes.com/kannukku-mai-ezhuthu.html

Alltime favourite. Close to my Heart......... Soulful Renditiion of SJ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3fbMuuWvpI
Heard this in the agi music IR-SPB hits vol-2.
Another gem - the hero is "narrating" - not "singing" - yet it is a song.
How do you tune it? How to lay the background arrangement for such a situation.
Raaja cracks this challenge with aplomb.

Raja's pathos... paadu nilaave.....S.P.B and Janu, I was enjoying while driving this afternoon.
Gorgeous strings for Vaasanthi rag composition with yearning flute calls from tabala ilayaraja. Haunting prelude alaap from Janu!  

Kaviriye Kavikuyile from Adutha Vaarisu after a long time (thanks to Twitter). What a start to the song, the thundering percussions are my all time fav, love the chorus portions throughout, SPB & SJ have rendered it so stylishly and most of all Oh my love you are my sweetheart. The non-tamil vocals in the 2nd interlude, what language is it? Not hindi right?

The sound quality is very good but not as good as Priya which came earlier I think.

Another kAviriyE song - kAviriyE kAviriyE kAdhali pOl vilayAdiriyE (Archanai Pookkal) - a personal fav of mine. Can't write much about it at the moment (:bis-bis:). Among the bestest preludes (starts from 1:50 in this clip); employs counterpoint between the bass and keyboard. Probably the most beautiful bass-lines ever written for a Thamizh song. The sound in the clip is good but the oriental CD I have has superb recording quality. Bonus in this clip (again uploaded by punniyavAn RajsMed) - some lovely BGM in the scenes preceeding this song. Feast on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWPYcq3FEBA