Padmini,
I'm not sure if Chord promised an audio clip, but what I promised was a
write-up on Uyirum Neeye which I did post a few days back. Let me see if I can
get these uploaded to the group database storage. I will just send it to you in
the meantime.
Arijith,
Remember that my comparisons were bounded by the time frames I chose. The
question you're posing is
on a open window, but let me address what you are pointing out here.
Anbe:
Good song, but I didn't think it stood out the first time I heard it. It's got
amazing orchestration for sure.
Desh Mere:
Soulful, musically, but not daring, I must say. The context of the song,
lyrically, is rebellious of course, which may be what you are pointing out.
Dacaoit Duel:
I'm ashamed to say, this is one of the albums I'm yet to buy, so I cannot
comment. This too did not qualify because it is for a chinese production, and
not Indian.
Like an Eagle:
It's got energy for sure, but the singing does not suit the level of energy
needed. Raza Jeffrey and Priya Kalidas had veery pop voices and they could not
really pull off the vocal strength needed for a stage production. However, it
introduced stage drama/musicals to the Indian audience in UK, so in that sense
I can appreciate the effort. Bombay Dreams had pretty average lyrics to; I
always though Don Black could've done better than this. Sometimes I wonder if
he struggled with ARR's mystical approach to composing on top of the unusually
Eastern phrasing styles of ARR. He hints at this in the recent video which was
posted.
Please Sir:
I tend to skip this song, so I can't say this struck me as innovative. Is it a
new genre, that may have some truth in terms of style, but it is not striking
enough in my view.
Girlfriend:
Very pop song with lots of appropriate energy given the context, and I love it;
but it is certainly not a Thee Thee or Dil Se Re.
Dil Se (background score):
Background scores, I left out in the discussion, but Dil Se has some of the
most divine music ARR has created. A different world altogether. The Dil Se
album in its entirety would have easily qualified in this category if it had
not fallen outside the time windows I had defined.
Innisai:
Again, one of those albums, I'm yet to pick-up.
Konjum Mainakale:
Beautiful song, I loved Rajeev Menon's picturization as I did all of the song
picturizations of KK, especially the title song. This does not fall in the
original category; the standard I had set for this may be very high that it is
unfair to most songs that would easily qualify as original compared with other
composers' output; but we are talking about ARR's standards! :)
Vellai Pookkal:
Peace is the word to describe this song; so I can't call it rebellious from a
musical perspective. It's hard to capture a Gandhi in music. :)
RDB:
Now I must admit, I didn't think about this album at all when I wrote that
article on originality. How I missed this is beyond me, but I did try to be
spontaneous in the spirit of my topic! :) Yes, RDB is all about rebelliousness
and ARR captures that in so many different angles with this album. Khalbali and
Roobaroo would definitely fall in this category, and Paatshaala to a certain
degree as well. Though very contemporary, this album gives new meaning to what
popular music can be by lifting it a notch above the usual mediocrity. ARR has
a very sharp sense for what would become part of history and he just delivers
big time when it comes to movies like this. Thanks for pointing out that big,
big oversight; I did a dis-service to ARR here.
O Humdum:
Again, too pop for my category, but like Girlfriend from boys, it has energy
that suits its context.
Chotta Chotta:
This movie has a few wonderful songs, but I don't have it in my library, so
can't comment on this. That reminds me that I got a lot of shopping to do
including Jodha Akbar, which I absolutely need to buy!
It's good to see some of you thinking of why you like these songs and what sort
of emotions they evoke within you. My responses are subjective and should not
be taken as final by any means. Let us discuss and debate because I am
learning and expanding as much as you may be.
Take care,
Dasun
To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 21:03:58 -0800
Subject: Re: [arr] Re: ARR's Standard Deviation - Part I - Originality
Dasun/ Chord,
I think one of you posed an audio piece that was created by you. Can you repost
it again? I am not able to find it in my inbox? I hope I am not smoking
anything:-)
On 2/1/08, Arijit Debnath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Dasun,
What is ur feel abt "Anbe idhu" from Rhythm... I think this is also a rebelious
song itself.... after Thee Thee I count this one.
Also "Desh mere" is rebelious lyrically and musically too (From TLOBS)
What do u think abt "Dacaoit Duel" from WOHAE?
Like an Eagle from Bombay Dreams
Pls Sir (Boys) is also a new genre itself (may not be a rebel but musically
very new to ear)
Girlfreind (Boys) is defe a rebel song to me!!
Dil se ending score ...true rebelious
innisai (GF)...
Kunjum mainakale (KK) isn't a rebel as a romantic song (I never heard such
romantic rebel before)?
Vellai Pukal... its a rebel song to me with no weapons no noise... rebel can be
done piecefully Rahman roved that
The whole RDB album is rebelious (including awesome BMG)
O humdum (Sathiya) this is another new genre introduced by none other than
Rahman... this is also 1st of its kind
Chotta chotta (Tajmahal)... what a melody and blend of flute... again never
heard this kind of song (if anyone heard anything like this pls let us
know...we will enjoy that too)
Till now I remeber these after Thiruda Thiruda (that is the best by Rahman in
my opinion). Anyway new sound or rebel songs will be growing in my list.
Arijit
On 31/01/2008, Dasun Abeysekera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Shah Navas,
Sorry for the delayed reply. From a purely intuitive level, Thamizha Thamizha
didn't strike me as innovatively original, to qualify my use of the term
original now. Thee Thee just jumps at you when you listen to it as incredibly
new...I mean I haven't heard a single song like that since then..where the base
guitar is used to amazing effect...that was that pure daring, rebellious
freshness that I was looking for...Dil Se Re perhaps comes closest to that kind
of in-your-face creativity. I guess there is an element of high energy that you
look for in things like that, and Thamizha Thamizha, though it has energy, is
more of a soulful composition than energetic. I would love to have another one
like Dil Se or Thee Thee where you just have to stop everything you do and drop
your jaws! :)
You are certainly entitled to your opinion; I hope that clarifies my point of
view. Good stuff..let's keep expanding. :)
Take care,
Dasun
To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:05:32 +0530
Subject: Re: [arr] Re: ARR's Standard Deviation - Part I - Originality
Dasun says >>Roja, along with the likes of Puthiya Mugham, Uzhavan, and Bombay
would qualify as some of the most soulful and brilliantly crafted albums, but,
not the most original.
Dasun,
I request you to elaborate on this. I don't have any music knowledge. But I see
'Thee Thee' from 'Thiruda Thiruda' and 'Tamizha Tamizha' from 'Roja'
loosely have the same structure. Both the songs start with a slow melody and
moves into a contrasting plane with burst of sound and vocals and resumes back
the melody.
It's like 2 different songs are interwoven into one. Still they convey a
unified theme. In that sense 'Tamizha Tamizha' is more original to me as it's
a patriotic song which expresses many moods - hope, anger, motivation,
depression and the lyrics similarly matches the music or vice versa.
But if you take 'Thee Thee', the doesn't necessarily depict a theme or a
situation, rather doesn't even match the picturisation. I feel it was more of
an experiment by Rahman and Manirathnam included the song (like most of the
times). If you see both these songs in this context 'Tamizha Tamizha' is
more original.
On Jan 28, 2008 12:28 PM, shanavas.chemmamkuzhi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dasun is talking about 92-96 era. Earth released on 98.
--- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Gomzy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> well I feel thats nonsense. You can see his original works in
earth then
> onto lagaan and then upto swades atleast. Not to mention water !
>
> On Jan 28, 2008 12:08 PM, : Avinash : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Hi Dasun.. That's really well thought, in depth writeup man.
You
> > really stole my words! :) I was thinking, how to explain 'chord'
> > about defining ARR standards and you perfectly reflected my
> > mind.. :) Keep it flowing..
> >
> > Thanks..
> > -Avinash
> >
> > -- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com <arrahmanfans%
40yahoogroups.com>, Dasun
> > Abeysekera <dtdja@>
> >
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Originality
> > >
> > > The most original songs of the 92-96 era, in my opinion, are
Thee
> > Thee from Thiruda Thiruda (93) and Mettupodu from Duet (94); and
> > their respective albums too can be called the most original from
> > ARR's highest creative standpoint. Roja would certainly have to
be
> > considered original if we compare ARR's originality to the
relative
> > originality of the musical backdrop of that era, but that is not
what
> > we are attempting here; I feel that compared with the
aforementioned
> > albums, Roja, along with the likes of Puthiya Mugham, Uzhavan,
and
> > Bombay would qualify as some of the most soulful and brilliantly
> > crafted albums, but, not the most original; again, please keep in
> > mind that my comparisons are confined to ARR's body of work and
not
> > extended to any comparison's with the work by any of his composer
> > peers.
> > >
> > > Thiruda Thiruda (93) was a breakthrough album for ARR as he was
> > able to match, if not exceed, the expectations surrounding his
second
> > post-Illayaraja Mani Ratnam production after Roja, which could
not
> > have been an easy task for a 25 year old who thought his first
movie
> > album would be his last! Thee Thee's stunning energy and
freshness is
> > only the icing on the cake after the beautiful vocal tapestry of
> > Raasathi, the operatic grandeur of Veerapandi Kottayile, and
barring
> > its close references to Michael Jackson-like dance beats,
> > Chandralekha as well. Duet (94), on the other hand, with an
> > unprecedented use of Kadiri Gopalnath and his saxophone to
showcase
> > Carnatic music, was quite a daringly original attempt for a
movie; to
> > say both maestros pulled it off with shocking success, would be
an
> > understatement.
> > >
> > > So, has there been a song/album of that calibre in recent
times? I
> > think it will be an accurate statement to say that there has not
been
> > a song like Thee Thee or Mettupodu in recent times, certainly
not a
> > conceptually original album of Duet's kind, and most surely not
an
> > album for an Indian movie. Now why could that be? First of all,
as
> > you lose your youthful freshness and become enmeshed in a
system, you
> > lose a significant share of that rebellious spirit. Albert
Einstein
> > said during his latter years when he went on his quest to
discover a
> > Unified Field Theory, how much he wished he had that same
rebellious
> > spirit which fuelled his strength of mind and imaginative powers
to
> > overthrow the revered Laws of Sir Isaac Newton and his universe
of
> > absolute time and space with the new Relativity Theory.
Similarly, in
> > United States presidential politics, Sen. Barack Obama is
touting his
> > freshness in Washington as one of his biggest strengths for
bringing
> > about real change to the country. So, yes, time spent in any
> > environment can significantly reduce your capacity for daring and
> > originality, which is what we are seeing with ARR in India.
However,
> > let us not forget that we owe much of the advancement of the
quality
> > of Indian music to him and let's not be surprised if his most
> > original work comes from his work abroad because that
environment is
> > still new to him and he has many colors to show to the rest of
the
> > world where he is not yet legend!
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________________
> > > Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser!
> > > http://biggestloser.msn.com/
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
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