Nice review Chord & Wiredbeats... Reading your reviews is also a learning experience for me :)
Thanks, Srini On 03-Aug-2010, at 7:54 AM, AJ wrote: > Enthiran Music Review > > I decided to write this review sooner than I thought due to the songs having > a more instant impact and having listened to the whole album at least 15 > times since it came out. Further time is not going to change my opinions. My > comments are only on the music, not the lyrics. > > I wonder if we really understand and appreciate the difficulty of Rahman's > job, no matter how musically brilliant he is. He is human after all, and not > a robot. He has to keep in mind so many expectations and demands, esp. when > you have a leading film-maker and superstar with his own fan > following….Rajinikant. Post Oscars, the expectations for Rahman have only > grown and I truly wonder how he manages to rise to the occasion each time, > whether we ourselves like an album or not. With Shankar and Rajinikant at > hand, boy, Rahman must try to keep a lot of people happy all at once, yet > creating music fitting for the movie that's supposed to have sci fi, robo > themes! If there's anyone who can do justice to these demands, it's Rahman. > The hype around the music release of this album is one of the biggest I've > seen in a while…..touted as one of the finest films, most expensive films, > etc. > > Pudiya Manidha whisks us away to a land of robos and futuristic sci fi, and > man, does it ever leave a mark! One of the sleekest masterpieces Rahman has > ever come out with in my opinion, this song oozes with etherealness, groove, > punch, mystery, intrigue, and trance. This track takes me to another world > truly with Rahman's sweet touches….crystal, progressive synth sound effects, > warm ambiance, loopy synths, and the ever soothing and captivating string > arrangements. Post Khatija Rahman's soulful singing and bleating goat sounds, > the song picks up speed with rhythms and SPB's spritely singing. Notice how > the strings mimic the synth loop melody, only adding depth and character to > an already richly bestowed track. Based loosely on raaga Bhimpalas, the song > takes a soaring route during the heavenly string interlude. Beautiful choral > additions are appreciated, adding a stark spirituality and sonic texture > along with SPB's split octave singing, creating a very balanced and > satisfying bass/treble aural experience on all frequencies. This track will > likely go down as one of my favorites in ARR's entire repertoire for the > reasons outlined above and for reasons I just can't put into words, but can > only feel and experience. For a techno/trance number, it's very spiritual in > feel! A complete masterpiece from start to finish, what a way to kick off!!!! > > A contrasting, more acoustic, upbeat and happier track follows as Shreya and > Vijay Prakash please us with lilting singing and joy in Kaadhal Annukal. > Rahman's use of rhythm acoustic guitar layered with the sweet accordion and > mouth organ/harmonica is extremely appealing aurally with incredible > sweetness! Beautiful interludes highlight this earthy and charming song with > a Scottish/Irish style using piccolo and accordion in the first, and a very > unconventional, out of the box mysterious and ambient synth section in the > second, showcasing ARR's brilliant creativity and craft. The second interlude > is truly outstanding as it gravitates away from the usual flowery mood and > organic sound and serves us something more electronic and spacey, but never > distracts the groove and momentum of the whole track! I just love how ARR > uses the strings so tastefully and craftily throughout the song creating a > very lush aural landscape, esp. in the end when Shreya's counter melodic line > joins in. A really sparkling track from start to finish for me and this song > just radiates freshness and innovativeness for an Indian film song. The > melody itself is very sweet with many hooks, though unconventional for an > Indian duet film song and at times hard to remember, but with repeated > exposures, I can't get this song out of me!! The whole song is beautifully > supported by a fresh, rhythmic groove that mostly unwavers alongside haunting > and unique chords and chord progressions. > > Following the very techno and synth heavy first track, how beautifully > contrasting we hear a very earthy and acoustic one in the second…..truly > showcasing ARR's versatility and genius in the first 2 tracks alone!!! > > The third track, Irumbile Oru, is techno to the core, but sounding like an > ordinary remix to me! Marked by some sexy grooves and female rapping along > with ARR's metallic tinged voice, this track has not yet impressed me much > musically. Maybe if I understood the lyrics, I would appreciate it more, but > I did notice how the lyrics and words seem to flow quite well. I don't know > why Rahman did not do more musically with this track, esp. using a kind of > outdated techno sound that has been used over and over! As my friend put it, > "this track is a lost opportunity for Rahman" in terms of sound, but I can > see how the youngsters are enjoying it for its sheer rhythmic groove, lyrics, > word flow, and ARR's voice. Nothing more to write here! > > ARR has a little fun in the next track, Chitti Dance Showcase, which begins > as a cheesy robotic voice…………………come on Rahman! You can do better! Why choose > a clichéd, stereotyped robotic sound that we've heard over and over? Once > again, Rahman using a very outdated sound! I can understand Rahman's attempt > to be obvious and literal as he needs to cater to the masses, but > still….there is no elevation of taste using these outdated and hackneyed robo > sounds! But, on the plus side, this track has its interesting and at times > brilliant moments, esp. with the beautiful and sweeping string and choral > interlude, but alas, only lasts about 10-15 seconds! We hear all sorts of > genres here….symphony, heavy metal, Indian tarana, but with jarring > transitions. Oh, and I also like that little whistling, jazzy insertion that > he put in there towards the end….showing the more humorous and playful side > to ARR! Nice touch there! > > We switch gears to a much more heavy sounding number, Arima Arima, with > Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam, 2 singers we haven't heard in a long time in a > Rahman's song! This track is full of valor and majesty, showcasing brass and > pomp with militarized drumming and a dose or distorted rock guitar to add > exclamation! I love Rahman's use of the symphonic strings in this song using > them to accent rhythms and intertwining them delicately at times in 16th note > fashion creating a beautifully crafted and intricate rhythmic and textured > backdrop to Hariharan's and Sadhana Sargam's passionate singing. I love some > of the operatic voices that are also used as transitional pieces. I also > loved that little 16th note synth insertion during one of the song's > transitions, adding energy to an already vibrant and punchy track! Did you > notice how the trumpet interlude totally changes the mood of the song as we > go into major scale? I love that part of the song!!!! The singing is semi > classical at times, esp. during the antaras, which I really appreciate. The > track both begins and ends with synth, creating an interesting contrast to > the much more acoustic and earthy majority of the song. > > We go light in mood again with an African twist!!! Kilimanjaro is a real > treat with extremely catchy lyrics and spirited singing by Chinmayi and Javed > Ali! What a track! I love the mood of this whole song and the beautifully > authentic African vocal tribal interludes add only icing to the cake! I don't > know how Rahman created such an authentically earthy sound to the tribal > choral parts! This song is just brilliant and so crafty! I love how the crisp > tablas are used at times and the naughty singing by Chinmayi, who doesn't > sound her usual self, but very convincing! This raaga Malkauns based track is > punctuated by some very wholesome and crisp drumming, catapulting this track > forward with every step! Check out the rhythmic variations during many parts > of the song with added maracas (or another instrument) in double time, esp. > during the second tribal part. Let's not forget the playful "click click" > sound either, which is just perfectly placed! Rahman's versatility is simply > mindblowing!!!! > > The final track begins with Yogi B's "Boom Boom Robo Da" bit which repeats > kind of annoyingly through the rest of the song. I could have enjoyed this > song without that part, catchy as it is!!! Brass hits and funky techno beats > characterize this very rhythmic, colorful and varied track with multiple > musical genres in jazz, latin, rap, heavy metal, hip hop, etc. For a change, > it's nice to hear Yogi B, another rapper besides Blaaze, though no hard > feelings towards Blaaze! The antaras are quite melodiously sung as the > singing takes on a more semi classical turn in raaga Abhogi and occasionally > Bhairavi. I very much appreciate the second interlude Latin/Spanish sounding > section with the soothing female chorus and nice but brief acoustic Spanish > sounding guitar. There are more acoustic elements to this song too as what > sounds like a bright santoor plays an old fashioned melody in the beginning > and acoustic guitar plucking briefly as the other musical flavors melt away > for a brief bit during some later transitions. A patchwork track of sorts, > much like its predecessor in Chitti Showcase, it's quite entertaining to the > core with some splashes of sweet melody thrown in. Rahman's talent as a > musically genius craftsman really shines in this track. > > So, another milestone in ARR's career if you ask me with heavyweights Pudhiya > Manidha, Kadhal Anukkal, Arima, and Kilimanjaro totally carrying this > soundtrack on all four of their shoulders. These 4 songs to me embody some of > Rahman's finest musical work to date in terms of composition, innovation, > sonic creativity, and mass and class appeal. This album would be worthy > enough with only these 4 songs on the table. The other 3 tracks have bright > moments contained within them, but seriously, the outdated and cheesy and > cliched robo/electro sounds of the 1980s are a big turn off for me and I am > quite disappointed by Rahman's choice here, also likely influenced by Pravin > Mani. I really wish that similar sound templates of the ambient textured, > progressive and futuristic sounds of Pudhiya Manidha would have been in more > abundance in the rest of the songs, but perhaps Shankar had a big say in this > to cater to more of the masses and Rajinikant fans and what fits in with the > film…..I don't know. As an album overall, it's qualitatively very > inconsistent to me and very gimmicky in parts, but with 4 brilliant songs in > the mix, I will surely be playing this very entertaining CD as well as the > Telugu and Hindi counterparts in heavy rotation for a long, long time to come! > > Numeric Values: > 7/10 – Compared to other Rahman albums (mostly for the 4 amazing songs I > talked about above) > 9/10 – Compared to contemporary Indian film albums > > Copyright by iChord 2010. No part of this writeup may be reproduced without > the sole written consent of this writer. > >
