Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wake up Sid - Music review

Composer: Shankar Ehsaan Loy & Amit Trivedi (Guest Composer)
Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerajo, Kavita Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Uday Benegal

Few days back on TV, a promo started airing where a fresh looking Ranbeer kapoor making appearances looking similar to Hrithik in Lakshaya or Aamir in DCH i.e. just got young and don't know what to do with rising portion of testosterone. So music for such theme require musicians who know the basic of bring freshness to not so remain fresh theme but protagonist is freshly young though. Shankar Ehsaan Loy (SEL) proved there metal already in this genre with both above mentioned movies on same theme which they composed and with numerous other attempts.

Though I still need to heard the album more then my quota of listening to any album before making any useful comments but this time I feel I can give it a try..

Album opens with Wake up sid where Shankar croons "Suna to jara...humhe to yeh kehna...Waqt hain kya tumhe to hain na pata...."...fresh lyrics which Ask Sid the protagonist to wake up to world around him. Decent lyrics, good guitar playaround and sang conveniently by Shankar. It will soon feature in your must listen list.

Next comes the best of lot. Kya karoon. Open with a good guitar strings played skillfully by Ehsaan and not to so recognized voice. I need to check CD cover for singer and found Clinton cerajo whose name I have seen in past but mostly making for lead singer. Finally got the chance...haan! He sang brilliantly and his rusty voice goes well on ear. Still think what might have happened if Sonu nigam have attempted it. May be a little better result. Hmm...I miss him sometimes as we hardly listen to him now especially when he voice is on zenith. Anyhow Clinton make full use of chance and crooning in background also feel pleasant. Thumbs up.

Aaj Kal Zindgi is where Shankar back behind mikkee! It started Ok with some nice beats, drums and tang-2 music loop; and initially I felt that it is just another song but the moment mukhda completed and Shakhar took song to another level with crooning "tere liye nayi hain zameen naya aasaman...likh dain hawaoan pain koi nayi dastaan", song just become better then good. I still think it not the best. Still it may grow on you surely.

Iktara again come with a rusty singer Kavita Seth and some good playing of Guitar in start. Her voice is very heavy and have touch of ethnic indian classical base. Amitabh bhattacharya voice still is soft and balancing act on voice level for song. I still think they should have used Sunidhi for it though no problem with Kavita's singing. It may liked by some people but doesn't have mass appeal acc to me. Have I failed to mention that this piece is created by Guest composer Amit Trivedi who have us DevD.

Life is crazy is second last composition in album so far which is running well on mind and ear. SEL again decided to make use of Shankar voice. Though I think Shankar is exellent singer but for this song i guess he should use Raman Mahadevan who sang brilliantlly 'Kholo-2 darwajain' in Tarre Zammen pain. Song is fast pace number with some really quick punchy drum beats and Shankar on ice on rocks. Uday benegal supported well but he remains much in background.

Last comes Wake up sid again but in remix version. This is not typical DJ aqeel kinda remix which is build over recorded song. Here it is specifically design where Shakar sing with fast pace as compare to lazy approach on main song. Though music in start is completely different but overall flow of main song remain intact. Decent listening.

Overall, it's a decent album where SEL are in good form but I still think its not there best work. This is there better work. People will surely love Wake up sid soundtrack and definitely include his songs in Ipod quickly or give some good repeatative listing in car. It may also be cherished by people who love soft guitar as it used abundantly throughout the album.

Rating: 3.5/5

Monday, August 17, 2009

Awesome Jingle....Bajaj Allianz

Once a while earlier and now quite frequently we listen to jingles which make special space in our heart and mind. Who can forget the awesome songs played in background when we watched Nescafe or Vodafone ad. They created some everlasting impression about the brand and a quality treat to music listener. Only the worst part is that we hardly get full studio recordings. We either have to wait for jingle/ad to come on TV again or sometime a very low quality piece on company website.
So recently I heard always worthy Sukhwinder voice in Bajaj Allianz ad. It hit instantly on my ear drums and made some impact on mind which starve for more. I think of very possible new movie of which the songs belongs to but all efforts goes to vain. Eventually, as always, Google search come to rescue and I found that song is specifically made by Vishal Bhardwaj and written by Gulzar for Bajaj Allianz Jiyo befikar ad campaign. I must say they hit the bulls eye. I eventually able to grab the song in good bit rate. Click the link below for download and enjoy.

download Courtesy: jiyobefikar.com

Snips of jingle lyrics which always makes you feel great that your born in era where a lyricist called Gulzar born!
"Yeh kis pyaari hifaazat main ho befikrii kii haalat hai,
badi mazabut baahon main ho suraj ki hararat hai,
tumhare vaaste tufaan sehlein muskuraon tum,
jiyo har lamha tumko zindagi pine kii aadat hai…”

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

DevD

My wife asked me to show her the movie DevD as she was delivering when the movie released and she missed out. Though Have I told that I watched it with a frd when I was 5 beer down ;-) Anyway...Coming back...Though I warn her that it will not fell into her sensibilities still she persist. I felt with no choice so brought the DVD opps VCD and played it on my newly brought philips DVD player with HDMI and USB which is DivX Compatible. You know we all love to showoff sometime...good for health ;-)


As said and known, she disliked it but I again enjoyed it thoroughly. Actually I like two things more then movie itself. Reason I offline them from movie as they are bigger then the movie i assume. First. Director Anurag khashap and his unique way of telling the story. He is the same guy who made Black Friday. I love his courage as he really converted a classic into another classic but which resembles with colors and moods of today's world with brilliant camera work. Second which is bigger then first for me. Music. Amit trivedi rocks. What a music. Ahh...nirvana for me. Even I won't shy to say that at first I disliked it cause I guess I don't have stomach to digest such a brilliant recipe which so far developed appetite for low standard but easy on ear Pritam kinda music though no offense to Pritam as he too is doing good in doing what he do best...make easy on ear and mind melody. But Amit took us to some other level where creativity and experimentation achieved new meaning. I won't dwell further into music as I am not reviewing it here but I strongly means STRONGLY recommend everybody to give a dekho (watch) to DevD and if possible (no you have to!!) listen to music. You will cherish the experience for your lifetime. Though I might write someday on Gulal exclusively but its another great shot by Anurag so do check it when mood and time allows.

Cheers
-AY