To all the listeners and friends...
WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A VERY HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!
2007 has been a great year - A new job, addition to the family, involvement in Dhoomfm...could not have asked for more!
I pray that 2008 should be another great year for all of us. I hope to post more songs for all the regular listeners this year.
Thank you for your support, patience and encouragement.
Last sunday, September 30th, I went to a Concert in New Jersey with my family...Musical Extravaganza where Sadhana Sargam, UnniKrishnan, Karthik and Ganga were singers....The event was advertised by www.dhoomfm.com as "Musical Extravaganza", where the four singers were to sing songs from Tamil, Hindi and Telugu movies.
The week before, I helped in gathering trivia and songs on all the four singers for a special show that Venky hosted on DhoomFM, and that gave me a lot of insight into these singers. Thanks to Venky for sharing the pictures with me.
The experience we had at the concert was OUT OF THE WORLD!!!
The show started with Ganga singing IR composition "Ooru Sanam" - what a sweet voice! She is a good example of talent underutilized in the Indian Music Industry. She could sing every singer's songs with ease and effortlessness.
Then came UnniKrishnan. The image that we have usually of Unni Krishnan, is that of a very conservative, classical style singer...but he proved otherwise in this concert!!! He sang his popular Jeans number - Hai Re Hai Re in tamil. He ensured that the audience were not left alone. He jumped out of the stage, came over to the audience and made us all sing the chorus for that song...THAT was something I least expected from Unni Krishnan!
Sadhana Sargam, just as sweet as her voice, sang "Snehithane" from Alaipayuthey, and ofcourse the song that won her National Award under IR composition "Paatu Solli". 
Karthik, - WOW...what a stage presence and what energy levels...the guy is unbelievable on stage!!! He kept referring to peppy numbers as "kick ass" numbers and sang "Karu Karu Vizhigalal" from Pachai Kili Muthu charam as well as "Girlfriend venum" song with vigor and enthu. Much awaited, Oru Malai from Ghajini came much later and he started his rendition with a song that he said "changed his life" - "Sakthi Kodu" from Baba. His voice is divine. Such control and strength in this singing....hats off Karthik!!
Then there were a bunch of songs mostly in Tamil and we had folks dancing on stage and having a gala time.
The added bonus and least expected surprise was that Solo Drum player "Siva Mani" was in town and so was SPB Charan. They both made it to the show as audience but little could they resist being on the other side of the stage.
We had an impromptu "Mirdhangam converted to Drum" version of beats by Mr. Siva Mani and SPB Charan's "Nagila Nagila" rendition. They had the audience thrilled and jumping for more!!!
Final song for the audience, was "Mustafa Mustafa" and we had most people joining the singers on stage...
One unforgettable event...we went home feeling very relaxed, with a feeling of enjoyment and stresslessness, wishing more such events happen in the near future!!
I started assisting Venky Sadagopan in the production (selection of theme/song and some interesting talking points) of the local NJ tamil radio show called "Southern Spice" on Dhoom FM - 89.3 (www.dhoomfm.com) aired every Wednesday 7pm to 9pm EST.
You can also listen to it live on www.dhoomfm.com
Its been a enjoyable experience since the first show last week. Please do tune in wherever you are in the US (89.3 FM in NJ and www.dhoomfm.com anywhere else) and let us know your comments and suggestions via the email/phone # given in the show.
You can drop your comments here too.
PS: We are also interested in hearing from talented composers who can help compose a peppy theme song/tune/catch phrase for our show. If you are interested, do leave your contact information in comments here or reachout to Venky via the show.
Continuing my earlier post on my favorite Tamil songs of 2006, I selected the ones below based on how often I listened and enjoyed these songs on my ipod last year.
1)
Song: Unakaaga Thaane
Movie: Nenjil Jil Jil
Singers: Unnikrishnan and Sujatha Mohan (Corrected after Singer Sujatha Mohan's comment)
Music Director: Imaan
What do I like: The beats are excellent. Chorus is good. The mix of hindustani classical "Dhirana Dhirana" and melodious "Devathai pola vandu"....tho I simply cant bear the nasal ending that Unni Krishnan has given to this song.
| NenjilJilJil_Unakk... |
| Jerry_KanavaaKaana... |
| Paramasivan_Natcha... |
| Poi_HitlerPenne.mp... |
| Thambi_SummaKidant... |
| Aathi_Lelakku_lela... |
After a long break, coming back with a DHOOM. I meant the song, one of my personal favorites becos of the beats and melody mixed in this song...
Sunidhi Chauhan, a versatile singer whose other renditions like Dekh Le and Beedi are very popular. Would love to sing one of the few melodies sung by her in Fanaa - Dekho Na..
I have been working on this song since Feb 21st when I got hold of this Karaoke (Thanks to Taraana.com& Vishal). Finished recording it almost two months back but just got the chance to finish up with the Mixing becos of all the special effects on this song.
I have experimented a lot with the ECHO features of the software to ensure that the effects are close to original version, though my rendition may be way off :)
As always, your comments and constructive feedback are most welcome!
Song: Dhoom Machale
Movie: Dhoom
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan
A song that I had recorded a few months back, am posting here today. I was not happy with the recording so I had not posted this song so far.
Since I am yet to recover my voice, I thought it may be a better option to post this and give a break to my blog visitors from my Tamil favorite songs of 2006!
I will be posting Part II of the fav list soon but for now, enjoy listening to this rendition and let me know your comments.
Song: Putham Pudhu Kaalai
Original Singer: S Janaki
Friends,
Introducing an AWESOME Music Quiz site by Sonata called http://conundrumofsonata.blogpot.com
For all Tamil Film Music lovers, if you are a music fanatic and want to test your knowledge of Tamil Film Music, please visit Sonata's blog by clicking here.
Everyday, Sonata posts a music interlude from popular tamil movies and provides clues (sometimes enuf to guess the song even without playing the interlude!) that will aid you in identifying the songs.
I have been a regular visitor for almost two weeks now and am enjoying every single quiz put up there...and I wanted to share my pleasure of such a nice idea with fellow music lovers..
We have been asking Sonata to post Hindi song interludes too...so keep a watch on that space...
Friends - My apologies for not being able to post any songs off late. I have been feeling under the weather and it will be sometime before I can get enough strength to sing any songs.
Meanwhile, I thought of sharing my favorite (less popular) tamil songs of 2006 which in my opinion, did not make it to most of the top songs list of 2006. I have consciously not listed the very popular songs from SOK, VV, etc. I happened to listen to my ipod's Top 25 most played and found out these in no particular order. Will be posting them in sets of 5 over the next few weeks.
If you have not heard these songs before, you can listen to these songs by clicking on the e-snips links below:
1)
Song: Kadhal thaana idhu kadhal thana
Movie: Nenjil Jil Jil
Singers: Kay Kay and Chitra Sivaraman
Music Director: Imaan
What do I like: Expressive vocals by the female singer, esp in the lines "Ayyo sagikaliye" and the overall peppy tune of the song.
| NenjilJilJil_Katha... |
| EmtanMagan_Koligun... |
| Something Somethin... |
| ThiruttuPayale_Poi... |
| Aathi_EnnaiKonjaKo... |
Sadhana Sargam, one of the top singers of Bollywood, started singing in Tamil industry for ARR to begin with. From then on she has been a singer quite familiar in Tamil music industry.
There is a general complaint from tamil folks that the pronunciation of Tamil words by Bollywood singers is horrible in tamil songs...Well...its debatable when there are many tamil folks themselves who can do better in their pronunciation of "Zha" sound!
The effort Sadhana Sargam has made to sing this song in Tamil, is appreciable.
I have consciously sung the song with proper pronunciations....not copying Sadhana Sargam's in her rendition for Ilayaraja from the movie Azhagi.
Song: Paatu Solli
Singer: Sadhana Sargam
Movie: Azhagi
Enjoy listening and your feedback keeps me going...
Minmini became overnight popular singer with "Chinna Chinna Aasai" song in Roja (Dil hai chotta sa song in Hindi).
I have sung a less popular song of hers from the movie "Gentleman".This was a very easy song to render.
Inspired by Vishal's rendition of Bhool Ja, where Vishal has done a wonderful job by taking pains to record the chorus lines in multiple tracks and in different pitches, I wanted to try something similar.
But I did not take so much pain to record in different pitch in this song...just used a separate track with "Chorus Effect" in the software, along with my main track rendition.
Appreciate your feedback (good and bad) to improvise in the next rendition..
Song: Paakathe Paakathe
Movie: Gentleman
Originally sung by: Minmini
Another one of Chitra's mellifluous songs....after Chitra sung "Chinna Kuyil Paadum" for this movie, she became "Chinna Kuyil Chitra" for the tamil music industry.
This is the title song from Poove Poochoodava...
Song: Poove Poochoodava
Movie: Poove Poochoodava
Originally sung by: K S Chitra
PS: Checkout the updated version of "Aap Jaise Koi Meri" uploaded this weekend(Nazia Hussain)
An english song post...I was inspired to learn more English songs after the feedback on my earlier ones here(Shania Twain).
Found this song in my collection and just happen to hear it while on train, and thought why not this song?! Been listening to it for almost a month now to get closer to the emotions, lyrics, tune and accent.
I don't know if I have done justice to the song...so please let me know what you think about this rendition.
Song: How do I live without you
Original Singer: Trisha Yearwood
When I started audioblogging, my first cousin in California, asked me if I could sing this song by MS. I always knew this song as a melody that I have heard my mother sing when I was young.
But when I did hear this song to practice it completely, I realized that this song has many nuances that only a classical singer like MS Subbulakshmi could have done justice to.
There isn't a music fan alive who hasn't heard of M.S.Subbulakshmi, or MS, as she is popularly known. She gave her first recital at the tender age of 10, when she was asked to sing at the wedding of a Saurashtra friend of the family in Madurai.
Her seeming effortlessness of her music is rooted in technical mastery, ceaseless practice, restraint and constant self apprisal. Though she is over 80, she can still hit the gandhara of the upper register and make you soar with her. Such fidelity to the pitch and resonance are the result of breath control, perfect diction and phenomenal concentration. No other artiste has been as successful in blending the intutive and the reflective elements of art.
MS is the first woman recipient of the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' title and the first one to popularise Carnatic music in North India and in the West at prestigious venues (Edinburgh Festival and the UN). Her admirers are from all walks of life - national and international leaders, fellow artistes and other celebrities. On one celebrated occasion, Mahatma Gandhi requested her to sing his favourite bhajan for him.
MS has won many awards and accolades. The latest in the long line is the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award to its citizen. Unfortunately, we lost this unmatchable singer in December 2004.
Here is my version of that song.
Song: Kaatrinile Varum Geetham
Movie: Meera
Singer: M S Subbulakshmi
Honey voiced Alka Yagnik has been my favorite singer since Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak & Tezaab days. She has the beauty in her voice that is unmatchable. I have tried her song from Raja Hindustani here.
Alka is classically trained, and has been one of the leading playback singers in Bollywood since the late 1980's. Alka began singing bhajans for Calcutta Radio at the age of six. She came to Mumbai and sang for the film Laawaris (1981) with the song Mere Angene Mein. She got her big break with the song Ek Do Teen from the film Tezaab (1988). The song turned her into a star overnight and went on to become a pop hit. She also received her first Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for the song.
I cannot do justice to her voice but I have tried....I sure could have done better...as always!
Song: Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein
Movie: Raja Hindustani
Singer: Alka Yagnik
