Thoovanam Audio Review

While boringly searching the archives of raaga...i came across this album was wondering if it might be worth the time. Interestingly the sounds in this album are quite nice and i thought i should review them for the public who have not listened at least.

Mazhai Nindrum has a very starry like sound at the start with SPB relentlessy floating through....the guitar that follows it just makes it like a song built upon the night breeze...enchanting. A melody on the lines of hindustani instrumentation..the tune is soulful and reeks of love longing with orchestration apt at certain places...but isaac thomas could have avoided dragging the tune too much as the melody loses its touch when the tune ascends too much.

Aedhedho Matramadi..Another melody...this time building itself brilliantly with the flute....and not to mention the way the guitar is used. Its not the normal all strings together..but IR style...giving it a 1 soft string with two fast string touch. Isaac thomas makes good use of his instrumentation..electric guitar...acoustic guitar...carnatic violin all made compact to give one melody concerto in the first interlude and a orchestraic wonder in the second interlude with the piano and the carnatic violin again. A better polished melody..one with carnatic influence...and certainly giving a good image of the composer.

Idhayam Iruntha Idam starts off with a western touch...very reminiscent of techno sounds from UK english songs....but once the singer starts..the touch ends there. The song takes off from there giving us another melody...this time more peppy...and yet again carnatic influence. The interesting point to note is isaac thomas orchestration abilities. He seems to be a whiz with the flute...he uses the first interlude to give the flute a celtic touch...and in the second a WCM touch with violins in the midst. Amazing talent for a supposedly new composer and not to mention his flair for giving tunes that are very carnatic based and also stretching the limits of the pallavi.

Eureka Eureka might have passed upon as a racey westernised number when the singer starts singing the lines...but it goes into another melody...the rajasthani styled beats with the piano and harp like strings are very soothing...the tune is actually melancholic coupled with happiness...but kudos to isaac for giving the word Eureka a dragging style instead of making it into a rap/fast paced style...the change of speed in the stanzas in the midst is innovative with a slow but smooth ending. Four songs four melodies...all with their own style and panache.

SMS illae is a westernised racey number...not very new..and quite typical of YSR who is at home with such songs....it just makes use of every sound in the keyboard to give it a hip and peppy touch...the only point worth talking about in this track is the melody reigning in the overall tune and the singer's job to keep the tune on track.

Rap is a track that finally makes sense of rap....a total rap song. A english rap with minimal keyboard sounds...sadly a short track that cant really be judged too much.

Aedhedho Matramada is the same as the first version..except its a female touch now and that too gleefully sung.

Finally a mini orchestraic version of the title track mazhai nindrum with the violin taking cue....For people who wanted to just have a feel of the track without the vocals..this is for you and i must say the melody is explored better in this track.

Overall a very good album..minus one number which is very common the other four melodies seem to be a touch of their own class. Isaac has brought his own style of orchestration and rhythm to his carnatic based tunes...and even the carnatic based tunes are different from VS melodies..much more dragging in a positive manner. Not a chart breaker but certainly one who is capable of posing a threat to the current in form composers if given a chance.

Thamirabarani Audio Review

Lets see..Yuvan shankar raaja has taken two mass albums in sandaikozhi and thimiru recently with somewhat adequate songs to prove his versatility. So its thamirabarani again..vishal again..but hari this time..will the mass be glaring or will it be with a difference...lets take a look.

Kattabomma oorenukku starts off with the shenoy going into the song's rhythm straight away...surprisingly the beats are dominated more by the rhythm.. the beats are typically folk...but you cant really hear them going loud...its just vijay yesudoss taking you through the song. His vocals are very prolific and secure...it does not go off track..it does not go out all jumpy...it just brings out the rhythm...and for a song with not much instrumentation with the exception of a few deviating mild electric guitar strings and the shenoy here and there...the song is very catchy. Vijay yesudoss is the hero here.

Thiruchendhuroo Muruga has three different packages in the prelude humming. A kovil folk style of humming, Village folk of humming and the last is koothu humming. Yuvan however does not take the song into a fun frolicking style of pattern..he rather takes it into a soft song taking upon itself lyrics meant to depict the hero's funny view of his surroundings. The thing shown here is yuvan's maturity in his instrumentation. He uses different instruments to depict the changes in the pattern of the song. He either adds a beat or a instrument when the singer goes high pitch....and sticks to the main beats when the song is in flow...and even much more commendable is that the instruments used are only slightly different from the tempo of the main ones....a good understanding of both the situation and the audio track..but in reality..this song is not really something you would term as class.

Vaarthai Onnu is the pick of the album. A highly melancholic start complimented by violins going racey and high, soft and dragging at the middle...and a beautiful interchange of speed at the end for the icing. Orchestra magic, But thats not the end...the song does not go into pathos mode thankfully but rather a peppy keyboardish touch....but the main winner is KK. KK gives us the emotions of a man depressed under love. You can feel with him the way he sings the track..which is very typical of him. The style of orchestration is of IR....keeping it low and limited and allowing the tune and lyrics to seep through the listener's mind.

Thaaliye Thevai Illai Neethaan is the combo that many critics had depicted YSR as. Mix of IR and ARR. A IR tune packed off in ARR's orchestration. But the instrumentation is really glaring. The mridhangam/thavil do not compliment the singing and there is a bit of mixup between the sound of the violins and the beats. Nevertheless the return of bhavatharini and hariharan save the track..they keep the tune intact..but bhavatharini sounds really offkey at times when she goes high pitch..probably due to the instrumentation. A good melody needlessly wasted by bad instrumentation.

I have skipped the remix because i prefer to focus on the original stuff. So the remix is up to the viewers to decide. Overall a album that is good but more of a balanced focus between situational and the audio. Yuvan has shown maturity in some areas but he has taken a risk by trying to give the songs a situational touch and at the same time a audio touch...will it work will depend on the listener's feel.

Aazhwar Album Review

Srikanth Deva has started living up to his new image..that is mixing soft with racey songs in every album of his and a honest attempt at some innovation in his songs. So aazhwar which is a movie of mass standards..would it return deva back to his old koothu stuff or is there a change..let us see.

Solli tharava..the first track has a IR style of racey folk instrumentation at the start...but the orchestration is all Srikanth Deva's. Deva who would go for the juggular racey stuff has improved on his ways and gone for a fusion of melody in the tune with village folk orchestration. The shenoy/nadhaswaram have been put to good use in synth with the melody. The mild sounds of the western drums have also been mixed in midst of the instrumentation to give a catchy feel.


Pidikkum is a track from the Bharadwaj stable....veenai..sitara mixed with a melodious tune to give a soothing effect. Even the vocals are very reminiscent of Bharadwaj style. But lets give credit to srikanth deva for giving some importance to the tune..which has been done in a more polished way than bharadwaj...but the track will stand time to be judged.

Anbulla kadhali starts off with Goa,hawaii style of beach music which is very catchey to listen...and very peppy indeed. The song is cool to listen to and is pleasing on the ears...the tune is quite similar to jithan's coimbatore ponnu neeya except this time the tune has been worked on to suit the orchestration. The electric guitar usage in the interludes improve the song's rhythm better.

A song inspired by a carnatic raaga...srikanth deva gives us something he rarely does. A song flowing with carnatic instrumentation and orchestration throughout. The flutes have been put to a delightful style which changes track with the violin and veenai in the first interlude. Commendable notations by srikanth deva. The song is implemented in such a way like your listening to a song recited by angels in heaven. Kudos to srikanth deva for giving that feel. The pick of the album indeed.

Mayile Mayile is typical srikanth deva style...all racey and aims for the dancer's rhythms..one for the frontbenchers.

The album is neither good nor bad...right in the middle but just one track elevates this album..no prizes for guessing which one. In fact take away that track and it will not be of much difference to Jithan...but just that one track saves the album from being classified as a average album.