Universal Superstar Hulkster

Katha Thudarunnu Karaoke Magic

2010-04-24T01:02:00.013+08:00

Katha Thudarunnu happens to be the first album of Isaiyaraaja this year. While the songs are stunning, its the backgrounds that will be flowing through your veins once you hear the karaoke versions. Credits to 123musiq.com

Aaro Paadum
Mazhamegha
Kizhakkumala

A story told in one piece

2009-12-10T16:19:00.005+08:00

Followers of Isaiyaraaja's background score know how well he can disguise the story of the film in his scores which usually happens during the titles. But giving a postlude to a concluded film? like a recap of what has happened with the main title track as the base? Thats what the king does in this instance. Although it is not a new attempt for him, one would just want to hear the piano tones that he has given in the ending credits.

"The Start"

This is where the PAA theme plays in its original fashion to remind the user of the ensuing moods that are going to be played in sequence. Like a preview of the review that is going to unfold.

"Before Auro"

If you listen closely to the wonderful melody probably played on piano that succeeds the PAA theme, this theme relays the estranged love between Vidya and Abishek of which the film eventually focusses on in the climax. The moods of a inconclusive love can be felt through the gradual changes in tempo of the whole melody.

"Auro"

When the more playful variation of PAA theme comes in, you can imagine the wittiness and sense of humour that Auro exemplifies. The second half of this track is where the instances of where Auro has with abishek are illustrated brilliantly.

"Ending"

This is probably the best example of highlighting the end of the story. The violins tell the tale of a son lost while the piano plays the painfully accepted reunion of both lovers. And both these themes come together in a climax to state the ending, bonds renewed yet one lost.

We have been hearing reviews of PAA film and how it story unfolds but this is Isaiyaraaja's way of reviewing a film, with all the emotions in the story encapsulated as a bonus to the listener. The best way to hear it dun't you agree? :D
Listen to the track to relive the magic of the film.

End Credits

Track is courtesy of hubber teja of Forumhub

Isaiyaraaja's Synth Style

2009-09-20T19:20:00.002+08:00

Its inevitable that the maestro has started delving into the synth territories but it seems quite alot of fans are displeased with his synth usage. I for one am not displeased as i started listening to his songs at a time when he had restructured his songs using synth.

The trendy sound made famous by ARR,HJ,YSR and others have become the synth sound we are used to hearing with ARR innovating in this area. However when we listen to raaja's synth sounds alot of us think it sounds out of place and very unpleasant. Is this true or is it a result of us "expecting" Raaja to have a synth sound matching those of the younger generation?

If that is so, it shows we have failed to understand the man's composing style actually. Even a hardcore fan with average music knowledge can distinguish that he has such a unique style that if he started to adopt a synth sound matching that of the younger generation, it will sound pleasant but it is not certainly what really makes his music.

The parody is simple; while the composers today(pan-indian e.g. pritam, SEL, YSR) have a very stylish synth makeover, the genres can be easily distinguished and the overall mixing shows more of enthusiasm rather than substance. You can find out that the composer is incorporating celtic, arabic etc patterns in the song by just hearing, but no unique output to really hail them as close to Raaja's style.

I think Violin Vicky put it best when he said Raaja builds his orchestration using the basics of every genre and composing them in his own style. There could be a shenai, a bass drum and a saxophone but they are made to play in a pattern only possible by the man himself. Truth to be told, it is basically a new genre where we dun't know how to name it(Quite obvious that How To Name It album illustrated what Violin Vicky described. Just listen to How To Name It's main track).

It is in such a style that his synth sounds have been presented. It does sound very "out of place" at first as we are used to hearing a manual instrument in place of them but the IDEA is that the synth sounds are orchestrated in his STYLE. Just listen carefully to Pachaimenia(the raunchy song) from his new album Kannukkulle especially the ludes. You can substitute the synth sounds preceding the first stanza with a guitar and a flute and you get exactly the same result. You can do the same for any song that Raaja uses synth sounds and the result is a constant.

It is well known that Raaja can have various instruments playing different patterns together in his older days. This is what the synth sounds are doing nowadays. Problem is our ears. We have "taken Raaja for granted" for his maximum usage of live orchestra that when we hear synth in its place, we feel distraught and angry. And add to that the additional side effect of judging synth to be ONLY played in the trend that is nowadays and we get tons of "insulting" reviews as the output.

I think its time we open our ears and listen carefully to Raaja's songs once again cause we fail to notice the man's orchestration has always been unique no matter what the instruments are used, it is only us misled by the sounds we hear today that we forget that a style like that of Raaja existed. It does not mean that other composers are cringeworthy. This is just to illustrate how unique Raaja's music is compared to any other composer. In fact, Raaja is probably one of the super few or perhaps the only one to have ATLEAST three genres in one song yet they can never be spotted easily because they have been carefully cooked and given to us for a full meal making us think it is just a typical south indian dish.

Ninaithaley Inikkum Music Review

2009-07-15T18:53:00.002+08:00

A trademark Vijay Anthony album this despite some genuine inspirations here and there.

Azhagaai Pookkuthey

After Vidyasagar, Vijay Anthony attempts the Ilaiyaraaja genre for this melody. The interludes are constructed in Maestro's true fashion that you might pass it off as his song. But they are quite genuine and the starting piano is sweet on the ears. The tune itself though has more of Maestro's stamp.

7.5/10

Piya Piya

A Vijay Anthony styled koothu number. On the lines of Aathichudi, but less catchy. Except for the singing the tune is quite average.

5/10

Nanbanai Paartha

An ode to friendship song usually has sprinkles of guitar and this song has it well. Soulful singing by Benny Dayal and the minimal instrumentation enhances the power of the melody.

8/10

Sexy Lady

A club-styled number this one. Except for the percussion rhythm of this song being a adaptation of 50 cent's In Da Club's rhythm, this song is quite catchy. The orchestration overall matches the mood of the song perfectly.

7/10

Kalloori

A song riding on a solo piano, with westernised styled vocals and singing goes straight to your heart. Instantly likeable number but very short though.

8/10

Allah

If you think this is a devotional soulful number your wrong. Vijay Anthony's rock styled koothu number is back again. A song asking Allah to help the poor and the hero, It is a mix of both pace and melody. Very unconventional but listenable nevertheless.

6.5/10

Naatkal

A short sombre song which impresses you straight away. The ending where the both the chorus and the singer join together is the hallmark of this song.

7.5/10

A album with a mix of soulful melodies and rocking koothu numbers, all of which find a place in a film depicting college life. Vijay Anthony needs to be abit more careful with his inspirations though.

Yathumaagi Music Review

2009-07-01T15:26:00.002+08:00

I am surprised nobody came across this new album by James Vasanthan, who has come up with brilliant numbers like kangal irandaal. This movie Yathumaagi consists of new faces(sunaina is still abit new) and seems to be based on romance.

Pesum Minsaram

A melodious male solo by benny dayal which has the guitar as the backbone for the song. Subdued orchestration adds more gloss on this song. Certainly hummable and impressive.

9/10

Paarthathum Karaindhen

A genuine fusion between the guitar and tabla in the backgrounds makes for a interesting listen as we are transported to a very simple tune that has his stamp all over. James vasanthan shows his orchestrational abilities when he lets the electric guitar take over the first interlude in a very soft tone while the second interlude is captured by the accordion. The singers have kept to the tune with chitra impressing with her modulations. Watch out for the finishing electric guitar.

9/10

Koothachidiva

A very playful tune which seems to be a competitor for the aval appadi ondrum ellei from angadi theru. Watch out for the tribal percussions in the background. James Vasanthan must be a fan of the electric guitar as it features prominently in the song and the bass guitar as well. Another Ilaiyaraaja school of guitar student? Terrific song, very innovative and the ludes(especially the jazz styled flow in the firs interlude) are impressive.

10/10

Thigatta Thigatta

A female solo this time which is once again a melody. Ilaiyaraaja's style of violins and rahman's style of flute makes a great fusion in the first interlude. Very soulful singing by singer deepa mariam. Amazing flute flow in the second interlude which once again showcases james vasanthan's orchestration. Backed by the electronic bass(i think) and violins occasionally this song has a very breezy touch.

9/10

Yathumaagi Nindrai

A very short song with bharathiyar's original lyrics which is tuned in a westernised fashion very similar to pesum minsaram. Once again a guitar dominated song which makes for a plesant listen. The type of song which you want to hear when your alone.

9/10

Yaradhu yaaro

James vasanthan's carnatic styled fusion numbers(eg kangal irandaal) continue here. He is really creating a trademark for himself in such numbers. Synth dominated backgrounds, a raaga based flute rendition in the interludes and a very mellifluous tune.

9/10

Overall this album proves that james vasanthan is here to stay. He certainly seems well versed in alot of genres and probably from what we see a genuine student of ilaiyaraaja(guitars). Do yourself a favour and listen to the songs.

Varnam Audio Review

2009-05-07T18:51:00.002+08:00

While trying to listen to muthirai songs, i came across this good album by isaac thomas(Thoovanam composer) who makes an impression with his unique orchestration. It seems to be a situation driven album with additional instrumental pieces.

Vaanam Muzhuvadum Megam

A wonderful fusion of percussions makes for a unique background rhythm throughout this song which seems to be a lively folk number. The intelligent guitar usage coming in parts of the ludes are a delight. But the tune seems to be melody driven and might prove to be abit anti-climatic for the common listener. Bound to pick up after repeated playbacks.

7/10

Veerapandi Boomi Ithu

The percussions galore continue here as well with a naatupura paatu style but fortunately does not go loud on our ears. Simplistic number uplifted by the vocals and the lyrics. Here you can see Isaac's unique stamp of carrying the melody through the background rhythms without diluting the genre it is based on. But like the above number it will take time to pick up.

7/10

Kannamoochi Aatam Nadukkum

A Pathos number which actually starts off uniquely but turns into a clone of various pathos songs before. But for the minimal instrumentation,the vocals and the ARR style that can be heard distinctly throughout the tune, this song does not exactly strike hearts.

5/10

Muniya

A short and brisky dramatic number with inspired thavil and urumi mellam touches is matched by a tune fused with the angst of the vocals and sprinkles of violins. But the tune goes through many changes that it somehow catches onto you.

7/10

Kadhal Vandhaal

A trademark Isaac melody laced with a unique percussion rhythm and neat usage of synth to package the number. The modulations of the singers and the hummable tune make for a great listen.

8/10

Dangaa Dungaa

A fun koothu number orchestrated wonderfully with the shenoy adding to the charm. The tune being broken into parts after each shenoy driven interlude makes for a interesting listen.

7/10

New Life theme

A theme which slowly gathers pace intending the moods with the usage of flute being very pleasant on the ears. Fantastic to listen as a melody.

8/10

The Clash theme

The tension is built on ascendingly with predictable touches of the urumi and thunderous percussion. But the flute that comes in the middle and follows through with the former piece is the otherwise saving grace for this track.

6/10

First Love

A breezy melody reminiscent of IR's orchestration albeit distinctly grows onto you as you listen. The theme is a concoction of themes based on the main melody(there are abrupt breaks) which sort of shows the composer's understanding of the situation. The ending piece which is dominated by the guitar draws your attention.

8/10

The Chase

The theme looks straight out of a video game(beyond good and evil for a reference) soundtrack with the synth dominance and new age like sounds. But for the casually weaved orchestration this theme is quite weird.

6/10

Dangaa Dungaa(Instrumental)

The instrumental version of the original song sounds even better without vocals. It makes for a great dance number and certainly very catchy.

8/10

Overall a album which showcases Isaac's orchestration prowess and his usage of melody even within folkish numbers but tends to go predictable and abit too monotonous for the liking. Certainly to be cherished for the percussion magic here.

Ilaiyaraaja - My Life

2009-01-17T20:34:00.002+08:00

Prelude

For most commoners, Ilaiyaraaja would be at best a bet for those who have lived their childhood to teenagehood between 70s to the early 90s. Basically how could a composer forced down the commercial ladder by a trendsetting composer by the name of ARR manage to turn this young 22 year old by his heart and become his ardent devotee when he has never seen a village or know what is WCM? And how possibly can he be still attracting this guy when ARR is reinventing beauty every album and his competitors giving music that just makes you tap to their feet? Surely there must be some black-magic or miracle that has happened?

Initial experience of Music

Nobody right now will believe if i were to tell them i was a fan of ARR and Vidyasagar's songs during my first taste of music. To me music back then was supposed to have a moving tune and the quality of sound should match it. ARR's minnale in may madham and nenjinile of uyire were a firm favourite of mine closely followed by Vidyasagar's thamarai poovukkum. And not so long ago in 2003/2004 ARR's Warriors of Heaven and Earth came which to me was the first taste of full fledged WCM to me. The chinese song which Jolin Tsai sang had a great haunting touch which really made me feel that ARR was my music idol.

First experience of Ilaiyaraja

Call it fate but then i came across Azhagi while actually searching for Alaipaayudhey songs. That's when i heard oliyile therivadhu. There was a yearning feel in that song that really moved me. Was it the orchestration or was it the tune i did not know but it was quite intriguing. But at that point of time i only had a interest but not much of a heart-turning moment. And then i heard kaathuley lolakku from chinna mapillai. The orchestration of the violins in that song just blew me away. I never heard such a orchestration which really pushed me further to research into this person's songs.

Researching HIM

The result of this was How To Name It. I was shocked at the way the mridhangam and veenai were all made to play like a classical symphony. So far i thought they were supposed to play only in carnatic songs. But this was unthinkable. As much as i was dumbfounded by the technical wizardry the main rhythm was quite simple and soulful. Understandable yet complicated. This is where my journey with Ilaiyaraaja started. The more songs i listened the more addicted i was. My acknowledgement of music as just as a catchy tune became more sophiscated when i started looking into individual instruments. Everytime i listened to a song i began looking into its integrated rhythm and the orchestration especially the ludes. And after listening to most of them only Ilaiyaraaja's compositions stood out. Just wondering how a group of violins could sound so complicated yet bring out the intended emotions really made me worship this man.

Full Devotion

Even now i am still awestruck by this man's experimentation. It is this person that made me cry, smile, dance and yet make me yearn for more. That this person can still keep me listening to his songs despite the quality of the albums being churned out by ARR and co is really a miracle. As much as i like ARR's arrangements and innovative usage of instruments in his compositions i dunt find the soulfulness or mind boggling orchestration that Ilaiyaraaja provides. A funky mridhangam pattern for a song like ada machamulla, tribal beats that are married with a similar indianised tune for a hero-intro song in tholin mele, immaculate use of the latin guitar yet so understandable in ilaya nila just really pushes me to the limits. How is it that a seductive, x-rated song like koothu onnu in dhanam can have such good use of the bass guitar and modulated percussive rhythms that really make you listen despite the beforementioned? I cant really explain but all i can say is that this person has seduced me like none other. No matter how many composers come he will always be with me till the end and it is with his music that i will leave this world. Awards are given in recognition of talent but the biggest award to Ilaiyaraaja is that he can move even those who have not even born. I am proud that i am still alive in this era where there is a person who is not a musician but a god of music.

"Isaikku Peiyar Ilaiyaraaja. Ariyamaalum Urugum Vaazhkaiyin Muzhuvethum."

Dhanam - An Insight

2008-08-02T19:49:00.003+08:00

The negative opinions of Dhanam's audio should have been expected. What made me a raja fan were those complicated yet endearing orchestration that you hear in Dhanam's songs. Its easy to just say its a album showing occasional raja prowess. But how many here know what is raja's prowess or can they explain them? Its quite shocking to see that some IR fans do not know about raja's strengths and limit him to their own preferences.

Yes we all do love his anandha raagam sort of tunes but that is not what made him a composer of almost godly music standard. It is his overall orchestration that made him like that. Those unimitable guitar touches in en iniya pon nilavey and the unique backgrounds used in the prelude of poongatru of moondram pirai are out of the world and not mentioning the incorporation of jazz as a background to the initial melody in poo poothadu in mumbai express. I once listened to mayanginen solla thayanginen song from naaney raaja naaney mandhiri. Even though the tune was lovely and with just the flute carrying the melody in places the raja touch was missing. It was then i heard Ilaya nila. The tune in ilaya nila if you ask me is as similar as any tune Raja is giving us now including Dhanam but the orchestration makes it so alluring that you just cant get it out of your mind. Hear the combination of the train and flute in chinna thayaval and you would just feel a sudden surge through you at times. One is a natural sound and the other is a sound made by a man-made instrument but they come in hand to make the song as memorable to us as any other raja classic.

It is this touch that carries itself throughout Dhanam. I dunt think anyone could play such energetic patterns for the veenai in the second interlude of kannanukku enna vendum or the flute in unakulley irukkiren. Or should we mention the tribalistic drums in dhanam dhanam and the strange yet fitting rhythm used in kattilukku mattumthaan? Talking about the latter if anybody bothered analysing the song it brings back one of raja's abilities to maintain silence in between the important stanzas to maintain the tune.

Let us remember that it is the accompanying guitar that made machanai paarthengela endearing to the public. It is this uniqueness that we have and are seeing in raaja now despite whatever tunes he gives us. But some fans have forgotten to see this and solely believe raaja is gone. I ask them if anyone else could give en kannanukku a classy bass accompaniment in the prelude other than raaja? For all of them who have just dismissed raaja as the master who has lost his touch, do you all seriously know what is his touch? To say in tamil "Kazhutheyku theriyuma karpoora vaasanai?"

Musical Ramblings - Chinna Thayaval(Thalapathy)

2007-12-29T20:32:00.000+08:00

I was listening to thoppul kodi from vel just a few days back and i was wondering about the state of orchestration in pathos songs nowadays. Although yuvan shankar raja is a composer with a touch of his father he seems to waver mindlessly when it comes to producing intricate orchestration for pathos songs. And in fact besides ARR there seems to be not much of a innovation in pathos songs nowadays...a loud violin score will start off with some predictable tunes and just adding in some solo accompaniments with the flute in the middle seems to be the stock of the time.

That is when i remembered a song which really put me to tears like that of chinna thayaval. A listener would ask what is the speciality about this song since it has the same loud violin and a similar sad-sounding voice. Its the innovation and the way the whole orchestration goes about that really gives the impact. In fact adding on abit this song is a great listen as a standalone song for its orchestration as well as covering the screenplay as a situational song.

Listen to the starting rail sound and remember it in your mind. The way raaja uses the sound is double meaning. First it acts as a soulful prelude to the song and at the same time the reminder of the start of a unwanted journey of the child. And raaja does not just stop there, he in fact continues the journey by capturing it with the violin score which starts off the only interlude.Listen to that piece closely and you can see that the tone of the score is repetitive like going on a journey albeit a goalless journey.The theme carried by the piece is at the same time so endearing to the listener that it really makes you feel if you lost something. Again double meaning. But if you thought that was a masterpiece then the continuing orchestration is totally out of the box. A solo carnatic violin suddenly ends the journey and plays amongst a contradicting harp piece and a sad-sounding group of violins. Again double meaning. The solo carnatic violin represents the emotional loss of the mother while the harp piece represents hope and consolation while the group of violins give support to the solo violin by asking if the mother will ever find the child. Three different scores representing a story in one interlude. Brilliant. And i have not added the way illayaraaja uses S.Janaki's voice as a add-on to the questions marks asked by the orchestration of the song. There's no overpowering here, they are all in sync with each other that they just leave you astounded at the end.

Lets hope that today's composers can improve their score for pathos songs and take a good in depth review of illayaraja's pathos songs to aid them. Giving a situational pathos song is one thing, but telling a story with it and making it sound excellent also as a standalone song is another rare ability.

Sila Nerangalil Music Review

2007-10-26T22:29:00.000+08:00

Sila Nerangalil is a honest effort from newcomers with a theme focussing on the emotional circumstances of various relationships. And that itself has brought about a good show from srikanth deva who can deliver with the right themes.

Track : Embavai Embavai
Type : Soft Melody
Singing Style : Flows with the tune, Controlled rendition
Interesting Point : The instrumentation of veena along the backgrounds adds a remarkable mesmerising effect to the song. Srikanth deva shows maturity in minimising the backgrounds to allow the tune to register itself.
Rating : 8/10

Track : Pottu Vaitha
Type : 60's Melody
Singing Style : Age does show but Susheela's pronounciation and tonal expressions are perfect.
Interesting Point : The orchestration is totally a turnback to MSV-Ramamoorthy days with harmonium and monotonous tabla backgrounds. Although a decent effort, the song is too similar to classic songs from the 60s.
Rating : 6/10

Track : Thirudapatta Nilave
Type : Soulful Melody
Singing Style : Appropriate Emotions suit the tune.
Interesting Point : The tune reveals the pangs of two separated lovers but the orchestration is innovative and brilliant. The oriental beats and mixing adds a different flavour to the track and really creates a impact.
Rating : 9/10

Track : Pongudhu Pongudhu
Type : 60's Melody
Singing Style : Adequate but at times sounds out of tune.
Interesting Point : The tune again is a reminder of the old era but srikanth deva shows some creativity in the violin orchestration with the piano impressing in the prelude. The song adds the olden fervour to a modern tune.
Rating : 8/10

Track : Cellphonai
Type : Peppy Song
Singing Style : High pitched sexy expressions enlivens the tune.
Interesting Point : The latin american instrumentation peps up the song instead of the usual techno raves that MDs love to use for such songs. The mixing of the singer's voice appropriate places shows some creativity from deva. A song that should be definitely appreciated for its different backgrounds.
Rating : 8/10

Overall theres innovation with world music coming into the flavour of the album and srikanth deva's delightful venture proves that he can hit it with the right films. Certainly a album to cherish.

Cheeni Kum Movie Review

2007-05-27T10:09:00.000+08:00

For the first time in my life, i had went to watch a hindi film in cinema itself and what a pleasure it was despite getting intimidated knowing i was the only tamil speaking human being in the midst of about 200 and more hindi speaking human beings.

On to the movie now, it is done stylishly with a tinge of romance. The movie showcases the characters of amitabh bachan and tabu weaving together with their contrasting emotions and then facing reality as their age comes into the fore during the second half of the movie. The format of the way the movie goes is westernised, you wunt notice the indian cinema feel..rather the romance,humour and whatever emotions shown on screen are done in a life-sequential format...meaning the character interacting and showcasing his/her emotions on a real life basis rather than cinematically..so that means each scene is related to the next one.

Of the movie the way the humour is conceived is innovative. It is all done as simple interactions but the unexpected timing and modulation of the dialogues really have you in splits. Amitabh bachan and tabu have done justice to their roles with the former really getting inside the role although he seems predictable towards the end.
The cinematography is typical PC Sriram...the landscape,lighting during the situation and the emotions shown are wonderfully collaborated especially the interactions between amitabh and tabu when amtiabh tries to muster a sorry while they walk in the rain. The songs by IR carry his inimitable orchestration and they are integrated with the film as BGMs.

On to the BGM. Well this is a very different IR from the IR we hear. Instead of his trademark violins and flute encore that he deploys it is keyboard,electric guitar,synth sounds that dominate his BGM. IR's subtle understanding of the film really shows when he only does the BGM for scenes that need it and leaves the other scenes with no BGM simply because the characters and their expressions are already helping the film. We have got to say that IR has proved that his BGM does not necessarily only reflect nativity but it also can showcase city lifestyle. The electric guitar piece that comes when amitabh comes to know of dinner plans with tabu being cancelled is scintallating...it just goes on a rampage showcasing amitabh's anger. And particularly when amitabh confronts tabu's father after he comes to know of amitabh's intentions the BGM is dominated by a eerily graduating percussion piece highlighting the tensions between both. Not to mention IR's handling of the title melody and saxophone piece which comes in different variations with the title melody changing its course of orchestration as it moves towards the climax. Despite using modernised instruments IR's style is still there and his handling of the music to reflect the modern theme of the movie really stands out.

There you have it...cheeni kum..a romantic melody handled with class and showing class from the lead cast to the crew..go and watch it.

Musical Ramblings - Maalai En Vethanai(Sethu)

2007-05-16T11:13:00.000+08:00

A sunny morning and a relaxing mood at home. And as i went on raaga.com to do a intensifying search for rare songs i come across this beauty of a melody by Maestro Ilayaraja. I would like to discuss about this song as it showcases some things that are often unnoticed by even hardcore IR fans.

Almost everyone who has heard IR songs know his taste of orchestration and the way he makes the instruments in his songs whether manual or computerized sound symphonic yet laymen harmoniously. But people always tend to go wow about his touch of violins and the flute but rarely the piano. IR's most astonishing point about his orchestration is that is its 3-in-1...its complex with various notations and chords all meeting here and there, it is enjoyable and the most important part, it really enlivens the mood of the song..if it is supposed to show a hero just proclaiming his love in front of nature it will sound like that..if it is like a hero proposing to a heroine it will sound like that.

And as we come to this song, the mood is supposedly of a hero describing his love within himself and how he might go on with it if it becomes a success. So think lonely,romantic and happiness all coming together. When it comes to choosing the right instruments to bring out the mood of a song, IR is one of the very few who have mastered it. Just because he loves the sound of violins in tandem when they are played symphonically it does not mean he uses the same style for every mood...if the mood needs a soft effect he lets go of his orchestration and lets a single instrument do the talking like a thavil background beat and the singers just make the song live.
And this song just does that, instead of violins or even flute he lets soft instruments which really bring out the mood for such songs, ideally the piano and guitar.

Just listen to the prelude of the song by the piano, you can just feel like your reciting your happiness in front of a garden of flowers or in morning dew. And this is what i mean by choosing the right instruments for the right song....what better instrument than the piano with its melodious and mild touch to explain the hero's feelings when he is romantically musing with himself. And mind you IR never uses piano from loops or of that in piano ballads, they bear his style, if appadi paarkirathu venna from the movie Ivann had a racey pattern of the piano depicting the hero chasing the heroine with his expressions (amazing how IR can make the instruments talk), this one repeats the pattern with a medium tempo to explain the hero thinking of his love by himself.

In the first interlude, You can actually feel the sounds adapting themselves to explain the situation. When the interlude first adopts a eerie sound and then moves on slowly to the string and synth sounds mixing together to form a happy solution to the eerie sound, you can actually feel that hero is wondering about how his love formed and how it is going currently. You dunt even need to see the scene but you can easily picturise what is happening with the way the music is orchestrated. The second interlude is another example in which it showcases the piano depicting how the hero's love has developed after the heroine has accepted it, again IR's mastery of keeping the right notations to explain the mood. Let us not forget the guitar usage after the interlude ends, its just like the icing on the cake. Amazing.

In fact When you hear this song, you will notice that IR's music does not only speak of orchestra and symphony magic, they have varied functions like speaking for the situation where the song is held for and at the same time binding the song and the film structure together;to do this the instruments,orchestration pattern and setting of tune has to be all in tandem and IR does this all within half an hour. Certainly mind boggling if you ask me. The hallmark of a composer of how he can make his music talk to the audience without them having to see the scene and even more great if it is a scene that is not imaginary but bound to film scopes, and that as well speaks of why IR is one of the best composers the world has ever seen.

Listen to this song and you guys will understand what i mean by enlivening the mood and musical picturisation.

Cheeni Kum Audio Review

2007-05-05T11:43:00.000+08:00

After listening to the samples of cheeni kum, i wondered if the maestro ilayaraja had in store for us some out-of-the-world orchestration and behold!..it holds true in this soundtrack.

Track : Baatein Hawa (Both Versions)
Type : Same as original version with lyrics twisted to make the song sound as poking fun at amitabh's queries.
Instrumentation : Violin and flute arrangements in the first interlude and a mix of tribal percussions and jazz in the second interlude.
Singing Style : Delightful and vibrant
Interesting Point : The original was a single-themed orchestration with slight variations in the violins but this time it has been given a more enthusiatic approach with the momentum building from melody to a peppy rhythm.
Rating : 9/10

Track : Cheeni Kum
Type : Title Song with faster beats and a supposedly philosophical cum slapstick style
Instrumentation : The saxophone and violins in the first interlude and synth-pop rhythm,violins in the second interlude.
Singing Style : Elegant with right modulations before the hum hum oh hum hum part.
Interesting Point : The saxophone retains its original notes but the violins have been reworked extraordinarily to give us the "happy" feel instead of the soulful feel.
Rating : 8/10

Track : Sooni Sooni
Type : Variation of Title Song with a more soulful appeal.
Instrumentation : Violins and mild drum beats throughout the song and similar instruments of the second interlude of the title song with added flute arrangements.
Singing Style : Packed with loads of melancholy and some high nasal tones, apt for the song.
Interesting Point : Ilayaraja shows us why he is the master of orchestration even with the same rhythm of the second interlude of the title song he basically extends the violins and synth rhythm and adds the flute as a final impact. Same style but different moods. Class
Rating : 8/10

Track : Jane Do Na
Type : Soft romantic melody
Instrumentation : Piano in the prelude,Violins and synth sounds in the first interlude and A synth-loop in the second interlude with violins again.
Singing Style : A Romantic tone embraced with longingness at some parts. Wonderfully expressed
Interesting Point : Piano is a underrated instrument when people listen to raja's songs, They forget how he brings out the mood in the song just by using this instrument, besides ARR Raja is the only other musician who has used piano with different notations bearing their stamp. Just listen to it in the first prelude, truly mesmerising.
Rating : 8/10

Track : Theme Music
Type : Instrumental
Instrumentation : Piano, Violins, Flute, Synth-Sounds, Guitar.
Interesting Point : This is Raja's expertise, summarising the whole theme of the movie with multi layers. The theme music builds on from a predictable romantic tone by the piano to added layers with the violins providing the happier tone and the synth-sounds giving the contradicting feel. The theme ends with a question like feel of whether the romance is solved or not. All done in laymen terms but the orchestration is of world class standards. Amazing isnt it.
Rating : 9/10

Track : Saxophone Melody
Type : Instrumental
Instrumentation : Saxophone and Synth-loops.
Interesting Point : The synth-loops arranged by raja have a adventurous feel probably reflecting on how the romance is going. The saxophone adds the mood variations to the track and its hip feel is the icing on the cake. Raja's vigour shows in this track and the different styles of his orchestration proves why despite so many trends his music always fits in with the trends.
Rating : 10/10

Review Structure Changed

2007-04-18T13:07:00.000+08:00

Without any doubts i believe you guys must have been dead by reading my reviews...i always though i was writing a review but once i start reading them from my first review i give up by the third paragraph...so to make it sound more simple and enjoyable i will summarise the review(not like itwofs karthik's or else my blog will appear in plagiarized section).

Here's a sample:

Raa Gumma Raa
Type : Eerie Situational Song
Orchestration : Usage of percussions and Modulated Chorus as backing
Singing Style : Unpredictable with voice giving the tune life
Interesting Point : Innovative Arrangements of percussions following the main stanza
Rating : 8/10

I guess that should make you guys happy...reading my own reviews reminded me of my 1000-word essay i wrote for the O Levels..now i know how the markers must have felt :O

Naan Avanillai - Music Review

2007-04-10T10:37:00.000+08:00

Naan Avanillai is supposedly a movie focussing on a man's protests against a society which blames him for the wrongs he did not do...but how true is that is totally put to the sword by the stills which shows a man going to kiss 5 beauties to death. Anyway on to the album which is of more interest.

Vijay's Anthony strength is his arrangements with the synthesizer/keyboard....you rarely hear actual instruments being used but the lack of is replaced by some unconventional styles of using the the synthesizer.

The first song kakha kakha is supposedly the title song of naan avanillai which takes some lyrics from kaaka kaaka ganapathy kaaka,palam neeyappa and the lyrics are twisted to give it a manmadan feel. The song has a rhythm which sounds like a crossover between the techno music used for action sequences in english films and club-party songs. The surprising part of the song is it the whole arrangement of the song has no pattern..it just changes suddenly to give it a listenable twist and with the percussions totally sounding contradictory(koothu percussions for palam neeyappa?) The song is certainly not one for the layman or for those who prefer soft music but still gets credit for some different twists.

Nee Kavidhai is a song bordering between romance and lust with some catchy singing by the female lead singer. This song finally proves vijay antony has his own style of melodies...the instrumentation and tune style is so unorthodox that it glues you to the song even more. The whole instrumentation of the song is made up of sounds that just add to the lusty fervour. Amazing song and certainly a chartbuster this one.

Ean Enakku seems to be a simple melody with calmly strung guitar bits in the start but slowly taken over by the singers to give a dew-like song. The orchestration is pleasing on the ears with the thavil and mild strings in the background. Watch for the second interlude with its english lyrics which peps up the melody abit more....not as amazing as the first one but certainly a melody to be cherished.

Macha Kanni is a song which gives off obvious looks of a item number. The lusty and vulgarity is all packed into the song with no compromise. Not a song for you to cherish and more situational...the highlight of the song is the IR-style interludes for such songs with the trumpet.

Then Kudicha has a haunting start which looks like its going to be a melody but is immediately taken over by a tribal like stanza and that leads on to the rest of the song. The song shows yet again vijay's anthony style of showing a complicated tune with so many twists in one stanza....the shift between melody and kalyanam-styled melody is interesting. Listenable but wunt be recognised much due to its situational focus.

A Krishna devotional song usually sung to commemorate his early days is remixed in radha kaadhal. The song makes use of the carnatic overtones to give a hip melody and the background instruments add charm to its unusual orchestration. The lead singer really brings out the best in this song and listen to the rap bits which gives it a different tempo. Also watch out for the ending guitar bits. Brilliant and certainly a song not to be missed.

Tentative Summary

2007-04-06T23:06:00.000+08:00

Apologies for my monthly posts. The reason for such a lengthy gap is not because im trying to keep the suspense of what my next post might hold or i have become a diligent individual catering and contributing to singapore's bludgeoning work force. Neither am i dead for those who would have been delighted to see my scarey looking moustache enclosed in a coffin(Its a joke and not a double meaning dialogue so people please laugh and dunt think about its meaning).

Although i would have hoped to hype up my next post, my hype would have lasted as long as the play request time for celine dion singing a metallic song. So without further ado here it is. It will be broken into three formats as many things have happened in 1 month before i could even finish **jollufying and analysing my opposite house babe. And i must mention she is one of many girls in my jollu list(i admit that i have no taste for jollufying..i ogle at any slim girl..what to do my sexual energy just turns up by just seeing a girl's hairband..**rombo mosam). I have graduated successfully...thats number 1....i have gotten into a job where i became multi tasking...thats number 2...and i have become super solo..thats number 3.

Now first the graduation. Do not worry loyal readers of my posts(even though the most exciting thing about my blog is my links to other sites) , there will be no overboard praises, no bashing of my ex-school for giving me 3 years of innovative boredom nor even the mention that theres a mosquito which hunts me down at LTQ-8(i mean a real mosquito not the irritating human being you guys might have thought of). All i would like to say is a message of thanks to myself for being at school,myself for studying everything necessary,myself for getting good enough grades,myself for listening at class and finally the school for providing chiobus to stimulate my extensive brain energies for doing the exams and weird thinking people to show that i am not the only person who thinks walking around a 8km campus is fun. Ok i will reserve some thanks for my parents for creating a world shocking genius and my friends for making me a human-being. No thanks to others as they have never even said i look as stunning as brad pitt when he turns 60 yrs old.

I just got back into a job that i always seem to get and cherish....cargo handling and i was happy to see the rough edges and stamped upon sides of a fedex package before my eyes. So happy was i to touch them that i have got two fractures three small wounds and a backache....but i am delighted to announce my body has become seasoned and that carrying a 25kg box is fun. Even more pleasant was me changing my manual handling of cargo job to that of cargo customs where i was more technical rather than physical. And not to mention how relaxed and higher the pay is compared to manual cargo handling...simply astounding. Only bad point of the job is the irritating pilot who makes the plane look like it has constipation.

Now for the third and final thing...a adolescent boy talking about being super solo and having already mentioned about babes a number of times...it must be a sad and complaining post. Nope you are wrong...i was about to say im becoming more like einstein..separated..ridiculed..solitary but holding a nuclear reaction machine in my mind and conscience. So powerful is the impact that i have already written 24 novels, tons of dicussions about religion,daily ramblings about world affairs and of course the odd fantasy of a slim women saying my eyes will make chinese sex bomb shu qi beg for my hunky photos. And you thought a human mind can only think when it is faced with mathematical and life problems. Not with me...with my mind i can already start classifying myself as the new age thinker who will create enough chaos to shut down United Nations.

Thats about it for now....sadly i dunt have any points to talk about how i am feeling now as people will drop down dead by the time they read the third word of a "i feel freaking" phrase in the first sentence of my post. Hope you guys enjoyed my post( i guess you guys are wondering how come i have not added new links rather than read my post)..alright..bye..and i will be back if anything noteworthy to disturb my solitary meditation in my own world happens.

* Jollufying - The art of looking at a girl and panting depending on her beauty scales.
** rombo mosam - freaking pathetic/terrible/horrible and whatever insulting adjective you can think of.

Chalet Enthusiasm

2007-03-02T14:06:00.000+08:00

Just five days back i just entered into a bungalow that i have only seen in my wildest dreams, it was so intoxicating with toilets in the upper floor and lower floor, two rooms with a masterbed and split single beds and air conditioners which could freeze you to death in seconds. Alright its not intoxicating but its a reasonably well made chalet which accommodates you well. Not to mention the extensive facilities which would have been better if not for the dumb rental rates($6.10 per hour for multi purpose court, i rather go changi and play basketball with our beloved homosexuals).

Seriously this chalet was the best i ever had been, everyone i saw and communicated with both physically and verbally was so refreshing and pleasant. First time i had to move out of my usual sleeping times of 9 to 12am and move into 3am to 5am sleeping times. Eating titbits and watching chinese crime thrillers and slapstick comedy movies was another highlight. And when the whole gang arrived on the day of barbecue we had more fun with volleyball, basketball and then street soccer which really was done in midst of the street, banners and hideous looking trees. Not to mention first time there were two couples in the midst and another almost about to be couples(Their names will not be mentioned to protect them from being nudged in MSN like siao).

Playing cards was another highlight with the boastful one sometimes losing with atleast five people laughing like drunken hyenas at his/her face. And add the cost of drinking champagne or wine for those who lose continuously...imagine the horror of you doing something silly while drunk and being photographed in a nokia phone with sliding camera. But when the final days came there was abit of melancholy inside me..this maybe perhaps the last time i see them all till my first weekend break from NS arrives. Till then its all gung ho with the lunar new year fever.

Mass Musical Reviews

2007-03-02T12:57:00.000+08:00

Amongst the hoopla of musical blockbusters like chennai60028 and to a certain extent ninaithu ninaithu paarthen are four largely unnoticed albums. I just found some interesting songs in these albums would make a good listen.

Vettai Arambham - EM.Ramamoorthi

This composers seems to be a advanced version of SA.Rajkumar with a slightly MSV flow. The album has five songs with two quite interesting. Pataadai Kattikittu is a folkish tune carrying lyrics of the same intention as otha ruba thaaren and alli mudicha of ramana fame but in a keyboardish layer. The song is westernised and the interludes especially the second one which is india meets west sort of percussion fusion and the banter shared by the singers makes it even more listenable. The other song poonkaatru thazhuvatha is like a MSV song reborn, his stamp can be seen particularly in the way the music accompanies the lyrics and would attract fans of soft melody alot. If the sound quality was better perhaps it would even sound more attractive.

Cinemakkaran - Nesan

This is another album with sound quality understandably poor due to the low budget of such films. But there is one song which could have been easily mistaken as a IR tune. Selai vaangi sung by swarnalatha is that of a heroine singing in a slightly lusty overtone but the flutes that accompany her vocals in certain places reminds you of IR in those days and it also makes for pleasant listening. There is decent work in the interludes as well by Nesan which keeps the tune in its overall seductive tone. Another interesting song is Neela Colour which marks the return of katcheri gaana songs. The harmonium usage in the song keeps the gaana flow inside our minds and not to mention sabesh murali's expressive vocals which give the song a added flavour. The pick of the album Nesam pudhusu is a melody with good use of loops in the ludes and veenai but sounds abit weird due to the poor sound quality. Going from the album Nesan seems to be a lover of katcheri gaana songs. Might be a talent to watch for if given better sound quality.

Oru Oorla - JK Selva

This album has better sound quality and a more westernised touch than the first two albums. There is a carnatic song which really stuns you for the way it is tuned. It is a romantic song but tuned in a way that asks of the path the love is going. And the carnatic instruments used in the song gives the tune a different view. The tabla,mridhangam and the flutes in the interludes are used intelligently to give the song a rising tone which seeps into your mind. Krishnaraj's vocals really help the song...he reaches the pitches easily and gives the song a modulated sound. Kannukulla Uppunathi marks the return of village pathos songs with that trademark melancholic chorus used by IR greatly. JK Selva's vocals sound abit gliched which slightly dims the song but overall decently done. Oru Oorla Oru Paati has a funny tune with lyrics mocking at the characters in the situation but the instrumentation is a folk extravaganza used in IR in his annakili days. Very delightful to hear back the long lost sounds of folk that were overshadowed by the current koothu version of folk songs. Rekka Vecha Pataam Pochi carries the same tune as Kannukkulla Uppunathi but with better vocals and the flute replacing the chorus. Natchathira Pottu Vacha is a melody with the flutes given a delightful twist in the prelude and a seemingly catchy tune. The song lasts on your minds with the funny lyrics and the overall pleasant orchestration of the song. A nice album that is worth a listen indeed.

Musical Ramblings - Engengo Pogindra

2007-02-02T19:25:00.001+08:00

As usual i came back from school, took a bath, switched on the computer and randomly searched for some musical pieces to feed my relaxation. Interesting i came across this "obscure" IR piece..obscure not because its old, but because it has been forgotten after the damn movie is yet to release after 2 years, but the piece is something magical despite its sentimental content.

The song is not ur TFM or IFM cup of pathos music. Its IR style, different style,different genre yet sticking to the feelings as we have always heard. The song is like those slow jazz pieces which are like lounge type but very pathos. So far people rate IR as someone with a excellent understanding of classical and WCM music and also various types. But one part where they fail to credit is IR's remarkable usage of drums. Every song he composes the instrumentation has a specific purpose with their own orchestral rhythm. The drum here is like just being used as if the drummer just wants to drum their sorrow away with each beat and it adds to the already melancholic saxophone's rhythm.

The tune has this nice ending stanza that just amazes you. When the singer continues her pathos feel of the song she ends it so abruptly with aarrriiii,aarriraaro. So what does IR do? give a carnatic violin touch to make it more sad or let the lullaby sound through like a echo? As unpredictable he is he goes for the latter and the song totally gets it feel. The problem with pathos songs nowadays are they are very easy to guess from the rhythm with no understanding whatsoever...meaning they are just executed for the purpose to sound pathos like. But when it comes to IR he makes sure his music reaches as pathos and at the same time being understood. From one listen especially the aariraaro part and humming accompanying at times, its a mother crying out for her loved one and at the same time spelling out a lullaby to enchant her loved one. You can actually feel her feelings from there.

Another achievement in IR's songs is that the instrumentation is made to sound in tandem with the singer's voice and the tune. There is no sudden domination from either side, there is a harmony within that would be easily understood by anybody coming across the song. What do i mean? Let me demonstrate.

Kaatraley Undaagi Kaatraagum Geethaangal(Pitch relatively high and dragging slowly)
----the music goes down slowly with a eerie like effect
Kaatrodu Pogaatho sollaatha Sogangal(Ditto)
--- the music goes up slowly with a eerie like effect

Two different patterns but they still sound in tandem with the expressions of the singer

Aari Aariraaro(Dragging Low pitch voice)
--piano just plays continously and mildy with one pattern (do-re-me do-re-me do-re-me)
Notice that the first three notes are used to make sure the music is not disturbing the singer's expression

In both areas the impact can be felt easily through the singer's expression and at the same time through the music. Sure its not a goosebump like violin piece or a tearey sounding piano but they all play to the strengths of the tune..the singer,lyrics,instrumentation all giving their part to make the tune one whole meal. That is one of many varieties of IR's tunes. Not only is he able to give a song sounding like a magic orchestra or a tune given to life by the lyrics and the singer, he is also able to make all of them pitch in simply and give a class song.

Graduation

2007-01-28T21:59:00.000+08:00

Alright i guess everyone else who is third year in NYP will be writing the same thing as i am doing now. And i bet about more than 1000 poems, 2000 rants and 3000 happy messages with comical lacings have passed once i write this post. Normal,common and usual. And the comedy here are the people coming there to acknowledge it like its a united nations message.

The post i am going to write about will go professional first. I would like to thank myself for getting through 3 years of hard work and sweat..ok i know staying in aircon 8 hours a day in front of the comp is more likely to give you butt cramps but for notification purposes i would like to say sweat. Secondly i would thank those who stood by me..from my family to all my classmates to the teachers and anyobody else who knows me. See i am nice...so please put a great-to-know-chan message on all ur blogs or else ur secrets right from the boy/girl at mac to the aunty in shopping arcade bookstore will be revealed. Not funny rite...i bet you guys are saying lame...sadly funny for me..so i laugh...haha..alright on to the informal side of graduation.

Now i would like to diss somebody now that i am about to graduate. But sadly my mum and dad made sure my genes and childhood contained only pleasantries and smiling faces all around...so the dissing goes out. I thought of getting pissed at others but people laugh it off saying i look like charlie chaplin with a sore eye...so that as well is ruled out. One good thing that despite being one of the most sickening nerds NYP has housed so far, the attention i receive is anything but nerdy. People love me as someone who brought rhythm and fun into their lives. Ok la i know nobody cares abt me outside NYP..just let me make myself sound like mother theresa for today.

One more thing is my silent observation. I will start with the girls since i am a heterosexual....straight person in layman terms...if u dunno layman u go play hangman. I have seen the girls with a innocent look with cute like mannerisms(my personal fave)...girls with a sexy outlook who seem to have a lust for cosmetics...in other words competitors of pontianaks..that y so many russell lee singapore ghost stories abt pontianaks ard AMK. And girls who at times use their body as a device for seduction...not that they are bad girls but just because nobody looks at them..they use the wrong way of attracting people(hint: Use character..u use body people only remb ur body...ur dreams and character will only be remembered as rubbish bin). Otherwise girls and boys...well regardless of gender the character and mindset is so similar at times..you cant differentiate both sexes and all of them mix well without caring abt gender. And that is happy news for people like me who have only seen men as domination and women as dominated due to some unwritten nonsensical rule by oldies in those days.

You guys might notice i dunt talk about love. Simply because theres a 0.00001 percent possibility my post will get acknowledged and a assured comment will appear on my shoutbox..so i will cut that..besides i want to fall in love my business leh..u think i will tell u guys? naany naany poo poo. Wokay thats all for graduation...actually when you think over its just a normal event...just blown out of proportions because u dunt get to see school again for some...and for some they will be relieved not see the bully who used to embarass them in front of the north canteen chiobus club. Ok i know its not funny again...but funny for me...so i laugh haha....alrite good game...oops...good nite and see you guys soon.

Anumanaspadam Audio Review - Ilayaraja

2007-01-15T20:36:00.000+08:00

Man it was like eternity. I was like waiting for some album of IR to come and finally it arrives even though its a telugu album. But what the heck its a IR album and music has no boundaries so i listened to it with eagerness and honey is what i received.

The good thing about IR is that he always makes sure his orchestration is original along with his compelling style of adding symphonic touches to the overall instrumentation. Even if the tune is deja vu the orchestration will never fail you and thats what is hailing in this soundtrack.

For a start i listened to Nenu Vethiki. The starting synthesised sounds looked abit modernised but watch out for the celine dion like oh my love singing coupled with a rock drum like beat towards the end of the prelude. A deviation not many would have noticed. The rhythms in the tune reek of IR's 80s style but theres a harmony with the modernised sounds which looks uncanny. Now for the masterpiece..just listen to that romantic vibrance in the veenai's playing in the second interlude. It just elevates the track to a T. Who said IR's tunes work only with the orchestra, they just sound complimented by synthesised sounds as well.

Another track which mesmerised me was Kuilalo. Yet Again the synthesised sounds come..but not as a added charm to the track but with some orchestration and that with a haunting feel. The tune is a major salvage here. You just can listen to it without getting bored and theres a hip beat to the charanam as well. The first interlude had a weird feeling but IR returns in style with the second interlude what with the violin combining with the techno sounds to give a start-stop and drag tempo. One thing i notice about IR is that he loves to contradict his songs with a totally different style of orchestration...if the tune is supposedly a breezy like melody the orchestration leads you otherwise and gives you mixed feelings but still at the end you feel intrigued despite the changes.

Ra Gumma Ra sounds like a seductive cum fear inducing number at the start. The beats at the start are vintage IR. They give the needed charm and hold themselves within the singer's daunting voice. Sonu Nigam sounds like a forest poochaandi with his style of singing and makes you feel the building fear inside you. The first interlude is what i have wished for IR for long. The guitar returns with a neither melodious nor racey feel..it goes in between with two dampening trumpeting sounds and then a tribal chorus racing the tempo bit by bit signed off by the violins ending the tempo and a sudden pause. The second interlude is like a variations of sorts. You can neither guess whether it is going for mystery nor adrenaline nor happiness. It just weaves in and out with only the instrumentation left to give you little time to enjoy. A return of sorts for IR to such songs and that with the same energy.

I last listened to Mallelo illesa. The beats mixed with the forest like sound sounded very weird but when the 80s like violin orchestration comes they just overwrite the effect. Its like a tribal intro extended onto a romantic melody. This song is a must for IR fans who just love his violin usage. It is like given a new life in this song..it returns in all formats just to show how many different styles IR can adopt with the violin. If it is supposed to hold a saddening romance at times it suddenly changes its mood to a more racey tempo and then moves into a counterpoint like pattern depicting forecoming danger. And thats only three styles explained. Another standardised melody from the man who never seems to run out of melodies.

I missed out the remake of an old tamil song prathidinam as i preferred to focus on the other original ones. But i did listen to the song and it had a sweet remix pattern with the mridhangam here and there. And you would have thought the song would only look good in its original orchestration. And there you have it, the returning album of IR and this time with good use of both his orchestration techniques and synthesised sounds...so dheemi dheemi was a starter to his newfound vibrancy in synthesised melodies. All i can say is welcome back.

Oru Ponnu Oru Paiyan Audio Review

2007-01-07T18:36:00.000+08:00

Again i was looking through raaga upon hearing auto's audio release..but to my surprise i found out karthik raja's oru ponnu oru paiyan released and i just could not resist them. So are they all messed up or of karthik raja trademark stuff?

Malarkale Malarkale is a female solo melody..part folkish part modernised. The strings at the start give away the melodious sound but the pleasure is the main instrumentation of the song. Has anybody heard a guitar used like a indian folk instrument and that too used along with indian percussion in a folkish rhythm? That is where it clicks and it is all karthik raja flowing all the way. It is his trademark orchestration in the first interlude with the carnatic violin and the female humming coming together as a orchestraic piece. One good thing about karthik raja is his innovation in using instruments and his good use of humming as a added orchestration in his songs. The second interlude is a like a marriage of humming and the piano. And if you watch closely enough you can see abit of counterpoint as well. Fantastic song.

Nenjil Vazhkira Paadey is another melody...more slower and more soulful. It is just like any other KR song but even saying that it is nice to hear his orchestration back in full flow. Piano and keyboard all combining as supporting rhythms for his vocals. All used in a aariraaro pattern. Pity the song is short.

Oru Ponnu Oru Palanipakkam is a racey song...but it looks neither koothu nor YSR style of peppy. It is rather a fusion between koothu and western rhythms. It starts off in a heroic like orchestra intro but the vocals guide you elsewhere. The tune is very catchey...something like aathi athiyaathi from naam iruvar namakku iruvar...The instrumentation has a mix where it maintains the koothu+western mix with a bit of keyboard used in between and that too with funny sounds. One point to note here is the style of IR koothu songs in between the two interludes. Good song but not much to write home about.

So sweetada something life is on the lines of rock and roll. But the sweet thing about this song is the drums and the trumpets/clarinet all in full tempo. And the tune is on the same style as well. Certainly not a KR style of song but a very good attempt and quite similar to something something in SSUE and Maman vara pogiraen in EM. Its contemporary rock and roll...you will just get on your feet and dance...theres no reduction in the speed either..it just reaches for your mind and gives you a song which rocks you.

Yaani Pasi Yaani Pasi starts off like one of the songs in mercury pookal..it is totally westernised with keyboard the sole component here. But then when you think it will be all peppy it leads you into a seductive like song. The singer carries the song on her back..very modulated and very tempting. The usage of carnatic violin in the second interlude is something you would rarely see...a sexually imposing sort of orchestration...the beats are on the lines of the tune though..catchey but not different...but still a good song to listen to.

Kalkona Udhattukari Usapilla is a fast paced melody that tugs at you immediately. The swift usage of the sitara at the start and the humming that follows it starts the tempo and the lead singers together with the orchestration keep the song on the same tempo. Its like two lovers who are happily awaiting their marriage with abit of romantic bickering. The sole dominant is the carnatic violin...it gives the tune a unique sound with the sitara used with two strings after every stanza. Dunt forget to listen to the latter part when the mridhangam is given a bit of a folkish feel..a nice change in the track. This is what i wished KR would give us.

Overall a album of KR back in his track with some panache added to his tracks. Rock and roll and koothu given a different feel and to complete it with his trademark melodies. A sure listen for KR fans. Hope the film along with the album is great as well.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's Change in Style

2007-01-07T16:31:00.000+08:00

R and B, remix have been the heart and soul of YSR's music nowadays. But refreshingly and surprisingly there has been a turn in YSR's musical expertise in deepavali. Let us take out 1 song out for some analysis.

I was listening to pogadhe and i was instantly mesmerised, i am a hardcore fan of piano and when i heard his piano usage in the song, without even relating to the lyrics i could feel the longingness of a lover in that song. But more surprising is the similarity of solo english songs of a similar theme. Most english solo songs..usually soulful consist of such instrumentation with the piano and to a slight extent either acoustic guitar or bass guitar. And their lyrics complemented by just the piano can make them run in charts for long. Of course the vocals have to be in synth or it will be all to waste.

Now to the instrumentation. Let us hear the piano. It is not soothing with a similar rhythm. It is not put there to add a soft effect to the song. It actually has some orchestration. The difference of YSR's piano and the piano used in english solo songs(soul/blue music) is the notations. The piano of YSR stops at 3/4 levels but there is a variety of notations used in the prelude while in english songs it does not go more than 3 notations and the level may vary according to the singer's voice. Lets listen to the prelude. YSR starts off slowly, just three notations then a sudden high pitch with 1 notation and the three notations repeating again and when he moves on further the 1 notation that came with the high pitch moves on to two while the earlier three notations remain the same. And theres a slight deviation in the self building notation in where theres a pause after it ascends supposedly depicting "Pogadhe" in a do re me and then stop.

Just listening to the piano piece over and over again i just at times cant believe YSR did it..variety of notations yet so soothing and soulful. The acoustic guitar thats follows straight after continues the tune on and gives a slight dim in momentum as YSR reaches onto the ending of pogadhe(the high pitched part). That is where the maturity of YSR shows and his understanding of melody. The thing about melody is it must not be just melodious music...there should be a harmonious marriage between the vocals and the music.

Another point to mention is the fusion used in the second interlude. The carnatic violin returns back in a even more complicated manner after Oru Naalil. The mandolin and the carnatic violin give us a rare fusion with mild acoustic guitar sounds in the background to give us a orchestra of honey. In Oru Naalil the carnatic violin was very soulful, but except for two different orchestration styles it was virtually the same...just going straight for your emotions. But here it has more changes in its mood, more reduction of speed notably where the mandolin comes in and still keeping the same soulful impact. This is just ARR territory but even then he had a single instrument dominating the tune, this is just beyond...all instruments dominating yet not destroying the tune. Only one problem with this mellifluous song, Yuvan's difficulty in reaching the high levels at times..but even then the orchestration is so poetic that it sounds like a tiny matter. Lets hope YSR continues his new style and perhaps really set a trend.

Thoovanam Audio Review

2006-12-25T19:10:00.000+08:00

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

2006-12-24T15:29:00.000+08:00

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

2006-12-20T11:57:00.000+08:00

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.

General Thoughts

2006-11-24T12:24:00.001+08:00

Today i spare all those who have been craving to see a word typed since my last post with a post..and that more a non-review post...which means im gonna go the feelings mode.

First of all...i am surprised and at the same time wondering at the progress google are making. It seems they have a partnership with blogspot.com and going by their multitasking multispreading business going even faster than a rocket there might be a chance they will announce the world to be changed to google world. Microsoft are certainly fearing the worst and of course George Bush. Imagine after the loads of terrorist kill civilian,dog,cat,mouse news the headlines start screaming google mania or googlism is ruling the world. Someone tell yahoo and lycosasia to buckup.

Second of all...i notice that i love attracting attention...which is probably due to the way i have lived with myself in thoughts,feelings and utmost everything. But at the same time i guess i have to crop it out of my life...but then again that would make me totally mysterious and unsociable...which will send me back to square one...chan the new unidenitified unnecessary species of human beings. So all those who hate attention attracters..please put me at the top of your find-them-kill-them list.

Third of all..i am planning to be the first one to not have my 21st birthday celebrated. Well realistically speaking the first human being to have been bred in a modern society to not have his 21st birthday celebrated. The reason? Well first birthdays just remind you that you were born on this day...other than our parents there is nothing to feel so happy as it is not a achievement or something done for the contribution of the society..secondly celebrating birthdays just seem too over showboating considering the millions of people spending their birthday in starvation,miseries and death...so its just best to wish a happy birthday and zoom off to the XBOX...:D

Yup that's about it..as i said i will not talk too much about what happens in school and life unless it concerns the whole society or they are messages which must be revealed...as i dunt think people will benefit from seeing that i failed to pee in the toilet bowl or such nonsense.

Paruthi Veeran - Another Addition of Folk

2006-11-14T20:11:00.000+08:00

After listening to sivappathigaram, i was wondering what Paruthi Veeran might be holding in store of us. Considering the folk based themes of the movie holding true for the albums, i tried to reduce my expectations for paruthi veeran since the similarity of both movies. But it seems that it might have filled the hype as well after listening to Paruthi Veeran. Here are my thoughts.

Ariyaadha Vayasu has a weird prelude, with a lazy strumming of the guitar and our version of the guitar which has a soulful tune it moves on to a ringtone like sound highlighting the main tune of the song. For a supposedly soulful song the start and the notations used for the percussions in the instrumentation is quite intensive. Particularly the guitar that comes in midst the melancholic sounding carnatic violin in the first interlude is a great technique. For all the modern soulful sounding instrumentation the tune is very Folkish perhaps brought out to life by IR. A very contrasting song and amazing instrumentation by YSR.

Iyyaiyo starts off with Manickam Vinayagam singing in a high pitched folkish tone supposedly about the heros love for the heroine. The major highlight in this song is the usage of the lead singers voices to carry the folkish sound while the instrumentation and orchestration is at a minimal. You can see YSR's effort to fuse modernised melody with folk and to a large extent it pays off bar the usage of keyboard in some places which makes it sound more hip then folk. But rest assured those places are very minimal.

Nathaswaram is a purely instrumental track that takes time for the commoner to go in synth with it. Not that it is a slow track but quite different. YSR has tried to give the urumi mellam different shades ranging from slow beats to double beats to uncomplete variations of the same beats. The Nathaswaram and the indian percussions are played to good effect probably depicting a thiruvizha styled opening. But what makes it different is the urumi mellam as mentioned earlier. However when you see it again from a commoner's point of view..it is too situational and perhaps may need patience to listen to it. Credit to YSR for his usage of urumi mellam in this song.

Sari Kama Pathini is that of a heroine singing in a windy place at night time. The tone is delightful and theres a bit of implementation of a carnatic raagam in fusion with folk which is the major trait of the song. The flow of the raagam to the folk voices is in a way a innovative idea. Very soothing to hear indeed and the usage of cricket type of creaking sound gives the song a more realistic feel.

Tanka Dunga is the pick of the album. The drama folk feel captured in this song will bring any village person back to their memories of their village. The realistically styled orchestration of the urumi mellam and percussions fused with the very dramatic voices of the lead singers shows YSR's excellent understanding of folk. Watch for the change of notations in every stanza..that in itself gives the song a extra credit. Vivacious and racey indeed.

Vuroram Puliamaram is basically a extension of Tanka Dunga and even racier than the song. It would be good to play this song in synth with Tanka Dunga which will give you a broader idea of the song style. Perhaps it would have been better if YSR had not put this as a separate song.

Certainly not as intensive as Sivappathigaram but neither can it be ignored. If sivappathigaram was of village folk this is drama folk. After listening to this album one thing is for sure, Folk does still rule in tamil music and YSR does know his varities. :D

Sivappathigaram Album Review : Return of Folk

2006-10-25T21:36:00.000+08:00

Mention the word folk and IR comes to the fore. What was a almost unheard of form of music in the pre 70s and early 70s was suddenly a rage just because of one man. In fact, IR reserves his best form of experimentation for Folk and has forayed into it with different versions of them. Melody, Koothu etc etc. Now after a long gap Vidyasagar has come up with folk numbers yet again although they are not outstanding but to say the least quite a good attempt.

Mari Magayi Amma is a song lavishing praises on the goddess for the village's well being and if your good at guessing theres a brass female voice on the charts. The thing about folk is that it is not just lifted by the music..it is also lifted by the tenacity and right tonal modulations of the singer and thats just what happens. The urumi mellam's singular beat accompanied with the village chanting gives you a very realistic insight of a village folk devotional song. The thaarai thappattai are introduced but they are at a very mild pace to let the singers do the job. The big surprise and pleasant one is the melodious sound in the chorus chanting. It totally gives the song a different feel and makes it innovative.

Poranthirichu Kaalam starts off with birds humming and a lady singing about the successful harvests. Pleasant and soothing it has good accompaniment from the keyboard and our thaarai thappattai all in perfect synth with each other. As the song grows on you so does the feeling of old IR folk harvest songs with the violins coming in as well. With abit of deviation in between folk and contemporary melody it then goes into a high tempo with the violins and indian percussions coming to the fore. The flute impresses as well although it is too soft and short. A interesting point to note here is the natural sound of the rice being cut and harvested used as part of the instrumentation. Good deploy indeed.

Mannarkudi Kalakalakka is a pacey gaana folk song with good instrumentation. The shenoy makes a entrance in this song and sounds truly complimented in comparison to its usage in koothu songs. The usage of stanza-pause-stanza-pause gives the song a different feel without compromising on the tempo and if your all ears you can hear bhangra sounds(usually at the prelude of every bhangra song) in certain stanzas. The ending part is a race between folk and koothu which would get the front benchers dancing in no time indeed.

Kolaivalinai Edada has a symphonic orchestration with a poem narrative style of singing. Predictably asking the hero to fight against injustice it has a broadway drama style of tune. Different for such a song which usually is filled with adrenaline.

Adi Chandira Sooriyanai has different shades after each stanza with the instrumentation highlighting the difference. If it was the thavil?(the instrument that sounds like a satti being hit) giving a slow start it moves on two indian percussions with a stage folk song in the second stanza and more for the next stanza and so on. A incremental folk song highlighting how folk can express stories and the emotions of the villagers. One good thing to note is the difference in the notations of each orchestration for each stanza. Another one to add to the list of innovative folk songs.

Kalluri Salai as usual highlights the hero's life with his college and family. A Westernised hip hop start is continued throughout the song keeping the peppiness in touch with the audience. The orchestration and instrumentation is catchy and is the saving grace for the whole song which is otherwise quite normal.

Chithiraiyil Enna has a old lady singing of the groom marrying the girl in wait but before it ascends to any sort of raciness it transcends into a sweet melody. Vidyasagar is back to his melodies with his soothing usage of the keyboard. In fact after ARR it is only VS who uses keyboard brilliantly in melodies. And which VS melody has ever been complete without the flute? It enters the scene with such elegance that it just lifts the melody even more. However from here the melody seems quite IR like with the way the piano and the flute is orchestrated. But nevertheless a excellent song from VS indeed. He is back to his best this year with five great albums.

Atrai Thingal is quite similar to Chithirayil Enna in terms of orchestration but theres abit more vibrance and a carnatic inspiration in the tune . And the moment you see the word carnatic and melody together theres only one name that comes back and thats Madhu Balakrishnan. His voice is just perfectly modulated that at times you cant differentiate between him and KJY. The song is the pick of the two melodies and perhaps because of the VS stamp written all over it. The piano and the electric guitar usage in the song is mesmerising..they just dominate the whole instrumentation despite being used in certain places.

Certainly the best of VS albums released this year what more with a folkish touch. And thats good for music lovers after the dominance of koothu songs nowadays.

Back to NYP

2006-10-20T20:04:00.000+08:00

Ah...the finale of my 3 years of different schooling comes. The first day feel when you get into a new semester is lost..rather the feel of leaving school comes...a very sad feeling indeed after mixing so well into a new family. Thank GOD for MSN..well not GOD but the people who created messenger...especially for people like me who are virtually uncontactable all over the globe(i still remain one of the only human beings in NYP to have a home no in the contact no list).

First week gave me a look into what i will be seeing for the next 18 weeks. Loads of programming all interlinked with each other and 1 exam. Thats cool except for the fact that you have to sit at the lab for 3 hours/4 hours plus. Whats the bad thing about that? Looking at the teacher's face? nope. Afraid your eyes will be csharp-ed/java-ed ? nope. Rather its that antarctica like freezing temperature of that lab...two hours in it and your hand is numb..I sense a conspiracy here where NYP is using the excuse that the processors have to be cool to ultimately get rid of us.

Secondly, deepavali is coming together with hari raya puasa..so the festivity feel should be setting in. Well the fact is only seriousness and the normal-atmosphere feeling sets in. Not a ounce of festive fever where you feel like slapping a sleeping human on the face at 12 and say happy deepavali/selamat hari raya. Thats how bad studies have destroyed us humans.

One good thing is the movies coming out. Varalaaru is expected to be a mega blockbuster which should be of no problem and there is vallavan..E a darkhorse which has a very interesting plot and Vattaram which is a slick action flick. Of the movies i doubt the audience that will turn out for Vallavan. Why you may ask? Let us calculate the percentage of people who might come for vallavan at first.

Lets say about 110 people might turn out for vallavan. Keeping in mind that the lead character is simbu that will get reduced to 50. (45 fans will get irked seeing simbu say comical punch dialogues(rajini/kamal fans) 10 fans will get scared seeing simbu kissing every girl in the film including the velaikaari and 5 fans will be horrified seeing simbhu give a song hinting at him wanting to be the future leader of india.) Out of that 50 atleast 40 girls who just love to see simbhu will be there to ogle at him and 10 boys to ogle at reema sen,nayanthara and sandhya. That sums it all up...all there to ogle with no focus on the movie which is perfectly accepted.

On the serious note the calls for me getting a mobile phone has been tremendous...looks like people do want to contact me. My godsister, joey and even my mother wants me to get a HP(too lazy to come and talk to me what else). Well sorry guys wait till i am 21 and there will be a mobile phone. And on one note i started having the feeling to get a lover(gf in teenage terms)..but then realised it was just loneliness plus too much ogling causing me to have that. So its back to normal then. Alrights off the blog..the next update will depend on whether anything interesting at all happens...which is a big doubt nowadays.

Sengaathu Album Review

2006-10-13T11:37:00.000+08:00

Good to see you guys after a long week of boredom and rest. This time i am going to review a album which came into the market with no one noticing it. And a very innovative album indeed. How innovative? Lets give it a look.

A Padama is your typical koothu track. But its not all gunz blazing with tharai thapattai and shenoy, Its has abit more catchy tempo. The prelude of the song gives you a feel of a wedding introduction song but some cool strumming of the guitar and good mix of western and indian percussions gives you the headstart. Predictably the Shenoy dominates throughout but the sounds have been used appropriately instead of going all high tempo. The veenai bits here and there are good as well.

Kathu starts off with some a old lady singing oppari style about a girls wait for her husband with a nice echo feel around it. But straight away it gets into the koothu feel again. Not much in this track unless you want to dance and shake your booty. The interludes are similar to recent koothu songs with no innovation whatsoever.

Kunthal has a hip hop westernised intro which dims into a much more melodious sound which feels like morning dew. Good usage of the keyboard here. The song is inspired by a carnatic raaga as seen from the frequent singing from the singers and brilliant instrumentation gives the right feel to the song. Reminds you of vidyasagar in the way he handles carnatic songs with a modern melody. The thavil interpersed here and there with the continous fast paced beat of the western drums and the carnatic violin used in midst the stanzas adds to the charm of the track.

Thee Thee has the same feel as kunthal but a much more soothing and piano like usage of the keyboard. The sound goes throughout the whole song which compliments the lyrics very well. The song is just like listening to old 80 english melodies but added with a indianised style of singing. The composer seems to have a penchant for soft westernised melodies and a whiz with the keyboard. There are two versions of the track one with singing and one without it. The instrumental track would be good to listen when your in need of relaxation.

Ulagam is the pick of the album. The composer's creativity is shown here with his intelligent fusion of urumi mellam and thavil with the keyboard to create a westernised melody with folkish touch. Innovative as we have only listened to a folkish melody with western touch. The composer has shown his mastery of instrumentation which is rare as tamil composers are more familiar with orchestration. Groundbreaking indeed.

Besides Kathu the rest of the tracks are worth your listen and if listened to closely you will notice the style of melodies is different from the usual melodies nowadays. Time to watch out for the new kid on the block.

Summary of six weeks

2006-10-04T11:32:00.000+08:00

Yo guys, this time i am going to give you a summary of what i have done for the past six weeks of my holidays. Some might be thinking how long this post will stretch and bore you guys like those judges at Project Superstar. Some will be stuttering and shaking in fear and swear not to look at what this post might hold and perhaps post a threat to your health. And some will just read it like a page from their textbook.

Here it goes
1) House Chores
I did not go to work as i thought before doomsday arrives(NS) i should have some sort of relaxation so i stayed at home. To my disappointment i was over relaxed and had nothing to do. So i agreed to do House chores till my school starts.
2) No xbox
Perhaps i would have been saved if i had played xbox but due to my brother having PSLE during my holidays that too was wiped out. Curse NYP for giving holidays at the wrong time.
3) No Activities
Besides a enjoyable birthday party and a special chalet outing sadly the rest of my days was spent waiting to receive a message from MSN to say you chan how about a bla bla bla. Sadly that never happened at all.

That is how exciting my six weeks have been. One bad thing about my holidays is that it only gets to be fun at the last part. Ah the misery of holidays. Since the summary is too short i shall spice the rest of the post about other details.

Blogwatch

Nowadays there are alot of blogs coming up so i thought of reviewing them all. Although there are people who describe everything like a poem usually depicting sorrow,love and breakups with their partners, there seems to be a improvement in certain blogs. For instance we have one blog totally dedicated to technical matters, one blog which deals with helping people with life problems and the occasional blogs with sense of humour mixed with wickedness.

And blogs done by girls(usually with very descriptive names as their blog title and very artistic designs) are also improving. In the past two years you would have seen poems which are done if they are vetti(tamil term for rotting in boredom) or them speculating at how their friend/lover betrayed them, feelings not recognised and the usual megaserial-meets-modern-lifestyle stuff. But now they have started moving out of the sentimental shell and becoming more hip. There was one who just loved a tirade at anything that angered her with a sense of humour and another who questions every wrong right from terrorism to spitting beside her slipper(this must be the person tamil poet bharathiyar said the new age woman). Very encouraging for characters like me indeed who once used to fear entering a blog done by a girl.

Vattaram Album Review

2006-10-01T14:16:00.000+08:00

The saran and bharadwaj combo is back again and you can expect some firecrackers in the mould of gemini in Vattaram again. How is it? Let us explore.

Ovvuru Pillaiyum is supposedly a song highlighting the hardships in life and the need to overcome them. A dose of trumpets and violin giving you a heroic intro might have misled you to be a hero glorification with our indian percussions coming together but Mukesh's melancholic singing and the sitara's slow and sad like strumming gives the song the right feel. A good start indeed.

Mudhal Mudhala has a slow hip hop style of western drum beating and a melodious feel contrasting it. The song allows the lyrics and singers to dominate with music taking the second baton. The usage of the keyboard in the interludes and mildly throughout the song carries the melodious tempo. The singing has to be commended here for the way they have brought out the life in the song. Watch out for the second interlude where bharadwaj returns to his favourite classical orchestration of the veenai. Pleasant and soothing to hear. Traces of IR's style of melody tunes can be heard at times.

Naana Idhu Naana has a peppy westernised touch to the song at the start. A heroine introduction song like athiri pathiri of Ayya but less indianised and more melodious. Westernised instrumentation dominates the song but like Mudhal Mudhala the style is very soft and melodious and the orchestration of the flute in the second interlude impresses very much. Bharadwaj returning back to his usual touch of melodies that we last saw in Vasool raja and Ayya.

Idhu Kadhal Kadhal has a very stylish strumming of the guitar at the start giving you the impression that its yet another melody. Reminds you of Brahma Brahma song from gemini at times from the singing style but the instrumentation proves you otherwise with good usage of the guitar throughout the song. The innovative usage of western violins to depict the carnatic violin is amazing in the first interlude. Yet another stylised melody from Bharadwaj.

Unnai Paartha is reminiscent of Naana Idhu naana except it is less peppy and much more slower. There is abit of repitition of the style of melody in this song as evident from the other melodies in the same album. Only the orchestration saves the song from being too repititive. The rahmanish usage of flutes and thavil together in the second interlude and the contradicting usage of the guitar as a carnatic instrument in the first interlude is the saving grace of the whole track.

Yaar tharuvaar seems to be a westernised remix of the original song from saraswathy sabatham i think in the lines of thiruttu payalae which was done in the same way. With some modification in the lyrics and a westernised touch throughout the whole song it speaks of the hero's lifestyle and his attitude. Instead of going all racey Bharadwaj has chosen to go very soft which is quite weird. Might have to see the movie to know why Bharadwaj has opted for such a approach. Nothing much in this song.

Star Hotel Vendam starts off with disco style singing which makes you want to dance. The music suits the song well with its racey approach with some bhangra style of beating used here and there to make it more catchier. A song which will attract youths and mass alike for sure.

One good thing about the album is Bharadwaj returning to his famed classical orchestration which we dearly missed. But he has to improve on his tunes as they are all too repititive with not much differentiation whatsoeva. The surprising thing is for a movie that sounds action oriented pacey and koothu beats are totally missing from the song. Even the raciest song Star Hotel Vendam is totally westernised rather than koothu. Saran and Bharadwaj has delivered yet another classic but Whether it will click in such a action oriented film remains to be seen especially with dappangkoothu songs ruling the roost nowadays.

The Fear has arrived

2006-09-29T19:53:00.000+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, chiobus, roadside jollu pasanga and people still living in their diapers plus george bush, the answer to all our problems has arrived. For four years terrorists have been threatening to annihilate the whole human race but now their own annihilation has arrived. One man has decided to be the answer and scare the living hell out of the terrorists so much that they anticipate him. Before he arrives in reality he has given a warning to terrorists through this picture.

This gracious man by the name of sarathkumar has proved that his image alone is ten times scarier than hearing of george bush's fetishes which itself can annihilate the human race alone. So terrorists beware, the MESSIAH has come. Move over Horror villains, the real Horror has come.

Copyrights from hubber Surya of TFMhub who gave us the terrifying information.

Bach and illayaraja - A strange similarity

2006-09-20T14:23:00.000+08:00

I was just listening to works of John Sebastienne Bach and was comparing them with Ilayaraja's songs and i was just stunned for a moment. There was this piece by Bach called fugue No 10 which reminded me of IR's orchestration technique. I noticed that Bach's songs usually are conceived of two of more different styles of movements using the same instrument which i can identify it with IR's orchestration of songs like Ananda Raagam from Paneer Pushpangal .

Whats more similar and amazing is that Bach loves to make his music complex. There are so many notes racing along with each other in different scales that you just lose track of them, a similar feature of IR's songs. Is it me or do the others have a feeling that IR might be a reincarnation of Bach? There are so many similarities between these two especially the orchestration and arranging that i am just stunned. For starters compare IR's Polla Vinaiyae with Bach's Fugue 10 and you at times can notice the similarities.

Kizhakku Kadarkarai Salai Album Review

2006-09-18T12:01:00.000+08:00

Well i thought i might have to post a review sooner or later, instead of posting multiple album reviews i thought of giving you soundtracks worth listening and here is one.

The first track Kancha Penne starts off with a carnatic tone straight away and the following western percussions hit the catchy rhythms well. The melodious sound in the whole tune is carried well with some interesting keyboard orchestration in the song. One point to note here is the sort of church bell sound used throughout the song which sounds quite innovative as a instrument in the song. Paul J has used the flute well in a classical format in the interludes. A classical fusion with techno sounds is what is apt for the song description.

The second track kengini mingini carries a unique retro cum disco sound at the start and carries it towards the end. The style of the track tells you straight away that it is pacey and packed all through which will hit the charts in no time. it is high tempo all the way supported by the returning voice of sureh peters and grace(Karunaas wife) well.

The third Oru Koodi starts off with a melodious guitar prelude commonly used in non-metallic american songs. The tune is quite different from the usual indian melody and has a more high pitched and dragging approach in the singing. The instrumentation varies differently with the keyboard and the flute supporting the song here and there with a minor carnatic overtone. Highlight of the song is the way it changes to a westernised melody and then to a indianised melody. Very soothing indeed.

Vaangada Vaangada is weird for me because of the use of the electric guitar in a kovil koothu song which is usually dominated by tharai,thappattai, shenoy and urumi mellam. Besides the use of electric guitar and the melodious use of harmonioum in the song, it does not vary much from the typical kovil koothu songs.

Ajarey Ajarey carries a punjabi bhangra prelude sound which defines the mood of the whole song. Peppy and racey. The song is not that innovative and besides the uplifting of the track by boney chakravarthy it has less to write home about.

Eno Edhil Eno carries a interesting melancholic sound at the start followed by a continus beating of a xenophone? The song is understably a sad song and quite short but the interesting part is the usage of instruments in the song. Theres some mild playing of a instrument used in thailand which i cant identify which contradicts the song as it sounds catchy.

Welcome to ECR is a totally westernised song right from the instruments to the singing style. The usage of trumpets is very catchy and make its sound more hip. The best part of this song is the lyrics and the style of singing, it reminds you of listening to old hip hop american songs. Quite different for a intro theme to the movie.

Sadly this album sounded much more different so i thought of posting a review about it here. Will update you guys on my personal life soon :D

Blog Watch - Melodrama Shockers !

2006-09-10T16:16:00.000+08:00

Without alerting the owner, i have been sneaking around blogs looking at their posts to see their style. While some apply a comical and more general approach to their blogs what interests me more is the personal and sometimes too emotional approach in blogs. So emotional that even a tamil megaserial will fail to generate the amount of tears and banging-head-emotions that these blogs can generate.

Its sometime very melodramatic. The loss in love, the feeling that everyone is ignoring you, use of explicit words and crying on the bed. It just like a real life movie. Its understandable that the owners do not know how to express their feelings in reality and just express as-it-is on the blogs hoping someone reads them and sympathetically chorus along with their emotions. One thing we all must understand that things like mishandling of relationships, not being able to realise your own emotions happens to every human. Trust me, publicising them on blogs only relieves you of the burden, but it does not solve the problems. I believe in thinking of solutions to counter such obstacles instead of crying them out with hope that someone sympathises with them.

Its good to have someone who listens to your problems and gives you advice. But bewarned, everyone is different and have their own opinions of how to solve the problem but it may or may not be necessarily logical and right. Its best to explore such problems urself and think deeply and logically of what can be done to avoid such incidents. Sometimes its good to receive every problem comically and patiently as it helps you to handle such things effectively. Hope the owners of such blogs understand what i mean.

Well i might have lambasted and make you guys sound like charlie chaplins with no comical sense but i instead went more serious in fear that you guys might call for the Cyber Police to ban my blog or worse waiting under the void deck to bash me up with hockey sticks, baseball bats, broomstick and rubber ducks. Well as for the other blogs, you guys have done well to avoid a tamil megaserial style and spared many viewers like me from crying and banging our heads on the tables for reading your blogs. Or else i can recommend your blogs as story scripts for future megaserial use.

PS : Girls please display your photos, i need to keep on thinking of a new dreamgirl every dream and im running out of photos. :(

Musical Inlook

2006-09-10T16:14:00.000+08:00

We all know how famous A.R.Rahman is in the circles of the indian film industry and now towards america although not in hollywood. But is he really attracting worldwide audience with music that just sounds attractive or is there a touch of musical expertise inside like how Illayaraja has done (e.g. counterpoints, oratorio(thiruvasagam), symphony, chamber music etc) .

Lets see, Bombay dreams except for the trademark techno orchestration was not really up to the musical standards set by western classical music masters like mozart and beethoven. This also follows suit in the toronto version of lord of the rings and even in WOHE. You can notice at times that Rahman loves to make use of percussions to enchant his music and loves to add new sounds to his music no matter what the musical variety. But the problem is if you want to really succeed in musical terms and be really termed as anywhere near mozart,beethoven or even Illayaraja for that matter you have to start showing orchestration and instrumentation in various genres manually and atleast a strong foothold in western classical music. We know rahman has good knowledge as he showed in strawberry kannae in minsarasu kanavae and all songs in thiruda thiruda which had great western orchestration(classical format) and use of harmony.

BGM
For any film in any country, whether it has songs or not, background music is noticed alot. Hollywood has John Williams and before him Jerry Goldsmith while India has Illayaraja. Rahman has started showing improvement in these areas but still not really expressive enough of the scenes. In fact the usage of Alapana, Veenai, Thavil, Dolak are typical and have been used before time and time again. Rahman needs to move from this and give innovative musical scores which reach deep into the viewer's heart. Look at the jazz implied intro theme of Velu Nayakkar the gangster and you can feel the gangsta look by just hearing it or the police duty theme of captain prabhakaran. They are so expressive yet so complicated, the use of counterpoints and various instruments for each mood orchestrated in BGM's is really a genius display from IR. Rahman has to start emulating such standards if he really can be termed as a musical maestro.

Take a look at Bose : The unforgettable hero's BGM. The BGM's are undoubtedly military oriented and adrenalistic but the usage of percussions is quite typical of Rahman. In terms of orchestration standards there is not a great deal of points to look forward to although they do reach out to the viewers. It is here Rahman must improve and that too in his knowledge of actual instruments instead of relying on the keyboard.

Besides these facts nobody needs reminding the magic that Rahman has given us in terms of his techno orchestration and his delicate rhythms without using raagas in music. But to be termed as a maestro it is really too ridiculous and far fetched. There is a reason why they call Illayaraja a maestro. Just listen to his Nothing But Wind, How to Name It and Thiruvasagam. The use of counterpoints and the complicated octaves and notes in the music is just amazing. In fact there is a different piece of music(stanza) to express every mood in the songs yet harmoniously join together without affecting the flow. And he just loves to experiment. Whether it is using jazz to incorporate traditional indian raagams in mumbai express or fusing Rock and Roll with tamil folk in Vikram, there is class and innovation in every angle. There is no need to mention his orchestration standards which by far is the best and can only be compared alongside John Williams and the very connoiseurs who paved the way for such orchestration standards.

Illayaraja has joined the standards of mozart and beethoven already and his music speaks for himself. But when will Rahman move away from his techno orchestration and really show the manual orchestration of western classical music to explore the moods of the film situations? Only time can tell.

Vetteiyaadu Vilaiyaadu : Play the style

2006-09-02T22:53:00.000+08:00

Watched Vetteiyaadu Vilaiyaadu last Monday and it was pacey and gritty. The realistic style of police officers and how they investigate was brought out well in the typical indianised version. Other than that the storyline is not that different as psychopath murderers have been dealt with before although this is the first time it has been used to really reflect what psychoness can be.

The technical aspects of the film is brilliant. The cinematography and music certainly support the film all round. The songs are reminiscent of Harris Jayaraj's previous albums with little difference in the orchestration and the style. The Cinematography looks realistic with the 35mm technology that is used for hollywood movies.

To the performance now, well Kamal brings out the right nuances of a cop role just as he did in kaaki sattai, abit more comical but serious side to it the only difference; You just have to watch the way his expressions follow after every scene he enacts whether its the romance with jyothika or when he investigates the scene of the crime . The other lead stars especially villain daniel balaji is a relevation. The main strength of this movie is the characterisation and the narration. There is a realistic portrayal of gritty murders and the suspense and also the involvement of police investigation tactics.

However the way the movie shapes up at times seems like a leftover of kaakha kaakha with more cop realism. And the mistake of not explaining how the villain actually gets agitated at young can be seen. But thinking in mind that this is also a entertainer makes up for that fact. Besides this the film is certainly one of those films where you can identify yourselves with a cop's life and with some innovations.

Beauty and its Need

2006-08-27T18:59:00.002+08:00

Today i was watching Miss Vasantham and well without a shout of a doubt there will be a glittering array of beauties and also a rapid increase in the amount of jollu that will come as a result of that. But whats more surprising is the makeup used to adorn their faces. Well although its nice to make yourself look beautiful but to show ones beauty does one need to adorn makeup? Should it not look natural. If they had used more makeup they would have look ed like those figurines used to scare away ghosts during hungry ghost festivals. I do admire beauty although it is more of the character but i certainly feel that makeup doesnt just make someone look natural. Well thats for those who adore beauty as something essential for relationships and life; wonder how these people can be so blind about beauty that they cant even realise that its a character that determines a person. :(

Tomorrow i am going to watch vettaiyaadu vilaiyaadu and will be posting a review on it soon. From what i have heard it seems to be a slick cop thriller with a realistic feel. Await the review guys, I will try to make it seem neutral as possible and not overflow with praise.

Emttan Magan Audio Review

2006-08-23T21:05:00.000+08:00

I know this is coming late but better than never. This album has been rated average in some sides and i have to be shocked at their comments. Why you ask? read the review.

Manmeethu Thaan - Its a carnatic humming by Madhu Balakrishnan at the start and it gives you a melancholic feelings. But then comes in the techno melodous sound followed by the soothing voice of Madhu Balakrishnan. The song has loads of classical overtones which is later proved by the excellent veenai orchestration in the interlude. Probably telling the hero about the sufferings and the leading of life on earth it has a "wake up" call like tune but remains melodious throughout.

Purinchiricha - This is the pick of the album for me. While we are used to Vidysagar going abit too koothu and techno in such songs he has gone abit different and used rock and roll/jazz as the main instrumentation for the song. The jazzey instrumentation complemented well by newcomer george's high tempo singing is a pleasure to the ears. The celtic music in the first interlude is typical vidayasagar orchestration although there is a precedence of nice strumming of the guitar. The second interlude is a rahmanish type of percussion orchestration. With a folk cum koothu percussion concerto at the start it is slowly succeeded by an elvis presley type of rock and roll percussion. Sometimes vidyasagar amazes you with his knowledge of percussions in mass songs. Certainly innovative and peppy.

Varaaru Varaaru - The oppari at the start followed by the koothu beats gives you the impression of a extremely pacey koothu song and Vidyasagar does not disappoint. The song just takes off from the oppari and its just going higher and higher all the way. Certainly one for the dancing studios. Nothing much can be said about the song being a typical Vidyasagar mass song except for the implementation of the oppari at the start. There is also a mini IR resemblance the way the tune sounds as well.

Koligoondu Kannu - A folkish sort of melody with some modern peppy stanzas interlaced in it. It is a typical Vidyasagar melody with the flutes, techno melodious sound all having the same touch. But the one to really take notice is the use of guitar in this song. If the guitar did not sound catchy enough in the first interlude, the second interlude is a even more catchier western country folk orchestration of the guitar. It is also used as a peppy sort of instrumentation for the tune as well. Other than that the usual suspects of the flute and percussions are there. Vidyasagar back to his melodies thats what we can say.

Unnoduthan Ini - This is a experimental song which is a melody but used with natural sounds. Meaning no instruments just sounds that you hear in a real surrounding. Would be best appreciated onscreen but the arrangements in between the singing of the singers sounds like a situational song at times.

Kaloori Generation - The song name gives it away. A peppy song aimed at the youths depicting the fun times and life of a college going youth. It starts off with a very technoish sound and then slowly leads into the crux of the song. The song is quite soft with less instrumentation but more focus on the singing and the lyrics. Besides the piano implementation in the middle of the song and the usage of electric guitar here and there it is quite similar to the normal college songs. Not exactly a gaana song for you to dance for but more of a song to hum if you love your college days.

Vidyasagar has basically returned back with two lavishly styled melodies and one rock and roll/jazz peppy song. Just when he looked like he was moving away from the scene he is back to what he was delivering with films like dhool and dhill. A album to celebrate for music listeners.

Presentation Day - Sangu Day

2006-08-22T08:51:00.000+08:00

Yesterday just happened to be presentation day. Yup that's rite, the day where your legs go wobbly, you start sweating like a buffalo and you look like you had seen Ju-on 2 at midnight. However that is the normal symptoms for humans. I have been certified a monster/animal before so my symptoms are different. I tend to smile like the person in front of me was half botak, talk like presentation is just a xbox game and make everybody irritated.

It went as per normal and it was wrapped up in 45 minutes. With just minor grumblings on the state of our website the others were just very minute. And just when we thought this is the final day we learnt that we still had to come back for school. I just dunt get it why they want to see us come to school and shake our legs when theres nothing to do..perhaps they feel satisfied when they see students come around and stare at the com or are they trying to show that NYP is a superb disciplined school that follows it schedule till it gets hit by a earthquake?

The almost dull day was made happier after one of my teammates got recommended for distinction. You rock chen yiquan dude! He had to handle the main part of our project which was to handle requests from customers and send them to the client which he did it without fuss and perfectly. Sadly though because of the no of pointers he used( pointer variables, pointer functions etc) his hair had pointed up when he came for presentation. Let us all wish yiquan he gets distinction when he presents his part to the scarey panel of EI judges.

I also get to see my godsister in MSN after a long time, she looks more refreshed and happier than the previous days when she was undergoing alot of problems and stress that would have driven a person mad. But now she has slowly overcome with that and i have got nothing but praise for her strength of character. She has also started laughing alot more which is better to hear rather than sounding like a tamil megaserial character. kudos godsister !

Alright i will wrap it up here for today, will be posting any other interesting or weird news soon

The return of the street soccer

2006-08-20T11:08:00.000+08:00

Thought i would neva say it but finally after 6 months i could kick the damn football. Just came to play a game of street soccer with glittering attire such as a striped collar polo T-shirt, Torn shorts and a street soccer shoe bigger than my foot. Was wonderful to interact back with my Singaporean slacker-converted-to-GI joe friends. Once upon a time the word NS would have been talked about atleast one time per month;Now they have started talking about it every millisecond,which makes me wonder whether my 80% of life will be replaced by NS gun talk. Was interesting to hear how they had to get through boat carrying events which one friend made it sound like he was carrying a star cruise ship, how they had to learn to cut up snakes,chickens and frogs for combat survival which might kill you by just imagining it.

But it was saddened abit by a teary account of how my friend(name omitted to protect from teasing/bullying remarks) had to endure a breakup after undergoing almost 2 years of blissful love life. Poor fella, he certainly did not deserve to be broken up after handling his relationship so well...while i would have been dumped after 2 hours into my love life as i cant even handle a cellphone.

On the happier side i heard the liverfools had drew with sheffield united. It pays to underestimate a team and you guys got what you deserved...some more through a penalty. Arsenal drew with Aston villa which was unsurprising as Martin O Neill knows how to handle the 4-5-1 and the rest of the epl scores just gave us a glimpse of a tough fought season ahead.
Alright i will stop here for now. For those who are expecting i will be announcing that i have fallen in love please await another 5 more years as i need to analyse, break down and conclude what is love.

Case No 1 : Life of slacking at a school

2006-08-18T20:32:00.000+08:00

I never thought that i, the impeccable and popular nerdy boy will ever slack but thats what has happened at school. Amazingly i have spent only 2 hours on work out of 8 hours which must be a guiness record and even the 2 hours had intervals of ogling at indian actress photos.

Frightening it is my friends and you will be saddened to hear that i will be slacking even more during the holidays which is good news for those at school and bad news for the people at tfmhub as it means Hulkster in full flow.

One sad point is six months of the first semester of the final year have just whooshed by and i feel a strong guilt of not enjoying my life or is it me being brainwashed by all those romeos who seem to flirt with a babe everyday? One thing though i have had no troubles in my life so far and my life has spent catering to anyone in need regardless of who they are. Now you know why i call myself universal superstar.

Alright forget this sad issue, it just happened i saw a blog of xijin the boss and was seeing her mumbling away about exams coming back for the 500th time after her scarey post about her being stressed about 2nd yr sem exams. sigh jing jing...exams do come in studies and also in life but it is we who should overcome them. Alright thats all for today and im proud to announce i didnt not post a single sexual arousing word in the first two posts.

The first welcome to the immaculate blog

2006-08-18T19:45:00.000+08:00

I hereby welcome all of you bloggers,friends,cousins,hubbers,people with no job to do and people who have less IQ than george bush to this fabulous blog.

Certain notices to people

1) This is not a porn site and neither am i a porn star.
2) There will be strictly no jollufying(tamil version of ogling) on any actress,model,next door figuru(tamil version of hot babe) photo i post here which i hopefully wunt.
3) No bullying,teasing,cat calling of the author of this blog or you will have to face a two hour lecture from him which is the same as listening to a documentary on whethere bin laden is horny or not.

Now that we have the notices cleared up let me all state how this blog will feature and there will be no complaints on this or else please refer to notice no 3.

- There will be no sad scribbles of how i lost this and that...what i did in the bathroom or bla bla....that means its all general and layman
- There will be no mentions of love poems, life poems or sex poems so you guys are spared from listening to me do poems.
- I might be posting reviews on articles,movies,music and many other things and possibly they might be comical...or maybe serious depending on whether i manage to see my dream girl everyday.

That will be all and i hope all of you are educated about this blog, if you still do not understand what is written here then i suggest you go join the white house with george bush.