BEST PICKS FROM TAMIL MUSIC THIS SEPTEMBER 2020 – HAVE YOU HEARD AS YET?

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Aahaa

Pradeep Kumar is one of the most talented musicians in the Tamil industry if not India, and here, he just weaves magic in a very different but sure-shot melody. I call it different because it might not comply with the usual rules of a song and its’ parts. It reminds me of that great number from Sillu Karuppatti that he composed last year. Here, he not just composes and sings but also writes the lyrics. The track is like your companion in solitude and can only be experienced when you hear it with your full attention. Gowri Shankar and Ms Krsna are on the guitars and it delivers a feeling of an R&B with the harmony and percussions by Tapass Naresh. Can we just hand it out to Pradeep for using the complex and unique instrument Theremin and the global expert Carolina Eyck has played it here in this song. At least 11 different musicians and instruments have been used from an orchestra here and it’s all arranged by Pradeep's wife Kalyani Nair.

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Alaya

It’s wonderful when new musicians rise to the occasion and it’s the turn of Hari Dafusia to compose and sing this absolutely catchy tune from the movie "Unarvugal Thodarkathai". Nikitha Gandhi has got one fabulous groovy voice with a lot of "oomph" and that makes this track doubly great to listen to. Ko Sesha, and Hari are the lyricists for this track.

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Alagiya Sirukki

Ghibran scores music for the newly released movie Ka Pae Ranasingham. He does impress with the tune here and although the song isn't anything new, it does have the perfect vocalist to match the tempo, rhythm and emotions. Gold Deveraj has been working with Ghibran for some time now and he was the singer in the last month’s super song by Ghibran called "Karumari Amman". The flute is played by Jai, and Balaji is on the violin, with the interlude looking quite catchy using a harmony. I love the percussional arrangement of the whole song. The sarangi interlude the second time around is also very beautifully set, adding to the rustic nature of the song.

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Ennaval

He's probably the hottest composer in Tamil now and probably the best thing that happened since the lockdown - three back to back great hits in a couple of months. Blessed with amazing vocals, he leverages it well and you have to give credit to his composition abilities. The song does remind us very vividly of the famous track "Velli Nilave" from Vettaiyadu Vilayadu. The guitars by Vijay Joseph are spectacular in the interlude, while the bassist Napier Peter Naveenkumar sizzles in the second layer as Lalit Talluri serenades with his flute. Sathyaprakash smartly employs the mridangam as the percussion in the stanza and more. It is played by Sriram Ramesh. The use of the flute and guitars go so well and he painstakingly creates enough meaty music in the stanza as well which has sadly become uncommon these days. The outro with the flute and mridangam is very delectable as well, and the lyrics are by Viji Visvanathan and Bhuvanesh is the man behind the keys.

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Ennodu Kadhal

This is set in one of the most famous raagas used for movie music, especially in Tamil. Panthuvaraali has been employed by Ilaiyaraja and AR Rahman as well and reminds us of songs like Piraiaye Piraiaye from Pithamagan, Hai Rama from Rangeela. The arrangements are all very similar to an Imman musical and Pranav deserves credit for using live instruments and keeping the richness of the track and raaga intact. Maneswini is the female lead and Shibi Srinivasan is quite excellent is his delivery and all the vibrato. Francis is on the Cello and Dileep Krishna is on the flute while Manoj Prabhakar has penned the lyrics.

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En Kadhalan

Ved Shanker is one of those bright shining stars that you want to keep following in the world of music and he lives up to that expectation here with an awesome love track sung like a dream by Sreekanth Hariharan. The last time we heard his composition was back in 2019 where he had a cracker of an album called "Thoratti". After quite a break, he makes up for lost time with this splendid number. The actor in the music video is the uber-popular Vijay TV star Kumaran Thangarajan and he has also penned the beautiful lyrics. The flute by Palakkad Sreeram is simply magical and it speaks to you. We don't see much music before the opening lines itself these days but that's different here as we are introduced to a version of the song itself through the flute. Sreekanth Hariharan continues from where he left off back in Bigil's song but he's been singing in Malayalam as well. Keba Jeremiah on the guitars, teases you with only enough exposure to his strings. The interlude flute solo is simply marvellous and playful. The ability of the composer is in creating enough variations in the stanza without just repeating the same two famous lines of a song is where Ved Shanker holds immense promise.

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Insta Rani

This is one of those songs which just gets extremely popular on YouTube and it’s not a surprise as it is very catchy, just makes you want to get up and dance. It is composed, written and sung by Sunil Lazer, and the best lines are the "Tappu tappu nnu" with a male harmony and the thavil as the percussion. It appears as the interlude as well as the outro.

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Keladi Kannama

This track is just very creatively set in tune and Pranav Giridharan must be credited completely with what he has come up with. Honestly, I haven't got any reference to compare this track with, and it’s truly unique. Pranav's vocals with his falsettos are quite stylish and the chords are just truly the highlight of this track.

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Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee

Darbuka Siva is the composer who has now entered the fray of direction. We can wait and watch the movie and review his direction skills later but for now, one has to agree that he is quite accomplished at his music and he always has a knack for creating melody without falling into the trap of "listener preferences". Here, he composes a solid quick-paced track and it’s so wonderful to welcome back Sid Sriram who we have missed truly during the Corona break. The vocals are just like right down his alley for Sid with his vibrato and his aalap in the background. Darbuka Siva also joins in the backing vocals. The lyrics are written by Thamarai, but the true hero is the Sarod by Debasmita Bhattacharya. She simply pulls your heart with her strings and Keba once again makes his presence felt with his guitars, banjo and ukulele. The structure of the song is straight-forward without too many variations but the way the instrumentals are arranged does it for you. Watch out for a soulful solo by Debasmita in the closing stages.

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Manadhil Urudhi Vendum

He has done it again! Shabir is a talented musician with an unmistakable voice. He has been taking inspiration from poems of the great Mahakavi Bharathiyar and setting brilliant tunes to it. Once again, he collaborates with the talented TENG Ensemble orchestra from Singapore and here it is "Manadhil Urudhi Vendum" talking about the strength of the human heart. Bengali musicians, for decades, have been leveraging on the great works of Rabindranath Tagore, and it’s about time, Tamil musicians did that too and there is no better way the younger generation knows about this treasure trove and massive source of inspiration called Subramanya Bharathi.

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Oru Puthu Niram

It’s a new colour and that’s the translation of the Tamil title, but when Haricharan sings, it’s a familiar colour called "joy". Vishnu Prasad has been silently composing some gems and this is one more to that list. The song has Haricharan having the lion's share of the vocals and who would complain when someone sings like this. We really hope 2021 offers us much more as listeners to be captivated by Haricharan's voice. The stanza is sung exquisitely and he croons when he says "Kannamma". It’s all about Francis Xavier's solo on the violin followed by Rison's flute before Shweta Mohan enthralls in her high-pitched melody. The second stanza is quite different from the first, in not just the tune but also that it’s entirely in Malayalam. The stanzas are both short but there is enough juice for us to enjoy in this track. Libos Praisly is on the guitars and the Tamil lyrics are written by Arul Prakash while the Malayalam words are written by Akhila Sayooj.

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One last time

This is apparently a multi-lingual album and this track is in Tamil. It is composed by Nijil Dhinakar and also sung by him. The female lead is Aishwerya Radhakrishnan. The composer has a very likeable voice and performs really well with his vocal role and here, the chords are beautifully set right through the track to keep it enticing. The fag end of the track has some nice melancholic strings playing with keys to accompany. Overall it’s more than a pleasant track to listen to.

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Thiruparunkundram

This is one delightful EP by singer Krishh, and there are at least three amazing tracks and I picked this one for this list. He also sings it along with Priya Mali. At times, I was reminded of the great SP Balasubrahmanyam when Krishh delivered his vocals. This is an amazing trend in Tamil now with composers spending time to make devotional albums and I hope it catches on after what we saw Ghibran achieve with his spiritual series. The Veena and flute and mridangam make a great concoction and one must really shower all the credit on Krishh for the arrangements. Priya Mali is exceptional in her singing and the Veena is played by Veena Gayatri Raj, while the delightful flute interludes are by A. Satish. Ve. Madhankumar is the lyricist responsible for these amazing words praising Lord Muruga.

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Thamizhan Endru Sollada

You can like Imman the composer for various reasons and cherish his music, but one thing I absolutely appreciate is his ability to pick singers who have never sung before. There are more than a handful of examples to prove that and here he introduces Lavanya Sundararaman who is the great granddaughter of the legendary DK Pattammal. The song starts off with her aalap in the calming raagam sindhubhairavi, and the track shifts gears into something peppier with Imman himself in the vocal role. The song's male lead voice is that of composer Anirudh who relishes and excels at singing these days. Madhan Karky is the lyricist for this track which lavishes praise on Tamil the language and its history and culture. The song also has influences of Thodi and Panthuvarali raagam.

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Venmaniye

4 Musics, the Kochi-based four-member band has made its mark with many hits in Malayalam and here, they compose an independent track in Tamil sung by this talented Kid Aadil Anzar from Ireland. He performs so well with unbelievable poise and the track is set in the raagam, Saranga. The beautiful flute interlude is played by the exponent Rajesh Chethala and the programming is done by Sreehari K Nair who composed music for the movie "Maniyarayile Ashokan" and created magical tracks last month. The track has a wonderful stanza as well furthering the melody created in the opening lines.

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