This blog is centred on topics pertaining to Food, Astrology, Music, Sport, Stock Market Index and random ramblings.
I love exploring culinary food trails and like to give my unique perspective on diverse epicurean adventures. I am fascinated with the way universe works and hence inclination towards astrology. I adore good old school classical film music from bygone era. As for sports, I have a huge fetish for numbers and hooked on to it. And I enjoy tracking moves made by market indexes.
Certain compositions are pure love and this one gets cobbled, cuddled and coated with g(h)lee aplenty the way it strokes the senses with it's indefatigable melody lines. Such a simple sounding souffle soaked with staunch silver lining solitude igniting all evergreen epic love feels.
The charanam portion is the one that gets me intrigued every time as the flow suddenly enhances consisting chirpy phrases that strikes the center of the heart chord. These weaving melody lines act like a beautiful passage as it rolls down back to the pallavi in such a scintillating fashion. This is just a mild attempt at this wondrous classic trying at best to capture these saccharine sweetened vintage bits.
Revel in this rivulet of this reposeful rendezvous that's called Kanmani Anbodu!
This was one of the earliest tracks that completely baffled me especially with respect to usage of Bass. The bazooking harmony which goes in parallel with the main tune has some sort of magical tonic and has always left me in bewilderment with the cohesion effect of how everything unifies and creates a picturesque synergy. This again is just one among a bunch of tip of the iceberg creations that involve the bass component. Many of Raaja's vintage compositions sprinkle bass in profusion and though these tones more or less play a supporting role, they elevate the content of the main melody by a significant notch. They sound so rich simply stand alone and when combined with the song reaches proportions of enormity that emanates a feeling of ecstacy when listening to the number.
This particular song apart from the employment of the trademark bass, Janaki Amma also does an astute job touching all the right chords and traversing on a merry ride along the way. The soundtrack is studded with treasure in abundance and this song surprisingly is the underplayer. However in terms of class it well and truly deserves itself to be held in high esteem.
I attempted a portion of the song beginning from the Charanam portion and connecting back to the Pallavi. There are some lovely little phrases which are a bit difficult to render but just attempted whatever I could to the wee best of my ability. This is a small labour of love to the creaters of this masterpiece who both happen to celebrate their birthdays on the same day - Director Mani Ratnam and Musical Wizard Ilaiyaraaja.
Bass generally means sounds at a lower frequency. They act like a harmonizing effect to the main melody. In Raaja's case, the bass by itself sounds so rich and when combined with the song it reaches proportions of enormity. Raja's usage of Bass is unparalleled and his idea of composing bass is an experiment by itself. Let's take a look at some of his bass based bazooka bastions.
1) Devanin Koil Moodiya Neram - Aruvadai Naal
One of the first songs which pierced my heart with absolutely breathtaking Bass is Devanin Koil Moodiya Neram. The song opens up with some wonderful chanting by Maestro. When Chitra sings in her super sweet melodious voice, its hard not to notice the Bass seeping up in parallel from the other side and providing ample harmonic backing transcending the song to an all time high. Its a feeling of ecstasy listening to this composition. Bliss of the highest order!
2) Vaan Megam - Punnagai Mannan
Talking about Bass, its tough to look beyond this stunner! This is epitome of Bassness personified. The bass track by itself is mind boggling and goes twinkling along on its own merry way. I somehow feel Raja's bass in Rain songs is extra special and they sound like the nectar filled droplets. A hallmark song in Maestro's career. Every time you feel so refreshed and rejuvenated listening to this. A composition which makes you absolutely stupefied.
3) Dhegam Pon Dhegam - Anbulla Malare
A super hard hitting Bass Track. It happens to be a very rare song in an hitherto rare ragam Revagupti rendered absolutely masterfully by S Janaki with the bass beautifully complementing
and painting the perfect picture throughout the song. Enigmatic, Erotic & Enthralling!
4) Penmaane Sangeetham - Naan Sigappu Manidhan
Sometimes i wonder as to why he even writes a Bass track for these sweet sacharine Shankarabaranam kinda melodies like Penmaane Sangeetham? The song already sounds so melodious and you tend to think what else do you need and then you realize that you missed out on the lovely breezy Bass Guitar which goes by the side as S Janaki does the humming that is simply unimaginable. To even imagine that so much is packed in a mere 4 1/2 mins makes you truly wonder 'What this man is made of'.
5) Aala Asathum - Kanni Raasi
A classic in Chalnaatai, this one's a bombshell. Check out the finesse bass touches (surprising it includes a lot of Ma2 in the form of a bass chromatic which goes Ga2 Ma1 Ma2 Pa which does not form part of the Chalnaatai scale, but the result is wow). In the 1st interlude the Bass seems to act as the counterpoint partner to the main melody. A song which lifts your spirits and makes you go full throttle. Freeflowing freakoutness!
6) Chinna Chinna Vannakuyil - Mouna Ragam
This song from this evergreen movie simply has a superlative bass track. A song not very popular as the other tracks in this masterful album but the bass here is absolutely gob smacking stuff . Have always been fascinated by the Bass track making it have a special place in my heart.
7) Megam Kottatum - Enakkul Oruvan
The bazz bedazzles and makes you dance joyfully in the rain. The bass lines are a sheer delight and they flow in their own merry way. Awesomeness beyond Awesomeness. Enjoy the Pouring Rains with this bass beauty.
8) Kannan Vandhu - Rettai Vaal Kuruvi
You just cannot but not drooooolllll over this Bass Beauty. Simply Superb and lost for words.
9) Vaanile Thenile - Kaakhi Chattai
A Bass beauty, its just impossible not to tap your feet when listening to this one. Bass magic written all over the soul.
10) Anjali Anjali - Anjali
Anjali Anjali cannot be classified under one genre alone, its a spectacle in every way and is a song which is always addictive and I can listen to this riveting Shankarabaranam any moment any time of the day. There is some wonderful bass throughout the song and especially notice the portion from 01:53 to 01:59 where there is an absolutely breathtaking Bass played along the notes Pa Ga Ma Ri Ga Sa Pa Sa. Also there is a nice bass playing the notes Pa Ni Sa Ga (repeat twice) and then Pa Pa' Ri' Ni when the lyrics go Nadakum Nadakum. Can listen to this song a gazillion times and feel so ecstatic still listening to it the next time.
Whenever there is rain you feel a feeling of freshness and hearing Raja's songs raises your level of freshness, happiness and exuberance. In this series, I have handpicked 4 Raaja songs that are lilting with the rain drops dancing along adding to the excitement.
1) Song: Oh Oh Meham Film: Mouna Ragam Year:1986
This Maniratnam film sees a young girl (Revathi) and her college friends enjoying their youthful days and freaking out in the rain. Sung brilliantly by Janaki, this is an awesome composition. The prelude starts with a thrill of xylophone. Use of whistles and drums in the first interlude and the marriage of sorts between mouth organ and trumpet in the 2nd interlude makes for a fantastic composition. Enjoy the rain! Enjoy the brilliance!
2) Song:Vaan Megam Film:Punnagai Mannan Year:1986
The same girl (Revathi) whose zest and energy hasn't diminished goes full throttle in this song. Incidentally this song follows closely on the heels of Oh Oh Megam having released just a couple of months later after Mouna Ragam. The film happens to be a historic one for many reasons. It was the last movie of the Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu combo and the first movie of the trio of K Balachander-Ilayaraja-Kamal Hassan. One of Chitra's finest songs. Wonderful preludes and interludes. Hear the melody which goes side by side with the singing. Outstanding is not the right word to describe this composition. What is it? I'm still searching for an answer
Raja goes one notch higher with this song. Managed to hear this song only recently and instantly got hooked onto it. This is the intro song of another heroine Girija who again is seen dancing in the rain. Chitra is in her elements. The use of Trumpet in the 1st interlude and Harmonium&Flute in parallel in the 2nd interlude is simply superb. This is actually a Maniratnam telugu film by the name Geethanjali that got dubbed into Tamil.
This is a song in the rain between Lakshmi and Shivakumar. Janaki's voice especially the humming at the beginning and in the1st interlude is simply mesmerising. The bass guitar sounds like the raindrops and the flute in the 2nd Interlude is so soothing. A truly memorable song!
Talking about rain songs, it's very hard to ignore this pearler of a rain scorching number that dances along merrily through the bass infused rain drops. This one is as peppy as it gets and is an absolute riot. Perfect song to put on your dancing shoes and get soaked in the rain listening to the magnificent bass line that goes on a transcending channel on it's very own giving such a lilting effect.
