My take on Raavan music

After listening to the album at least 10 times now (in one day) I would say
Beera 9.5, Behne de 9.3, Kata Kata 8.8, Khili Re 8.2, Ranjha Ranjha 8.0, Thok de Killi 6.0

As of today Beera tops the album, but there maybe days or moments when I think Behne de will be a shade above it. Both of them are gems!! Its a pity Beera is only about three minutes..... but I am guessing (rather hoping) that it will be kind of the background song that plays at intervals in the movie situationally so that by the end of the movie it is topmost on your mind (like Omkara from Omkara :P ) (I have also heard that this song is sung by ARR himself in the Tamil version.....can't wait!!). The intro music in Behne de is heavenly, a really really fabulous song.
Kata kata is a lovely and fun song, I like the teasing feel in it. Though Rahul may be right in saying that it was composed in Tamil first; we can only wait and see. These three are definitely going feature regularly in my mixed playlist.
Khili Re is a nice, sweet, melodious song; but I feel it needs a bit more "growing" :P as does Ranjha Ranjha.
The beginning of Ranjha Ranjha was very good, but the rest of the song (in my opinion) did not match up to that and I need to get that out of my mind before I really form an opinion on this one....working on it ;). Also, I think in this case the visuals will definitely help me.
Thok de killi is worth listening only for the interlude music, the song per se does not work at all. One of those situational songs I guess which will sound ok on screen, but will definitely not stay on my playlist.
Overall, a nice album, but did not rise as high as were the expectations....but then again, it is ARR/Mani ratnam/Gulzar that we are talking of.

The CD cover of the album, however, is unimpressive compared to the fabulous movie posters. The one for the hindi album definitely looks like it is from a horror movie :P the color tones, the expressions on both Aishwarya's and Abhishek's faces do not hit any chord. The one for the tamil version is still better. Looking forward to it too as well as the movie (which seems a bit far still) :)

Forgotten tune........

Was listening to some albums from Rahul's ARR-Tamil collection today when for no reason at all I felt like listening to "Indian". I think because a few days back we were discussing the funny lyrics of the songs "telephone dhun" and "latka" in the hindi version that I felt like listening to them again. The tunes lingering uppermost in my mind were obviously the most famous ones...the above two and "maya machindra" :P :D
And then this song started playing in the list.....



I was totally caught by surprise!!!!! :)
and a nice one too...........

I had completely forgotten that this song belonged to this movie and such a wonderful one too.....!! I can't remember the last time I heard songs from this album and as is with most things they had buried themselves deep down somewhere in my brain. But maybe not quite..... for the first few seconds of the song "tandaa na re taaa naa re aananda-maye" (and ONLY that part) used to sometimes out of the blue re-surface in my mind subconsciously. I used to hum this and then try to remember where I had heard this music piece and not quite place it ..... perhaps in some music class? friend's recital? movie? couldn't place it.... and as stealthily as it used to re-surface, with equal discretion it used to go back in :)
As soon as this part played today I was like....oh WOW...this is THAT music!! and the moment the beats of the song started I was even more astounded.....it is THIS SONG!! how did I forget!! :D :D Loved listening to it again sooooo much today that rest songs were all forgotten.....play-repeat-play-repeat..... :D and here's the post :)
I don't catch properly the lyrics of any song that I hear the first time (also true for several other times too) and it is the music that catches my ear and what really plays in my mind when a song plays. It is perhaps for this reason that I sometimes like several songs which have completely useless/absurd lyrics but wonderful music (at least I find it nice :) ). Precisely for that reason I loved hearing this song today in its original form (don't know what it means :P) and not the hindi version (who's lyrics I have forgotten). The "feel" of the song is good....its great :)
Listening to it for the umpteenth time while writing this :)

Discovering the Tamil world of ARR :)

Well....being around an ardent fan of A R Rahman has its advantages :D
I enjoy both Hindi and English music.....and can say that my taste ranges from classical to fusion, pop, blues, rock, trance, country etc. "Music has no language" but I must say.....I have not ventured into listening of songs composed in a language other than these two very often and even if I do, and also like them, going back and listening to them repeatedly is only a temporary phase.....after a while they find a place in my playlist only occasionally; exception being some instrumental version of them or exceptionally likeable beats (in my personal opinion that is :P ). Time changes.... :D I can only say that I am glad that there is someone around me who has introduced me to a world of the LOVELY, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL songs :) I don't think I can add anything to the beauty of these songs by saying something....they speak for themselves! I have only just started to listen to a few of them...and hope that many more are in store.... :)