Music over the past one year

I have been on a musical exploration mode of late. Have explored so many Metal bands, tried my hands at Indian and Western Classical but of course nothing beats our very own Bollywood. Not very surprisingly A R Rahman ruled 2008 with one awesome album after another. But there were some nice surprises as well along the way.  So lets talk about some of my favourites over the past one year or so.

Jodha Akbar: Rahman started the year with a bang with Jodha Akbar. Favorite tracks would be In lamhon ke daman mein , Jash -E-bahara and Mann Mohana. Overall rating : 4/5

Tashan: Perhaps the most underrated album of 2008. I least expected to like this album but just a couple of listens and I was a fan of Vishal Shekhar. I thought the music perfectly suited the mood of the movie and every single song simply oozes attitude or ‘Tashan’. Except Chhaliya all other tracks had that very desi, rugged, Indian feel to them and felt very refreshing after listening to all those English infused Hindi tracks that we have become accustomed to. There is not even a single bad song in the entire album – Tashan mein, Dil Haara, Falak tak and one of the most innovative songs ever – Dil Dance Maare, they all rule. Rating : 4.5/5

Yuvvraj : Brilliant is all I can say though I think A R Rahman is trying a bit too hard to give his songs an epic feel. And no, unlike the popular tracks ‘Tu hi meri dost hai’ and ‘Tu muskara’ , my favourites were ‘Manmohini morey’ and ‘Zindagi'. Only downside - The album gets a bit too depressing at times :) Rating : 5/5

Rab Ne bana Di Jodi: I don’t know why I like this album so much. May be because it is has that simple and down to earth feel to it. It's no way pathbreaking and is  just a nice feel good album. But then as they say simplicity rules. Fav tracks : Dance pe chance, Tujhe mai rab dikhta hai.Rating: 4/5

Ghajini: Ok I did not like this album much on the very first listen but the songs grew on me with time especially the absolutely brilliant ‘Kaise mujhe'. I think A R Rehman was trying to experiment with his music especially if u listen to ‘Lattoo’ and ‘Aye Bachhu’. Top picks:Guzarish ( perhaps one of the best songs of the year), Kaise Mujhe. Rating: 4.5/5

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye: Desi music rules and this album proves it once more. Jugni is my favourite and one special mention I would like to give to ‘Tu raja ki raj dulari’ for the unique voice and feel. Thank god for people who dare to be different. Rating : 5/5

Slumdog Millionaire: What more can I say when A R Rehman has deservedly won golden globe and recently the Academy Award for this. But one thing I would like to mention is that ‘Jai Ho’ though being good is nowhere even close to the best Rahman has composed. In fact even from Slumdog I find ‘Mausam and Escape’ and ‘O Saaya’ to be much better. The best thing about the music is that it is devoid of sentimentality which Rahman seemed to be inclining towards a lot in his past few albums. Rating : 5/5

DevD : This was way off the charts. Not even all other hindi music albums combined can match the audacity, experimentation and sheer guts of this album. Amit Trivedi is one composer I definitely would be looking out for in near future. Variety is what defines the album : Rajasthani, Punjabi, Metal, Ballads you get it all. ‘Emosanal Atyachar’ has become such a rage but it would be my 2nd fav and that too the rock version. My top pick would be ‘Nayan Tarse’. But there r so many other must listen tracks : Saali Khushi, Pardesi, Duniya, Paayaliya, Hikknaal, and many more. Defintely Album of the year for me . Rating:10/5

Other notable mentions Fashion, Rock On , Jaane tu ya Jaane na and the recent Delhi-6.

Coming to English music Viva La Vida (Coldplay) and Death Magnetic (Metallica) were on top my playlists. I will talk about them in much more detail in my next post. And perhaps I would also like to talk about my views on metal as a genre and all the bands I have been exploring, both classic and new : Black Sabbath, Slipknot, Slayer, Iron maiden and many more.