743 is due to "Gomzy effect" :D On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 8:21 PM, Gopal Srinivasan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> http://www.aspisdrift.com/2008/06/music-of-jaane-tu-ya-jaane-na.html > > The Music of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na On Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, A. R. Rahman > tries meticulously to reconstruct his reputation as a mainstream music > composer. He continues to reach for the stars but ends up walking on > clouds here. Yet he leaves us with a densely interesting soundtrack. > > Rahman > eschews youthful exuberance here, instead putting together a vibe of > laid back young romance. He picks singers with thinner voices that can > convey youth, gives them simple melodies but makes them work hard. And > to be fair, he works just as hard with them. > > Rahman gives Kabhi Kabhi Aditi to Rashid Ali, > a singer with a fluid voice that can hold most of its sweetness at high > notes. But it comes at a price - Rashid has a tendency to go nasal and > jiggle his notes ever so slightly. > > Fortunately Rashid is good with the guitar - creating a delightful > little tune with pulled string notes to power the song. Probably > because Hindi isn't Rashid or Rahman's first language, they have a > funky way of breaking up a phrase or compressing words. And this allows > them to give the tune an exoticness - the song sounds peppy and different. > > Rashid's voice is clear enough that Rahman wisely uses only an amped > down scattered bass line in the song. Around the second verse, he > throws in a gorgeous flute - it instantly transforms the song and gives > it a wistful mojo. > > Rahman unveils another singer - Runa Rizvi - on Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai, > a song where he mixes the melancholy of a strummed mandolin with the > restlessness of repeated triplets on a keyboard to give the song a > nifty unease. Like Rashid before her, Rahman makes Runa's lungs work > hard (despite the benefit of a couple of takes). Runa's voice has a > relaxed stillness that plays well in this track. > > Her > song has a companion piece - where the male lead now works out his > feelings for his friend. Rahman hires one of his old favorites Sukhwinder > Singh, fast becoming one of India's leading vocal lights. Its the third > outstanding composition of the CD and Rahman blends a thick flute with > keyboards against a > backdrop of stabbing violins to start the song. He knows he's on to > something special because he takes his time - Sukhwinder doesn't open > his mouth until nearly a minute and a half have gone by. > > Both Rahman and Sukhwinder exercise notable restraint. Rahman creates > underwhelming, winding, operatic tunes to propel the song and > Sukhwinder carefully holds his voice back and lets it simmer. > > There is more fun stuff on the album if you care to explore. In the song > marred by a rather foolish controversy, Pappu Can't Dance, > Rahman employs a host of singers to create the only truly uptempo track > on the CD. There's a nonsense Hindi rhyme, an island rap and all kinds > of sonic bells and whistles thrown into this track. Rahman uses his > singers in interesting ways - its worth listening to if you thought > Rahman couldn't be silly and have some fun. > > There are two larger observations I would like to share. > > Thoughtful as Rahman is about his compositions and careful as he is to not > buckle under his own musical weight, I get the feeling he often plays it too > safe. On the Rat Pack influenced, you me are chalk and cheese rumination, Tu > Bole Main Boloon, > Rahman (who assumes vocal duties) uses a piano, cello and trumpets. But > in a musical genre ripe with fusion possibilities, its a tragedy Rahman > doesn't throw in a sitar or a shehnai or something else that might have > sounded good to him. > > Second, lyrics for these kind of songs are hard to write because the > situations are so rote. There's the falling in love song, the > discovering love song and the crazy in love song. But Abbas Tyrewala > (Munnabhai, Main Hoon Na) > does a fine job arranging well worn phrases in interesting ways. He > shrewdly inserts the words in the movie's title in multiple songs. He's > positively terrific on Kahin To which is reflective of what he's trying to > do here - write for a character rather than a situation. > > >
