Just Jo

I have never read such a sharp, spot-on critic review in the recent times. Here is Sadanand Menon’s take on A R Rahman’s Commonwealth anthem, published in Outlook (reproducing it in full here).

RAHMAN’S ‘ANTHEM’ ADHYAAY

By Sadanand Menon

Anthems are devised to make your spirit soar. When they crash-land, they can also leave you sore. For some time now A.R.Rahman has been on song. This time the song is on him. His Jiyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto takes all of 4 minutes and 16 seconds to expose you to the perils of skydiving without a parachute. But then, this is the anthem for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and, like many other things connected with this year’s CWG, it is just another kind of cruel sport.

The idea of an anthem for sporting events is arguably to foreground a consistent theme as a focal point of the event and to unify the audiences with the adhesive of a familiar, infectious rhythm. In the present context of a Games mired in debilitating controversy and hint of sleaze, a rousing anthem could have been a talisman to unlock some positive energy.

But the present offering of India’s own Mozart, launched with much fanfare on August 23, has left even the Group of Ministers unhappy. That must be the ultimate ignominy – that aesthetic cynicism of such crass proportions can even affect the GoM. Though, one suspects, it was not so much the notations on the music sheet but the notations on the bill that did the damage.

Even as Oscar-hero Rahman was concatenating, at super-speed, his CWG jingle that jangles with some of the most pedestrian verses in recent times, he also fed into the computation a punchy figure of some Rs.1.37 crores for every minute of the song. Total, Rs.5.50 crores.

In 2006, for the inaugural functions of the Frankfurt Book Fair where India was the ‘Guest of Honour Country’, a proposal by music composer Ilayaraja to present a Carnatic raga using a 120-piece Western philharmonic orchestra, was summarily rejected because of the price tag of Rs.95 lakhs attached to it. But times have changed.

The funny thing about Rahman’s Swagatham number this time is that after its recitative first part – with lines as stiff and strangulating as ‘Junoon se, kanoon se, maidaan maar lo’ – the second performative segment breaks into a beat that sounds like a rip-off of his own composition Ramta Jogi in the film Taal. Obviously Rahman is now famous enough to plagiarize himself and even charge us for it. But the obvious question that needs to be asked is why did he even try? Why did he not simply offer back the same Ramta Jogi(Playboy Ascetic) as the anthem for the Games? The song has all the right foot-tapping ingredients, including oblique references to playful charlatans that would have blended well with the CWG.

Of course, Rahman’s anthem cannot be disconnected with the overall plan for inaugural and closing ceremonies of the Games. The fancy committee for the inaugural events has for a few months now been grappling with the logistics of how to present India in this highly televised event. It is a committee in search of a spectacle. The spectacle of a fake, make-believe India populated with Bollywood dancers and swirling silks, crooning divas and simpering starlets. Last time around, they were thinking of making a sound-and-light show with ‘Om’.

It is an India that has no specific location on this planet and is far removed from not just the lives but even the fantasies of its people. This is an India that is the pet project of its robber-barons who are enabled, each time, to whisk away some more resources in the name of an abstract nation.

That the vulgar Rs.380 crore budget for the opening ceremonies could not set aside a few crores for a group of poets in different languages to write an appropriate song for the opening anthem tells its own story of gross disinterest even in the context of the indefensible. Instead we have some utterly filmy gibberish like:

Uthi re ab iraadon mein tapan / Chali re gori, chali ban tthan.

The lines, as much as the composition, are stolen from some other context. As we believe are the Games.

Poet Sivakumar Ambalappuzha had posted a few lines of poetry in his Facebook page and asked if anyone would compose a tune for it. I was just about to get to bed after recording my Onam song when I saw this message. His lines were so beautiful and the music had to flow. That’s how this short piece was born. I had a quickie 10 minutes long composing and recording session. The song is incomplete, it’s only a couple of lines and if Sivakumar wills, we will probably make this a complete song soon. Here it is anyways, for you to listen.

Song: Ariyaatheyennaal
Composer & singer: Joseph Thomas (Jo)
Lyrics: Sivakumar Ambalappuzha

Download the draft MP3 of Ariyaatheyennaal (987 KB)

So here comes another Onam! A time for all Malayalees to come home and celebrate the togetherness with family and friends, the colorful Pookkalams and yummy Sadyas. Here I wish all my Malayalee friends a happy and prosperous Onam. Let us not forget the inspiring myth behind this festival – of everyone in the place being happy and prosperous, of everyone being just and fair to each other.

ഓണാശംസകള്‍!

I chose this song because of the Onam spirit that this song has, right from the beginning of the song with “aaRppO… EeRRO!”, poo viLi and the rhythm of a boat song. I should thank my friend Sujay who first brought this song to my notice when we had to choose a song for the Onam competition in our office and then to Vishnu for providing me the track. The track is made of some loops and gets faster at places and I had to make do with it.

Album: Poothaalam
Composer: Kannan
Lyricist: Chitoor Gopi
Singer: M G Sreekumar

Download MP3 of “Vannallo Ponnonam” (4.25 MB)

It’s another Independence Day. Time to celebrate where we have come so far and to remind ourselves of the roads ahead.

Independence Day is quite often considered as a time to display our nationalistic fervor. We exhibit our nationalism by waving flags or raising flags, distributing sweets and wishing each other. We also exchange emails that say we should take pride in our country etcetera but I wonder if that is what it is all about – an exhibition.

I have asked this question myself – am I proud of my country? I am. I am proud of all the good things and good people we have here. But at the same time I am ashamed of all the bad things and bad people and a bad system that we have in this country. And I think patriotism is not about feeling superior or inferior to any other countries in this world. Plainly put, it is about belonging here.

But just because I feel that I belong no where else in the world but here, it doesn’t mean that I would ridicule any other Indian who doesn’t feel like belonging here and find that sense of belonging elsewhere. I wouldn’t call him/her unpatriotic. Because their feeling of being alienated in their own country pauses a question before ourselves. What is it that makes them feel that way, though they have lived all their lives in this same soil? What makes them feel India is worse for them and perhaps there is a better place in the world than India? What makes them feel that they are secondary citizens in their own country? What makes them feel that democracy and politics are a softened form of the old colonial system? These are the questions that we should ask ourselves and to our society. And it would open up our eyes to see the nation in a different light. Through others’ eyes, and see what went wrong and where. It’s a long process. Seeing it, identifying it, talking about it, getting others to engage with it, making a movement, pressuring authorities to do something about it and thus finally making the change – however small or big it is. In this long process, often people would call you names – “un-patriotic“, “pseudo-nationalist“, “pseudo-secularist“, “anti-development” and what not. Let none of that make you feel down. Keep working your way.

I have high hopes for my country even through all the idiocy and the hopelessness it gives me at times. I think many things have changed for good from the way it was several years ago, thanks to the continued efforts of change makers from grass-root level. I am sure things will continue to improve as many selfless people work towards it even when they are being ridiculed by their fellow countrymen. And I don’t feel inferior of my country when I compare the situation here with other countries that have a more liberal, inclusive and better system in place. Because it did not happen for them on one fine day. It took many brave souls and a long process there too, perhaps the time they took for such changes was shorter.

So here is my humble tribute to those martyrs. To those who were shot at for speaking against the oppressors. Those who were jailed. Those who were beaten or hanged for voicing out. And to those freedom fighters of our times. Many of them, unknown to us. Those who work on to make India a better and better place. Those who work on several issues – dalit, tribal/adivasis, marginalized and economically backward communities, women, sexual minorities, health care, domestic violence, political violence, terrorism, religious extremism, justice, corporate crimes, environment and so on.

To all those brave souls, I dedicate my song…

Song: Vande Mataram 2010
Composed, lead & harmony vocals by: Joseph Thomas (Jo)

Download “Vande Mataram 2010″ MP3 file here (3.58 MB)

You know this ain’t big news for an established professional singer, but for a small time singer/music blogger like me, this is big news. My cover version of the popular Malayalam song, Picha Vacha Naal Muthal (composed by Deepak Dev and originally sung by Shankar Mahadevan for the Malayalam movie “Puthiya Mukham“) has crossed 10000 online plays and 3155 mp3 downloads within 11 months (Muziboo and 4shared combined).

I want to take this moment to thank you one and all, for your continued support, criticism and encouragement to my music and singing. It will keep me going on. I know it has been a long time since I have recorded/posted something here. The reason is that I caught up with my professional and personal work and then my microphone is not working! I promise to post something as soon as I get it fixed.

And here is the song:

I had an opportunity recently to check out the Ovi Music Unlimited service which comes bundled with the Nokia phones such as X6, 5235 and 5130. I tried the service on a 5235.

One of the best features about the Nokia-Ovi service is that you get to download as many music tracks as you want from a collection of upto 4 million songs that Ovi has to offer you. And that is for 12 months. You do not have to pay anything, you just need a code (that would be SMSed to you when you activate your newly purchased Nokia Ovi device) that would activate your account. You can keep all the tracks you download, even after your subscription period of 1 year ends. There are certain digitial restrictions though – you can download or play the songs only in your Nokia-Ovi device and your PC that is registered with the service.

The best part is that you get all your music at one place and it is:

• Free, legal and easy to use.
• Your download history is saved, so you can recover anything from your new music library for up to three years after your subscription ends.
• And because Ovi Music Unlimited is legal, you know that the artists you love are making money for the music they make.

The installation process was easy. I just had to install the software that came bundled with the Nokia 5235 (and I updated it online to the latest version). With a one-click account activation process in the software, I could begin downloading the tracks. The Ovi Player has a simple interface that makes it easier to navigate through, as easy as browsing a website. Their categorization of the tracks are also easy to navigate through. I have read in other reviews that the software takes a lot of resources compared to iTunes. Even though I would agree to the comparison with iTunes in system resource utilization, I must say it is still better than Microsoft’s Zune software. You can do pretty much everything in Ovi Player that you do with the softwares like iTunes or Zune (importing existing songs from your machine to Ovi player, creating playlists, audio equalizer etc). Except that you don’t have to pay a penny to download a music track from their collection.

They have a wide variety of categories and songs – from Western to Indian Classical, Pop to Rock, Filmy to Album songs etc. And they have many latest albums in each genre to download. The Top 20 charts helps you give a headstart to the latest hit numbers and the charts listed as Bollywood Top 20, International Top 20, South Top 20 and Non-film Top 20. The playlists include special packages like Micheal Jackson special, Lucky Ali special, S P Balasubramanyam special etc. Another unique feature about their listing is “Audio Films“, which is an audio narrative of popular films with original sound bits from the movie. So in 30 minutes you get to enjoy the audio version of a movie. But the problem is, you have only Hindi films listed there.

The tracks are properly tagged, comes in WMA format and in 192 KBPS which provides a good audo quality.

One issue that I have noticed in the whole package is their regional coverage. The South Top 20 chart totally ignores Malayalam language. And the Malayalam language section doesn’t have the latest up-to-date releases whereas Hindi has the most up-to-date versions compared to the regional languages.

For the music enthusiasts who use mobile phones to have music-on-the-go (or just your PC to play music at work or home), I would suggest you go for an Ovi Music supported device, the prime reason being that you get to download a vast collection of music tracks for an entire year. But if you already own an iPod or Zune, have experienced the audio quality of those two devices and carry them for music-on-the-go, you may want to think twice. I heard the songs with the ear plugs of Nokia 5235, but regardless of the presets and custom settings of equalizer, there is excessive bass in the audio. And I really hate the ear plugs as it leaves my ears with pain. So the listening experience of Ovi Music tracks with a Nokia device is not any closer compared to the devices like iPod or Zune (I like my Zune better than my iPod, and it’s audio quality with their earphones is amazing). Plus, you cannot use the tracks you download from Ovi Player with any other devices. But still, it is better compared to other popular music phones in the market. And like I said, this is a perfect solution for those who are addicted to listening to music on their mobile phones.

One of the good things that the weekend train journeys in the evenings has given me is the opportunity to read books. Even though restarting the old habit of reading books was in some of my new year resolutions, it never worked (resolutions are made to be broken, you know! ). But this time, it gives a lot of time to hear music and read books. So this year I have read the most number of books, compared to the recent past.

Title: Super Freakonomics
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs. 299 (in Flipkart)

I usually would get turned off by anything that has the word “economics” in it. But sometimes back a couple of friends at work had told me that there is this super book called Freakonomics and it presents the fun side of economics and statistics. They did quote some stories from the book and it was so interesting. So when I got a chance last month, I bought this second version “Super Freakonomics” and I absolutely loved it! I never knew that economics could be fun and it could be used to draw some stunning statistics of life and we would be left wiser towards the end. Some of the chapter titles itself would add to your curiosity – “Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?“, “What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have in Common?“, “Fix is in – and it’s Cheap and Simple” etc. The most interesting chapters are the ones about Global Warming and the study on our apathy and altruism. And there are other things that gives us some insight, like how TV (yeah, that thing we call idiot box) has made what the numerous plans and incentives by Government of India couldn’t make happen – Family planning! And there is a blow to the pride of Indian men too – that the reason that condoms do not work best here in India is that it was made as per WHO standards – in other words, it means, Indian men have smaller dicks compared to international standards.   The book, as the authors claim, is not written based on the emotions and sentiments but rather on data and statistics. You could argue that there are “Lies, Damned lies and Statistics“, but you cannot ignore the data they present at least from a learning perspective.

Album: Fitoor
Singer: Mohit Chauhan
Label: Universal Music

You know what? I love this man’s voice, right from the days of Silk Route. And while I was mourning the absence of Silk Route came his voice in the movies. There is something magical and so soothing in his voice. I am talking about none other than Mohit Chauhan. Now comes his single debut album called Fitoor. And its totally rocking!

The team who worked behind the album consists of the former Silk Route drummer Kenny and the Parikrama guitarist Saurabh. The first track, Fitoor,  itself will take you completely on to it. The rock flavor of the song works out really well. The song Sajna has kind of a folk-rock feel. You would feel like you just gotten back to the good old days of Silk Route when you hear this song. Next one, Musafir, is a love ballad but I feel that music is over done in the background (it sounds so crowded). Would have been better with a less crowded arrangement. You cannot resist Mohit’s voice in this one anyways. Uff Yeh Nazara is a nice song particularly for the lead and bass guitars it used. Perhaps the most simple and soothing track of the album is Meri Tarah and with that mouth organ and accoustic guitar tones, it reminds you of the good old days of Silk Route. Mai Ni Meriye is a folk song with the Silk Route mark on it. Sway your heads along as you listen to this one. Or just fall asleep listening to this as this song is so soothing. Jeene De starts with that oh-so-you-wanted to hear voice of Mohit. He doesn’t cease to amaze you how he uses his voice to get you mesmerized.

To summarize, this album is very much worth of your money. Go ahead and buy it and if you loved Mohit’s voice in the films or if you have loved the band Silk Route, this album is a must have.

And here is the title track from the album:

Tear down the mosques, tear down the mandirs
Tear down whatever can be brought down
But don’t break anyone’s heart
For God resides there…

If music is not what gives you pure bliss, then what is?
(Do not miss to read the subtitles when you watch the video)

(Thank you, Jana Yedar)

It comes as a big shock to hear that the prominent music director Sri. M G Radhakrishnan sir has now gone to join the heavens. He left this world at around 1:45 PM today. He was 69 years old and was in the hospital. Needless to say, a big loss for those who love music.

I was fortunate to have been blessed by him, to spend some time with him and to sing for him once. It was all started when I posted my cover version of his song, Nilaavinte Neelabhasma, in my music blog. And when I saw the below comment in the name of MGR to that blog post, I thought it was some friends playing prank. The comment was:

I heard your song “Nilavinte Neelabhasma”. My daughter sent me this link. You have a nice voice and a good rendering. Bless you, my son.

He had also left his full address and phone number. So I thought I would call and see which friend was behind this. But to my surprise, MGR’s driver took the phone and later I could talk to Pappechi, his wife, and then to MGR himself. Later on, after I joined Envestnet, I went to meet MGR at his house in Trivandrum. He made me sing Nilaavinte Neelabhasma again, pointed out a couple of mistakes and said my voice would need more polishing to become a professional singer. He mentioned it doesn’t matter if you sing Varnams or Krithis or if you have learned music for x years. He said if you can sing the 7 swarams properly, that is more important and the daily practise of basic swarams is essential. He blessed me, said there were many great people who started with his blessings and later became famous in the field of music. He jokingly said that I would forget the whole meeting incident when I become famous.

I met him again after a couple of months in East Coast studios in Sasthamangalam. He had invited me to sing a track song for one of his music albums. I sang one track for G Venugopal, who was also present there to sing for the movie Pakal, which was composed by M G Radhakrishnan. There were some great people in the room then – poet Sugathakumari’s daughter Lakshmi, singer G Venugopal and lyricist late Gireesh Puthenchery. MGR introduced me to Gireesh Puthenchery and said, “my wife is his biggest fan“, which I consider as the greatest compliment I have ever received. I stood there spellbound, being in the presence of some great souls. MGR made me sing the song again in the presence of Gireesh Puthenchery. Puthenchery also shared some of the old memories, from the days he met M G Radhakrishnan first.

Believe it or not, I was thinking just yesterday that I should visit him and Pappechi because it has been a long time since I met them last time. And then comes this news…

My heart goes out to his family. Especially his wife Padmaja Radhakrishnan, whom we fondly call Pappechi and his daughter Karthika (who introduced my song to him). May God give them the strength to survive these difficult moments.

My cover versions of MGR songs:

Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (unplugged) – On which MGR commented
Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (with track)
Thira Nurayum
Poomukha vaathilkkal
Ambalappuzhe

My favorite songs from M G Radhakrishnan:

Palavattam Pookkaalam / Varuvaanillaarum (Manichithrathaazhu)
Oru murai vanthu paarthaayaa (Manichithrathaazhu)
Nilaavinte Neelabhasma (Agnidevan)
Oru Poovithalin (Agnidevan)
Ambalappuzhe (Advaitham)
Surya Kireedam (Devaasuram)
Thira Nurayum (Ananthabhadram)
Njaattuvela kiliye (Midhunam)
Ethra pookkaalamini (Raakkuyilin Raaga sadassil)
Poomukha vaathilkkal (Raakkuyilin Raaga sadassil)
Oru dalam maathram (Jaalakam)
Naadhaa nee varum
Mouname Nirayum Mouname

(Image courtesy: Mathrubhumi.com)

See how effortlessly she is singing! No wonder how Shreya Ghoshal has made her way to where she is now.