WHAT'S HOT & WHAT'S NOT IN MUSIC/MOVIES

I love your suggestions;

However, what ever you have mentioned CANNOT be played on a mid-fi set up. Hi-Fi you can forget.
The recordings are so bad, you will kill yourself.

These Indian Movis Sound Tracks can only be heard on Low-Fi set up + Boomboxes + Ipods + Computer Speakers and the likes.

If you have a half descent set up at home [audio] it will shread the recordings & it will be a very very poor experiance.

The only OST I liked was from Lagaan. That used to be one of my 'reference CD's' for hindi music. Track 3 - Radha Kaise Na Jale"
Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Performed by Asha Bhosle, Udit Narayan, Vaishali and chorus

& Track 7 - "O Palanhaare"
Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan and chorus

But over all, it has been a 'poor experiance'
Sorry !

BHAGWAN

Hi !

Omkara - heard a couple of times - wasn't very impressed
Don - I bought the old & the new movie - comparision was interesting but that's all
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - good music & good recording especially the title track (and especially when compard to its inspiration from "chalte Chalte")
Fanaah - quite good

I generally like A R Rahaman music & his recordings. And BHagwan you should hear some of these to review your opinion - Kishna, Taal, Swadesh, Zubeida, Dil Se, etc.

Regards

Sanjay

I agree with doc.

AR Rehman's music and recordings are really commendable.

I have listened to Dil Se a couple of times myself. And u just get mesmrized by the complete setup of vocals & orchestation.

By the way doc when we met at Mr. Viren's place he spoke about layering in rehman's music - what was that ??? could you put some light on it or may be Mr. Viren could put in some of his thought's on it.

Mr. Viren u should also share about ur favourite music - Jazz. which is ur favourite one ???

SDhawan schrieb:

Hi ! And BHagwan you should hear some of these to review your opinion - Kishna, Taal, Swadesh, Zubeida, Dil Se, etc. Regards Sanjay

Sir, musically they are great; no denying it.
The problem I have with them is that the final 'mix down' is done to be played on a 'boom box'. That is where things start to go drastically wrong.

You see, if you listen carefully, the table will be 'panned' from end to end. one speaker will play each part of the table i.e. Tabla & Dhagga [sorry for the spelling'.

The same problem I Have with Indian Classical Music. great performances, very very poorly recorded. The Sarangi stretches from left speaker to right speaker.

Bhagwan

P.S. Stick to playing these recordings on headphones & boom boxes & poor audio set ups in cars. You will be very very happy person, at least I am. Never do I play any of my wife's CD's on my main set up. I have given her a seperate set up - HT - where she plays all her 'Silsala' 'Black Mail' - Kishore Kumar tracks etc. etc.

SUNILYO schrieb:

I By the way doc when we met at Mr. Viren's place he spoke about layering in rehman's music - what was that ??? could you put some light on it ???

This is a 'holographic' representation of the ensemble.

Let me try to explain this to you for Indian Classical Music first, then we will get to the western part of things.

Let us assume that we are listening to a 'jugalbandi' between 2 maestros. e.g. A Meeting by the River - Waterlilly Acoustics - Ry Cooder, V.M. Bhatt — A Meeting by the River — American guitar legend Ry Cooder teams with Hindustani guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt to create an exotic musical realm. Ry’s bottleneck guitar and Bhatt’s mohan vina evoke musical elements from many cultures and styles. Percussion by Sukhvindar Singh on tabla and Joachim Cooder on dumbek.
(WLA-CS-29-CD) http://www.waterlilyacoustics.com/main.htm

Now in this recording, people sit in different positions and some are in front, some and behind, some are more to the left & some are centered.

When you play this CD back on your set up, you should not only get the tone of the instruments right, the size of each instrument should be correct too. Also the dept perspective should be 'real' & every participant should play within their own space.

Will write more later. This is getting too long.

BHAGWAN

Yes Bhagwan !

I agree that these are not audiophile recordings. As you rightly said they are recorded for playback on mass market equipment (a dignified phrase for boom-box) - so the dynamics are compressed, bass & treble levels are exaggerated, and the quality of CD writing isn't great either. But let's be fair to them - I'm comparing A R Rahman's recordings to the rest in the Indian music industry (and not with Chesky Records, Decca, Deutsch, etc.)

Some of the other recent productions have been good too e.g., Dil Chahta Hai, Maachis, etc. Coming from T-series Dil Chahta Hai actually needs to be commended. And some of the old recordings surpised me too - movies Sagar, Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak, etc.

Now here's an appeal to Indian Recording Industry - we would love to have audiophile grade recordings of good music, may be even in SACD or DVD-A formats. We won't mind paying that extra buck (in any case our wives are unhappy with us).

What do you guys say?

BTW Bhagwan I have been desparately hunting for this album "Meeting by the River" - Ry Cooder & PVM Bhatt - couldn't find anywhere in Delhi. Any ideas where I could find it?

Regards

Sanjay

Doc,
I bought Dil chahta Hai very recently...unfortunately the recording was poor (T-Series)...far poor than QSQT, Swades and few others which are also recorded on T-series...I guess they have de-graded the quality of DCH from the time of ots release and now..
Somehow I find Tips and sony Music to be more consistent on SQ.

Yes Abhi,

Quality issues are there with almost all Indian recording companies. I bought Bombay Dreams from Sony and the quality is far from desireable. Dil Chahta Hai - the sound & recording quality is good but the CD writing quality is average.

Regards

Sanjay

Just got my hands on another A.R Rehman recording...YUVA...
Wooofs........really blwn away by the music. Thank God the recording was decent too (Venus). What a heavy dose of Acoustic instuments thrown in !!!! Mainly the percussion. Frankly when I heard them on T.V, they were just ok to my ears ..but now when I listened to it on my audio system they are 100 times better. I just loved the music all throughout. I didnt know there were so many instruments thrown in..Double Bass, Acoustic Piano and all those...all well pronounced.
It was more of a performance to me than just songs
Only the last track (Fanaa) was somewhat average...

Abhi & doc:

Thanks for recommending music which you guys have come across and really liked and also for bringing out the pros and cons in them.

I would request all the other forum members who are reading this thread to give there experiences too and recommend what you have really liked.

I know the quality of recordings is not upto the mark but exceptions are always there. It is those exceptional recordings which i would like everyone to suggest to others which they should give a listen and maybe buy them in ORIGINAL as per their tastes.

and for all those unexceptional recordings we can always have them in the mp3 form.

So bhagwan69 ji i'm sure u also must have come across some good recordings no matter if its hindi, english, jazz, techno, classical....

Hi,

I was going thru one the download sites and i came across the DTS-ES version of Rang De basanti and Fanaa songs.

So question here i would like to ask is :

a) has the indian music industry (bollywood) started releasing its music in surround sound.
b) if yes where can i find these and what is difference in cost.

Doc:
u must be having some experience with surround music any idea where in delhi can i get them. I tried planetm in gurgaon, these guys dont stock. I will have to check their outlet at south ex or may music world in ansal plaza (man i think this the biggest outlet of music/video in Delhi)

Hi Sunil,

The soundtrack in the movie DVD is encoded in 5.1 format. There is no separate multichannel audio CD or DVD for Hindi movies as yet.

Some of the good music stores in South Delhi are:
-Music World, Ansal Plaza
-Planet M, South Extn.-II
-Planet-M, Saket
-The Music Shop, Khan Market
-Mercury Audio, Khan Market

Regards

Sanjay

There was a shop named Music Land in PVR Saket complex. That had decent collection. What happened to that?

Yes,some movie songs are available in DTS[original release].Tamil movie 'Annyan',the songs were released[no video,only audio]was released in dts[no ES].i hav it.it costed around Rs200+ .Its not a DVD.its a CD-rom with dts encoded tracks..just 6 songs.Also another Tamil movie,BOYS ,was also released in dts.
No idea about availablity of hindi songs in such format.

SDhawan schrieb:

Yes Bhagwan ! I agree that these are not audiophile recordings. As you rightly said they are recorded for playback on mass market equipment (a dignified phrase for boom-box) - so the dynamics are compressed, bass & treble levels are exaggerated, and the quality of CD writing isn't great either. But let's be fair to them - I'm comparing A R Rahman's recordings to the rest in the Indian music industry (and not with Chesky Records, Decca, Deutsch, etc.) Some of the other recent productions have been good too e.g., Dil Chahta Hai, Maachis, etc. Coming from T-series Dil Chahta Hai actually needs to be commended. And some of the old recordings surpised me too - movies Sagar, Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak, etc. Now here's an appeal to Indian Recording Industry - we would love to have audiophile grade recordings of good music, may be even in SACD or DVD-A formats. We won't mind paying that extra buck (in any case our wives are unhappy with us). What do you guys say? BTW Bhagwan I have been desparately hunting for this album "Meeting by the River" - Ry Cooder & PVM Bhatt - couldn't find anywhere in Delhi. Any ideas where I could find it? Regards Sanjay

Dear Sanjay,
Meeting by the river used to be available in Rhythm House in Mumbai a while back.

You could also try Amazon.com

Cheers
K

Thanks Krish !

Amazon.com seems to be the only hope, and that's exactly where I turn to, for rare books, CDs & DVDs.

Sanjay

Hi !

I had gone to Nepal some 3 months ago and bought some CDs from there @ Nepali Rs 200 each (about INR 125). Although the jackets & cover prints look shabby but the sound quality is amazing.

Regards

Sanjay

just got the soundtrack of WATER ,
quite nice-

and the blow para is from wiki

The music in the film was composed by A. R. Rahman and Mychael Danna. The songs were composed by A. R. Rahman whilst the background score was composed by Mychael Danna. A.R.Rahman has rated this as his only album which he would give a 10/10. The album has 20 songs in total, 16 Instrumental pieces by Mychael Danna and 4 Hindi songs composed by A.R. Rahman with lyrics by Sukhwinder Singh [5] . The soundtrack was released by international label, Varèse Sarabande. Due to some problems with this movie in India, the Audio CD clearly states that the CD is not to be sold in India and Pakistan.

hi,

Yesterday was listening to the album - SAAGAR from the artist - FUZON (i think they are a pakistani band).

Nice music. Lyrics have a folk touch and music is a fusion of rock and folk.

Should listen to tracks especially - tere bina & more saiyaan.



Review by the The hindu on this album:
Saagar (Virgin Records; CD; Rs. 199, Cassette; Rs. 65) features 12 tracks, each reflecting something unique in the music, with a common strain of rock melodies blended with Indian Classical and folk vocals. Though not the opening track, Akhiyaan has been doing the rounds along the FM stations of the country.

The energetic and infectious track that begins with a folk vocal rendering picks up tempo along with some impressive guitar works towards the end, and by that time, you feel like hearing it all over again. Jhoom Jhoom would probably be the most energetic fusion track in recent times. A very high pitch and spirited track talking about rain and happiness, it sort of elevates joy and energises the listener.

Aankhon Ke Sagar has a terrific melody — soothing and energising at the same time. The guitar mix of this track is impressive too. Naadanian and Pyar Na Raha speak of love, and are comparatively slower, but the melodies tend to stay in your mind (and on your lips) for a long time.

The superior vocal quality of Shafquat, and guitar works of Shallum do wonders to the music. In a poll among vocalists of recent bands, one wouldn't be surprised if Shafquat takes the cake.

During these days of musical malnutrition in Indipop, impressive bands like Fuzon provide solace — and hopefully inspire a few Indian bands as well. As they say, music knows no boundaries.


regards - Sunil

check the new enigma album,
"A Posteriori"
soem of the numbers are quite nice..
nice compositions..
and a logical advancement to their earlier work..

Hi !

I have two albums from Enigma:

1. MCMXC a.D. (Limited Edition)
2. LSD

I found the first one better and after a certain point Enigma gets a little monotonous

I have a recommendation here:

-Tibetan Incantations (The meditative sound of buddhist chants) - Cding International, Nepal

I discovered it at Dharamsala / Mcleodganj about 5 years ago. And I am yet to see anyone who has not liked it on hearing it even the very first time.

I find it really enchanting.

Regards

Sanjay

I have been trying to pick up CD's of some of my all time favourite albums,which I had previously either as LPs or cassettes.
The ones which I have bought so far are;
1.Thumris by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali
2.Meera Bhajans by MS Subbulakshmi
3.The Unforgettables by Jagjit&Chitra
4.Shiv Kumar Batalvi-Birha da Sultan by Jagjit&Chitra
Am trying to get hold of "music for an Arabian Night"
by Ron Goodwin& Orchestra;not available in any of the big delhi stores-any suggestions by forum members.
These albums still have the power to move me even after listening to them all these years, esp Meera Bhajans-MS can still bring tears to your eyes.
Dr Sanjay, since you are obviously a punjabi, do listen to the Shiv Kumar Batalvi album, in case you have'nt already done so.
I think it would be nice if we were to post our lists of all time favourites(mine is obviously not complete, but this post has become too long!

Hi Kamal !

I have heard "Surdas Bhajans" by M S Subalaxmi. I'll try Meera Bhajans, too. I will also try Shiv Kumar Batalvi.

I have a 5 CD collection - 50 Glorious Years of Indian Classical Music - which covers many good artists & music.

Did you try Music World, Ansal Plaza & Planet-M, PVR Saket for "Music for an Arabian Night"? These store have recently received a good stock of imported CDs. I have managed to lay my hands on some great western classical music & some Police SACDs.

I have a very varied & wierd choice of music ranging from Indian Classical to Western Classical to Hard Rock to Ghazals to Hindi Film Music. And I am just about begining to develop a taste for Jazz & opera.

I believe good music is not bound by classification or genres

Regards

Sanjay

SDhawan schrieb:

"Music for an Arabian Night" Sanjay

I have this album. And you will find at least 3 Hindi film songs those are based on the tracks in this CD.

Hi !

Plagiarisation is an age-old tradition in India. There are a lot of old hindhi songs too which are based on western music e.g., Mozart, Beatles, Demis Russos, etc.

Regards

Sanjay

Hi Suhas,
Do you have "arabian Nights" in CD form-I have it as a cassette by HMV -as usual, they appear to have just recorded it from an old LP; you can hear the ticks & pops and the tracking error becomes evident in the later tracks.
If you have the CD, where did you pick it up from-I have tried Music shop, Khan Mkt(my favourite haunt, Chap called Raj over there is really a great guy, very helpful),PlanetM, Music world, Adarsh stores, Indian oil Bldg-no success.
Dr Sanjay ,I too have an extremely varied taste & collection.
Lets compare notes some day....