Recovery

I thought he was going down with Encore & had lost it with Relapse.

But boy he's back with a bang with this one! The rapping & rhymes on Not Afraid; Love The Way You Lie & No Love are outstanding! Can't stop listening.

Sennheiser MX 60 Street II

Had been wanting a pair of Sennheisers since the last year or so. But they were priced prohibitively expensively. Finally spotted one within budget last Saturday at Jayanagar 4th Block, thanks to Shanu.

They perform well, though not in the league of the better ones from Sony. And they're probably my 10th pair of earphones, courtesy Sony's exasperating insulation shredding problem. With the kind of money I've blown on them, I could've bought myself an iPod. But then, I ain't an audiophile for nothing.

Sonu's back?

Sonu Nigam has been one of my favorite playback singers ever since he came on the scene back in the late 90s. But ever since Mungaru Male became the monster hit it did, back in 2006, he almost gave up singing for Hindi films & seemed to have devoted himself full time to his Kannadiga fans.

His Bollywood credits since then have been few & far in between .... but have consequently stood out apart from the clutter. Last year, Soniyo from the Raaz sequel was one of the best songs of the year, and today I've got hold of the Main Aur Mrs. Khanna soundtrack, where he features on the bonafide hit track, Don't Say Alvida alongside the silky smooth Shreya Ghoshal. One of the best tracks for 2009, I'm sure. He should definitely be singing more often for Hindi movies.

Just hit 10,000 mp3s on the laptop, the contributing album being Ashley Tisdale's Guilty Pleasure.

Relapse

He's back. And I'm glad that he is.

Much Music

Came home this evening at the end of a tedious week & ahead of a long weekend (tomorrow, Friday, is Good Friday). Had thought of watching the cam print of Fast and Furious I'd downloaded, but couldn't get myself to (blame aXXo for having spoiled me).

Checked up on IndiaFMS on a lark. Since the tussle between Bollywood producers & multiplex wallahs began about a month back, new OST releases have ground to a halt. Today was no different. So checked up on the HipHop section .... and found Bohemia's latest release. Initial impressions are positive.

Had dinner.

Continued surfing around while running the Smokin' Aces climax scene in the background to hear the OST. Then thought of searching for that particular track cause it really stood out. Torrents weren't in plenty & the 1 torrent available had just 1 Canadian seeder (bless him/her) with the track that I wanted .... missing! Anyhow, kept searching, serendipity ensued & esnips came to the rescue. Finally found it. Much respect to Clint Mansell for his compositions.

It wasn't the end of finding cool stuff though. One of the links related to Clint that I looked up also had mention this film. And so I decided to check it out ..... and it turns out to be Johnny the Depp's upcoming release! Directed by Michael the Mann, no less! Must watch is a foregone conlusion for this movie.

The trailer has a cool background track towards the end with a very catchy Banjo track. It turned out to be Otis Taylor's 'Ten Million Slaves'. A new artist was thus discovered. I had to rip the track off off youtube though. And I'm not complaining.

So .... much music ..... what would my life be without it?

Ayan

Downloaded the movie's soundtrack partly because of Suresh's pestering & partly out of interest in Harris' latest work.

And I must say I'm not disappointed. This guy should compose for Hindi films too.

Delhi 6

What an album!

Habiba

Rediscovered Bappi Lahiri's 'Habiba'. This was the 1st ever Indian/Asian Electronica/House track that made it to the Billboard charts back in the late 80s. I had managed to wrangle a recording from Bunty back in the early 90s, I think, & it was one of the most played tapes in my precious collection back then.

It's memories came back to me somehow last Saturday while Arnie was packing for his US trip ..... & I immediately scoured the web - & found it. What joy hearing a long forgotten track brings ..... almost the same as chancing upon its elusive mp3 from cyberspace (long live coolgoose).

As for the track - my earlier recording was not too good - the mp3 is a crystal clear digital rendition with the full bass efffect - that still has the potential to blow the listener's socks off. It's been playing in a loop on the Walkman all this week. Now to get that car with the boombastic woofers to blast around in!

Dostana

Pretty good album. Vishal-Shekhar are on a roll. Love their beats & love the way they use Sunidhi's super voice.

And Pri Chops is looking hot here!

Karzzzz

I'll hand it to Himesh. The lyrics are cheeky; the hooks are repetitive; the remixes sound tired & his voice jars.

Still, this album will be one of the biggest hits this year. The songs have excellent hummability & recall value.

Sony Walkman NWZ-S616F

Because -

1. I wasn't happy with the Transcend's sound ....
2. .... and it's battery life
3. Always wanted a Sony
4. I'm crazy about music
5. Some things you just do

Kismat Konnection

With a name like that designed to woo the teenybopper crowd, one wouldn't expect too much from the music. But 1 or 2 listens is all it takes to start liking the tunes.

Shahid Kapoor & Pritam combine again, & the sounds seem eerily familiar to their last meeting, Jab We Met. And none more so than Mohit Chauhan's (& Shreya Ghoshal's) 'Is This Love?'. It's very likable though.

Sonu Nigaam (that's how he spells it now) returns with Soniye Ve featuring my favorite Sunidhi Chauhan. These 2 combine like nothing else & the song is a surefire foot-tapper. Even so, it reminds of 'Aaja Soniye' from Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.

Hard Kaur seems to have taken up full time residence in India lately. Her 'Move Your Body' from Johnny Gaddar was a super number to groove to, & she continues in the same fashion on (guess the title) 'Move Your Body' rapping it up with Shaan.

The rest of the tracks (including Bakhuda Tum Hi by Atif Aslam & Alka Yagnik - when was the last time she did playback and Aai Paapi(!) by Pritam regular Neeraj Shridhar) are okay too, but for the moment these 3 (& their remixes) are what I'm listening to.

Good job Pritam! Now tell us where you lifted the tracks from?

Now Playing

Kabhi Kabhi
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na O.S.T.
The 2 stand out tracks in an average A.R. Rehman job.

Chalte Chalte Phir - Jal
The sound is somewhat juvenile, but it works. Boond itself is a pretty good album, with tracks like Sajni standing out.

Nkalakatha - Mendoza
The language is probably Afrikans, but the bassline is very very catchy. FYI, this is the track they used in the Bajaj Avenger 'Feel like God' commercial.

Poets of the Fall's latest 'Revolution Roulette' and 50 Cent's 'Before I Self Destruct' do not have what I was looking for. Maybe I'm growing out of Hip Hop.

Tashan

Just got down to listening to it and the initial impression is that Vishal & Shekhar have once again rocked.

Swordfish - Paul Oakenfold

The best Trance I've heard in a long time.

Jannat

One of Pritam's best. This will surely rank among the year's better O.S.T.s. The riffs & the singing on 'Door Na Ja' are just amazing.

And there's something about the film's heroine, newcomer Sonal Chauhan ....


.... that i just can't seem to pin point.

Rolling Stone - India Edition

The Indian edition launched this week.

5ive - Let's Dance

One of ma favorite 90s videos. Watch it, it's worth it.

Rozen-e-Deewar

Copied this on a lark from Arnie's laptop. It's superb!