Awesome, awesome review and analysis! I learned a lot! Please post here more often! You write well and I agree with your views!
--- In [email protected], wiredbeats <wiredbe...@...> wrote: > > Hello all, > > I have not written a review of any album so far in this group in the last 8 > odd > years of being around. I think its been that long...what with so many good > reviewers around such as Chord etc, we are well balanced. > > I just thought this time i would attempt to sort of share some notes on > enthiran. > > Enthiran did not require any brilliance in actual composition, the whole > sound > track needed lot of energy and some out of the world programming and mixing > expertise. The concept of the sound track of enthiran suits all gizmos and > toys > that today almost all good composers have or can gain access to. It is the > balance of what to use, how much to use to strike a trade-off between noise > and > music. This trade-off is seen in its absolute best in the first track of the > CD. > > I am great fan of electronica - house, techno, beach house,down tempo and > lounge music produced by lables such as Ministry of sound, Hed Kandi and few > select DJ/programmers such as Armin Van Burren, Ferry Corsten, ATB, Moby to > name > a few. What these guys ensure is that the overall feel of the song, the > production values are so damn rich that you feel that extra cash that you > spend > on your expensive CD system is well spent. They many not always produce > melody, > but the rhythm, the bass, the ambient pads, synths used are chosen and placed > with such perfection that a rather simple 4x4 beat track sounds awesome. > Rahman > has a team that achieves and exceeds the standards set by such international > artists. However, in the context of film songs such brilliance are > often interrupted by the demands of the song,situation and directors brief. > And > i think striking a balance is very tough given so many strings pulling. If > you > remove the strings, Rahman's music becomes more free flowing and thats why > Vande > Mataram and his latest god level tracks in Nokia Connections album are talked > about. > > Now, if you listen to puthiya manitha, the first track in enthiran disc - > the > samples used, the structuring of the song, the reverb and the overall usage > of > the stereo soundscape has come out so well that it is an absolute > satisfaction. > The dept of the kick (beat), the open and closed HiHats, the rising and > falling > synths are right there where the best of the music producers operate. I mean > when i heard it for the first time and after the Khatija's lines are over i > felt ..It would be great if he introduces a layer of soft kicks with > prominent > highs and sort of make the track flow into the mainline. And it happened and > happened so well. This is strikingly brilliant. It feels rich. > > Same is the case with Khilimanjaro track. The taiko drums sink deep and uses > all > the stereo landscape such an instrument needs. Taiko drums have a very loud > character to it. Once you introduce it in a song, you must be careful not to > under utilise it because energy levels in the song will drop so badly that > you > would start to loose interest. Over usage would be very irritating. > Khilimanjaro > is a fairly simple track and has a of space to breath. This makes it very > catchy > and to top it, the production values are awesome. > > The problem comes in the other track - Irumbile oru idhayam. This is a very > sad > and average track. It seems to be put in a hurry. Very ordinary. When i heard > it > first i felt the track is going to take off in an another level when Kash n > krisshy start their lines, those vocals sounded so classy, so global and so > trance. But then the song remained the same with some loose lyrics. Not done, > this is the weakest track. > > Infact, Trance has never been Rahman's forte. That track - Kellamal Kayile > from > Azhagiya Tamil Magan was very sad too. It had a template beat and fell flat > in > the first 60 second. Infact, i don't like Fanaa from Yuva either. Its very > jarring. Going by the standard set in Puthiya manitha, irumbile oru idhyam > should have sounded something like 9PM by ATB or check out Ferry corsten's > latest release called Twice in a Blue moon. I am comparing for a > reason....Rahman need not produce flat tracks like this. > > Chitti Dance showcase is playing with toys and super interesting and fun to > listen to.Perhaps even better fun to watch the video. But thats it. > > Rest of the tracks are ok. Good, for a change Yogi B has been used instead of > Blaaze. He is good, but Yogi B gives a good break from Blaaze. > > However, what is satisfing with Enthiran is it 'sounds good' and achives its > purpose. There is no great melody, just the overall feel of the disc is very > positive and one does not go through dips and rises. > > More than Rahman, i congratulate K.J. Singh and Deepak P.A for setting a > standard of production values. We have come a long way from the trash > sounding > BLUE to some awesome sounding VTV, Puli and Enthiran. Skipping Raavan(an)...i > don't know whats wrong what that album...i have forgotten it! > > And belive me guys when i say this...Enthiran NEEDS and CD. You loose the > maximum when you convert in MP3. The loss is noticably maximum in this CD > especially...buy, beg,borrow or steal the disc. But get it.. > > Don't mind me. I am frank. I still feel Rahman's best is Dil Se Re from Dil > Se. > He is yet to repeat that vision. > > regards > > wb > > > Remixes I Originals I Opinions at http://www.wiredbeats.com >
