Chords & Notes

STANDING ON The Shoulder Of Giants - Oasis (Sony, Rs. 125)

The story goes that Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of Oasis, found inspiration for this album's title from Sir Isaac Newton's quote "If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants."

The band has unabashedly admitted to openly borrowing from the giants of rock, most notably the Beatles. Their latest effort seems to have only widened the range of 'influences' to include The Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

"Go Let It Out" reminds one of The Who number "The Seeker", while "Who Feels Love" is a mix of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence" and "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds". In "Gas Panic", Led Zeppelin meets hip-hop. Surely their most acid rock album, but one cannot escape the feeling that one is better of listening to the original giants themselves! - Fair.

Jantar Mantar - Nursery Rhymes (Times Music, Rs. 65).

The brawny actor Sunil Shetty and nursery rhymes? A strange but successful combination, all right. In his latest avtar, Sunil Shetty along with a bunch of children, and other singers such as Sudesh Bhonsle, Rahul De Mello and Jhanvi Shrimankar, croons or rather 'recites' some time-tested English nursery rhymes, and a couple of new Hindi ones.

These rhymes have been set to reggae, hip-hop ad rock and roll rhythms. The first track, a new composition, "Jungle Mein Sher" with Hindi and English lyrics is very melodious. "Ol' Macdonald had a farm", "Noah's Arc", "Hockey Pokey", Ten Little Indian"... these infectious rhymes have not lost their charm and still make children shake their heads, clap their hands and jump about in sheer joy.

"Mera Pyare Bachon" sung by Sudesh Bhonsle is short and sweet.

The music for the 33 numbers has been arranged by Anand Raj Anand. Some of the lyrics have been penned by Deepak Chowdhary. A really 'cute' and superb effort by the team. - Very Good.

Kandukondain Kandukondain - A. R. Rahman (HMV, Rs. 50).

Close on the heels of "Alai Payuthe" comes the next Rahman venture, this time for director Rajiv Menon. What it has in common with the earlier album is strong melodies with classical strains. Only here it is more pronounced.

"Kannamoochchi" (that appears twice, once with Chitra, the second a duet with Chitra and K. J. Yesudas) that is set to ragamalika, the most classical of all the numbers, stands out. Watch out for the beautiful violin solo by Sriram Parasuram in this number.

Another highpoint is Hariharan's rendition of Bharatiyar's "Suttum Vizhi," sung in a slow tempo with a very simple score. "Yenna Solla Pogirai" by Shankar Mahadevan has folksy tilt to it, while "Simyai" (Devan, Clinton and Dominique) has elements of the 50s' doo-wop style and jazz.

"Konjum Maniaakalae" (Sadhna Sargam) features a lovely exchange between Naveen's flute and John Themis' guitar. The title track (Hariharan and Mahalaxmi) which has the Kadanakuthuhalam raga woven in, is lilting and romantic.

Yet another Rahman score that will grow on you on repeated listening. - Very Good.

Butterfly - E. Gaayathri (Super Recording, Rs. 40)

From child prodigy to veena exponent to pop singer, E. Gaayathri has indeed come a long way.

Another facet of her talented personality comes to the fore in this latest attempt to take a break from her classical lessons. "Butterfly," a collection of vocal and instrumental pieces, however, does not offer much by way of new sounds. The mix is of the usual kind - reggae, rock and pop with an Indian flavour.

The bonus is "Sola Pori" sung by the "Chaiyya Chaiyya" whizkid, Sukwindra Singh. The number "Yaarappa Yaaru" sung by Noel James, is peppy.

The instrumental numbers somehow sound better than the vocal ones. Naveen, the flautist, too adds his bit to this endeavour. Perhaps Gaayathri could do better with limiting herself to the veena! - Fair.

SAVITHA PADMANABHAN

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