Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[JamesDap]

What a style , Raja sir in full form during 80's , the lion King was pulled down by all ways , and it was cornered. Now , the whole of south india miss the energetic melodies of Indian kind , and started hearing back IR's old melodies. After all IR sir is also a human , who struggle to compete with the new hitech musical era..Really his early 90's songs are more clarity and confident than his contemporary works.

Sorry if this sounds cynical, but I am not sure what exactly is hi tech about the present state of IFM. They mostly ape Western trends with a lag of 5 years or so, if not more and this has been going on for years. At least IR has his own approach to selection of instruments and tones and has stuck to it. Even if a Sattru Munbu reminds people of this or that IR composition from the 80s, it at least has his own stamp all over it. And by the way he uses lots of contemporary tones in his music...he may not however imitate some particular pop trends that his peers might be. Which is not necessarily a bad thing because most Western pop of the last three-four years is pretty dire.

[appushiva]

Yes , I accept with you crimson, what is haunting me is , where the confident sound quality and the large musical notes ,nowadays. For eg: i happened to hear the old "Bobilli Raja" telugu songs , what a mind blowing trumpets and violens. With our own indian musician he delivered high quality sounds , where all they went. Why he has to rely on hungary musicians. I can say the sounds in the 80's and early 90's are never less than world class music. The tunes/sounds/notes in "AgniNatchthiram" "geetanjali" are beautiful blend of western and indian classics which no body in earth can create. He should not lose his confidence,, whenever i hear " mallipuvu' telugu songs ,I eager for more clarity for those beautiful notes....... expecting senior hubbers to express their openion?

[JamesDap]

Yes , I accept with you crimson, what is haunting me is , where the confident sound quality and the large musical notes ,nowadays. For eg: i happened to hear the old "Bobilli Raja" telugu songs , what a mind blowing trumpets and violens. With our own indian musician he delivered high quality sounds , where all they went. Why he has to rely on hungary musicians. I can say the sounds in the 80's and early 90's are never less than world class music. The tunes/sounds/notes in "AgniNatchthiram" "geetanjali" are beautiful blend of western and indian classics which no body in earth can create. He should not lose his confidence,, whenever i hear " mallipuvu' telugu songs ,I eager for more clarity for those beautiful notes....... expecting senior hubbers to express their openion?

I think the arrangements of Mudhal Murai have tremendous authority. It's pretty awesome the way Ilayaraja has used cello in such an aggressive fashion, almost like electric guitar (which is also used in the song). And I would rank Sattru Munbu among his most complex melodies.

I don't agree that the SOUNDS in the 80s were world class. The compositions, conceptually, were but the recordings were not great nor the tones. Rahman no doubt capitalised on this when he hit the scene, taking sound engineering to a new level.

Like the way I used to until a few years back, you are probably trapped in comparing Ilayaraja to the benchmark set by his BEST scores out of what 900 films. But even in the 80s, he could not hit the level of an Agni Nathchathram or Mouna Raagam all the time. Rather, such soundtracks were a small minority of his output. Rather than compare his more recent gems like those two songs I mentioned from NEPV or Ithayame/Ennaku Piditha Paadal from Julie Ganapathy or Elangathu with the best of his 80s work, if you compared it with the output of his peers today, you might develop greater appreciation for what he does.

Because he still attempts things on FILM soundtracks that nobody else would even dream of. I mean, it's film music, it's not meant to be conceptually daring or innovative, it's supposed to be lightweight shallow fluff. But Ilayaraja has taken a different path and kept at it all these years.

[vem]

Guys,
Gone are those days when a movie would run solely due to its music. Even many of the hits of the 80s would have actually been due to IR and other musicians. The direction in general would have been poor: Seriously, how many movies of the 80s can one watch these days without Fast-forwarding ? as opposed to some of the quality ones of the 60s... where there would be at least a story to tell. Our directors' quality has kept coming down, believe it or not. The same masala formula is being adopted even now. I just wonder how bored IR, ARR, etc. would be to keep tuning to the same storyline.

In contrast, some of the hollywood movies, even of the 60's, are as riveting as they ever have been. Direction and BGM are two sides of the coin.

Our IR provides good BGM and songs, these days, too. But he's not getting good movies, unfortunately. NEPV boasted of excellent music, but the movie on the whole was terrible. Nandala movie was good, but none of the songs were used... What will the poor IR do ?

I hope our folks spend time on a good story and then think about making it.

[kr]

Also, I think the difference between early IR and during the 90s and now is that - the early IR's innovation was rawer (if thats a word) - meaning that there was a lot of experimentation - very deliberate experimentation, breaking norms etc.

I think the 90s to now, his music and experimentation is very sophisticated - its almost he doesnt have to try reflecting his mastery and is so natural. The innovation in his music all seem to fit so well together and there is nothing that seems out of place

[krish244]

South Indian Cinema festival to be held sometime in September. The news says centenary theme will be composed by ARR & IR. Not sure, if it is collaborative or independent efforts.

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/k...cle/95403.html

"...All the top stars of south India and Hindi film industry bigwigs would join on the occasion. The theme song of the centenary of the South Indian Cinema will be in the composition of AR Rehman and maestro Ilayaraja..."

thanks,

Krishnan

[irir123]

some happy news for all IR fans :

NEE THANE EN PON VASANTHAM is being reviewed by a renowned jazz music critic and will be published soon!

[Joannepx]

Music Maestro Ilaiyaraaja at Radio Mirchi Chennai Studios!

[krish244]

some happy news for all IR fans :

NEE THANE EN PON VASANTHAM is being reviewed by a renowned jazz music critic and will be published soon!

Glad to hear that Irir123! Looking forward to the review.

thanks,

Krishnan

[JamesDap]

Also, I think the difference between early IR and during the 90s and now is that - the early IR's innovation was rawer (if thats a word) - meaning that there was a lot of experimentation - very deliberate experimentation, breaking norms etc.

I think the 90s to now, his music and experimentation is very sophisticated - its almost he doesnt have to try reflecting his mastery and is so natural. The innovation in his music all seem to fit so well together and there is nothing that seems out of place

This is partly down to production too. The recordings of say NEPV sound sleek and polished (though some people still complained they sounded too dense which they are, compared to, well, recordings with only a layer each of vocals, synth and drums) and this can be deceptive. If you don't pay close attention to the music, you may not notice what is 'new' or 'unpredictable' about it which was not necessarily the case in older recordings.

And our ears also get jaded with exposure to music. Endrendrum Anandhame sounded freakish to me the first time I heard it. If somebody attempted it today, i.e., polymeters and all that, I may not react with the same amount of surprise because I have already heard it. This is the problem with listening to and appreciating a lot of music. It might make you more comfortable with complexity but at the same time it can close your mind and make you biased, without your even realising it.