Review of Psycho Songs

I have been accused of being partial to A.R.Rehman as my blog carries reviews of only his albums. I cede to these accusations, as he is my favorite composer. So this is for the people who crave for variety, a review of non-Rehman, non-Hindi album!
It took me just one hearing of this album to blow my mind away. Truly inspirational.

So let me introduce you to the amazingly talented Raghupathy Dixit, the music composer, singer and lyricist. I had been waiting for a long time now to hear fresh voice in Kannada industry. And my patience has been rewarded big time. After 'Mungaru Male', there has been a wave of excellent music and lyrics in Kannada film industry. Much of the credit should go to Mano Murthy and Jayanth Kaikini for not only giving us great songs, but also inspiring others. But it was kind of sad to see Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Shreya etc.(non-kannadigas) to sing in 'Sandalwood'. We have always know to breed great singers, who go on to sing in other languages, right from the great P.B.Srinivas. But with the introduction of Raghu, we have nothing to worry about. In him, we have a genius for the future.

Raghu came to limelight with chart-busters like 'Mysore se aayi' 'Ambar' and 'I'm in Mumbai'. But he was never a household name till Psycho happened. One story goes like, Raghu had prepared these songs for an album. But the director sensed(thank god!) that these songs should be in a film. So started building a story around these songs. Though this is not a verified story, its just a testimony to how good the songs are.

Raghu tries to bring in the bass guitar into most of the songs. So you will get a rock kind of touch in some songs. That is quite different in Kannada songs, although it is now commong in Hindi film hits. Also what I like in this album is that, Raghu tries to keep the number of instruments in the song to a minimum. He has given priority to certain instruments in each song to accompany the beautiful percussion.

Track Listing:
01. Ee Tanuvu Ninnade
02. Ninna Poojege Bande Mahadeshwara
03. Beladingalante Minuguta
04. Mussanje Rangalli
05. Eno Ide
06. Preetiya Manashantiya
07. Psycho Theme


Ee Tanuvu Ninnade is probably the best rock song in Kannada. Use of violin in this song is awesome. Even the dialect has a rock touch to it. Although it takes couple of hearings to get used to the pronunciations, it is a very good experimentation. It is a typical Raghu song. Sung by Raghu himself, the song is refreshing. It is certain to drive the emotions in you.

Ninna Poojege Bande Mahadeshwara sung by Raghu, has a folk touch to it in the beginning. But I was really surprised when I heard the 'Kannada Rap' in the middle. It was just too good. Again the experimentation pays off. Raghu experiments with the trumpets in this song. This song has a very Kannada touch to it in many places, even the pronunciations are 'Mysore/Mandya Kannada' and one can expect this to be a hit among the masses.

Beladingalante Minuguta is a beautiful romantic duet. The lyrics written by Jayanth Kaikini is extremely poetic. It has some 'Hale Kannada' words in it. Haricharan and Saindhavi render justice to this awesome lyrics. The BGM is also romantic. The beats are soft and smooth. After the first time I listened to this song, I kept on humming it through out the day. It was difficult to take away the music from my head! Raghu uses Flute as the main instrument in this song.

Mussanje Rangalli is a typical South Indian song. There is even extensive use of Veena. I just love the sound of this instrument, but lot of composers hesitate to use it. The lyrics is R.N.Jaygopal is extremely good. Saindhavi touches the right notes every single time. The percussion is dominated by Mrudangam. I also liked the way Raghu makes a fusion of the Jazz guitar and Veena.

Eno Ide is my favorite song of the album. Raghu gives us another master piece. When I listened to it the first time itself, I felt the pain/confusion that he is trying to convey. All those emotions felt by the protagonist oozes out in this song. Yet again the lyrics of Jayanth Kaikini is exemplary.
"baLina deepave indu aari hogide
nanneya neraLe nanna bittu hogide
jeevana allola kallolavaagide
kareyuva koraLe mounathaLide" wah wah! Amazing way to describe that you are lonely!
This song somehow reminds me of 'Yeh Jo Desh Hai Tera' from Swades(only difference is the use of Flute instead of Shenai).

Preetiya Manashantiya is a beautiful song describing this great land "KARUNAADU". This song made me feel proud to be a Kannadiga. No doubt this song will be sung on Nov 1st for a long time. Jayanth has described this land, its culture, and its environment in a very poetic way. Raghu has again done a great job, singing with lots of emotion. The only disappointment is the song length. Seriously this song deserved a second stanza. Still a excellent patriotic song.

Psycho Theme is a beautiful note rendered completely through flute. Being a flutist myself, I can attest that this a very good piece of music. Reminds me of the flute used by Rehman in Roja.

For those who would like to know more about Raghu Dixit, visit his personal site www.raghudixit.com . Raghu is a self learned guitar player and a traditionally learnt classical singer. He had a band called Antaragni. And one thing before ending, this man is a great talent here. I hope Kannada industry retains him before he is lost.