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Chrods and Notes
Suli Minchu
Akash Audio, Rs. 30
SUGAMA SANGEETHA, a musical form that probably has a history of just about 60-70 years, came riding piggyback on poetry. In all these years of its existence, it has come under the influence of various genres of music. Nevertheless, it did manage to retain its clarity of purpose — to popularise Kannada poetry, as also bearing its own, original stamp in the tunes as well. That we later saw the birth of a new breed called "cassette poets", catering to the needs of assembly line production of sugama sangeeta albums is a different matter altogether.
In the last decade, sugama sangeeta has been spiralling under the influence of film music. This form too, hasn't been able to escape heavy synths, digital drums, sequencing... So much so that a live orchestra was something hard to come by in albums. Going by that trend, Suli Minchu is refreshing, because it makes minimal use of synthetic sounds.
This album of eight songs penned by H.S. Venkatesh Murthy is certainly not run of the mill, because Upasana Mohan, the music composer, does make an attempt to evoke the mood of a bhavageethe. "Kattalu Tumbida" (M.D. Pallavi) and "Eke Baradiruve" (Archana Udupa) are some of the better tunes in the ghazal style. Pallavi's song which more or less sounds like Charukeshi, builds on a slow tempo and gives you a sense of space. It is good, but certainly not her best. Archana's song has some lovely graces. But the songs have too many stanzas and sound monotonous.
"Sahyadriya Kaadu" (P.V. Mangala) is rather wobbly to begin with. It has a rather striking refrain in "Kalavaliside Geethe" (Shivaranjani) and a lively background score. Supriya Acharya bears the unmistakable Mysore Anantaswamy touch in her singing. Not a great song, "Hadinarara Vayasu", but tries the qawwali mode for the stanzas. Except for the hummable lullaby "Maavina Mara", which also has some nice lyrics, nothing else seems sparkling. "Preetige Kannide" (Upasana Mohan) gets noticed because it is the only male solo in the entire album.
D.G.
Mahamantras
Times Music Spiritual, Rs. 65
HERE'S ONE more off the Times Music's spiritual shelf that has already brought out over 120 collections in this category.
Mahamantras is a compilation of some of the most popular and powerful mantras from the Vedas, set to music. If you are the kind that likes to wake up to the sound of mantras in the morning, or listen to it while performing the daily pooja, this is not a bad choice.
But the music in parts may remind you of the mythologicals on TV, starting with the Ramayan and Mahabharath - with conchshells blowing in between and music working up to a crescendo of drums and cymbals.
The cassette cover comes in the form of a booklet that explains the significance (rather, the benefits and remedies) that can be derived of each mantra, and in some cases the Sanskrit verse itself is printed in Hindi script. The collection has an introductory commentary by Harish Bhimani on how the verses from the Vedas are fashioned from powerful sounds.
Mahamantras contains mantras for everyone and everything - from the businessman and student who seek solace to anybody looking for luck. The "Gayatri Mantra", "Ganesh Mahamantra", "Mangal Kaamna Mantra" to eliminate inauspiciousness, and even a "Vaastu Mantra" to combat the ill effects of vaastu! The total of 17 mantras also include the famed "Mrityunjay Mahamantra" that is said to remove the fear of death and help one conquer death in that sense.
The "Kanakadhara Mantra" in prayer of Goddess Lakshmi is to relieve one from poverty and the "Pradnya Vardan Mantra", the cassette cover says, should be chanted by students at least twice a day to concentrate better.
The "Roganashan Mantra", "Prakirna Mantra", "Hanuman Mahamantra", "Shri Krishna Mantra", and "Shanti Mantra" are other mantras featured in the collection.
The music company has tried to bank on big names with the title declaring "Pandit Jasraj, Shankar Mahadevan and others"; and you would want to believe they have recited all the verses.
But most of them have been recited by a chorus. Pandit Jasraj's rendition of the "Shri Shiv Mantra" with his resonant "Om Namah Shivaay" stands out from the lot, inculcating the classical element.
In a chanting format, with a bhajan-like musical score, they are easy to learn and sing along with.
There is no mention of the music composers, however.
BHUMIKA K.
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