Music Review: A.R. Rahman’s Connections
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Review, review pe likhaa hai ji review writer kaa naam. Yup, that’s the second thought that came to my mind when I did a quick Google search for music review of A.R. Rahman’s Connections and realized that there really aren’t any complete reviews of the album. What was the first thought that came to my mind?—WHY THE HECK AREN’T THERE ANY REVIEWS???!!! I can’t believe, that despite A.R. Rahman being immensely talked about after bagging the Golden Globe for the music of Slumdog Millionaire and being nominated for the Oscars, no music reviewer out there has bothered to offer online space to a review of such a beautiful album. The thought that Connections might disappear into the realms of overall forgotten-ness like Bose, Tehzeeb, Water, Meenaxi, etc., is quite scary. Well, well, lucky me…looks like the first music review of Connections par ‘Amanda Sodhi,’ matlab, meraa hi naam likhaa hai. 
By the way, the “real” name of the music album is Nokia Connections, but it’s Rahman’s album so don’t you think it should be called Rahman’s Connections?…Oh well, hum sey pooch kar album kaa naam-karan thoddi naa karne waale they yeh log. Interestingly enough, the album is for their Nokia Xpress Music devices, which means God knows when the album will make it to stores and how many people are even going to bother to buy the album when it finally does comes out in stores because everyone is probably downloading the album like crazy since patience is the last virtue any Rahmaniac possesses when it comes to listening to his music! Okay, enough side commentary—back to the music review of Connections!
Just in case you didn’t know, Connections (which features nine Rahman compositions) was recorded and mixed by the Late H. Sridhar.
Most of you have probably heard and/or seen Jiya Se Jiya (4.18) much before the release of this album. Woah! This is just one cheerful, uplifting, celebratory, catchy folk-song-type composition heavy on contagious percussion beats (dhols, claps, nagaadaas, and the works). Sivamani and Drum Caf'© (Musthafa Kutoane, Mpho Masinga) must have had loads of fun It reminds me of the grandeur of ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehenshaah’ (Jodhaa Akbar) and of the masti of ‘Saiyyan Saiyyan’ (Nayak) and also brings back memories of Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Chappa Chappa’ from Maachis. Karthik sounds so different from his ‘Behka Main Behka’ (Ghajini) performance. Lyricist Raqueeb Alam also provides superb vocal backing in this song. According to Rahman, ‘Jiya Se Jiya’ is a “relevant” song “as it gives the message of embracing everyone irrespective of their region, religion or language.” Aadat sey majboor, I just have to bring Raqueeb Alam’s wonderful lyrics to your attention—
Udde re umang,
Binaa dor ke patang,
Ek doosre ke sang,
Judd gayaa,
Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
Koi gaaye dhun,
Koi naache chun chun,
Koi kahey sun sun,
Judd gayaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
Ambar se sur taal barse, Gul barse, Gulhaar barse. 2x
Judd gayaa re, Judd gayaa,
Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
O—
O—
Raat hai aaj gulaabi, Raat gulaabi,
Naach rahi murgabi, Haan murgabi,
Judd gayaa re, Judd, Judd gayaa re, Judd, Judd gayaa re, Judd gayaa,
Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
O—
O—
Udde re umang,
Binaa dor ke patang,
Ek doosre ke sang,
Judd gayaa,
Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
Koi gaaye dhun,
Koi naache chun chun,
Koi kahey sun sun,
Judd gayaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
Ambar se sur taal barse, Gul barse, Gulhaar barse. 2x
Judd gayaa re, judd gayaa,
Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa, Jiyaa se jiyaa.
I just love the comparison of ‘umang’ to a kite!
Mann Chandre (7.48) is also one of my favorite songs from Connections. Sharadha Pandit’s soft and sweet voice pierces your heart with its sadness. Sukhwinder Singh enters into the song at about 1.34—his vocal range and ability to express pathos like no one else always leaves me astonished. Very few instruments seem to be used (sitar, tabala)—the matkaa-type sounding percussion instrument (I think it’s called a Ghatam) reminds one of a village setting. The Punjabi lyrics by Sukhwinder are quite moving, and the repetition of the following lines by the female singer, Sukhwinder, and the Chorus (3.53 into the song) is beautiful—
Mann chandre nu raas naa aave,
Mann chandre nu raas naa aave,
Naa aave darwaas.
Jiggar daa saudaa kyon kar baithaa?
Mukdi jaandi aas.
Je lut jaandaa te lut jaandaa dil,
Hauke khaa ke chup jaandaa.
Je lut jaandaa te lut jaandaa dil,
Hauke khaa ke chup jaandaa.
Beparvaa daa ki kehna? Haaye!
Naa aave darwaas,
Jiggar daa saudaa kyon kar baithaa?
Mukdi jaandi aas!
Darad sautondaa, Bedardaan nu,
Bedardaa daa ki jaandaa?
Darad sataundaa, Bedardan nu,
Bedardaa daa ki jaandaa?
Bedardaa daa ki jaandaa?
Kural (5.23) is an extremely rare, unique and outstanding composition—the song actually fuses Tamil lines from the 97th chapter of the philosophical Thirukkural with soft and slow English rap! The serious humming by the chorus helps establish a contemplative mood in the song. I really wish I knew who the female singer is. Kural, by the way, is a form of classical Tamil poetry which the Thirukkural follows. Unfortunately, I do not understand Tamil, however, below follows the English lines Blaaze (starting from 1.47 into the song) renders with utmost seriousness and softness—
Fortune and fame,
Don’t really matter,
Win this game.
Respect, Respect.
If the honor of the self,
The self does stain.
Respect. Respect.
And to do no wrong,
And to do no bad.
With power and glory,
What do they have?
Honor. Respect.
And in happy times,
Bow down thy soul.
And when times are sad,
Lift your heart for sure.
Respect. Respect.
And when dignity comes dropping dead,
It’s like the hair fallin’ off the head.
Honor. Respect.
Though small, like a berry seed,
A deed, done so mean,
Diminishes respect,
And makes the mighty man so weak.
And the gates to the land of God,
Don’t open up, No, no.
So why follow men like those?
Follow them no more!
And with honor to die,
Is indeed a better price,
Than to follow them,
Ooh compromise.
Respect. Respect.
And without honor, Without dignity,
There is no use of life to cure the body.
Respect. Respect. Respect.
And like the tears that die, when they hear them fall,
When respect is gone, people’d rather die, y’all.
And those who refuse to live,
When dishonor prevails,
Are worshipped by all,
In times, endless trails,
Respect! Respect! Respect!
Goodness! What a hypnotic composition!
Silent Invocation A (8.39) is so soul-stirring. Only the flute and the tanpura and some very soft tapping sound percussion instrument are used in this composition which is profound in its simplicity. There are certain moments when the composition reminds me of ‘Tum Bin Humara Kaun Laage’ tune of ‘O Palan Haare’ from Lagaan.
Silent Invocation B (8.50), which also use the tanpura and flute, is such sorrow-filled composition! It’ll actually bring tears to your eyes as it triggers a vast array of emotions and memories. Seriously, you’ve just got to listen to this divine composition and experience it for yourself.
Silent Invocation C (5.20) relies almost solely on the flute. Don’t worry though, it is much less depressing than Silent Invocation B There are some moments in this composition which somehow remind me of the tune to some of the lines of ‘Shyaam Rang’ from Water.
Mylapore Blues (6.03) is a nice song to relax to. The use of the Carnatic percussion instruments, guitar, piano is an interesting combination. It seems to have both jazz and blues flavors to it! Rahman always knows how to fuse genres, doesn’t he?
I’m really enjoying all these instrumental pieces, especially the fact that in most of these pieces the number of instruments used is kept to a minimum. In Himalaya (3.23), we get to hear the piano and the flute. At .39 seconds, the piano notes get louder, taking you by surprise. Towards the second half of the song, the flute is also incorporated. The composition conjures up the image of the icy Himalayas and a picturesque winter wonderland. This song is full of plenty of positive vibes!
Although I despise those irritating, khoon-choos mosquitos, my favorite instrumental piece in Connections is Mosquito (9.06). It’s just one extraordinary composition. The twists and turns of the sarangi is beautiful, absolutely beautiful! I’m guessing, based on the title of this track, that the sarangi harkats are a creative depiction of the mosquito, however, the composition is quite serious and moving—at parts it may actually leave you teary-eyed.
It’s always a great experience to listen to Rahman’s instrumental compositions. They say music is a universal language…However, Hindi music relies so heavily on lyrics that one tends to forget this concept…that’s when instrumental pieces like those in Connections and Slumdog Millionaire come in hand…They remind us that music itself is a beautiful language, which can a evoke feelings, emotions, images and ideas that vary for each listener, hence communicating more than lyrics can at times.
Definitely check out Rahman’s Connections—Rahman and his entire team (singers, lyricists, musicians…) all do a great job! Punjabi folk, Rajasthani flavors, Hindi, Tamil Kural from the Thirukkural, Instrumental pieces—Connections is very rich in its exploration of different music genres and should definitely “connect” with music fans of all sorts—there is something in this album for everyone.
Tags: AR Rahman, Blaaze, Connections, Music, Music Review, Raqueeb Alam, Review, Sivamani, Sukhwinder Singh
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Yup, this is very exciting – after 11 years, ARR comes up with a private album!
Do you when this album is releasing commercially? (I know that some Nokia phones are going to be sold with pre-loaded songs from this album – but not sure when they’re going to -if ever – releasing the CD.)
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And yes, thanks for posting the review.
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Amenda? Eee ka hovet hai?
‘Kanaaksan’ ki khabar sirf tumhaar paas hai bituwa?!
Bahut khoob likha :-)
And no, ‘Meenaxi’ didn’t dissapear anywhere in my world!
I’m crazy about that album!
Thanks for writing up on this Amanda ji…
Humko yeh album gift mein mil rahi hain ;-)
Nokia jae bhaar mein!
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Amanda
ye album koi website par uplabdh hai? sirf sunne ke liye…
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Damn it..I hadn’t even heard the name of this album. And now I see a review…where can I listen to the songs of this album? Nice review Amanda ji.. Jai ho!
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thanks for the great review. I too have no choice but to download the songs online from somewhere………….
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Welcome!
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Good review man! though ‘Kural’ is a tad-bit disappointing for me, rest rocks, esp Man chanda re and my fav Mosquito.
This is a stupid marketing strategy by NOKIA to release it in their phones first, they should read the ‘Kotler’ again!
:P
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Sriram, glad you checked this album out brother. I am still warming up to it, need more days to react. As for Nokia and all, who cares man! I don’t even have a Nokia phone but I proudly have the whole of Connections! Mann Chandre is supercool. Kotler! ha ha! That was some book man.
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But am damn sure man that this album gonna go un-noticed, and you can’t blame anyone, aaj kal nobody listens to songs with no lyrics, stuff that’s very classical. Silent Invocation A/B/C are stuff you wouldn’t listen to everyday, its almost like Lounge music. Am happy AR is experimenting, but how I wish people would get out of the filmi-music score once in a while too!
Also chk out Sivamani’s latest album ‘Mahaleela’, please review it you can man! It’s a BRILLIANT album. Again a classical one, with not much of words.
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Actually, for the shady Rahman guy that I am, I don’t mind it going unnoticed. he he. I guess you know what I mean, he is getting a lil too populist for my fandom. I checked Mahaleela man, liked what I heard. Except for the Osho and Art of Living indulgence. he he. I ve been trying to get a CD for that, so that I can explore the real sound of it. Sivamani and Blaaze are too cool, but they are a lil too serious sometimes about their beliefs and shit, as per me.
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Yeah man! He’s a bit all over the news now-a-days, which is great, but as an AR fan quite weird, have not heard the media talk so much about the man ever. And he’s someone who doesn’t like to blow his own trumphet, unlike most other MDs these days.
No problem with me as for with AR/Sivamani/BlaaZe and their spirituatlity (esp with AR) as long as you love the album and it keeps you going.
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Read this AWESOME article on AR and his spirituality by TAHELKA
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http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ne240109cover_story.asp
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Yes, I read that article few days back, quite a nice and detailed one. But it’s funny how people come and talk about how and why his music is great, giving scientific, genetic, and zen buddhist theories! I mean come on! It’s hilarious.
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5 THINGS YOU SHOULD LEARN FROM AR Rahman:
Makes for a wonderful reading:
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http://prashantpillai.com/music/5-things-to-learn-from-arrahman/
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I love the pongal beats he’s used. Every composition is standout
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Was reading your review this morning while listening to the songs, and realized these sounds are all so familiar, as for most of the reading writing time last week, these songs were playing all the time in my head and my PC. Thanks for all the links, checking out those pages now. Saw Sivamani’s site for the first time. I clicked on the Water thing not knowing it links to my own post written in ancient times!
Jiya se jiya is uplifting, its like a folk troupe entered the city streets, and all just followed along like those pied piper tales. I could have used a better video though.
Its interesting how there are 2 versions of the song, one by Rahman, and one chorus(Karthik mainly), I am told the beats are from Kerala(wedding ceremony I guess), no wonder the effect is so celebratory. Interesting you mention Saiyyaan from Nayak, what a nice track, full on masti! I am also reminded of another mast track, paas aaja baalam re, from Mr. Romeo.
I love these words:
Raat hai aaj gulaabi, Raat gulaabi,
Naach rahi murgabi, Haan murgabi,
Himalaya is classic Rahman piano stuff. Even I was thinking of a car drive uphill, as clouds slowly grow thicker…
Mylapore Blues is so serene and calm and early afternoon. Very soothing. And love the title, Mylapore! And the mridangam(or is it Ghatam?), along with a mandolin kind of string effect.
Kural I guess is the most experimental of the lot. Begins like the Earth Theme, then surprises with the vocals, the effect is quite moving. Thanks for the info about the song’s inception and roots, and about Kural, and the lyrics, great work by BlaaZe. I was reading about him recently and was surprised that for all his rap and western leanings, he is a Tamilian at heart, and so explains his fine fusion sensibility in this otherwise tough track.
MANN CHANDRE has to be my favorite. I always long for Rahman’s punjabi experiments, more of the earthy variety, I mean bhangra is fine but this is more what I like. Was keenly waiting for the Manirathnam project, Lajjo, but it never took off. Anyways, great track this one. I was taken back to the golden sounds of Dholna(Thakshak).
I guess I will love it if this track is used in some mainstream film, or that someone films it on a video, I want a visual imagery for this one. It has so much potential. Vishal should think about it.
Silent Invocations are sheer mastery and magic of silence. I had a Zaakir Hussain album called Space, and that evoked a similar sense of peace and inner calm without any religious or spiritual gyaan. Love these tracks.
MOSQUITO is Rajasthan! Rahman always presents the deserts sounds in their elements, and that’s the way to go, unlike our other composers who mix in disco beats and shit! Sarangi, aah! Pure bliss!BTW, do check out the desert sounds magic in another Rahman classic – Iruvar.
Great album, great review.
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fuck all terror! fuck all cynicism! fuck all skepticism! fuck all cynical defeatist attitude! fuck recession! fuck frustrations of life! fuck PhD! fuck grad school! fuck self doubts! fuck doubts! fuck lofty statements! fuck political shit!
I will consider my life “lived” if I ever come close to setting a tune to a piece after penning a line like jigar da sauda kyon kar bhaita , if I introduce a self-composed track to someone with the male chorus singing mann chandre the way it is now at 3.53, I will forgive myself for everything.
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where do i get the songs?
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completely blown away by MAN CHANDRE…
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I don understand punjabi :(…can anyon translate MAN CHANDRE 4 me pls…..kya rooh hai gaane mein …wah!!!…salaaam ARR!!
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@Vishal: Thanks! And, yes, it really is quite exciting that Rahman has come out with a private album…too bad not many people have heard of the album (because there aren’t any CDs out!)…As of now there is no information about if and when the album will release commercially…It’s quite a shame that even though this is such a great album most people will end up missing out on it due to it only being available on Nokia phones (or through downloading)…
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@Steve: Thank you ji! Yeah, I know, I still regularly listen to the songs from Meenaxi, but it is a really underrated OST…Lo kar lo baat, ek toh Nokia waale bechaare “connect” karne ki koshish kar rahey hain aur tum unhe bhaar mein bhej rahey ho ;-) hehe. But seriously, they should know better and release the CD of it asap before the wrath of Rahmaniacs comes down on upon them!
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@Papaji: Keval sunne ke liye uplabdh toh nahin hai (unless you want to buy a Nokia phone), lekin download kar ke sunne ke liye bilkul uplabdh hai. I’m don’t think I can and/or should be posting the links to the album on PFC as per the rules, but a quick Google search should point you in the right direction. Of course, if you do decide to pursue that option, I also do recommend purchasing the CD when it does come out ;)
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@Vick: Thank you ji bahut bahut! Please see my reply to Papaji.
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@Gony Dhoni: Thanks! Yeah, I know…do they really expect all of us to be buying Nokia phones?
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@Tushar (#7): Thanks for the welcome! It feels good to finally be a PFC author
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@Sriram: Thanks dude! Glad you enjoyed the review…I guess Kural takes a few repeat listenings to get into…I found the concept behind the song interesting, though. Yeah, Mann Chandre and Mosquito really are awesome! lol, I know, the marketing strategy really is quite lame…Aaah! Kotler! Memories of marketing class are coming back to haunt me. lol.
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@Tushar (#9): “I don’t even have a Nokia phone but I proudly have the whole of Connections!” LOL! Join the club ;)
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@Sriram (#10): True, unless they come out with a CD asap, it probably will go unnoticed…
I also wish people would listen to and appreciate non filmi-music scores…Oh cool, I’m looking forward to hearing Mahaleela. Thanks for bringing the album to our attention!
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Oh, and thanks for the links to the two articles about Rahman.
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@Mally: Glad you enjoyed the album
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@Santosh Kumar: Everything is possible!
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@Abhishek: Please see my response to Papaji from earlier.
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@Santosh: Yup, Mann Chandre really is a superb composition…Here is the link to a translation of Mann Chandre from a blog http://sharmaaman.blogspot.com/2009/01/unusual-review-mann-chandre.html However, the beauty and poetic quality of the lyrics really gets lost when translating Punjabi/Hindi into English…oh well.
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@Tushar (16): Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful comment, Tushar! Surprised to see the link to your write-up of Water, eh? Oh wow, had no idea that the beats are inspired by wedding ceremonies in Kerala…interesting. I need to go and revisit Nayak’s OST again…there are some really awesome songs in there. Haanji, there is so much potential for an awesome video for Mann Chandre…Anyway, glad you enjoyed both the album and the review
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Actually its the ritual music of Pongal.
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@Tushar: Achaa. Thanks!
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http://www.rahmanism.com/2008/12/connections-ar-rahman-new-non-film-work.html
Listen to it here. Have fun.
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loved the album.Silent Invocation A took me to a whole peaceful plane . loves the way he meanders
in and out of north indian classical ragas as in this song and does a south indian classical Kural to his fusion in Mylapore blues.
darn good melting pot of so many genre.
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btw, BlaaZe happened to read this review and here are some of his comments (do check out the video):
” hey really nicely written…
here’s somethin new we’re working on…
just launched .. http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=tW2xisL7NMY “
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Niice Amanda..congrats
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My favorites are Silent Invocation A,B,C – It really showers peace like how Tansen brought rains – I actually meditated to it coulple of times. Mosquito is also great. Mylapore sounds a bit loungy. Himalaya has a beautiful, mellow sound. I loved Kural – until they brought in Blaaze? Why do they have to bring these rappers to a wreck a perfectly decent composition? oh yes, the title track – jiya se – is awesome but it doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the tracks.
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@Tejas: Oh, cool! Thanks for posting the link.
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@Darkndusky: True–Rahman really knows how to compose music of pretty much all genres!
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@Om: Thank you
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@Tej: Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Well, I think they brought in Blaaze so they could translate the Tamil lyrics into English and also so the composition appeals to the youth. I dunno, I think rap has a certain rhythm to it which can be appealing at times…
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Raqueeb Alam has kindly provided information about the female singer and the lyricist for Mann Chandre, so I have updated the review with the information he sent me.
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@Sriram
Hey Thanks so much for pointing out the excellent article in Tehelka. I was at the very same concert mentioned in the article and I must say it was one inspirational and almost spiritual concert! Especially when the rains began pouring with the final strains of Vande Mataram – Glorious!
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Amanda, many thanks for publishing this detailed review — the only one of its kind on the web so far. Also, thanks all the folks who have contributed to the useful discussion. I have linked to this page from my blog.
http://puneetlamba.blogspot.com/2009/03/ar-rahmans-nokia-connections.html
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Thanks, Puneet!
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thanks amanda for d translation
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