David – A tasty and innovative aviyal

They say that too many cooks spoil the broth and its true in most of the cases . The reason being that too many techniques and differing opinions will pull the end product across different spectrums and render it incomplete. Some say that the proverb applies to music too. I tend to disagree and the soundtrack of the tamil film ‘David’ does nothing but strengthen my opinion.

Lovely string work , French words and a carnatic based tamil melody seem like a recipe for disaster but MaatiBaani take all these ingredients to give us the addictive and attractive Theerathu Poga Poga Vanam. The song seems like a Jugalbandi between Nirali and the seemingly French Rapper ( not quite rap but almost) with the string work and flute interludes making you go ‘Besh’ and ‘Sabash’. The last interlude is again so reminiscent of a Jugalbandhi with the singers conversing in their own styles .Theerathu is a very nice beginning to the soundtrack and will stay on my playlist for quite a while.

It is all about percussion . Atleast That’s what Prasanth Pillai must think so. The most striking part of Manamey is the percussion. The minimalistic string work and Karthik’s strong voice add strength to the song , but the majesty of the percussion work is all I remember once the song ends. The sounds of ghungroo , the brass drums ( I guess) and the native percussion instruments create a seamless framework and one wants to give full credit to Tao issaro ( the percussionist, who is also a protege of Ranjit Barot I am told) for nailing his brief and topping it by miles.

Manamey also has a dubstep version , the expansive percussion from the original , replaced by electronic sounds , and the song still works. You can still hear lovely percussion work in the background and Dub Sharma gets the mix just right. While the dub step version works when you listen to it as a standalone song , it still pales in comparison to the original.Its worth several listens nevertheless.

Prasanth uses Naresh Iyer and Swetha for the frothy Iravinil Ulava. The click sounds , the whistling in the second interlude , the electric string work , the faint sounds of flutes and piano ( I think so) in the background and super percussion work create a heady mix when combined with the mushy lyrics and the grogeous song reinforces the thought the Pillai and Nambiar are a match made in heaven indeed.

Think Goan Music , think Remo Fernandes . Maria Pitache has the goan stamp written all over it – energetic guitar work , foot tapping percussion and that suranaganiesque sing along lyrics stand true to the Goan spirit. Vikram donning the singer avatar is quite competent too ! Yet you feel something amiss. May be its the other songs of the album , or done to death goan template , Maria has this heard before feel. It still works as a song and will most probably end up becoming a college anthem for a while.

What Remo lacks in Maria Pitache , he more than makes it up in lighthouse symphony. Its a recipe for a true blue melody in the beginning with the whimsical string and chord work , with the whistling and humming reminding you of a lazy walk by the seaside on a saturday evening . Then the drums and Remo make an entry and along with the goan punch. The lovely humming remains though until the near end which when added to that catchy flute notes , takes you back to this tatched hut on the goan seaside where fun and frolic are the main agenda.

Machi by Modern Mafia is the shortest song of the Soundtrack but my what an impact the song makes. Kick ass Guitar work is the best part of the song and Modern Mafia work around the strings to create a short anthemic no. The tamil rap segments and that La La La vocals accompanying the guitar work , scream repeat and repeat I did , until I knew the lyrics by heart. This is Indie Music at its best in the Tamil music scene.

Vaazhkaiye by Bramfatura is moody with a capital M and the electornic sounds coupled with Siddarth Basu’s lovely singing pull of what I call Tamil electronic rock/pop. It’s not the best of the album , but not the worst either. What it lacks in impact , it makes up in the vocal department and you end up with a song that will figure on your playlist but will not be played on a loop until you go deaf.

Kanave by Anirudh rounds up the soundtrack. claps of thunder , a solitary string instrument and a lovely flute & violin tadka herald the beginning of yet another love ballad by anirudh – one which is strongly reminiscent of part nee partha vizhigal , part po nee po that I almost expected Danush to make an appearance. The strong resemblance to 3 apart , Kanave is a lovely melody , filled with signature Anirudh elements of expansive string work and that haunting flute ( He can go light on it though – cos these elements were strikingly similar to 3 work ) that make you hit the repeat button quite a few times.

To round-up , David is quite an eclectic mix , with the individual composers having nailed the brief to create an impressive soundtrack.