Kannalane from Bombay

The first interlude (can also be called as 2nd BGM) of the Kannalane song from the film "Bombay" is just wonderful. A R Rahman (also the composer of this film) sings the vocals (he basically sings the swaras in Sufi style, I think), with the slap bass, tabla and harmonium providing apt accompaniment. The slap bass is just too good and the bass + tabla combination is always good. The harmonium joins towards the end and the song seemlessly moves into the charanam.

Click to Play (opens in new window)

I recently saw this song being performed live by A R Rahman's troupe. Unfortunately they were unable to recreate the magic of this interlude on stage. This is understandable, since the original song would have been sung in different tracks, especially the male voice in this BGM and then overlapped together. I think both the male voices in this BGM are Rahman's, not sure though.

Prelude from Ivan

Here is a nice prelude from the song "Appadi Paakarthuna" from "Ivan". I like this magical prelude by Ilaiyaraaja a lot. It starts with a piano in Bb minor and after that it changes to a different scale (which I am yet to decipher) and then again does a scale shift to D major and the solo violin accompanies at this point. The song then continues in the D major scale, which is Raag Shankarabharanam.

Click to Play (opens in new window)

Not many would have heard this prelude, since this particular portion is not shown on TV nor played on Radio. Let me know your views on this piece.