etcetera

Not sure how you can say this about Rajini, whose Chandramukhi casette has sold more numbers than the best selling album of the last 5 years (Gillie) and all this even before the film has been released. The number of shows Chandramukhi getting released in the US is the highest ever for any Tamil movie. Though his Baba was a flop, the demand for Rajini’s movies haven’t gone down a bit. And as you rightly said, the rumours about Rajini asking Sachin to be postponed were just rumours. Nothing more than that.

About Ilaiyaraja - it has been a long time he started composing songs for movies and not the other way around. So it was least surprising that ME’s songs were as they turned out to be.

Ganguly is the only for whom your comment holds good

I am a diehard Raaja fan, but one has to be in denial to believe he enjoys the same exalted position in Tamil cinema today that he once did. Perhaps, it was a conscious decision, perhaps not. I would love to see Raaja get back to the top, but I am realistic enough to understand that it may never happen.

Rajinikanth is treading uncertainly because of Baba. He only makes a movie every 3 years, and one flop is all it takes to make his position shaky. I used to like Rajini, but his over-cautious approach over the last few years (and an overdose of K.S. Ravikumar) puts me off. Hopefully, Chandramukhi will do well and make me eat my words, but I am not counting on it.

I am an IR fan as well, but to me that doesnt mean he is beyond any criticsm. His pathetic choice of movies even when he was at his peak in the 80s proved to be his undoing eventually. He signed every movie that came his way indiscriminately and ended up giving uninspired music to most of them. We remember only the good albums, but a look at his discography would reveal plenty of junk. For example look at his list from 1987 here
http://www.raajangahm.com/ric/film/FL-1987.html

I have difficulty picking 5 good albums from that list. Many albums with 1 or 2 good songs and rest eminently forgettable. Rahman has been clever in choosing films that give scope for good music and also the kind of people with whom he works.He has made a few mistakes as well in tamil film music recently, but overall his choices have been much better.

As for thiruvasagam, even if he had released it in 1990, he would have still faced the same problems. The audience for classical works in Tamilnadu, especially Western classical, is less. Apart from hardcore Raja fans, how many own How to name it or Nothing but wind? And Raja complicates things more by singing all the songs in his own voice as well. In my not-so-humble opinion he should have given up on singing, even in films, long time back. When you are trying to create something that is supposedly great art which would transcend time, you have to take utmost care in presenting it in the right away. Not just the orchestration, but the vocals as well.Anyways, I will wait for the release before passing any more comments. Maybe the usage of chorus/orchestra is so overwhelming that IR’s rendition would be a minor issue.

Vijay,

Agree with everything you say. In the late 80’s, Raaja could slip in a couple of albums like How to Name it and Nothing But Wind, since he was supremely confident in his ability and acceptance - he knew that if they didn’t do that well, it was not because people were rejecting his music, but because they were rejecting this type of music. Today, Raaja is sensitive to failure - the swagger is gone, and he is worried how his legacy will be perceived. I don’t have high expectations for Thiruvasakam in Symphony. After six years of believing that the next album will be IT, I am now resigned to the fact that he will never come up with anything that can excite me. The soundtracks of Lajja and Hey Ram were good in parts, but not outstanding. Maybe practice will make him better, but being ultra-sensitive to criticism means that he will always be surrounded by sycophants, who’ll praise everything he does to the sky. I can’t believe people call Karakattakari a good album! Once again, if he proves me wrong, I’ll be very happy.

The same thing has happened to Rajinikanth albeit on a smaller scale. Baba’s failure was a big blow to him - having never tasted failure on this scale before, he is a worried man.

Karthik, just in case you listen to Raja’s albums from other languages as well, his recent bests in the late 90sm have mostly come from Malayalam. You might have heard of these albums already, but just in case - Guru, Yaathramozhi, Kochu Kochu santhoshangaL and assorted songs from Man of the MATCH, Friends. Give it a listen if you havent yet already. Like you, I am skeptical of TIS’ outcome too but am hoping for the best.

The people who call Karagatakaari a great album are a few hardcore Raaja fanatics living in denial, deluding themselves into believing that the product is somehow superior all the time.

Guru is one of my all time favorites. When I listened to Guru, I thought this would herald his second coming. I wish he had started choosing movies carefully from then on, but his criteria for picking a movie seems to be how well he knows the director/producer more than how good the movie was. Except Avatharam, Devathai, Hey Ram and some isolated songs from a few other movies, the his work in the 90’s has been singularly unremarkable.

By the way, liked this line from your intro.
“..listens only to Illayaraja and his wife, Lavanya.”

DIVINE MUSIC
BY
S. MAHESHKUMAR

IT may Sound Divine by its own Nature that is Tiruvachakam but there is no point in setting the Magnum Opus of Sri Manickavachakar to Symphonic(or Oratorio,etc.) Orchestrations. St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion of J. S. Bach should not be a Source of corresponding Translation and Transformation as well as Adaptation in terms of Manickavachakam, i.e. Tiruvachakam. Tiruvachakam has its own Metre and Tune as its Composer Ordained it. Any attempt to contaminate this Saint Dictated Sri Natarajar Scribed Work for business purposes shall face the consequences of Ignorance and Darkness. It is better to write by self and indulge in such matters of experimental trials and avoid exploiting the Divine Compositions such as Tiruvachakam, Tevaram, Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, etc.

If Sri Ilaiyaraja want to Resurrect and Re-establish his Past Glory, it is better to not pose any damage to that Past Glory of his. Otherwise he may expose the Evaporated Person who Actually did the Phenomenal Music and the Other Person who corrupted it for the Lust for Money, etc. These two Alter Personae of total difference could not have gone together for almost a couple of decades and inhabited in Ilaiyaraja’s self so Amicably! It is best to Oust the Evaporated Person’s Baleful Friend who still reigns Raja’s self to ruin or at least shows traces of his existence in order to create further devastation, and spend the rest of life in Rewinding and Reliving the Encounters with the Advent and Lapse of the Evaporated Person, Praying for His Return!

If there was not anything like Sri Ilaiyaraja’s Lost Past Glory, he might still be in Vogue and continue with the Phenomena that he once had been! While he was at his Supreme, what he did was, according to his own self-commentaries, viz., his Music was like Slow Poison, that it would often make the listener addicted to it. That is why there have been many Ilaiyaraja Maniacs to this day. But these Maniacs are decreasing, quite relieved of their Mania, thanks to the Person who was Evaporated from Ilaiyaraja’s Misused Mental Domain and thus deserted him now! In the title song of the film, ‘Karagattakkaran’, he was even tempted to boast of & reveal his Real Self, that he sold his Music for the Lust for Money, etc( listen again to the Song “Pattale Buddhi Sonnar…”).

Dear Sri Ilaiyaraja,
Please be contented with your Revolutionary Past Glory which will never be matched by anyone else or even by yourself now for Generations to Come! It was for good that you exhausted yourself and created an Edifice for yourself by Overworking. Now is the time to Rest and Relax in Leisure. Be Like the Beacon of Arunachala to the Young Musical Aspirants who tries to follow your footsteps and kindly consent to their queries and be accessible to them unlike in the past due to your busy schedule. Due to Ageing you may tend to be slow but treat it as an opportunity for Incubation and continue to be in Energetic & Cheerful Spirits. In the past you had exerted to eradicate your poverty and earned fame and money. Why don’t you allot your present rest of life in the service of Music for Moksha?
Tiruvachakam in Symphonic Oratorio should be the First Step in the direction of your transition from Lust Music to the Divine Music. Like J.S. Bach (who is your Most Favourite Western Musical Genius & also for Everyone who understands His Refined, Clever, Swift, Subtle, Absolute, Aesthetic, Eternal,…, Art and, Predecessor to Mozart and Beethoven both by His life and by the Mathematical Perfection of His Music), I wish you Success in your present shift of work and expect on the behalf of all, a Lot of Excellent, Non-Slow Poisonous, Quick Elixirous, Poetic Music to follow.
Like J.S. Bach’s death bed Composition, the Enigmatic “Art of Fugue”, incompletely concluded with the notes,“ BACH”, as the Master Breathed for His Last in this Mortal World to Infinitely Breath for His Forever Flourishing in the Immortal Heavenly Abode, I once again wish you to do Penance in order to attempt & write such Fugues in addition to your Ever Lasting Contributions to Music in the Future.
Thank you and others, very much for the kindest perusal of these Remarks Aimed at Reiterating the Flight of the Musical Soul within ourselves from the Viciousness of Lust, etc, into the “NADHA BRAMHAM” and finally Merge & Abide as THE INFINITE+ZERO in Communion, Peacefully & Blissfully in “SRI BRAHMACHALAM”, the Final Abode of the Greatest of the Supreme Gods!
Yours well wishingly,
S. Maheshkumar.

The list of Thiru Ilaiyaraja’s Blunders:

‘Thiru / Thirumathi to be prefixed at appropriate proper names’.

1. Vali (Ever Steady) against Vairamuthu (Rejuvenated).

2. ‘Malaysia’ Vasudevan against T. M. Soundararajan (Fuming/Lamenting).

3. Janaki (Rediscovered) against Susheela (Everlasting).

4. Mano against S. P. Balasubrahmaniam (Relief from overwork).

5. Chitra against Sailaja/Jency(Not So!).

6. His Western Classical Masala Mix against Thiruvasagam’s Original (traditional) ‘PANN’ or Tune (epitome of his blunders!).

7. His “Oththa Ruba Tharaen” against Shankar-Ganesh’s former “Ennadi Muniamma” of the same popular tune.

8. Yogi Ram Surath Kumar against Bhagavan Ramanar.

9. High-tech Swamihood against the Simplest Real.

10. His Perfect (?) Music-Notation Script (He boasts in interviews) against that of Beethoven’s.

11. Former under-estimation of M. S. Viswanathan (That he took 3 months to compose “Muththukkalo Kanngal” Song in “Nenjirukkum Varai” as against his setting to tunes instantly, in one of his erstwhile interviews to Doordarshan, Chennai.) against his present shift in stand (that his Music was the Eschewed Saliva of MSV/Ramamurthy).

12. His intoxicating & dominating “Marma Isai” i.e. Mysterious Music, against Inducing the Curiously Provoked to learn the Art (e.g. K. Bhagyaraj et al) to rid him.

13. Suppression of his younger brother’s name in the list of those he was grateful to for his climbing to success (in his book on the subject) against the Lakshmana-like deeds of Gangai Amaran.

14. His Present Fall (due to his uncontrolled egoism) against his Past Achievement (due to his erstwhile alter person who is now evaporated!).

15. His over-praised vulnerable Thiruvasakam in Symphonic Oratorio in retort against the applauded A. R. Rahman’s Vandemataram (the reason being in Rahman’s work the lyrics had been understandable whereas in Raja’s work, most of the verses were in classical tamil, hard to comprehend by the ordinary layman).

16. His copy-righted & patented Thiruvasakam in Symphonic Oratorio against Sri Manickavachakar’s unpatented Divine Thiruvasakam (which yielded Raja to corrupt and contaminate the Bone-Melting devotional Thiruvasakam and thus to have begotten the divine curse of darkness and ignorance,etc.)

… So on.

Let us Salute the Maestro for his greatest contribution to Modern Music and Pray the Musical God Sri Saptha Swareswara Nadha Brahmam to Shield Our treasure i.e. Isai Gnani Thiru Ilaiyaraja from the Clutches of his Self-Ruining, Ruthless Ego and Bestow Peace upon him so as to carry on with his Musical Mission in Life!

There are rumours of Kavipperu Kavipperarasu Thiru Vairamuthu and Isai gnani Thiru Ilaiyaraja’s rejoining! What Thiru Ilaiyaraja had done to Thiru Vairamuthu in terms of his personal hatred, egoism and vengence was one of the greatest blunder of the so many other blunders he has been in habit of practising! It was a terrible loss to the Tamil Film Musical Literature! The Six years of isolation and solititude imposed cruelly, inhumanly and mercilessly by Thiru Ilaiyaraja upon Thiru Vairamuthu (1986-1992) had been only to the benefit of the Bard in terms of Incubation, Penance and Perseverance and to the future Seclusion, Ignorance and Darkness of the Maestro with his Erstwhile Musical Powers Evaporated! Like the Mythical Phoenix Thiru Vairamuthu had gracefully rejuvenated himself and carved for his literary epitome an edifice of remarkable epistles in servitude of our “THAMIZH THAI” who is none other than the Sister of Lord Siva, i.e. Sri Saraswathi Devi. Like Günther Grass, Thiru Vairamuthu, in the footsteps of Bharathi and Tagore et al should aim for the Nobel Prize and in this direction he should continue his work steadfastly in restoring the greatness of the Classical Tamil Language and the Tamils in the modern times! May his Will Power guide him and bestow upon him the Peace of Mind necessary to keep himself Composed and Gentle in times of crises and offer his Soothing words even to the ones who had tried to dethrone him, i.e. Thiru Vairamuthu!

poonkada pokatha pasangala

MUSICOID

BY

S. MAHESHKUMAR

ALL sounds never make Music. Likewise, all Music never leads us to Moksha. There is a theory, which holds that the sole purpose of Music is to prepare people for copulation. But there is also another theory that enlightens the ardent pursuer of Divinity that just before the advent of Moksha, Music cleanses and prepares the fortunate Soul, which after long toil and turmoil is travelling in the right path, to Moksha. After the Liberation of the Soul, that is, after the transformation into Divinity, as a result of attaining Moksha, there chants as lullaby in the Inner Ear of the Jeevanmuktha, i.e. the Liberated-Living, the steady, effortless, ceaseless, … , eternal Divine Music of Perfect Bliss.

Divine Music is the consequence of constant contact in communion with the Musical God, i.e., the Nadha Brahmmam. There is no language barriers or the so-called linguistic impotency in the Music of the Divine. It is the Music conceived for the Supreme Instrument ever created that is the Body enshrining the Divine Soul in order to process and soothe the ignorant Mind and relieves the Self from the clutches of the animality of Ego. Definitely, there is an infinite difference between Lust Music and Divine Music. As we differentiate Music with noise likewise so is Divine Music associated with Lust Music. Divine Music is complete and perfect and the prime defect of Lust Music is its incompleteness and imperfection. Until we attain Moksha, we are imposed to practise by approximating and imitating Divine Music in terms of Lust Music. Divine Music is generalised whereas Lust Music is particularised. There is no end to growth by division in Lust Music. There are innumerable purposes and motives for Lust Music. But the uniquely singular aim of Divine Music is to worship and thus cherish God. Divine Music is never restricted by the limitations of Time for it stills Time and freezes the Mind from its habitual aimless wanderings. There are no gradations akin to relativity in Divine Music that one of it is greater or poorer than the other just because it is Absolute and it is the Liberated Soul’s expression of God. Divine Music is the Boon bestowed upon those who are fed up with the viciousness of Lust Music. Vexation is the curse of Lust Music. Brahmanandham is the true nature of Divine Music. Life becomes meaningful with joy at the advent of Divine Music. Lust Music makes Life tedious and absurd. Divine Music is continuous with God as its only theme. Lust Music is discontinuous baited with addictive traps at its crux and with ignorance & darkness as its chief themes. Anything, if seriously pursued with incessant dedication, will purify our vices if there are any and transform us into Divinity. Pursuing Lust continuously means pursuing discontinuity continuously, which is a contradiction. But according to the seriousness of practising contradiction, Divine Intervention will set these pursuits of us to the right mode. This is the Miraculous Process of Divinity. Passion for the transient leads to Lust. Passion for the transcendent leads to the Divine.

Divine Music is the consummation of Spiritualism. Lust Music is the depression of Materialism. When the Mind is wiped to Zero, the Soul reclaims its Divinity and flourishes by nourishing the Nadhamrutham, that is, by cherishing the Divine Musical Elixir. MUSICOID is the Musical Self of the Jeevanmuktha who has extinguished the EGOID and successfully reduced his ID to ZERO, that is, the ZEROID.

—S. Maheshkumar.

{Composed on 25th September 2005 at 9.56 PM, Indian Standard Time.}

I totally relate to S.Maheshkumar. This is how I feel about Rave Music too. The following esssay captures my emotions on the subject.

————————————-
The History of Rave Music

Written by: legosgirl2323

The history of Rave Music is quite interesting. It has been around for decades. Some enjoy it, some don’t. There is some conflict as to where Rave Music actually started. Some people, non-ravers most likely, ask what is Rave Music?

Rave Music is made up of technologically advanced beats that are mixed with other beats to form music. Rave Music has a culture of its own, as so does any other music type. The history of Rave Music is hard to sum up, but here it goes…

The controversy in “Who started Rave Music, U.K. or U.S.?” is going to forever live on. But in all actuality, the U.S. sparked the flame that started it all. It all started back in 1970, in Detroit and Chicago, when Djs, like Frankie Knuckles, would program drum rhythms and play disco records over the top of his beats. He would play this “music” in the “club environment”. In 1977, in Chicago, the first club, playing this “music”, opened and was called The Warehouse. This is where house music received its name (shortened version of the clubs name). The U.K. heard of this and adopted the music. The music blew up over seas. Meanwhile it was still on the low in the U.S.. That is why people say the U.K. started it. House music was being played in gay clubs, in England, for 2 years before any sign of acceptance in the straight scene. While that was going on, the Djs in the U.S. were playing around with their music and somehow came up with the idea of mixing house music and hip-hop together. In 1985, Hip-house was born. This is when house music blew up in the United States. In 1986, Underground was born. Djs started getting creative with their music and in 1987 Deep House and Techno were born. In 1988, came Acid House. This was invented by 2 Djs who were hooking up their equipment and someone accidentally hit the on switch and on came the speakers making an “acidy” noise. The Djs liked the noise and decided to mix house music in. Thus, making Acid House. The U.K. began feeling left out and started experimenting themselves. In 1989, they came up with New Beat, a mix between Acid, Techno and House. While this was going on the U.S. came up with Hardcore, some really really fast house music. In 1990, LA finally decided to step away from the rap scene and give House/Techno a try. Since then Jungle, Drum-n-Bass, Trance, Progressive Trance, Hard Trance, Happy House, Hard House, and Happy Hardcore have been born. All of these make up Rave Music, which all came from on type of music, Disco.

Rave Music, primarily, is electronically based music that has a high level of bass. The music tends to be fast paced, 115-300 beats per minutes. A Dj “spins” to create the music ravers here. Spinning is the art of mixing songs together using different pitches, different speeds, and an equalizer to create an ever-flowing, ever-changing wall of sound. Rave Music doesn’t have a base to it. It is made up of Jungle, DnB, House, Hard House, Deep House, Happy House, Hardcore, Happy Hardcore, Techno, Trance, Progressive Trance, Hard Trance, Euro, Freestyle, Ghetto, Hip-house, Underground, and Hi-NRG. The different types of Rave Music will keep growing with all the new technology coming around. The music keeps re-inventing itself. Therefor, the development of a new type of music is always on the way, so watch out.

Rave Music is culture. Culture is nature, which is indefinable for if it was definable it could be controlled. Rave Music, obviously, cannot be controlled. Along with culture comes clothing. Ravers are a unique crowd. A typical raver is between 17 and 25 years of age. He is equally likely to be a she. You are likely to see someone on jeans, someone in black vinyl pants or someone in costume. However, many people fit into the “typical” raver mold. For males, baggy pants are the norm. This is because they are easier to dance in. A very tight shirt, no shirt or a sweatshirt is also common. For females it gets way more interesting. The typical raver chick has short hair, either in barrettes or pigtails with a visor. She wears a baby doll dress or pants and a midriff shirt, often sucking on a pacifier. Basically, in general, pacifiers, stuffed animals and lollipops are common. Shirts emblazoned with cartoon characters are also common. In a sense, this is Rave culture. It is the regaining of innocence and forgetting about problems for a while. Outside of a rave, many ravers appear normal. Others choose to dress this way all the time and that’s ok because it probably makes them feel better as a person. But raving is not an “all the time thing” culture, as the hippies were and are. Raving is a temporary activity separate from the daily lives of ravers. Raving is a culture of escape. Escape from the real world. Reality does not exist at a rave. Just look around. The music isn’t “real” and how realistic does an 18 year old look sucking on a pacifier? Therefor, raving is the means of escape, from the real world, for some.

I wrote this paper as a raver not as a poser. I believe raving is fun and relaxing thing to do. The history behind the music was very interesting to me. I learned stuff I didn’t know before. I learned a lot about the music and myself. I can actually understand myself better when I go to a rave. This was a great way for me to get in touch with my culture. Rave Culture!

Eh, Mr. Rave Music Fan… when exactly did you compose this post?

Sorry about that oversight.

{Composed on 29th February 2004 at 3:59 AM, Tonga Standard Time.}

This is in response to Mr. S. Maheshkumar’s “MUSICOID”. What a deep analysis concerning “Divine Music” and “Lust Music”! Such a distinction is necessary and a requisite in filtering the crude in order to synthesise the crucial.