Pazhassi Raja(Malayalam,Ilaiyaraja)

Kunnathae Konnakyum is a cracker of a song-Has a mesmerizing tune with bewitching arrangements by Raja,and Chitra's stunning vocals add to the magic.Aadhiussandhya,with uber-inventive orchestration and a soaring tune,once again has some excellent vocals,this time by Yesudas and MG Sreekumar.Raja goes behind the mike this time for Ambum Kombum,which starts off with a tribal sound and then goes on with an interesting tune structure while Aalamadankala Mythavanalle carries the period film'ish sound really well,added with some extraordinary arrangements by Raja.Odathandil Thalam Kottum has a seductive tune,just like Kunnathae Konnakyum and both the singers,Chandrasekhar and Sangeetha do full justice to their song.Ilaiyaraja's score for Pazhassi Raja is very imaginative and is completely in sync with the film's theme!..

Village Lo Vinayakudu(Telugu,Manikanth Kadri)

Karthik's Neeli Meghama,despite sounding a little like the chorus of Chinna Chinna(En Swaasa Kaatre)works beautifully,with mesmerizing arrangements and an enchanting tune.Aha Na Pellanta remix by Baba Sehgal and Manikanth is enjoyable for the most part,but the same cannot be said for Benny Dayal's Superman,mainly due to the assembly-line tune.Shwetha Mohan sounds awesome in the mellifluent Chinukai Varadai,ably supported by Hariharan.Haricharan towers over Theese Prati Swaasa,a stunning melody with some excellent interludes,while the composer's reworking of Muddugaare Yashoda,the Annamacharya Kriti is laudable-He adds an interesting layer to an already great musical piece.Both the versions,by Guru Priya and Sooraj works effectively.But the Theme Music with some stunning violin pieces by Karthik Iyer is the highlight of the soundtrack.Manikanth Kadri,for sure has a winner in Village Lo Vinayakudu soundtrack!

Aladin(Hindi,Vishal-Shekhar)

Bachke O Bachke,barring the predictable tune works quite well,mainly due to the groovy arrangements while Genie Rap,despite the annoying rap by Amitabh Bachchan also works,thanks to the catchy orchestration and the addictive chorus.Giri Giri,with a bizarre tune and droning vocals is a complete non-starter while in O re Saawariya,Amitabh Bachchan part is a huge let down and some portions which sound like Tere Angane mein doesnt help either.But You Maybe is the highlight of this soundtrack-With a beautiful tune and excellent arrangements,the duo is in full form in this track-But this time,in both composing and rendering it!..Vishal-Shekhar's Aladin soundtrack is predominantly weakened by Amitabh's rap portions and therefore disappoints,barring the last track!..

Couples Retreat(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack-A R Rahman)

Rahman's score for Couples Retreat cannot be appreciated without watching the film,given the number of instrumental tracks in this score.But the 2 full tracks,Sajna and the tamil track,Kuru Kuru are catchy-Sajna,with a breezy outer ring works well but is overshadowed by Kuru Kuru,a vintage Rahman track with some brilliant layers and Rahman's voice blends amazingly well along with the minty-fresh tune.Among the other tracks and instrumentals,Nana,the launch pad for Rahman's son is instantly catchy and is enjoyable while Salvadore,featuring Kailash Kher is also pretty good.Waterfall,with some amazing assortment of sounds is mesmerizing;Ditto for Tour of the Villas too!..The above tracks stand out for their addictive and ambient sounds.The whole soundtrack only seems to be a sporadic mix of different background pieces with each piece portraying a different genre.Waiting to watch this movie,because it is difficult to connect to the Rahman's score without watching the movie!

Vettaikkaran(Tamil,Vijay Antony)

Shankar Mahadevan's Naan Adicha is a stale khichdi of Vijay's earlier annoying introduction songs and is instantly forgotten while Puli Urumudhu pushes a step further and is a full-on attack on the senses.Even though En Uchi Mandai reeks more of Vijay Antony's style than the actor Vijay,this track too with adequately cacophonic and jarring sounds is plain silly!..But the soundtrack gets a shade better with the next two songs,Oru Chinna Thamarai and Karigalan-Oru Chinna Thamarai has a lovely tune,completely tainted by the unnecessary rap fragments but has some competent singing by Suchitra and Krish.However Surchith and Sangeetha's Karigalan works beautifully-Despite the occasionally annoying lyrics,this track has a very enjoyable tune with some interestingly infused folkish arrangements.Barring 2 songs in which the composer gets the better of Vijay,Vettaikkaran's soundtrack is maha-stale.

Peranmai(Tamil,Vidyasagar)

Barring Madhu Balakrishnan's angst-ridden singing that is laudable,Kaadu Kalai fails to make an impact mainly due to a profound tune structure.Kaatu Puli,thankfully has a neat and simple tune with lilting layers that unfold in the middle even as the composer infuses some adequately catchy sounds in the later part of the song.Choice of K.K to croon this song is a pleasant surprise!..Thuppakki Penn has some very good orchestration with a mundane tune,but gets reasonably better when it reaches the paragraphs while Sonia Irabar and Sianed Jones' When the Boys is plain tedious and is annoying after an amount of time.Yerathala Yezhu Mani is the highlight of the soundtrack-With a Raja like tune and enchanting orchestration,this track showcases Vidyasagar's maturity and Sadhana Sargam simply sounds astounding in this song!..Vidyasagar comes up with a dithering soundtrack in Peranmai!

Shankam(Telugu,SS Thaman)

Mahalakshmi is pure Thaman style-With an enjoyable tune and hep arrangements,this track works with Karthik's neat rendition being another highlight!..Dhakku Dhakku fails even with a host of some good singers like K.K and Rahul Nambiyar,mainly due to the routine tune while Maamu has some good backgrounds undone by a mundane tune and Udit Narayan's vocals.Dheeradhi Dheera,a hero worship track is predictably superfluous but passes due to some ebullient vocals while Ei Baboi,with a stock tune is instantly forgotten.The theme of Shankam,with an interesting mix of rousing sounds works effectively.Thaman as usual meanders again in this soundtrack and is getting supremely stereotyped with each passing soundtrack!..