Love Express-Music Review [music director:Jaidev Kumar]

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Jaidev kumar is best known for his numerous punjabi hits,he is making debut in bollywood by composing a complete album and all the songs have a punjabi flaour[even the first song says-dance like a punjabi].The movie is a low budget project and the promotions are limited.Expectations are very very low.

The first song dance like a punjabi(neeraj shridhar) tries really hard to be a perfect punjabi dance number but fails miserably,the music and lyrics doesnt creates the effect that punjabi songs usually does.Not a good start to the album.

Next song Rocking shocking family(simran,sumitra,kamal,ryan) brings some respite after such a dull start.Its a  perfect traditional punjabi flavour and may be heard at punjabi affairs(marriages) in the coming time,also it has a similarity with the famous Kala Sha Ka la(still a hit punjabi number).A good track.

Suddenly the album takes a completely different track with Tere bin jiya na jaye(gulshan,sumitra iyer).Undoubtedly its the best song of the album with some brilliant music and lyrics,not to forget the singer gulshan(his voice is quite similar to rahat fateh ali khan).Tere bin jiya na jaaye is a song which one can relate very easily,a must hear song.

Then comes a pure punjabi track mohe machli tum neer,its having the traditional lyrics(its a traditional old punabi song).This track is for the niche segment,the punjabi's,the lyrics are pure punjabi and its difficult for a non-punjabi to understand the lyrics.The song is made keeping in mind the punjabi family in the movie.

Then come dance like punjabi karaoke(in karaoke there is music minus the lead vocal),may be an innovative step,one hardly release karaoke versions in the movie albums.But I see no point putting a karaoke of a fast pacy song like this,its of no use as amateur singers can't try their hand on such a fast high on beat number.Useless.

Last track is a bonus track from 'kashmakash' starting with a narration from subash ghai(he is the producer of love express) and gulzaar.A gulzaar song never disappoints as it is high on the lyrics.A perfect song to end the album.Must listen for gulzaar fan's.

I don't think love express will find a good place in the directory of music listeners,foremost reason being the lack of re-known actors in the movie(except om puri) and the lack promotional efforts.

Rewind-Band called Nine by Neelesh Misra-Music Review

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

I wouldn't have listened to the album had it not been the creative promotional strategy by neelesh misra on 92.7 big fm.Everyday a new story is told through the voice of neelesh misra(named Yaadon Ka Idiot Box which is being aired Mon to Fri from 9 to 10 P.M).His voice and simple(yet creative) writing catched my attention instantly,his style of writing is similar to that of gulzar,using common daily routine words and converting them into a song(lyrics by neelesh-I Am In Love[once upon a time in mumbai],Maine dil se kaha dhoond lana khushi[Rog],few songs in Jism).Amartya rahut(debut) is the music composer and ofcourse neelesh misra has written the songs,lets see what he has to offer in today's era where pop albums are on the verge of extinction.

The album surpisingly has 19 tracks,out of which 10 are narrations in the voice of neelesh misra about his love story(fiction).The whole album is a concept,it will not work in isolation,by that I mean that each and every song is related to the story(narration),the placement of every song in the album is situational,its more like a movie where there are situations which can only be filled by some brilliant music.The album(1 & 1/2 hours) works as a whole.To start with, the 1st track,(rather a story), says-Chhote Shehar Ka Banda Hu main,REWIND,thats what my brain did when I heard this,its about the childhood,pocketmoney,etc.Brilliant start.

Shilpa Rao joins in for the next one yaadon ke idiot box me,already the title(yaadon ke idiot box me) is famous through his show and  the song takes u back in the carefree days of childhood[mujhko phir aam khane hai aangan ke,mujhko sona hai naani ke daman pe].Fantastic lyrics and brilliantly sung,a song that one wants to hear again and again.A perfect 10 on 10.

The narration tanha logo ke shehar me describes the loneliness,the changes that have taken place in the previous 2 decades,loved it when he described that how now-a-days mothers(maa) have started texting(sms) through mobile and asks-"how are u beta?"

Maazi(past) is a perfect number for Suraj jagan,it starts slowly but after a minute the rock beats takes on and suraj takes the song on a new level with his high pitched voice.Good number.

Oye yaad hai canteen ki mej kitna hilti thi,mujhe roj lagta tha kahin uske duppate pe chai na gir jaye,adrak ki chai use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi,meri kavitaayen use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi.Need I say more about this narration.

Suraj jagan comes back with the male version of yaadon ka idiot box,a completely different one from the one by shefali,the music and lyrics are entirely different,a more of a fun number.A Must listen.

Tumhari aankhen baatein bahut karti hai-pyar ka monsoon,this narration is the best one,it has all the things,love,suspense,twists(listen to it n then u will know what i mean).Wonderful.

Roobaru-Neelesh misra made his debut in this track as a playback singer with shipa rao as the female voice,his voice is brilliant be it as a stroyteller or a playback singer,this song I had heard months back on Big FM in his show,however the songs needs multiple hearings to grow on you a lounge number),its more of a soft number which needs some attention to build the required ambience.A perfect song to be placed in the middle of an album like this.

Hamare jhagde Expiry date ke sath aate the-Its the narration after love marriage and the jhagda's and the mannana's.Loved his way of using the word "ULLU"(will not spoil the moment by telling the whole concept).

The next songs Shayad(suraj jagan) is a brilliant composition and the placement of the song and lyrics makes it even more impactful(after hamare jhagde).Next comes mai koi mohabbat ka,neelesh misra uses words like neembu ka achar,adrak ki chai,he shows that how a narration should be ended so that it stays for a longer period of time in the mind of listeners.

Aangan(suraj jagan),tells the story of aangan with which many childhood memories are realted,again brilliant lyrics which forces us to rewind back our memories to the days when we used to play in the aangan.The narration continues with aakhir shaadi ka,one thing which I loved in his narrations is the background effect in every narration,it gives a real feeling.Then comes an average track naina tore(shilpa rao),one can skip this number ,neither the lyrics nor the music has something special to offer(not that its a bad song but compared to other compositions,this one is passable).

After one more narration,shayda main rishto ke liye,comes the best track of the album,unka khayal crooned by neelesh misra and shilpa rao,it takes you back to the jagjit singh era(the song is similar to baat niklegi to door talak jaegi by jagjit singh).The song is a perfect unplugged version played on keyboard,it will make you speechless once you hear it with your eyes closed.The lyrics are creative and gives the same feeling as jagjit singh ghazals used to give years back.After many years I have heard such a brilliant composition,it proves that we have much more to offer apart from sheila ki jawanai and munni badnaam,Keep up the good work neelesh,you have made the music industry proud with such writings.

There is a last track sung by shilpa rao(not mentioning the narration before it)dil raffu,good fast pacy track again with some innovative lyrics,i mean who write lines like dill raffu jake karwana hai,dil ka darji koi to mile.A perfect ending to a brilliant album.

Then Neelesh misra comes with his last narration ending his love story with aapke jaisa hi hun main.The last 20 seconds of the narration are kept in silence,just few sounds of cars moving and nothing else.To sum up,I will just say that I am blown away by his writing skills,neelesh misra is the future of indian poetry after gulzaar,just wonder why he has not written more songs for bollywood(a mere 5 or 6 till now).The album is not for everyone,its not the one which will be played in cars and clubs,its for the people who love pure music,go for it if u want to spare one and half hours of your life on this masterpiece.