mm kreem+more paheli

paheli is catching on and i must chastise myself for not liking hariharan in "khaali hai tere bina". he' simply terrifc and terribly soulful. i guess i don't like the na-na-na ne-ne-ni-na-ni-na-naa approach to the first line. hoho. mm kreem saahab,it sounds too characteristic of you (eg., is raat ki subah) - could have been different. still, the album reinstates him as a genius, way above his fellow music directors. he has performed consistently much above expectations- staying
out of limelight all the time - which i guess is a smart decision or just the way he likes it. The biggest reason I'm taken in i guess, is because of the strong vocals that this album has. I realise that there are plenty of similar geniuses in their own right: arr (only his melodies pls), ismail darbar(more classical than folksy or down-to-earth), sandeep chowta(pep, classical funk, light melodies), sandesh shandilya (more strongon melodies but no desi mitti flavor, modern)..maybe some more. Each of them is sadly, hung on to the arrangement: almost like their music would fall through if unsupported. Paheli (plus his history: zakhm, jism) makes Kreem stand out as the best in my eyes. Because, he has exactly made up for what we've been missing for such a long time:strong vocals, vocals which stand out, sound clear even after all percussion+background music have subsided. Basically, as one would hear someone live, only the style is filmi. I believe that this is one of the most prominent reasons why oldies are dear to us: pure, unadulterated vocals. also, the reason why today's music fails to sound like yesteryears' (i.e. supposing they were goldies). and of course, we've to thank the accomplished singers, sonu nigam, hariharan, shreya ghoshal and there are a few others too. more analogies: more than one song reminds me of "utsav" - which perhaps was a step higher still.

mm kreem's album list: is raat ki subah nahin, zakhm, jism, sur, paheli. (did i leave out any?)
he had a couple of lovely jingles(political tho) during narsimha rao's reign.

But, beside this musical outburst, there's something more. Came across this on Lalitya Munshaw (laalitya manshaa). interesting name. I guess another of those classy folks who have managed to stay out of limelight. She has been trained by great gurus - interesting what she says abt lesson from kalyanji. Well, more importantly, she looks absolutely gorgeous. We have her album here esp looks lovely in this one. The pics traverse thru her life from next-door-girl to simi-garewal cutie ..hot model pics..n finally to sharp bahu looks. She's still Ms. though,would be interesting to know the details, hoho. Man! she's awesomely stunning! (note her shikari brown eyes in model pics). Lesson to be learnt: don't ignore the girl-next-door!

wud love to get those 2 songs of hers'. longing and balamwa.
also an interesting site on promoting classical music (of course munshaw is there!).