chaandan mein

Wonder what that title means or well it really means what it seems to mean. Kailash kher is back with his new album chhandan mein after kailasa. To say its beautiful would be understatement. He's severely toned down on his high-pitched vocals or maybe smoothened them with harmonies. His shrill cries in the past have always been a pain to listen to (more so, listen to others sing those songs) and in my opinion have severely undermined his music's potential/acceptance. The guy (and the group I guess) has done his homework with electronic accompaniment. It  feels as good as Hariharan's Kaash, although Kaash was more ghazalish and this one is more folksy+bhajanish - their respective fortes. I really get kicks when they manage to create well-placed fusion.

There is this na bataati tu peecha, dha dhin nin na song, which I really want to figure out but can't make head/tail out of it. tere naina is almost like a lori.  All the songs are consistenly nice with their lyrics.

And of course, there a couple of songs in feminine form, which are fantastic. Few can take over the feminine form so effortlessly as kailash kher and render those songs with utmost comfort.  chaandan mein, teri yaad mein, piya ghar aavenge, ishq ho gaya, albela saajan - more than half of the songs fall in that category with lovely lyrics by the doode himself. 

and yes, there's an unreleased madan mohan tracks album tere bagair released by the madan mohan family. digitially remastered - they even display the lost line from a track on the covers. such a wonderful family (: i'm glad some of songs retain the madan mohan touch unlike most in veer-zaara.