Sound Byte

Norah Jones couldn’t have asked for more—Dolly Parton on her second album and now Here We Go Again with the winner of 12 Grammies. Some brilliant work on the keys by the master himself, with Jones on the piano.

The 74-year-old singer may have sounded better, but the man is still in his prime—check out the Randy Waldman track Sweet Potato Pie, where he’s swinging it with James Taylor.

You’d expect a country track like You Don’t Know Me to be smooth sailing. But when a legend like Diana Krall glides around a storm that Charles has whipped up, you just surrender.

And the genius takes Elton John’s Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word where no living artiste will ever be able to take it—each syllable drips soul. His drawl is almost a slur in places, but in Roger Waters words, it’s ‘‘genuine love’’.

Sinatra’s It Was A Very Good Year is another ecstatic moment that suspends time. But both time and music are mere puppets when Willie Nelson and Charles move into the limelight.

This is the perfect coming together of the supremes. If jazz gets you, this is it.

Musafir,
T-Series

Lots of excitement around the fact that Sanjay Dutt sung for Musafir’s soundtrack, and probably the first time that Bollywood music has been classified into Club and Lounge.

Composers Vishal and Shekhar have made sure that the album’s beyond just masala music. There’s a sex on the wheels mix, a missy in the pool mix, and an agony and ecstacy mix to begin with.

Having roped in both veejay Nikhil Chinappa and DJ Aqeel, they have got the right pulse. And this time around, some of the remixes actually go on to top the originals.

For instance, there’s Vishal-Shekhar’s own club version of Rabba, brilliantly sung by newcomer Krishna—he’s got the growl and the composers have done one of the liveliest mixes that you’ll hear in a long time. We hear that Krishna is Dutt’s find.

The original Rabba, sung by Sukhwinder Singh, like most Sukhwinder numbers, brings on those goosebumps. But unlike his Kawa Kawa for Monsoon Wedding, it’s not just his voice that takes over—the combined force of his vocals and the music hits home. Chinappa’s lounge version of Rabba has vocals by Richa Sharma; it sounds great too, but if you listen to it after Singh’s or Krishna’s versions, the inevitable comparisons dilute its quality. And did you know Chinappa’s got Boy George’s producer Kinky Roland into his Rabba house mix?

Saaki by Sunidhi and Sukhwinder is another rocking dance track. As for the Dutt number Tez Dhaar—Vishal calls it a Chris Reaesque piece, but it’s strikingly original.

Of course, Dutt is probably one of the few actors who can carry off a velvety song with his raspy, sandpaper voice.

There’s also Phir Na Kehna, a ballad by Kumar Sanu and Sunidhi, which doesn’t really linger, but Ek Dil Ne Ek Dil Se, a duet by Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya Ghosal, is quite catchy. Also check out Door Se Paas by KK and former Viva band member Mahua.