Urangaathe from Gaureeshankaram

Sometimes back Sijo had mentioned about a song from the Malayalam movie Gaureeshankaram. I hadn't heard the song that he was talking about, most probably because the movie was not a success, so the songs were gone unnoticed. Later I could listen to the song in Divya's voice in her music blog. Listen to her beautiful rendition of the same song here. Sijo had told me that there is another version sung by P Jayachandran and in his own words, he "gets moved to another world whenever he hear this song." :-) Then I listened to P Jayachandran's version and I must admit that this man is one gem of a singer. What a wonderful voice he has even at this age and he sings with such ease.

The music composer of this song is one of the best in the new generation of music directors in Malayalam cinema - M Jayachandran. He is famous for his beautifully melodious compositions and this time also he doesn't disappoint us. When the two Jayachandrans (M Jayachandran, the composer and P Jayachandran, the singer) joined hands, a beautiful song was born. Not forgetting the lyricist Gireesh Puthencheri who penned this beautiful song. I hope I did justice to the song and do let me know your comments.

Song: Urangaathe
Movie: Gaureeshankaram
Music: M Jayachandran
Original Singer: P Jayachandran
Lyrics: Gireesh Puthencheri
Requested by: Sijo Jose T

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Gori Tera Gaon from Chitchor

Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyaara is one of my most favorite Hindi songs sung by Sri. K J Yesudas. What a beautiful composition by Ravindra Jain! I remember reading in Pradipettan's blog that Ravindra Jain had mentioned that he if he ever gets the eye sight, the first person he would like to see is Yesudas. Yesudas is lucky enough to sing most of the beautiful compositions by Mr. Jain or is it vice versa?

I had posted this song long back without karaoke. Recently I have received the karaoke tracks for some golden oldies of K J Yesudas from Rama didi (thanks to her) and here is the song in full form. Do let me know your thoughts.

Song: Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyaara
Movie: Chitchor
Music: Ravindra Jain
Original singer: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo

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Kaatrin Mozhi from Mozhi

Here is a song that was in queue for a long time. Dhanush thought this song would suit my voice and had asked me to sing it long back. I sang it last week and recorded it. The karaoke track is not original and it is a made up one that I downloaded from Internet. So it might sound like a remixed version some times. :-) Anyways, here is Kaatrin Mozhi, a beautiful melodious song composed by Vidyasagar, from the Tamil movie Mozhi. It was quite tough singing this as it needed a lot of breath control in some parts of the song. Do let me know your thoughts.

Song: Kaatrin Mozhi
Movie: Mozhi (Tamil)
Music: Vidyasagar
Original singer: Balaraj
Sung by: Jo

Download this song from here (7.9 MB)

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Kolakuzhal Vili from Nivedyam

I wanted to do a duet with Rashmi ever since I have heard her songs. She's got a beautiful and fresh voice. And finally we got a chance to sing together when she sent me the track for kOlakuzhal viLi kETTO, a popular Malayalam hit song of these days, from the movie Nivedyam. This is a melodious duet composed by M Jayachandran. Here is our try and do let us know your comments.

Movie: Nivedyam
Lyrics: Lohitha Das
Music: M Jayachandran
Original singers: Vijay Yesudas, Swetha
Sung by: Jo & Rashmi

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Ajab Si - Om Shanti Om

I remember a friend was telling me that, "the singers like KK and Hariharan have made our lives tougher". :-) It is quite tough to sing the songs which have originally come out in the voices of these great singers. The way that they handle even the extremely high-pitched songs with ease is quite amazing and they are role models to the upcoming and aspiring singers. After the series of unfortunate events in my life, I thought of recording this song tonight. I finished recording it a couple of minutes back. So here is a song from me after a looooong time! Straight from the studio... err... I mean, laptop. :-)

Thanks to Karthik, for the karaoke track.

Movie: Om Shanti Om
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Original Singer: KK
Sung by: Jo



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Aaj Se Pehle from Chitchor

Here is one of my favorite Hindi songs sung by Yesudas. Thanks to Rama di for the karaoke track. I will be singing more Hindi songs by Yesudas in the coming days. This was recorded sometime last week.

Movie Name: Chitchor (1976)
Original Singer: Yesudas KJ
Music Director: Ravindra Jain
Lyrics: Ravindra Jain
Year: 1976
Sung by: Jo

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It has been a long while since I posted a song here. I was and am sick. And this has been going on for more than three months now. Started with a cold, then severe cough, again cold and now throat/chest infection. I am had a laryngoscopy and the doc gave me some tablets for three more weeks and advised to have inhalation and complete voice rest as much as possible. It is also advised to change the food habits. To have light food for dinner and to have it at least 4 hours before sleep. So this long phase of sickness which I had never had in my lifetime is going to take some more time, it seems. Well, be it. Perhaps a break is good.

Meanwhile I was trying to upload all my songs to my new audio host, Esnips. The old player (Hipcast) has been inactive for all my songs since I have unsubscribed from their service, so I've been trying to upload my songs to a new space and then I found Esnips. Now the process is complete and you can listen to the songs here.

In between I noticed that I hadn't posted this song that I had recorded sometimes back, so let me post this song to fill the music void for a little while. :-)

Movie: Daisy
Music: Shyam
Original singer: Krishnachandran
Sung by: Jo

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Saagarame Saanthamaaka Nee - Madanotsavam

It's been quite a while since I have sung something. I've been having a really bad time that was started from a bad cold, which turned to cough and then bronchitis and now cold again. Meanwhile I managed to record a song which I wanted to sing from a long time. I'm not fully recovered from the cold yet, so do excuse the problems with this song. Dedicating this song to Vidyu, who suggested this song and one of the fabulous singers in the music blogosphere. A Telugu duet song from us can be heard pretty soon in this space. This song is a perfect example of the musical genius of Sali Chowdhary.

Song: Saagarame Saanthamaaka
Movie: Madanotsavam
Music: Sali Chowdhary
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo

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Kanninu Ponkani - A fun song

Sanmanassullavarkku Samaadhaanam is one of the best movies of Sathyan Anthikkad that has the regular reel-to-real kind of movies with a touch of humor. The song that I am posting today is a fun song from this movie where Mohan Lal chases Karthika in his attempt to make her vacate the house that he owns.

Movie: Sanmanassullavarkku Samaadhaanam
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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An M Jayachandran song


Paranju Theeraattha Viseshangal was an easily forgotten work of M Jayachandran. This particular song is in the sad mood, but a melodious composition. Here is my version of Manasse Paadu Nee...

Movie: Paranju theeraattha viseshangal
Music: M Jayachandran
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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Remember, even on August 15th, Mahatma Gandhi wasn't celebrating the Independence Day, but he was walking fast towards the villages of Navkhali where the religious riots were taking place. That should remind us that Independence Day is a day to remind ourselves of our duties as the fellow citizens of this country and also to remember those known and unknown heroes of the freedom struggle who sacrificed their lives for their homeland. Herewith I am dedicating my version of Vande Mataram to those great souls in whose memory I bow my head in respect...

Song: Vande Mataram
Composed and sung by: Jo

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PS: I am slowly recovering from bronchitis as you can see from this post. :-) Thanks to your well wishes. As usual I composed this song without knowing anything about the raaga. I know this is going to sound odd, but I got this tune on a fine morning when I was taking the shower before leaving to office. I recorded the base tune right away in my cellphone and did the full recording today when I came back from the office. A friend says this is very close to raaga Vasantha. What do you say?

Previous posts on August 15th:

i-Day Thoughts - 2006
Remembering August 15s - 2005

A Pancham Da Classic

Melody at its best - that's what I have to say about the songs from the movie 1942 - A love story. I love all the songs from this movie composed by the musical legend, R. D. Burman. The song that I'm posting today is Rooth Na Jaana, originally sung by Kumar Sanu. Lemme know how it sounds.

Earlier, I had posted Kuch Na Kaho, another beautiful song from the same movie. You can listen to it from here.

Song: Rooth Na Jaana
Movie: 1942 - A love story
Music: R D Burman
Originally sung by: Kumar Sanu
Sung by: Jo
Language: Hindi

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Kaathal Koncham from Harris Jeyaraj

Today I am posting a comparatively different song from the usual melody songs that I post here. Anush K Thomas, my colleague and one of the friendliest and jovial people I have seen, has been constantly asking me to try something off the usual melody track. Here is my try my on such a song after a long time. Lemme know how it sounds. :-)

Song: Kaathal Koncham
Movie: Pachaikili muthucharam (Tamil)
Music: Harris Jeyaraj
Originally sung by: Naresh Iyer
Sung by: Jo
Language: Tamil

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It has been a long time since me and Swatiji were planning to do a song together. We were planning to do a cover version of some Hindi song. That is when Ajay suggested this wonderful idea. He said he would write Hindi lyrics for a Malayalam song that was a hit some time ago. The Malayalam song is Thumpi Kinnaaram from the movie Naran, which was composed by Deepak Dev. What a wonderful idea, I thought. So here is Tanha Lamhon Mein, written by Ajay Chandran and sung by me and Swati Kanitkar.

So here is my first duet with Swati Kanitkar. Do listen to this song and let us know your thoughts. :-)

Original Malayalam song credits:
Music: Deepak Dev
Movie: Naran
Sung by: K. J. Yesudas, Gayathri

Tanha Lamhon Mein credits:
Song: Tanha Lamhon Mein
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Sung by: Jo & Swati Kanitkar
Language: Hindi

Broadband

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Thozhuthu Madangum by Shyam/ONV/Unnimenon

I met Indu aka Induviduality through Flickr. Indu is one of the few online friends whom I could meet in person. A die-hard Yesudas and Unni Menon fan, and she keeps sending so many good songs. I met Indu when she came to see Thrissur Pooram [thanks for that free meal, Indu :-)]. Checkout her Flickr pics also. I couldn't find the karaoke for her original song request, but posting one of the hit songs by her fav singer Unni Menon.

Song: Thozhuthu madangum
Movie: Aksharangal
Music: Shyam
Lyrics: O N V
Originally sung by: Unni Menon
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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Kannada song: Anisuthide from Mungaru Male



First things first. I have changed the blog template slightly as you can see. Tell me how you guys like it. :-)

The song that I am posting today is a Kannada song. Earlier I had posted one Kannada song and later I took it off as I thought there were some serious flaws. A couple of weeks back when Ramya asked me if I would be interested in singing a Kannada song, I thought I would give it a try. Thanks a bunch to you Ramya, for sending me this beautiful song with its karaoke and lyrics!

I haven't heard much Kannada songs and this one is really really beautiful. Also I thank Rama maam who spent her valuable time to correct the diction. I know it still has some flaws on diction and I take the whole responsibility of it because I'm such a laaaazy guy when it comes to re-recording.

You can download the MP3 files of my songs from Multiply. You will need to register before you can download the songs. Please make sure that you select the proper relationship status; I was recently stunned by seeing someone in the contacts list as "___ is your wife"!! I noticed it only when a friend came online and complained that I didn't tell her that I got married! LOL!!

Here is the song from the super hit film Mungaru Male, originally sung by Sonu Nigam. Let me know what you guys think. Dedicating this song to Rama maam and Ramya.

Movie: Mungaru Male
Singer: Sonu Nigam
Music: Mano Murthy
Lyrics: Jayanth Kaykani
Language: Kannada

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Etho Vaarmukilin - Pookkaalam Varavaayi

Here is a song requested by my long time friend Linu aka Lindsie. This song is one of my favorite songs sung by Venugopal and a melodious composition, as usual, by the one and only, Johnson. Listen to it and lemme know your comments.

Song: Etho Vaarmukilin
Movie: Pookkaalam Varavaayi
Music: Ouseppachan
Originally sung by: G. Venugopal
Sung by: Jo
Requested by: Lindsie
Language: Malayalam

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Roji P Thomas is one of the first few people whom I made friends with in a short span of time after I joined Envestnet. He is a very down-to-earth person, a techie who is an SQL server MVP and whose tech blog has been chosen amongst the top 20 tech blogs in the Microsoft blog stars contest and above all, a very good friend. Roji is going to join Microsoft from 25th of this month. Here is wishing him all the very best in the days to come and posting his song request Neela Jalaasayathil. Thanks to Thahseen for the karaoke track.


Song: Neela jalaasayathil
Music: A T Ummar
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Requested by: Roji Thomas
Language: Malayalam

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Moovanthi Thaazhvarayil - Kanmadam

Moovanthi thaazhvarayil venthurukum vin sooryan...
Munnaazhi chenkalanaay ninnulayil veezhumpol...

One of the most beautiful songs penned by Girish Puthenchery. And when the lyrics were given life by the magicians like Raveendran master and Yesudas, a beautiful song was born. Here is the song requested by another colleague and friend Sitara Anilal - Moovanthi thaazhvarayil from the movie Kanmadam.

Song: Moovanthi thaazhvarayil
Movie: Kanmadam (1998)
Music: Raveendran
Lyrics: Girish Puthenchery
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Requested by: Sitara Anilal
Language: Malayalam

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Sundaree - Saalini Ente Koottukari

Dedicating this song to one of the friendliest people on earth, my colleague and good friend Manju V Nair who requested this song. Thanks to her, I could listen this song after a long time. Manju was asking me to sing this one for a long time, but I was waiting for the karaoke track. Anyways, here it is finally.

I will try and complete other pending song requests in the coming weeks.


Song: Nin thumpu kettiyitta
Movie: Shalini ente koottukari
Lyrics: M D Rajendran
Music: G Devarajan
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Requested by: Manju V Nair

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It's been a few days since I sang something. Today, when I came back to the lodge room after work I looked into the recent song requests and there was this song that my friend and colleague Sijo asked me to sing long back. I've been waiting to get the karaoke track of this song, but had no luck with that. So I decided to post an un-plugged version of the song.

This song has some beautiful lines by one of the greatest poets/lyricists of our time, Sri. Yusuf Ali Kecheri and music given by Sri. Perumbavoor G Raveendranath, who is also famous for composing beautiful songs in Malayalam.

Song: Perariyaathoru
Movie: Sneham
Music: Perumbavoor G Raveendranath
Lyrics: Yusuf Ali Kecheri
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Requested by: Sijo Jose T

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This is a song I love so much. I also like the movie a lot. I love this song for it's lyrics, music and the good old golden voice of KJY.

Song: Unnikale oru kadha parayaam
Movie: Unnikale oru kadha parayaam
Music: ?
Originally sung by: K J Yesudas
Sung by: Jo

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I heard this song for the first time when Suji suggested to sing. I heard Oru Poovithalil from Agnidevan, but never heard this one. I was wondering how I could miss this beautiful song all this time. And then I posted it in the blog which eventually lead to meet one of the greatest music directors Malayalam had, Sri. M G Radhakrishnan, in person. Meeting MGR and his wonderful family is one of the best things Internet gave me.

Recently, I got the karaoke track for this song and I recorded it again. Listen to it and let me know how it sounds.

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Here is one of my favorite songs from Raveendran which is beautifully rendered by Yesudas. Kalippaattamaay is yet another melodious number from the evergreen team of late Raveendran and K J Yesudas.

Song: Kalippaattamaay
Song: Kalippaattam
Music: Raveendran
Originally sung by: K. J. Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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First of all, wishing all my Malayali friends and visitors of this blog all the happiness and prosperity of this new year - Happy Vishu!!!

Here is a song which me and Divya were planning to sing for a long time. Finally we got the karaoke and here it is - Munpe Vaa from Jillunu Oru Kaadhal. I was totally blown away when I heard Divya's rendition on this because you can hardly differentiate it from the original version sung by my favorite Shreya Ghoshal. I sincerely hope she gets a good break in the music industry pretty soon which she truly deserves.

Let us know how it sounds.

Movie: Jillunu Oru Kaadhal
Music: A R Rahman
Originally sung by: Shreya Ghoshal & Naresh Iyer
Sung by: Divya S Menon & Jo
Language: Tamil

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It is the Holy weekend for Christians all over the world. I am posting one of my favorite Christian devotionals sung by K. J. Yesudas - En mano phalakangalil. I do not have any info on this song except the singer's name. Those who know other details like music director, movie/album name etc, please do share.

Song: En mano phalakangalil
Originally sung by: K. J. Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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Song: Pookkaalam vannu
Movie: Godfather
Originally sung by: Unnimenon, Chithra
Sung by: Jo
Music: Berny-Ignatius
Language: Malayalam

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This is the third time that I'm composing music to Preethy's lyrics. First one was Ooyalaadunni in BlogSwara V2 and second one is almost getting ready for BlogSwara V3 in Thahseen's voice. This time it's a poetry that I just sang with a tune came to my mind. I added some backing vocals in the last part because I felt those four lines are the most powerful lines in this poem. I feel this is the song of the oppressed.

Click here to read the poem in Malayalam at Preethy's blog.

Poem: Padiyiranguvaan
Written by: Preethy
Composed & sung by: Jo

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Song: iLam poomkaattinodum
Movie: Poomukhapadiyil Ninneyum Kaathu
Music: ??
Originally sung by: K. J. Yesudas, S. Janaki
Sung by: Jo
Backing vocals: Roshni
Language: Malayalam

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Song: Enthe Kannanu
Movie: Photographer
Music: Johnson
Lyrics: Kaithapram
Originally sung by: K. J. Yesudas
Sung by: Jo

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Kannukku Mai Azhagu from Puthiya Mugam

Movie: Puthiya Mugam
Music: A. R. Rahman
Originally sung by: Unnimenon
Sung by: Jo
Dedicated to: Deepa
Language: Tamil

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Song: Sree Raagamo
Movie: Pavithram
Music: Sarath
Originally sung by: K. J. Yesudas
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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Song: Ennodenthinee
Movie: kaLiyaattam
Lyrics & music: Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri
Originally sung by: K. J Yesudas (Female version of this song sung by Bhavana Radhakrishnan won a state award for the best female playback singer)
Sung by: Jo
Language: Malayalam

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