Thursday 4 August 2011

Dr Ilaiyaraja - Gold Hits


I picked up a few cds of Tamil film music at a boot sale about 6 months ago and was lucky enough to find this one which came in the case of a completely different movie soundtrack. What we have here is 18 songs of wonderfully demented Kollywood sounds from Sri Lanka. Expect wild guitars, crazy synths, jarring percussion and impossibly high pitched singing. As the cd came without a cover, I have no idea what the titles of the songs might be so any help with identification would be wonderful. The films though are:

Annakilli (1976)


Badrakaali (1976)


Chittukkuruvi (1978)


Niram Maaraatha Pookkal (1978)


16 Vayathiniley (1977)


Get it HERE.

The excellent record label, Finders Keepers has just released two volumes of film music by Dr Ilaiyaraja (which you can buy HERE), and this is what their website has to say about this chap's wonderful music:

"Ilaiyaraaja, Ilayaraja, Ilayaraaja, Isaignani, The Maestro... The undeniable prince of Kollywood cinema, India's second largest film industry, Ilaiyaraaja is more than equal to his forward thinking contemporaries in Bollywood and Lollywood in both productivity and experimentation. However, once you have exhausted all possible leads using his various names (and the numerous misspellings) you're faced with the unenviable task of sifting through a 34-year career spanning more than 900 film scores in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada in order to unearth some the heaviest dancefloor friendly electronic pop to ever emerge from Southern India.
Impossible to pigeonhole and characterised by his own indefinable style the man is a genre in his own right."

Well, time has passed and the African Music Recycler has been kind enough to provide us with:
Tracklist:
01 - Annakkili (from Annakkili, 1976)
02 - Machsana Pathingala (from Annakkili, 1976)
03 - Muththu Muththa (from Annakkili, 1976)
04 - Anpum Ellai (from Annakkili, 1976)
05 - Attukutti (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
06 - Senthoora Poove (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
07 - Manja Kulicha (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
08 - Sevvandhi (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
09 - Ketteley Angay (from Badrakaali, 1976)
10 - Kannan Oru (from Badrakaali, 1976)
11 - Otha Ruba (from Badrakaali, 1976)
12 - En Kanmani (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
13 - Adada Maamarakiliye (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
14 - Unnai Nambi (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
15 - Kaaverikkarai Ponnula Ponnula (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
16 - Aayiram Malargale (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)
17 - Muthal Muthalaga (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)
18 - Iru Paravaigal (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)
Many thanks African Music Recycler!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

great post, i love the youtube links, purchase links, lit review, etc.. you took us readers on a journey!

Anonymous said...

Ilaiyaraaja is great. By the way, one of his songs was prominently sampled by M.I.A. on her song "Bamboo Banga."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_rkfs-2SY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jU5riJNrQQ

The Silent Partner said...

Just dropped by for a long overdue visit after reacquainting myself with those Izanzaren albums you posted, and then I found this post. I recently scrounged up some Ilaiyaraaja soundtracks which you can check out here and here if you're interested.

Keep up the good work!

Mr Tear said...

Thanks for the links to more Ilaiyaraaja goodness. Just had a good look through your lovely blog and will be sorting out links now. Cheers!

Recycler said...

Thx for all your great posts.

here's the tracklist:
02 - Machsana Pathingala (from Annakkili, 1976)
03 - Muththu Muththa (from Annakkili, 1976)
04 - Anpum Ellai (from Annakkili, 1976)
05 - Attukutti (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
06 - Senthoora Poove (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
07 - Manja Kulicha (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
08 - Sevvandhi (from 16 Vayathinile, 1977)
09 - Ketteley Angay (from Badrakaali, 1976)
10 - Kannan Oru (from Badrakaali, 1976)
11 - Otha Ruba (from Badrakaali, 1976)
12 - En Kanmani (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
13 - Adada Maamarakiliye (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
14 - Unnai Nambi (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
15 - Kaaverikkarai Ponnula Ponnula (from Chittukkuruvi, 1978)
16 - Aayiram Malargale (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)
17 - Muthal Muthalaga (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)
18 - Iru Paravaigal (from Niram Maratha Pookkal, 1979)

recycler

Recycler said...

Sorry. I forgot that track:
01 - Annakkili (from Annakkili, 1976)

recycler

Mr Tear said...

Wow! Thanks for translating these song titles, I will update the post to include the information you provided. Your work is much appreciated!