Artists i discovered/rediscovered in 2009

My childhood friend called on the night of 31st December 2009. While i was speaking to him over the phone, i realised we were the same guys who used to rush down to the local music shop to be the first to buy the cassette of the latest movie. From cassettes costing between 25 and 50 rupees, we have come a long way to storing music on our mobiles and ipods. What was striking as well was the fact that the ease of sharing music has facilitated the spread of music. While going through the 500 odd songs which i have on my mobile, i realise that most of it has come from going through somebody else's mobile/ipod and transferring it via bluetooth or data chord!!! Well....for starters...the list of songs/artists i am putting up are not in any particular order...:

Coldplay/Speed of Sound - The year began with rediscovering "speed of sound" - the song which i remember since probably for the past 6-7 years. Till the beginning of the year i adored the song for the lyrics and instruments used in the song apart from the song as a whole of course...Only after delving further into the songs of coldplay did i realise that this was typical coldplay....amazing lyrics...amazing use of instruments...piano, guitar, drums....To name a few of my coldplay favourites ....yellow, clocks, fix you, swallowed in the sea, talk.

Maroon 5 - When you start of listening to Maroon 5, the song "She will be loved", what strikes you is the unconventional voice of the lead singer. Lyrics need to make sense for a song to be good, whatever be the subject. These guys are pretty good at what they do. Have a couple of other songs as well which are very very ear friendly.

Pritam - Call him names for lifting the odd song from indonesia or honolulu for that matter, but you cant deny credit to this man for dishing out song after song after song through the year which sound music to the ears (pun intended!!). Be it the tracks of love aaj kal or ajab prem ki ghazab kahani or tum mile or new york....the sheer consistency in belting out chartbusters never ceases to amaze me....Although he does the rotten movies too, he does save the best for the best. He has probably taken HR's place as the music director for the masses (till HR returns of course!!).....

Strings - I have always been a Strings fan ever since i watched and heard "Duur" and "Anjane" on Channel V in 1999 or 2000. And have kept track of most of their songs thereafter. But this year got their songs on to my mobile..........Duur, Anjane, Na Jaane Kyun, Zinda, Aakhri Alvida to name a few. They are sensational to say the least and some of the lyrics which they have got on their song is one of the best ever probably.........especially zinda....cant have enough of them!!!

Udit Narayan - Pritam brought with him the trend of using unconventional singers....guys who used to sing only for their albums....mohit chauhan, neeraj sreedhar, atif aslam etc...and not demeaning all of them (they are great too)...the music directors somehow seem to have forgotten Udit Narayan. The fact that i missed his singing became clear when i heard "Sau Janam" from Whats Your Rashee. The freshness of the voice (along with the image of him singing with open arms and a wide smile) was divine. Pity we dont hear of him too much these days.

Rahul Sharma - I heard Rahul Sharma for the first time two, three or four years back while surfing channels. The memory of the santoor still remained somewhere in the corner of the mind. And when i sat down to download songs on a cold January (2009) morning, it came rushing back from the corners...My limited knowledge of music notwithstanding, I never imagined somebody could do so much with a santoor and possibly come up with a tune where santoor plays with drums in the background...Listen to the pieces of music in your earphones and they are gems.....

Phil Collins - For people who are struggling to recall who is phil collins i can make two attempts :

• The scene in hangover where mike tyson asks the protagonists to shut up since his favourite part of the song was about to play - "In the Air tonight" was the song and is something differently good,
• Another day in Paradise is a song which i think lots of us have come across somewhere.

Phil Collins has a very unconventional voice with a great feel...try him out...apart from the two mentioned above, try "One more night" and "Cant stop loving you".

Suresh Wadkar - The three or four lines which he sang in "Raat ke Dhai Baje" in Kaminey were as good as the two or three lines Alka Yagnik sang in "So gaya ye jahan" in Tezaab. He sounded refreshingly soothing to the ears (am using such adjectives for want of better adjectives).

And a special mention to the album that was Kaminey. "Raat ke Dhai Baje", "Kaminey" (title track), "Phatak", "Dhan te Nan", "Pehli Baar Mohabbat" were all masterpieces in themselves in all aspects..... the rendition by the singers, music, lyrics (by Gulzar).........

I am sure i am missing out on quite a few of my favourites, but i guess one never can cover all songs.....the quest for music continues