Bollywood Whirlwind

By
TJNelson
– March 28, 2009Posted in: CD Reviews

Within The Best of A.R. Rahman, it’s easy to see the brilliance rise in Mr. Rahman’s still young career. Juxtaposing the achingly lovely "So Gaye Hain" with stunning vocals by Lata Mangeshkar against the feel-good hipness of "Gurus of Peace" with vocals by Mr. Rahman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan makes this compilation downright delightful. Opening hip hop whirlwind track "Rand De Basanti" with vocals by Daler Mehndi and Chitra and the deliciously stylized "Barso Re" with vocals by Shreya Ghoshal and Uday Mazumdar are infectiously mesmerizing.

The compilation also includes the breezy track "Tere Bina" with vocals by Mr. Rahman and Chinmayee, the sultry "Mayya" with sumptuous vocals by Maryem Toller, Chinmayee and Keerthi and the richly worked "Ghanan Ghanan" with artists Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and Kishori Gowariker.

Blurring the lines between genres and dreaming up a mystical musical landscape, Mr. Rahman has the uncanny ability to capture the evocative in modern Indian music. The Best of A.R. Rahman is perfect for longtime fans and for fans just discovering Mr. Rahman’s work.

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About TJNelson

TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena's Shadow. Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena's Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931. Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.