Checking Records

A round-up of new music releases.
Alive Till I’m Dead Professor Green
Professor Green aka Stephen Manderson is one of the many rappers from the UK being touted as the “British Emimen”. This, of course, is because he’s white. The green in his name comes from his former career as a marijuana dealer. Professor Green’s British accent prevents him from sounding like an Eminem clone, and while he raps about his life in the East London suburb of Hackney, his love of pop hooks, especially from the 1980s, further distinguishes his sound. “I Need You Tonight” prominently incorporates the chorus of the INXS hit of the same name, and the ballad “Closing The Door” borrows a line from “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. The catchy chorus of almost every track is sung by a guest vocalist, the most high-profile of which is Lily Allen who appears on “Just Be Good To Green”, a remake of the 1980s R&B tune “Just Be Good To Me” by The S.O.S Band. The subject matter, which ranges from tirades against haters who don’t want to see him succeed (he was stabbed in the neck in an unprovoked attack last year) to rhymes about his lust for women and drugs, may be familiar but they’re delivered in a distinct, often humourous style, that make Professor Green worth a listen. Virgin Records, Rs245.
Buy it if: You like hip hop that goes beyond the obvious.

Anjaana Anjaani Soundtrack
Anjaana Anjaani is a Hindi film set in New York, about two Indian strangers named Akash and—wait for it—Kiara (Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra) who fall in love over the course of what (from the inlay card of the CD at least) looks like some sort of road trip across America. The music is, expectedly, a mix of danceable tunes and soppy ballads. The composers are Vishal & Shekhar, a duo that’s skilled at the former but tends to give into cliches when tackling the latter. Sure, they started their careers with some love song-heavy collections like Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and Jhankaar Beats but some of their most complete soundtracks are those in which they’ve trained their ears on the nightclub audience: Dus, Bluffmaster! and the somewhat underrated Cash. Anjaana Anjaani is thus a mixed bag that comes with a couple of serviceable pop tracks, like “Anjaana Anjaani Ki Kahani”, an attempt to create another carefree club smash in the vein of both “Deewangi” from the composer’s own Om Shanti Om and The Black Eyed Peas’s ubiquitous “I Gotta Feeling”. (The chorus goes: “All the anjaanas, go ‘Yea, yea,yea!” All the anjaanis say ‘Yea, yea, yea!’”). “Aas Paas Khuda” is a pseudo-Sufi power ballad featuring Rahat Fateh Ali Khan singing about introspection; while the plaintive “Tujhe Bhula Diya” is yet another song to feature a qawwali chorus this year, a device that’s starting to bore. T Series, Rs175.
Buy it if: You’re a teenager fond of Bollywood music. In which case, you’ve probably already downloaded it to your mobile phone.

Symphonicities Sting
The title of Sting’s new album of Western classical arrangements of his songs may be a play on Synchronicity, his former band The Police’s most popular album, but you won’t find a single track from that record. Instead, Symphonicities comprises 12 reinterpretations of album tracks and B-sides and just a couple of big hits. Given that Sting has already released two greatest-hits albums besides several Police compilations, a new way to present old songs is probably a good idea. Especially given the frequency with which creative juices start to dry up by a pop star’s third decade (Sting’s been around for four!). Fans are well-versed with Sting’s fondness for strings so Symphonicities—released after Sting’s tour of the same name with London’s Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra—shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Is it really necessary? We’re not so sure. The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” benefits from some buoyant strings but the group’s “Roxanne” is made needlessly dramatic. Casual fans would do better to pull out their old records. Universal, Rs395.
Buy it if: You’re a hardcore Sting completist.