brishti paye paye
Subhamita Banerjee
Sagarika; Rs 40

It can be said without hesitation that Subhamita is worth an ear and more. The album rightly showcases her talent. In most cases Adhunik songs lack the right blend of music, lyrics and voice, but here Subhamita gets to the required blend. The first song itself creates a lasting impression ? Dekhechho ki take. But the rest of the songs are just as good ? Megher minar, Hoeto jabe bhule, Batash dake and Ke moner ghare.

Tomar chhobi aanke ni
Deb Gautam
Prime Music; Rs 42

Going by the name ‘Bengali New Songs’ Deb Gautam’s album, Tomar Chhobi Aanke Ni, presents eight Adhunik numbers. The ‘genre’ keeps varying from singer to singer, but Deb is able to create an impression with Ghoom ashe na. His voice has the training and he flaunts it without going overboard. The songs, Ekhane tomaye, Jhhare je srabon, Jabi re tor nao bhashaiya, are examples of the variations he’s tried in his songs. The songs are mostly written by Chandrani Chattopadhyay with the music by Deb himself.

moner madhuri
Saheb Chattopadhyay
SaReGaMa; Rs 42

Moner Madhuri is a handful of Rabindrasangeet by Saheb Chattopadhyay. His is a pleasant voice that goes well with his rendition of the Tagorean gems. His choice of songs are mostly the much-sung much-heard songs like Tora je jai bolish bhai, Mone robe ki na robe, Charan dhorite dio go amare or Mone robe ki na robe and he sings with a certain flair. A variant in this album is the song, Aami shudhu roinu baki.

Madhuparna Das

gahana ghana chhailo
Gautam Mitra
Bhavna; CD, Rs 100

Gautam Mitra is a veteran Rabindrasangeet singer and has a full, mellow voice. In this album he renders 10 Tagore numbers, the first three (Gahana ghana chhailo, Saghana gahana ratri and Emono dine tare) of which are well-known Barsha songs. The rest cover a wide gamut of moods and themes, signalling a lack of thematic cohesion in the album. Gautam pleases in most of the songs, especially in Emono dine, where he brings alive inner play of passion. In comparison, nuances of Kolahal to baran holo seem somewhat underplayed. The soundtracks of Barsha songs, however, could have done away with the noises of whooshing showers. Tagore’s lyrics are powerful enough to render these extra orchestrational sound aids redundant, and they only cause irritation.

kichhu bojhar aage
Priyanjana Das
Music 2000; CD, Rs 75

Priyanjana Das has a trill in her voice. Most of the lyrics she lends voice to are not as inspiring though. Some of the tunes, especially those composed by Banikantha (Mummy aami and the folk-based Thakur jamai, for example) have pleasing qualities, Kichhu bojhar aage, the eponymous number (written by Miltu Ghosh and tuned by Bechu Mukhopadhyay), has a touch of melancholy. Jhumur jhumur, composed and tuned by the singer herself, comes off acceptably well, too.

Arnab Bhattacharya