Studio-recorded music has a finesse and superior quality which one cannot get in a live recording. But the latter has a warmth and informality which just cannot be reproduced in the soundproof walls. Jagjit Singh is one singer who excels himself when he is performing live. This set of two cassettes is a live recording of his performance at the Esplanade, Singapore. Obviously, the ghazals are those which one has heard and admired all along but in this setting, he renders them in a slightly different, endearing style.

Gulzar has penned some of his most poignant recent songs for composer Vishal Bhardwaj. So, this can indeed be called an exceptional jodi, although calling it bemisaal is a bit of an exaggeration.

Anyway, all their best-known songs done together are included in this cassette. These include "Chappa chappa charkha chale `85" and "Chhod aaye hum wo galiyan `85", both from Maachis.

The cassette opens with a few sentences in the voice of Gulzar.

This is the debut album of four wannabe pop singers, Vikram, Sanjeev, Sanjeev and Sawan who have rough edges galore but also a lot of promise. As they mention in the cover, they have been dreaming of and working on this debut for four years. Some of the songs are original, like the opening offering, "Karen shaadi `85" (it has also been made into a slick video), but the rest are either remix versions of film songs.

This feature was published on August 28, 2004