I won’t bore you with endless words critiquing this CD or that one but will simply jump right into a few tracks that have won my heart in the last couple of months. If you are looking for the latest and newest, well perhaps MTV Iggy or the endless blogs out there that claim to know it all about music might be a better bet. Here at the Ajnabee it is only about the kind of track that gets your heart racing, your mind wandering and your soul dancing with joy. Do share your own faves in the comments below.

If you can think of a song that is at once a combination of Nino Rota’s tracks for Fellini, the score of French film ‘Amelie’, with some Flamenco ‘duende’ (which means magic, soul) thrown in, then ‘Dil To Bachcha Hai’ from the Vishal Bhardwaj produced ‘Ishqiya’ - sung by the phenomenal Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would be IT. At once melodic, soulful, melancholic and sensual, if my life had a soundtrack this song would be the sound of this moment. Don’t even get me started on the Remix, which has street sounds thrown in there with R & B lyrics. DIVINE.

Here is a video of the song in the film, just in case you need more proof. The sound quality isn’t best - for that you’ll have to get your own copy of the soundtrack, available on ITunes.

While I am on the subject of Pakistani Qawwali singer Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, he’s got more fantastic tunes available in the world of Bollywood. From his haunting ‘Khwab Jo Raag De’ in the Salman Khan starrer ‘London Dreams’, to the sweet ‘O Re Piya’ in Madhuri Dixit’s return to the big screen flick ‘Aaja Nachle’ and the romantic ‘Aaj Din Chadheya’ in one of the soundtracks I recommended earlier this year ‘Love Aaj Kal’. All available on ITunes.

For a quiet evening at home, reading a magazine (not a book, music is too absorbing in itself!) and drinking some good red wine, I suggest A.R. Rahman’s beautiful soundtrack to a less than memorable film ‘Couples Retreat’. The first song ‘Sajna’ is absolutely an anthem to love and quiet passion, the best kind of passion there is!

There just seems to be a whole Sufi Islamic theme to this music list but I’d like to close with one track from this year’s UTV release ‘Kurbaan’. The title I listen to over and over on that CD is ‘Shukran Allah’ which is something we should say to our own god(s) each and every day: Thank You. And to you, I say N-joy… the clip for the song below!

Music is the soundtrack of our lives. A good song, a great musical score in a film is one of life’s most perfect pleasures. With the added bonus that the beloved track continues to play in our minds, popping up from time to time on someone’s car sound system, in the gym, or even on an airplane to entertain us, just as we think the flight could not possibly be any longer! I won’t even get into how much pleasure I have derived throughout the years from indulging in my memories of Mom and I cruising down Sunset Boulevard through Hollywood, on our way back home to Malibu, to the sound of Hall & Oates… Picture “Because your kiss, your kiss is on my list” at the top of our lungs, in a thick Italian accent. Priceless. And the image, the sensations are simply brought on by a few notes of the songs, played in the local Duane Reade or in some elevator…

Anyway, there are a few new tracks that I highly recommend getting RIGHT NOW from ITunes. Remember, it’s not really a good soundtrack to your life if it carries the bad karma of having been downloaded illegally. So keep it all productive and buy music legally. And do share your own favorites in the comments below, as well as what makes up the soundtrack of your own life, so we can spread the good vibes around!

LOVE AAJ KAL - the highly anticipated upcoming film by Imtiaz Ali, his follow-up to the highly successful and personally beloved ‘Jab We Met’ has a rocking soundtrack, as could be expected. It will finally replace the highly overplayed soundtrack from JWM, which has been burning a hole in my IPod… Listen to ‘Twist’ and ‘Chor Bazari’ but truly, they are all wonderful.

KAMINEY - Vishal Bharadwaj’s latest, slated for an August release, delivers his typical flair in composing unusual and haunting music. All you have to do is listen to his soundtrack for Anurag Kashyap’s wonderful ‘No Smoking’ to know what I mean. So, while you are at it, get that one as well and enjoy a full afternoon of Bharadwaj magic. P.S. the current website for Kaminey has been hacked into and could harm your computer, so they are working on building a new one… For now visit their Wikipedia page or their FB group. My favorite at the gym is ‘Dhan Te Nan Aaja Aaja’, a great running song! But refrain from the arm gestures which seem to harass my neighbors on the next treadmill over… Wonder why??

SHORT KUT: THE CON IS ON - There are a few wonderful songs on the CD of this Anil Kapoor Films production, his follow-up to ‘Gandhi, My Father’. My favorite, as well as my absolutely best-loved spot in the film, is the Anil Kapoor/Sanjay Dutt item number ‘Mareeze Mohabbat’ which just rocks and reminds me of the kindness and class of Mr. Kapoor, up-close and personal. Of course, ‘Patli Galli’ is good fun Bhangra, while ‘Kal Nau Baje’ is a good date song…

SIKANDAR - One of the most anticipated films of the summer is a tale of two teenagers coming across a lost gun… in incendiary Kashmir. The soundtrack is by wonders Shankar Ehsaan Loy - as is ‘Short Kut’s - and they can do no wrong in my book! So, for a longing sound listen to ‘Gulon Mein’, while ‘Manzaraat’ has a great feel and reminded me of ‘Bumbro’, one of my alltime favorite songs, from, you guessed it, ‘Mission Kashmir’!

So, what is the soundtrack of your summer? Mine is a mix of these, with a few new arrivals each week, like next week’s ‘Luck’ and some old styleee Bob Marley, Lucky Dube and Shaggy thrown in. And am desperately trying to find Des-C’s debut CD, titled ‘First Flight’. His first video - ‘Jiska Hasna’ featuring the wonderfully magical Twilight Players - is absolutely divine. Check it out on YouTube!