Bend It Like Beckham

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Free Music Notes for Bend It Like Beckham

Free Music Review: Mixture of bhangra and ex-Spices lights my inner smile
Hit: 5 Stars

The thumping backbeat from Texas's "Inner Smile" is a mixture of Orbit-type sounds, electric guitar, early Madonna, and slices of R&B. The piano and backbeat singers going "yeah" creates a song of trying to find one's inner smile. Lead singer Sharleen Spiteri's husky pop-R&B voice is very much an asset here. One of the best songs here.

Malkit Singh's "Jind Mahi" is typical bhangra, which is Punjabi hybrid dance music with soaring vocals, exotic instruments, and which could be spiced with rap, jazz, or rock. At times, some male vocalists might accompanying refrain, which could be "hey hey hey hey" or "aha", like it is here.

"Noorie" is a good spotlight for Gunjan's lovely voice, supported as she is by Bally Sagoo's slow-paced semi-ambient Asian scratch music. This is mellower than many Bollywood music songs I've heard, and the R&B-like female backups help too.

Unfortunately, the next singer is not as talented as Gunjan. This is the wife of Jess's hero, Victoria Beckham, whose "I Wish" dips into Spice Girls leftovers, but demonstrates why her solo career got nowhere.

Gunjan again, and what a voice on "Kinna Sohna", which resembles Enigma-type ambient, without the monks of course. Does this woman have any solo albums out, that's what I like to know?

Partners in Rhyme's reflective ethereal string-synths and kawwali singer Nusret Fateh Ali Khan's soaring voice is magical in "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda". This is the kind of techno Moby veered towards on Play and 18, but done here, it's got that Punjabi flavour.

It's fitting that Melanie C, more vocally talented than the other ex-Spice here, does "Independence Day" here, as Jess and Jules, who go out shopping while this song plays, are embodiments of Sporty Spice in the movie. Churning guitars laced with phat beats and that familiar robust voice of hers make this a standout.

The next two are bhangra songs, of which Hans Raj Hans' "Punjabiyan Di Shaan" starts slow before going to a mid-tempo beat laced with string-synths. B21's shaking "Darshan" can really add some curry and paprika in any Sikh celebration.

Bina Mistry then does Arrow's calypso dance classic "Hot Hot Hot", which is the tune the cast and crew jam to in the outtake segments during the closing credits.

Blondie's "Atomic" needs no introduction, but it is the single edit version.

After the brief prelude of "Hai Raba", Tito Beltran does a satisfactory cover of one of Luciano Pavarotti's signature arias, "Nessun Dorma," which really mirrored the movie's triumphant climactic scene. My favorite song here, bringing out a lot of emotion.

In the liner notes, director Gurinder Chadha, on whom lead star Jessminder is based on, describes the songs here as describing the aspects of her character and that of Jess. That being said, the exclusion of other songs from the movie, such as Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up", Basement Jaxx's "Do Your Thing", Melanie C's "I Turn To You", and Amar's Punjabi cover of Jennifer Rush's "Power Of Love" are excusable. Hopefully, those songs and remixes of songs here will come out on a More Music From Bend It Like Beckham soundtrack, yes?

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