THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Only when the record was safely back on the shelf did she turn to me and give a little smile. And every time, this thought hit me: It wasn’t a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle: Haruki Murakami in South of the Border, West of the Sun.With a sprawling collection of over 10,000 records, the Japanese novelist is perhaps the biggest brand ambassador of the vinyl record player. After a long hiatus, vinyl sales are seeing a resurgence globally and have now overtaken CDs.
The warmer sound and the nostalgic feel that the vinyl helps imbibe is perhaps two of the likely reasons why music aficionados attest that one should hear from a vinyl to feel the soul of a song.
Now, after over three decades, vinyl records are slated to make a comeback in the Malayalam film industry. Zwaram Audios, co-founded by brothers Harris Raj, 24, and Javed Anil, 21, from Neyyattinkara, have joined hands with Saina Music to launch the tracks of Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham also as a vinyl record.Chitram, released in 1988, was the last movie to release their tracks on a long-playing record.
The love for vinyl
It all began a year ago when the two, who share a passion for music, decided to collaborate. Their father Anil Raj, who was instrumental in their musical learnings, used to buy many music collections when the two were growing up. It was he who informed the duo that vinyl records have better sound quality and longer durability.
“As music is in our soul, we decided to register a startup related to music. With the help of our father, we met the startup mission chief and sought his assistance to register the startup. As part of the launch of the firm, we made the record for Marakkar,” Harris and Javed said. Zwaram Audios is in talks with several film production companies to launch more vinyl records. The official launch of Marakkar’s vinyl album is slated for February.
Response
Noted lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri lauded the efforts of the young lads whilst also encouraging them to come up with more music records. “My first song, ‘Devadundubhi Sandralayam’ from Fazil’s movie ‘Ennennum Kannettante’ was recorded in a vinyl at Tharangini Studios in Thiruvananthapuram. It remains still soothing to my ears,” he said.