Coke Studio Ep 1: Thank you for ‘Larsha Pekhawar Ta’
The first episode of “Coke Studio” season five has lead to an interesting debate amongst its fans. Did the studio do justice to rap with Bohemia’s rendition? Has Hadiqa Kayani come of age? These questions and others have been making the rounds. One thing that is glaringly obvious is that an artist’s sincerity can be judged from behind the scenes (BTS) clips. For instance, Humayun Khan sounded like a mature artist when he spoke about his experience of completing his education first and then switching to music, that too, at a time when the music landscape of Peshawer was changing. But ...
Read Full PostDekha Na Tha: Never seen a cover like this
This has been a tough year for Alamgir .You all must be assuming that it’s all about his double kidney transplant and lack of funds but there seems to be a further complication: the QB and Bilal Khan cover of “Dekha Na Tha”. Let’s get this straight: I haven’t heard such a horrible cover in my life. I first heard about this song from a female friend of mine who was obviously lauding Bilal Khan’s amazing vocal talent (not trying to imply anything here). For a moment, the thought of such a song humbled me too. Two of the newest ...
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Bonded to brick kilns: A song for revolution
“That was the darkest decade of our time. Women were considered half-the-man. Workers were as suppressed as slaves. Artists and poets were not allowed to create. Killing in the name of Islam began in that era. And those who resisted either had to face lashes or ended up in the Kafkaesque prison cells of the Lahore fort. Thus, everyone was oppressed except the religious clerics and those who surrendered to the worst military dictator. That was the 80s, but things haven’t really changed yet…” (Mussarat Aziz) These are the words my mother wrote on a birthday card she gave me ...
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So, what’s this Kolaveri di anyway?
What started off as an informal jam session for a movie song turned out to be a viral rage and cult favorite of kinds: Why this Kolaveri di has been trending worldwide on Twitter and has secured millions of hits within just days of being aired. Songs from South India have always managed to capture the pulse of the people, be it Prabhu Deva’s Urvashi or Aa Ante. This tanglish (Tamil and English) song, however, is slightly different. This song came to the fore and soon took over almost everyone’s music players, and the person who managed to pull this off is Rajinikanth’s daughter, Aishwarya, and son-in-law Dhanush. A lot of ...
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Kiran caramelized: The story behind ‘Teray Bin’
Kiran Chaudhry, one half of the Pakistani musical duo Club Caramel, is a characteristically adventurous, freedom-loving Sagittarius who excels at pretty much everything she puts her mind to. Ms Chaudhry has a staggeringly diverse array of talents; while Head Girl at her school in Lahore, her former classmates recall tearing up during her soulful rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you’. Musically inclined, she trained with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan while still in her teens. Kiran went on to win an International Baccalureate scholarship at the World College of the Atlantic in Wales, after which she read PPE (philosophy, politics and ...
Read Full PostAlu Anday: sardonic schoolboys with a message
This song actually has very little to do with potatoes and eggs despite ‘Alu Anday’ being its title and part of its chorus. Beygairat Brigade’s indie music video is ideally positioned for the social media community. It’s creative, funny, and unique; ideal traits for going viral (and it has). Alu Anday starts off with quirky dork-humour: the trio transforms their geeky glasses and school uniforms to a punk-rock-meets-boy-band style complete with loosened ties, childish face paint and plenty of kooky behaviour. That is, until the urban Lahori slang-infused lyrics convey a darker socio-political reality (e.g. “Where Qadri is treated like a hero”) along ...
Read Full PostIn conversation with Adil Omar, hip-hop’s ‘Paki Rambo’
Artist: Adil Omar Video: Paki Rambo Genre: Hip-hop Description: A cheeky take on Islamabad’s urban youth subculture. Vivid stylistic techniques are employed in this sardonic, yet playful, rendition of kitschy bad-boy behaviour. Contrasting social settings range from the Mercedes-lined driveway of a typically affluent home, to farcical GTs (hangouts) involving recreational substance abuse, persistent sexual harassment, and blood-streaked fistfights that epitomize the ‘wannabe gangsta’ mentality of the city’s seedy underbelly. Excerpt: “I bust quick in a sl**’s thick orange foundation I’m a foreign damnation at your borderline waitin’ Horrified Satan with an angel to punch ‘cuz all these cookie cutter f*****s be fakin’ the funk Yeah, uh, so ...
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Dil Dil Pakistan
My nephew living abroad is a hip-hop fan, who has hardly listened to Pakistani music, but he knows “Dil Dil Pakistan” — a song that even I grew up listening to. That’s the transcendence of what I believe is Pakistan’s most favourite patriotic number. Its journey from generation to generation is what makes it different from many other patriotic numbers that turned into instant hits, but faded away after some time. So what is it about “Dil Dil Pakistan” that makes it such a classic? Russian thinker Leo Tolstoy found patriotism both stupid and immoral, promoting one’s own country as the ...
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Breaking a record for Pak sar zameen
When the idea to break the world record for most people singing a national anthem was presented to me, my interest was instantaneously sparked. With factors such as ethnic and sectarian division raising havoc in the country, I saw this as an excellent opportunity to unite Pakistanis. This task, however, would not be an easy one. The current world record was held by India with more than 100,000 participants. On doing some research, though, we discovered that the Indian audience had sung “Vande Mataram” and had listed it as their national anthem. The Indian national anthem, however, is “Jana Gana Mana”. Thus, Abid ...
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How I ended up on Coke Studio
4:00am: Sheraton Hotel, Karachi. I walked out of the hotel lobby with my guitar case and suitcase in hand. I was thinking about the past and an image (comic above) came to mind. In 2008, I was a moody, disillusioned LUMS student who was spending an unhealthy amount of time indoors mostly penning comics and writing song lyrics just as moody and disillusioned as me. Now I was in a hotel bus going towards the airport where I’d catch a flight back to Lahore. I stare out at the dark, empty Karachi roads barely registering the sounds emanating from my headphones. I ...
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