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Mile sur mera tumhara |
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Rhythm and poetry
Cutting chai on a lousy Monday morning has the power to offer a better perspective on situations. Azal found its name sitting at a chai dhaba in Karachi. Ehtesham came up with the name and they’re the latest Paki-rock import to the world. With Ehtesham (ET) and Ali Rajab on vocals, Sameer on the lead guitar and Shabi on the bass, Azal plan to dole out a new instalment of Paki-rock. The album, Road to Infi nity has a youthful sound that any Paki-rock fan. will take to easily. Unlike usual rock-bands who are bum chums before they start off, they played separately for a few |
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college bands before. Azal finally got together when Ali Rajab, the vocalist, visited the studio where ET and Sameer were working together. “When we started off, we spent a lot of time seeing if we can work well together. We have always had a long-term plan in mind. When we realised that we had it in us to overcome the ups-and-downs, we thought of the band seriously,” says ET. After fi ve years of being together, they released their album yesterday, which is characterised by classic rock sounds infused with ragas. So what differentiates Azal from other Paki-rock bands? “Every band will want to say they are different. Our songs are based on ragas that have been sung for years, so maybe it’s not completely different but the music has a strong Eastern element. That could be what separates us from the rest,” says Sameer, candidly.
ET rubbishes the idea of a special ‘connect’ between India and Pakistan saying that we are all the same, “When we were coming here, we saw a few college students on the road and we thought this is exactly like Pakistan. It’s just an imaginary line that divides us.”
Their album release in India might just see them trying to make it in Bollywood. “Why only Bollywood, Inshallah, we will even make music for Hollywood,” says Ehtesham. They have been received well in Pakistan, playing at various venues and have a world tour lined up in the next month. What about the women though? The women love us, they collectively exclaim. “Just check our video on Facebook”.
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Our Recommendation
Rabbi became a household name in 2005 with his chart-busting track Bulla ki Jaana. Many proclaimed him to be the saviour of Indian rock, with his folky sound but that was three years back. With a hiatus which seemed forever, other than his music production for Delhi Heights (hardly a chartbuster), he is fi nally back into the foray with his new album Avengi Ja Nahin.
The album launch was plagued with a low turn-out and a very bad sound setting. Not the best way to make a comeback, but in all fairness Avengi Ja Nahin isn’t disappointing. Let’s face it; more than half the country does not understand the language, so, the soul and the feeling is all that he can transfer |
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with every track. Though Ballo has an intro stripped from More Than Words by Extreme, it is a good song with beautiful lyrics (thank God for the lyrics booklet). Chhalla and the tile track Avengi Ja Nahin are beautiful and reminiscent of the old Rabbi. Simple sounds with relevant and well-written lyrics.
This album has a few experimental songs which are allout rock tracks like Karachi Valieand Return to Unity. The fi rst is too Bollywood rock, while Return to Unity is in English - a fatal song to end an album with. It sounds wannabe after listening to the earlier soulful sounds.
Avengi... is a mixed album which is a failed experiment, but when he has stuck to what he is good at, it is brilliant. Dylan would never try trash metal, nor should Rabbi. |
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