Asif Khan Inc.

music with a nationality? sick!

its quite ironic that just a day after I put up my last blog post, I got a message from a musician which goes as below:

DEAR ALL
PLEASE STOP BUYING CD’S MUSIC OF PAKI SINGERS AND ANYTHING TO DO WITH PAKISTAN THE TRUTH IS THESE MORONS PAKI CRICKET PLAYERS SINGERS DANCER ETC (OR SO CALLED CULTURAL CONTACT IS CRAP ) THESE PEOPLE HATE INDIA AND WE SHOULD KNOW THAT THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITH A COUNTRY WHO HAS PLANED AND  IS PLANING TO KILL INDIANS BE MORE PROACTIVE BOYCOTT PAKI MUSIC ..JAI HIND

and like one of my good friends said on the band’s facebook page, since when did music start having a nationality? music, or any form of art, is probably the only thing mankind has known which transcends all – ALL – boundaries. race, religion, nations, creed, everything.  what pains me even more is that this is a band which I’ve had close relations with, have had fun seeing them perform, spent some good times with them. the views of the band member in question maybe personal, but they are completely unwarranted and unprovoked. and they just don’t deserve to be discussed on a forum of music lovers who give you a listening ear. what should be remembered is that musicians are lent a listening ear for their music, which essentially conveys a feeling of love and peace. the listening ear is not meant to abused with immature and irrational personal views which have no standing. yes, music has been a vehicle for conveying feelings of hatred as well. but against oppression, against inhuman behavior. not against music itself.

I pray that better sense prevails, and people get out of the straitjacket they have constricted themselves into with feelings such as these. till then, I know one band whose music I’m going to stay away from.

ali azmat – biggest south asian rockstar(?)

courtesy taji and youtube, I have been fed with a lot of pakistani music the past couple of days. not that I’m complaining. pakistani music has always occupied a special chamber in my heart. as a kid, it used to be the disco flavored nazia hassan, who remains a favorite till now. recent years saw quite a few of the newer acts – aaroh, mekaal hasan, ep, etc etc - invading my listening hours.  but then like the wise men say, what you learn in college takes you through life (certain wiser ones though ask you to make it a point to ‘un’learn everything once you are out of college – contrasting opinions. 8 years out of college and I am still figuring out the process of selective unlearning). during that time, it had to be junoon. there was no reason for anybody to have escaped the colossal marauding march with which they took over complete geographies.

cut to present, and the currently defunct junoon. the two faces which led junoon probably still don’t see eye to eye. both embarked on solo careers, and fairly successful ones. but out of the two, one face – which is now in fact just a face, with hair giving way to a glistening skinhead and eyes perpetually behind dark shades – still stands strong as the biggest rockstar to have emerged out of the subcontinent, arguably even south asia. quite a subjective view point, but ali azmat proved it with the chutzpah he displayed even after he distanced himself from junoon. the insane amount of energy, containing which is simply not possible within the confines of both of his albums – social circus and klashinfolk – is a befitting testimonial of this view. though I had heard them during the days the albums were released, the past couple of days were a process of rediscovery and analyzing them in conjunction with the days he spent with junoon, and the overall nature of work that came out during both phases in his life.  junoon, after its initial success, trapped itself into a houdini’s cage of sufi music. ali broke away from that mould when he started on his own. music after all is a creative pursuit. and if you don’t create anything new, there isn’t much of a point, is there? listen to any of the compositions on both his albums, and you’ll immediately identify with the sudden rushes of blood in your system with what you define as the most basic spirit of rock n roll. listen to him talk on any of his interviews, and his I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude announces itself in capital letters. look at him walk, and that swagger in his gait gives it all away. even his looks proclaim r-o-c-k-s-t-a-r (though his looks do remind me of another rockstar on this side of the border, whom I do consider to be the biggest one around here. what is it with being a skinhead these days; whatever happened to the long haired ones?).

I may be sounding somewhat fixated, which I probably am. but then fixation it is, which allows me to delve in deeper. download his albums, buy them, check them on youtube. and all the best – if you get fixated, that is.

check out the garish imagery employed in the video of ‘na re na’, the supreme poetic quality of the lyrics, and the pain in his voice.

na re na (social circus) – ali azmat

Rated R – Rihanna

Sometimes revenge is sweetest when there is none at all. Following on the astronomical success of her 2007 album “Good Girl Gone Bad”, Rihanna returns this month with an album which pushes her ‘bad’ girl image a couple of notches further. A fair bit of speculation surrounded the news of her entering the studio to begin work on fresh material. After all, this news was preceded by one of most publicized cases of domestic violence in which she was the victim. An incident which forced her to skip her Grammy night performance. An incident which sparked rumors that this album should be brimming with Chris Brown bashers. Yet, Rihanna chose to steer clear, focusing rather on changing the direction of her musical and lyrical style on “Rated R”. “Rated R” signifies Rihanna’s strength as an artist who, beginning at a precocious age has grown to the stature of a diva, complete with the sense of maturity normally expected from one. Artistic maturity in this case, however, has come with the baggage of mature content too. As her first album which has been tagged with a parental advisory label, Rihanna lets her vocabulary flow freely in tune with her emotions. And it is simply not for pure effect everywhere. Barring one place, maybe. Baring a naughtier side to herself, she lets herself loose on “Rude Boy” and indulges in some of the sauciest tongue-in-cheek verbal titillation which would catch your attention for the sheer quality of its tone. Mamas who would still remember her as the petite teen preening around in a little black number with an “Umbrella” tucked under her safely might find themselves running for cover. If they survive the initial shock, that is. With a catchy chorus which goes like “Come on Rude Boy, can you get it up / Come on Rude Boy, is you big enough” and references to being the “captain of the ship” along with admitting a liking for “boom boom”, Rihanna makes sure she has packed enough explosive content in this one track. Content which is sure to make people start viewing her as made of a material different from what they may have thought initially. This amalgamation is but of course, natural. It would however be unfair to judge the album by the character of this singular track. The hesitant, pregnant shuddering pauses and the loading the pistol’s chamber – the silence of which has the capacity to deafen – on “Russian Roulette” marks her progress in an uncharted dark region, she has not seen the light of in the past. As the lead single, “Russian Roulette” has already made its presence on the charts and its video has upped the anticipation audiences had for the album. After all, that slight perturbation in her voice during the chorus, doesn’t just display her vocal quality. It displays the soul of a diva whose talent is maturing gracefully as she gathers experiences in life. A similar eloquence finds its place on “Stupid in Love” whose piano led intro makes excellent material for a love ballad on the lines of what yesteryear divas in the 80s displayed with their powerhouse vocals. The nostalgic feeling of longing on “Photographs” is captured and accentuated by the production skills of will.i.am, who collaborates on vocal duties as well. The mellow acoustic guitar leads the song into a perfect reverie of vocal overdrive as will.i.am autotunes his voice towards the end of the song. The thick club beats of “Hard” and “Wait Your Turn” should keep folks looking for some booty shaking material happy. The freestyling verse of Young Jeezy adds to Rihanna’s qualms of being “so hard”, while she tries to teach a lesson in patience on the latter song. She hasn’t seemed averse to mixing styles on this album either. With the chugging guitar riffs on “Fire Bomb”, she shoots herself into a punk style intro with elements of pop thrown in between. The high point of her collaboration though awaits its turn on “Rockstar 101” where GnR axeman Slash does some killer licks for the track. A pity that they get a bit quashed under the booming beats. Yet, the song pretty much sums up Rihanna’s attitude to the world right now as she “gets (her) middle finger up, and don’t really give a f***”. After all, she is a Rockstar. And Chris Brown would surely have heard.

Malice n Wonderland – Snoop Dogg

The G funk may have passed over in a flurry of gunfire. But it’s the depth with which it runs deep in Snoop’s blood that he probably signifies the anomalous spelling of his second name. As an artiste who rose from the West Coast during the days the basslines of G funk were booming about, Snoop has made it alive through it all. He maybe a veteran of ten albums, now that “Malice n Wonderland” is out. But he has successfully carried himself through all the upheavals in musical styles and rivalries which erupted in hip hop. And become a devoted family man. Which is quite obvious in the way his son speaks on the album intro, and he converses with his wife on the outro. His wife figures prominently elsewhere too. That’s when he takes the crooning company of Jazmine on “Different Languages” and Pharrell plus Brandy on “Special”. He’s tuned himself with the timed, but not ‘autotuned”. The collaborative efforts of the The Dream on the synth scraping “Gangsta Luv” and R&B infused “Luv Drunk” are absolutely in sync with the flavour of hip hop today. So is the bragging of Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em on “Pronto” as he waxes on the need for instant gratification. Snoop hasn’t left his street days far behind as he remembers the perils of pimping on the sidewalk on “Pimpin’ Ain’t EZ”, while R. Kelly agrees in unison. Snoop has proved it again. Whatever the flavour of the season be, Doggystyle always does it.

The Fall – Norah Jones

Norah Jones doesn’t just have an impeccable pedigree. Her musical accomplishments stand as impeccable too. As the highest selling female jazz artiste of this millennium, she has put together an enviable recording history with three best selling albums within the current decade. Not content, she has released her fourth album “The Fall” which promises to push her recording career not in only in terms of its popularity index, but also in the expansion of her musical direction. “The Fall” doesn’t fall on your ears with a sound similar to what most would have heard on her debut “Come Away With Me”. Instead, it embarks on a journey which is more rock, yet still contains that vital element of her strong vocals, tinged with a gritty arthouse form. Weaving dreams with her voice, the sheer resonance of the bass strings on the opener “Chasing Pirates” symbolizes the shift in her sound. The dominance of the strong bass tones maybe attributed to her producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon – just remember the way bass dominates their tracks). Norah mulls over issues which are present in the life of any girl her age. Love, loss, questions about life, and the meaning within – you can find all of these trapped within her voice as you float through the web of “Stuck” or “Light as a Feather”. The utterly enjoyable word play on “You’ve Ruined Me” has a way of making its way deep into you as it playfully touches on topics which deserve deeper delving. Norah has just upped the ante with this one.

Xenophanes – Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

Being one half of the critically acclaimed The Mars Volta doesn’t seem to keep guitarist composer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez content. Finding it difficult to rein in his creative quotient, he has been releasing solo albums with an insane frenzy. The level of overbrimming of creative juices becomes even more pronounced when you consider the heavy touring schedule The Mars Volta usually have through the year. Yet Omar has released his thirteenth solo album this month, which was preceded a few months ago by the release of “Octahedron”, The Mars Volta’s fifth album. “Xenophanes” contains the staple diet of all albums of The Mars Volta – spaced out guitar riffs, boomshackles of bass tones, odd time drum panics and psychedelic blips with the occasional funk string movements. Choosing instead to work with upcoming Grammy nominated Mexican singer Ximena Sarinana rather than Cedric Bixlar, Omar has crafted intricate vocal parts. Notwithstanding the fact that the entire album has been sung in Spanish, the vocal harmonies fill up the texture of the sonic landscape with a scenic beauty. The vocals float atop the guitar sections on “Desarraigo” while the drum and bass sections kick in for company. The guitar static on “Amanita Virosa” creates barriers of retribution which mellow down into waves of mellifluous proportions on “Sangrando detrás de los ojos”. Just don’t let the language deter you from enjoying the swashbuckling spirit of Omar’s work.