Coke Studio
The Twitterverse has been obsessed with the beginning of the third season of Coke Studio. Everyone felt that the best performance was by Arif Lohar and Meesha Shaif...
...but I honestly felt the Abida Parveen performance was better.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't really know much about this Coke Studio business until very recently. I had heard of it only tangentially until my friend Oba told me a couple of months ago that he would be on this season. He seemed really hyped about it, and while Oba gets hyped about everything, this seemed to go above and beyond that. I then gradually learned how big a deal it was, and it was rammed home this weekend when it was all anyone seemed to talk about.
This was the first time I saw it, and I have to say, the level of production quality was immensely impressive. I don't really watch TV in Pakistan other than news, so this stuff is very new to me. Evidently you can download the video and audio files of all the songs from their website. Well done to the people behind it, and I look forward to all the other artists in the coming weeks. Even Oba and his crappy band.
...but I honestly felt the Abida Parveen performance was better.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't really know much about this Coke Studio business until very recently. I had heard of it only tangentially until my friend Oba told me a couple of months ago that he would be on this season. He seemed really hyped about it, and while Oba gets hyped about everything, this seemed to go above and beyond that. I then gradually learned how big a deal it was, and it was rammed home this weekend when it was all anyone seemed to talk about.
This was the first time I saw it, and I have to say, the level of production quality was immensely impressive. I don't really watch TV in Pakistan other than news, so this stuff is very new to me. Evidently you can download the video and audio files of all the songs from their website. Well done to the people behind it, and I look forward to all the other artists in the coming weeks. Even Oba and his crappy band.
Labels:
Pakistan
15 comments:
bless you for saying it out loud. OBA and his very sucky band.
the only performer of note is their darbuka guy. i am still flabbergasted as to how they managed a break on coke studio, along with this dude amanat ali something.
Haha. I was just joking. I like Oba and his band. But good to know how you feel.
hey, drowning man, this dude amanat ali can sing! seriously. I like oba's band too but I can understand your skepticism about it on coke studio. but don't be going around putting people down for no reason.
By the way, ahsan, I really like the arif lohar - meesha song as a song but upon repeated hearing, don't you think meesha's contribution is overhyped on twitter? she looks nice but her voice is pretty flat.
Ahsan, yes yes i know you were joking only but i thought i`d use this space to vent how i felt :P
momo, ummm, well i dont claim that i am big shot musician or anything for that matter, not even close infact, but all i will say is that i know my music and heard a fair number of musicians. Amanat Ali, atleast in my opinion, is not anything special. However, i am willing and eager to have my opinion changed once he performs on CS.
p.s: Abida's performance was almost divine. So was the recital by Arieb Azhar.
glad you are in the CS bandwagon ahsan. this season is going to rock. i would suggest you promptly find the best performances from seasons 1 and 2 and watch and repeat them several times. you have two weeks to get yourself acquainted buddy. as for the production and quality, this is all because of the genius, mr. rohail hyatt. and with coke footing the bill for impressive production equipment, you can expect the very best. just stay tuned. this CS is a much needed boost of social capital for pakistan and pakistanis. we need this stuff to show off our talent.
Momo: I thought Meesha was excellent. She was really into it, perhaps more than Arif Lohar himself.
Greywolf: Yes, I guess the institutional support of a big multinational must help. And on the social capital point, I guess you're sort of right. But still, sometimes I think it would be nice if we just enjoy something for it is, rather than what it represents or means. I think with Pakistan in the news for bad stuff a lot, there is a natural tendency for all of us to want to look for something or identify something as untainted by all that, and hold it up as an item of pride. But sometimes a song is just a song, and we should appreciate it for it is.
Not disagreeing with you, mind. Just arguing for fighting our natural tendencies.
you seriously need to go and watch season 2. it was awesome! so far (at least in the first episode of S3) I still haven't felt that magic that was there in season 2.
as for amaanat ali, he CAN sing.. (apart fromt he fact that he is also very cute to look at).
he was the first runner up in one of those indian singing talent shows 2-3 yrs ago. so yes, he can definitley sing.. and someone to watch out for.
Just wanted to say that I'm OBA and I'm fucking awesome.
aawww, OBA, i find it cute you took time out to declare how awesome you are.
I will say this, you may be a fuzool singer / guitarist, but by god, i wish i had an iota of talent to write like you.
p.s: Ahsan, you may want to check these out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S5U2GXKBSo - Saari Raat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5nTlty6CM - Aik Alif
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbp4GXmF0ZQ - Husn-e-Haqiqi
Abida is awesome. You just can't compete with that.
Being a fan of Abida Parveen, I feel that the start to the song wasn't the greatest but halfway through, she picked up so fast that it was absolutely mesmerizing. Even the musicians looked enthralled! what a great performance!
As for the Lohar/Meesha song, it was an intelligent mix of three different Punjabi lyrics. I feel that Meesha should've taken the lead at least once during the Jugni part given that Jugni is such a classical feminine narrative device. Also, they seemed to be out of sync at some places, but that can be forgiven because the song was absolutely catchy and they enjoyed singing it and that's what made it even more lovable.
Mr Ahsan, i truly envy you, because you get to listen to 'Saari Raat - Noori' from season 2 for the first time. And Aik Alif by Saeen Zahoor. Check these out if you want high quality stuff.
Like this band
how did you manage to not hear of coke studio until a couple of months ago. uff, what a burger. :P
Well,I pity u for missing it! cokestudio is probably the best thing happened to Pakistan in the last 2 years, I guess!
never thought, I would ever listen to Arif Lohaar! Thanks to coke studio.
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