Music has the power to get you that inside kick which even charas-ganja can’t give you (can’t testify; am not a doper). It can fcuk (fill) your balls up with innocent testosterone and boye! what to say about the orgasms! Fusion music is one of the most fascinating creative arts – fuse, blend and produce magic. Few days back courtesy my brother, I saw some fusion videos of famous coke studios sessions. Highly recommended ones –
1) Saari Raat –
Fused with sitar. This song is sung by Ali Noor (vocals, band Noori). His voice has a great pitch and throw. Great voice modulation with impressive improvisation is another major positive for him. The song starts with a slow medley extraordinarily (and strangely) mixed with sitar and suddenly picks up tempo with all instruments in full bang. The orchestration is perfect and all credits to the composer. It gives a fabulous kick and is highly addictive. Just to appreciate this fused creation, do listen to the original piece. It is mainly rock. Who thought to include sitar in this??
The first time I heard this song, I wondered for its absence in India? Generally people like Pritam and Mahesh Bhatt do bring the other side fame on this side. This time it was MTV India Roadies (episode on 7th Feb 2010) which featured this song. Yeah! I knew my choice is universal.
There is one more song (Jo Meray) on the same lines. It too is nice but not as good as this one.
2) Aik-Alif – Fused with Sufi words. Song has a great melody attached to it and it’s mainly due to use of tanpura. Vocals for this song - Saeen Zahoor. Ali Noor (Noori), Ali Hamza (Noori). While Saeen gives sufi touch to it, real magic comes from Hamza (grave and plain). Tanpura medley is its USP.
3) Garaj Baras – This fusion piece has heavyweights in it: Ali Azmat (of Junoon fame) and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Bollywood fame). The original song was itself a very big hit and was a part of movie ‘Paap’. However this version outshines its filmi version, all thanks to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. He adds a magical improvised chant of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which just kicks your dying soul. Sometimes annoying but satisfying. My inside call - Shankar Mahadevan could have done wonders in this piece.
4) Duur and Dhaani – Both these songs are album covers of Strings and are cult (personal preference). This version is fused with HB Gullu’s vintage style of producing melodious surs in sync with movements of hands (illusionary at first glance). Though Strings main vocals Faisal disappoints when you see him experimenting just too much, nevertheless HB Gullu’s style is highly impressive. His hands are in sync with voice. Nice and unique.
Singles –
a) Husn-e-Haqiqi (Vocals – Arieb Azhar) – The song is very lyrical and has quite a heavy dose of sufi(?) verbose in it. Instrumentation is not much but it can be heard for its spiritual lyrics. I could understand only two stanzas – one dedicated to Lord Ram & Lord Krishna and another to Lord Brahma & Lord Vishnu. The song sounds lengthy because of lack of instrumentation; 
but it’s still worth hearing.
b) Paimona (vocals – Haniya) – The song has arabic lyrics (can’t confirm though) and is fused with an instrument resembling santoor. The song is sung by Haniaya, a voice most suited for blues.
c) Titliyan – this song is the best song from Strings latest album- Koi Aaney Wala Hai.
Here it is sung with violin in sync and is definitely better than original. The song is slow and has soul-touching lyrics. Strings at their best in this one.
d) Toomba (vocals – Saeen Zahoor) – This song can be heard for the unusual style of singing of Saeen. Toomba has sufi lyrics and instrumentation too is ok.
e) Aankhoy Kay Sagar (vocals – Shafqat Amanat Ali).
This song starts with slow pace which gets rhythmic towards end. Vocals are awesome and you will appreciate the extension ability of Shafqat in this one. The use of dholak makes its tempo more beat inclusive, which causes song’s tempo to rise exponentially towards end. The song is highly addictive and has a dangerous repetitive value.
One artist who was way beyond all surs and rhythms was Atif Aslam. Don’t waste your time and stay away from his number.
So what are we doing here in India with our unique treasure?
Ok, my men are winning Oscars, Grammies. And if you go into Bollywood, money obtained from the audio part is seriously high. But are we experimenting? Are we getting the most from our treasure??
Indian treasure is diversity. And it is very sad to see there is no attempt to bring different cultures/regional musical styles and trying to fuse them. It will be both challenging and magical for the composer if the outcome is divine (and that’s what a musician wants, right!!). But will music channels like MTV rise above the ‘road’ with their stupid shows. Will I ever see different genre of music, say Bengali and Hindi in fusion.
It is high time we have to experiment more with our treasure. Can somebody fuse Avdoot Gupte (Marathi), Raghu Dixit Project (based out of Bangalore), Chandrabindu (Bengali) and The East India Company (Assamese)? Anybody!!
please NOTE: incase you decide to listen to the above mentioned coke numbers, kindly download them from there site and would recommend the videos (.mov files). By the way, all the videos are free (but immense respect earning).
“Sometimes all I want to do is to make people HAPPY and the best part is I can DO IT for FREE” – Speaking Pictures
1) Saari Raat –
Fused with sitar. This song is sung by Ali Noor (vocals, band Noori). His voice has a great pitch and throw. Great voice modulation with impressive improvisation is another major positive for him. The song starts with a slow medley extraordinarily (and strangely) mixed with sitar and suddenly picks up tempo with all instruments in full bang. The orchestration is perfect and all credits to the composer. It gives a fabulous kick and is highly addictive. Just to appreciate this fused creation, do listen to the original piece. It is mainly rock. Who thought to include sitar in this??
The first time I heard this song, I wondered for its absence in India? Generally people like Pritam and Mahesh Bhatt do bring the other side fame on this side. This time it was MTV India Roadies (episode on 7th Feb 2010) which featured this song. Yeah! I knew my choice is universal.
There is one more song (Jo Meray) on the same lines. It too is nice but not as good as this one.
2) Aik-Alif – Fused with Sufi words. Song has a great melody attached to it and it’s mainly due to use of tanpura. Vocals for this song - Saeen Zahoor. Ali Noor (Noori), Ali Hamza (Noori). While Saeen gives sufi touch to it, real magic comes from Hamza (grave and plain). Tanpura medley is its USP. 
3) Garaj Baras – This fusion piece has heavyweights in it: Ali Azmat (of Junoon fame) and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Bollywood fame). The original song was itself a very big hit and was a part of movie ‘Paap’. However this version outshines its filmi version, all thanks to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. He adds a magical improvised chant of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which just kicks your dying soul. Sometimes annoying but satisfying. My inside call - Shankar Mahadevan could have done wonders in this piece.
4) Duur and Dhaani – Both these songs are album covers of Strings and are cult (personal preference). This version is fused with HB Gullu’s vintage style of producing melodious surs in sync with movements of hands (illusionary at first glance). Though Strings main vocals Faisal disappoints when you see him experimenting just too much, nevertheless HB Gullu’s style is highly impressive. His hands are in sync with voice. Nice and unique. Singles –
a) Husn-e-Haqiqi (Vocals – Arieb Azhar) – The song is very lyrical and has quite a heavy dose of sufi(?) verbose in it. Instrumentation is not much but it can be heard for its spiritual lyrics. I could understand only two stanzas – one dedicated to Lord Ram & Lord Krishna and another to Lord Brahma & Lord Vishnu. The song sounds lengthy because of lack of instrumentation; 
but it’s still worth hearing. b) Paimona (vocals – Haniya) – The song has arabic lyrics (can’t confirm though) and is fused with an instrument resembling santoor. The song is sung by Haniaya, a voice most suited for blues.
c) Titliyan – this song is the best song from Strings latest album- Koi Aaney Wala Hai.
Here it is sung with violin in sync and is definitely better than original. The song is slow and has soul-touching lyrics. Strings at their best in this one.d) Toomba (vocals – Saeen Zahoor) – This song can be heard for the unusual style of singing of Saeen. Toomba has sufi lyrics and instrumentation too is ok.
e) Aankhoy Kay Sagar (vocals – Shafqat Amanat Ali).
This song starts with slow pace which gets rhythmic towards end. Vocals are awesome and you will appreciate the extension ability of Shafqat in this one. The use of dholak makes its tempo more beat inclusive, which causes song’s tempo to rise exponentially towards end. The song is highly addictive and has a dangerous repetitive value. One artist who was way beyond all surs and rhythms was Atif Aslam. Don’t waste your time and stay away from his number.
So what are we doing here in India with our unique treasure?
Ok, my men are winning Oscars, Grammies. And if you go into Bollywood, money obtained from the audio part is seriously high. But are we experimenting? Are we getting the most from our treasure??
Indian treasure is diversity. And it is very sad to see there is no attempt to bring different cultures/regional musical styles and trying to fuse them. It will be both challenging and magical for the composer if the outcome is divine (and that’s what a musician wants, right!!). But will music channels like MTV rise above the ‘road’ with their stupid shows. Will I ever see different genre of music, say Bengali and Hindi in fusion.
It is high time we have to experiment more with our treasure. Can somebody fuse Avdoot Gupte (Marathi), Raghu Dixit Project (based out of Bangalore), Chandrabindu (Bengali) and The East India Company (Assamese)? Anybody!!
please NOTE: incase you decide to listen to the above mentioned coke numbers, kindly download them from there site and would recommend the videos (.mov files). By the way, all the videos are free (but immense respect earning).
“Sometimes all I want to do is to make people HAPPY and the best part is I can DO IT for FREE” – Speaking Pictures
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