June 30, 2002

The Arab connection
To remain relevant, any music scene needs the constant infusion of new blood. One new entrant into the arena of pop-star hopefuls is Shahzaman, with his debut effort titled Layla in which he tries hard to make an impression on the listeners.

Layla, of course, is the lead single on the collection. Its video is doing the rounds and the tune features the vocal talents of ‘Moroccan chanteuse Hayat. The tune is a mixture of Hayat’s Arabic lyrics and Shahzaman’s Urdu. As far as music goes, it is your usual synthesized pop. The end of the chorus bears a striking resemblance to Sajjad Ali’s Cinderella, but one is sure it is purely coincidental. The song has potential to be a crossover success, especially with local fans of Amr Diab, Khaled and other Pan-Arab pop singers. Thanks to Sting and Cheb Mami, we’re all friends again!

Nachna is a pretty average Punjabi bhangra-pop. Har Pal has quite a fluid trance groove to it. Yaro jumps back to Punjabi rhythm, but the bhangra beat is jettisoned in favour of a more conventional cyber-pop progression. Our sincere advice to Shahzaman — the rapper dude on this tune totally does not gel. One is sure the homeboys of Brooklyn must be quaking in their boots, but your music can do without the rapping. On Yeh Nashili Raat, Shahzaman switches the tempo of the album into ghazal mode. The song is a duet with his music teacher, Aarati Pathak.

The second side kicks off with Mera Koi. The tune starts off slow but soon builds up to a more comfortable pace. Kitni Haseen reminds one greatly of the first Vital Signs record. Like it or not, the Signs influence on our pop scene is immense and it reverberates through so many new records, it is uncanny. Lang Aja is a track this album could have done without. Our rapper friend is back with more hijinx.

As with any effort, this album should be encouraged. It’s just that maybe Shahzaman was trying to do too many things at the same time. However, there are signs off life on this record, and one can expect good things from this guy if he just fine-tunes his craft. —Qasim AbdAllah Moini

Back on track
For some Ali Haider might be as good as gone. But as far as Ali is concerned where there’s a will, there’s a way. His last album Jadu flopped to an extent due to lack of publicity and the introduction of something as vague as techno music. But he refuses to let the fact dampen his ambition. He has just come out with a new album based on the same techno beats which brought the downslide. But unlike Jadu, Chandni Raatein might just be the lucky number Ali has been looking for.

Offering a variety of fast upbeat songs, the album can be regarded as one of Ali’s better albums. From the cover to the recording, the entire mood of the collection is light and refreshing, his trademark until Jadu broke the spell. A change that might have helped Ali in his quest for regaining his past glory could be his new partner, Faraz Anwar. Faraz has been making quite an impression with his guitar playing and almost every song has his name-credit.

Kicking off the selection is Gori, where Ali merges techno with fast bhangra to good effect. His decision to put his voice over music has paid off in this album, something which was vice versa in Jadu. Lovely Lovely’s title may sound cheap but the song is more than interesting. With spooky style singing, a disco feeling and chorus, this is one song which should number on the top charts. The title track Chandni Raatein, comes next and takes the listener by surprise. The song was a hit when Ali sang it for a serial of the same name. Slow, sweet and touching, the song is slow compared to the techno beats that form the majority of this album. Sohniye has a Latin start picking up gradually with the help of the slow, crisp beats of the drums followed by a sudden impact of vocals and percussions. The song has the high-low notes, which makes it different from the rest. Also included in the tracks are two duets from Jadu; Marjaniya’s original and its remix. Most funny is the song Dewar — a song which has been made around the popular Urdu slogan of a political party Girti hui deewar ko, eik dhaka aur do.

One still feels sorry for Ali. His release comes at a time when Junaid Jamshed’s Dil Ki Baat has hit the stands. While both may be from different singing schools of thought, still it just might be the hype that Junaid got in the recent past with his interviews about leaving the music world. One hopes that that doesn’t happen since his effort here cannot be ignored. —Khurrum Anis