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Musicbox
Ali Haider: Re-Mix
Remixing old songs doesn’t always infuse life into the original masterpiece. At times, the final product can turn out to be even inferior. Also, when a seasoned artiste decides to rehash the glory of his once celebrated numbers, he should wisely choose only the best tracks of his career otherwise the effect may not be so good. That’s precisely the case with Ali Haider’s latest Re-Mix offering that has recently hit music stores.
One does not doubt the musical genius of Ali Haider. He has repeatedly had hits throughout his career and is one of the biggest assets of the Pakistani pop community. But the compilation, which is supposed to be the collection of the best songs ever, is a mixed bag.
The opener, Naam, which is originally a very slow-paced track with a very soft and melodious tune, is now armed with a fast-paced background music. I would still prefer the original version. Chandni Ratein, however, is a far better track in the album. It has the right mix of instruments that lend it an almost perfect background score that matches with the emotional content of the lyrics. Another winner is Sandesa that is reminiscent of the time when Ali Haider’s popularity was at peak level.
Jadu, remixed by Mekaal Hasan, also comes up as a fairly decent fare and continues the rhythm of the album. The hamd, Allah, also works quite well and the music by Nadeem Jafri is highly appropriate to the genre of the song. The tracks Mera Dil, Masti and Hum Tumhein fall between average to lukewarm. The album wraps up with Na Kar Yaar, which is again just about okay.
Frankly, one cannot write a lot about the re-mixed tracks in the album when some of the best numbers by the artiste are missing. From a commercial point of view Ali Haider’s Re-Mix should at least break even. But we still expect a lot from Ali as far as his future work is concerned.
Speaking to the artiste recently,one found out that he was scheduled to perform abroad and by the time this piece appears in print, the singer will most probably be out of the country. We wish him the best of luck. —Azeem Haider
Gurus-Trilogy
Gurus-Trilogy, a new music band, launched its first album recently with production support from Super Records and Sadaf Stereo.
The band is made up of vocalist Glen Silverious John, keyboardist-cum-music producer Mohsin Allahditta and Ahmed Sayyam Rana as the guitarist. The launch that started 90 minutes late was preceded by a press conference. Gurus-Trilogy was formed an year ago and its first album, Aghaaz — Chapter 1, is a culmination of several years of planning.
The name of the band is actually a tribute to all the gurus that have taught the singers; Glen, the son of the famous S.B. John, feels it was his father who trained him entirely in the fine art of singing and music. Mohsin Allahditta, likewise, belongs to a renowned music family and is the son of Javed Allahditta. Sayyam, having worked with Mohsin, learned composing and arrangements with the Allahdittas as well.
Their music is a fusion of glamrock and ballads and has so far gone well with listeners, getting them mileage and air time on various radio and TV channel networks.
One of the greatest trials for the band so far has been to produce the video of their stellar song, Daastan, which was done within a limited budget. According to them, the video has received good response so far.
It has been quite a while since a new music outfit broke through the scene and any new endeavour certainly draws a lot of attention. Since succeeding today as a band requires talent, packaging and promotion, here’s wishing Gurus-Trilogy success. — Afia Zahoor
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