Beat this

The Royal Albert grooved to Fuzon, Strings were on the rise, and Noori finally came out of the garage.

As a nation we are supposed to live vicariously through our rather rank stable of prefab rock-stars and celebrities who live lives of ridiculous luxury and ease. We are exposed to their nightly hobnobbing, their sex lives, their hobbies, their alcoholism; we cannot escape. But do we want to escape? No way!

The last year has seen some big talking points. The largest power blackout in North American history; more terrorist attacks; an Indian movie that had its world premiere in our very own Karachi. But is this what we gossiped about during those long hours spent round the water cooler? Of course not, we discussed real, thorny issues like who would win in a fight between Junoon and Noori? General consensus has it that those narcissists Junoon would be left lying in the broken shards of mirrors Noori shattered over them to do their lines of coke. Yeah, 2003 pretty much rocked.

In that spirit, I offer my year-end wrap-up as one must pontificate on the year that was. These things need to be scrutinized. So here I go…

January

Small venues have done well in the past year and none better than Karachi's M-Live. You can see the band from almost everywhere in the place and the sound is excellent. The year started with Fuzon playing live to a full house. A tiny venue with a tiny stage – it felt like a cocoon, and each time Shallum Asher Xavier launched into a solo the audience felt wrapped in the tender aural embrace of a rock and roll virtuoso.

Noori managed to notch up nine performances there, yet brought the house down each time. M tends to attract a rather 'casual' crowd of people. And it was exactly that at the Entity Paradigm pre-release gigs in the month of April and June. In a smaller venue there seems to be a more intimate relationship between the performer and the audience. M is like a lounge and it was packed and very cosy throughout the year.

February

What a year it's been for the alternative pop-rock group Noori. 2003 saw the release of their debut album "Suno Kay Main Hoon Jawan" amid unprecedented buzz for the band. "Masterful" and "irresistible", raved the critics.

Noori frontman Ali Noor is still celebrating. "It was by far the most unbelievable year we ever had," he claims. The band toured hard and relentlessly all year. He went on to explain that the increase in buzz and album sales – more than 100,000 albums sold – has led to better attendance at the shows. Many even accused them of over-exposing themselves after they struck a deal with Mobilink for Free Road Shows. Ali Noor thinks that it's actually the opposite. "It was due to that deal that we ended up playing at places like Lyari! Noori is not an 'urban' band. And the free road shows were actually a confirmation that we are a masses band!" According to the band the best concert they played was the one held in Karachi Gymkhana on the 12th of October.

March

2003 wasn't just a year for comebacks but also for new beginnings. Back in October 2002 several notable artists emerged from the shadows in newly formed acts and tossed aside the baggage of playing sessions for a fresh start. Old had become the new… new. Fuzon's debut record "Sagar" is a release to be quite happy with. The lead vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan is one of (the few) distinguished classical pop vocalists in Pakistan, and Shallum and Immu play their parts to perfection.

"This was the most exciting year ever!" says Shallum. "We were signed by Virgin records for our debut album and even got an award for the best emerging talent which was so cool. We played as the opening act at the Royal Albert Hall where people dream to play. Then another concert got me all shaking (literally) as we were playing to an audience of around 8000 people in London and then they all started to chant our name." They are now planning to tour six cities in India early next year.

April

The joy of concerts is that they give you a rare opportunity to satiate your most eclectic desires. With Junoon, Noori, Fuzon, Anaida, Khiza, Mizmaar and Message getting together, the Rock 'n' Bhangra Peace Tour surely had the making of a masterpiece. Unfortunately what transpired was anything but that.

Music, and indeed peace, on this night came second to chaos and rampage. Everything from the venue to the seating, security, timing of the performances to the crowd itself contributed towards one of the most mismanaged events in recent times. The hugest bottle fight in the history of live concerts took place here! Bad sound, bad atmosphere, bad hair (well at least we knew that already), a crowd comprised largely of rowdy boys wrestling with puberty and each other – just altogether bad.

On the other hand there were bands that didn't perform even once all year, but who can still kick any other band's ass into orbit. Ziyad Gulzar, Uns Mufti and Nazia Zuberi master enough sonic variety to ensure that Rushk stick around the cult scene. They are a great team and belt out an unconventional raw sound. Crowd reaction is impossible to anticipate but "Sawal 57:34" is a collection of hyperkinetic guitars, subliminal melodies and thunderous dynamics – which is to say it sports plenty of hard rock aggression, but is firmly rooted in the pop experience, while "Behti Naar" is a radio-friendly unit shifter that suggests that underneath the sound rests a beating and often bruised human heart.

May

The "confused maulana" is what they call Junaid Jamshed these days, and he's finally decided to stop making music, at least for now. But before taking his leave this year he gave an unplugged performance which wasn't half bad. His vocals were tired, though, so maybe bidding farewell is the right move to make.

Interestingly rumours of Vital Signs making a comeback were strong this year. They even recorded a new version of Dil Dil Pakistan and shot a video (starring only JJ!) which did not see the light of the day as the band decided to call the entire thing off. A little bird whispered into my ear that Junaid Jamshed and Shahi Hasan had a disagreement regarding money.

Later in the year Shahi Hasan got the opportunity along-with Faisal Rafi (ad-man/cinematographer) to make the background score for Pooja Bhutt's directorial debut – Paap. And the least that one might say about the "classic-zenish" music score: it rocks completely from the word go! The movie had its world premier at the Kara Film Festival where Pooja Bhutt and father Mahesh Bhutt flew down to Karachi amidst much fan fare.

June

Summer brings, along with monsoon rains and suntans, a potpourri of music concerts. This summer was no different – in fact it rocked all the way. Café M-Live hosted a Noori concert where a gate crashing mob created quite a scene despite the tight security. The concert ended in tragedy as someone pulled the sound cable out right in the middle of the third song and the band decided to call it off. That left the winners of the over-hyped "Super New Jawan" campaign saddened as their once-in-a-life-time-opportunity to perform with their favourite band came crashing down. The band still salvaged an excellent live video from the performance of the song "Dil Ki Qasam". The video was directed by (guess who?) – Wajahat Rauf – the owner of Café M-Live. He has done his Masters in Film Making and Advertising from L.A. He had earlier re-edited the video of "Gana No.1" for Noori directed by Babar Shaikh of Diagram Films. It stirred quiet a controversy earlier this year!

You're never too old to rock, as long as you spent your youth building a hearty reputation to support your flabby, middle-aged self. Maybe its midlife crises, maybe it's just boredom. It was time to head bang in the scorching heat at "The Brain Net Rock Festival 2003" at Lahore's Alhamra Cultural Complex. The opening act, Naqsh, belted out a rocking performance, closely followed by The Trip and finally Entity Paradigm which really brought the house down.

London's Royal Albert Hall was the backdrop this month when the fashion gurus and rock stars took centre stage as the President tapped a toe and the spectators did the cheerleading. The object of the show: improving Pakistan's image abroad. And performances by Pappu Saeen, Abida Perveen, Junoon and Fuzon did just that.

July

Once in a long while something will appeal our ears and really capture the imagination as to what could be thought of as the perfect balance of a classical/fusion 'jazzy' album. Mekaal Hasan's Band proved them to be pretty close to that ideal with their pre-release performance of their record – "Sampooran". The pre-release performance at Lahore's Alhamra was filled to capacity even though the city was flooded by the monsoon rains. The band has successfully fused classical, jazz and rock elements into this brilliant record. The diversity of sound, stunning compositions and technical display is very vivid. According to Mekaal Hassan the album will only appeal to those who are interested in listening to fresh and progressive music. Mekaal also told us a bit about the album musically. "The album is a blend of the melodic tradition of the east, the harmonic sophistication of jazz and the energy of rock. The record also features some of the finest musicians from both Pakistan and the UK, namely Pete Lockett and Mike Mondesir from UK and Gumby from Pakistan."

While talking of great musicianship of Mekaal I can't stop wondering: Is legendary guitarist Aamir Zaki aging gracefully, or elegantly wasting? My guess: a bit of both. Everyone knows he's the biggest and best, the man who could make a guitar do anything. But there's more to it than that, otherwise he'd be history by now, along with flared trousers - whoops, back already, everything goes in circles. The rumours are always doing the rounds, but this time round things seem a tiny bit more serious. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

August

More than a decade of creative sterility. The endless churning of the marketing machine that thought it was funny turning rebellion into money. The endless reproduction of that lascivious logo, now as familiar as a Coca-Cola can. Now as Junoon returned with their 10th release entitled "Deewar", selling over a million copies in under a month, the album failed to get rave reviews. Junoon bashing was the coolest thing around this year. There are strong rumors that Ali Azmat is in the process of recording a solo album which sounds superb according to those who were lucky enough to get a preview.

It was hard to tell whether Ganda Banda and 3D Cats's "Tu Na Ho Mairay Paas" was a comeback or a farewell. I'll put my money on the latter. From the track's lyrics to its sharp dynamic to its brilliant writing, it stands as 2003's untouchable hallmark of just what musicians can do to their listeners if they truly work at it and pour their hearts out. They weave a tune that's intricate without a hint of pretension, captivating without being a tease, and explosive without being predictable.

September

To a person who thinks that music should be beautiful as well as meaningful, Strings have brought a good deal of hope in the realm of popular music with the release of "Dhaani". This year they released the video of "Chaaye Chaaye" that was directed by the ace-director Jami and the video of "Sohniyaey" which was extremely fresh and crisp to watch directed by the hip-director Babar Sheikh. The band was touring USA around December.

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy picks up electric (at times acoustic) guitar and writes a battery of soul-searching tunes about heartbreak. Almost over-the-top honesty is bolstered by the winner of the largest sponsored event – Battle of the Bands last year – Aaroh, who released their debut album in September. But the album fails to offer enough pizzazz to hold my attention. Aaroh becomes an act that has spiraled into creative oblivion. "Sawal" must have been an important step for the band since they were making their debut but it certainly alienated me. Some are claiming this to be a masterpiece, and others think it's horrid. This isn't the most horrible thing ever written, but it sure isn't very interesting either.

October

Haroon, Abrar, Sajjad Ali, Stereo Nation, Rahim Shah and Fuzon were touring the UK from end September till early October. The troupe performed three shows in total. The first concert was in London's Wembley with an audience of 7800 people. Other big shows followed in Manchester and Glasgow. Guy Spy told me that only 3400 people were in attendance at a Junoon’s show the day before the London gig. What's more interesting is that reputable English daily gave the figure of people who turned up as a mighty 10000. I was also told that this is becoming a norm in the 'J Camp.' Ouch!

Meanwhile, after shooting a fine video for "Yeh Zindagi Hai" directed by Amaan Ahmed of Diagram Films and Uzair, Karavan plans to end their long hiatus (for travel, tours and a baby) in style. They have big plans and we hope that they stick around long enough to be able to make them into reality.

November

It's the best and worst of '03. Like everything else, we're defined by the extremes of each year. While some of the best albums in a long while were released this year – everyone will agree there's been a lot of quality – picking out the worst was an overwhelming proposition with all the crap we're forced to endure. There was absolutely nothing sensational about Ahmed Jehanzeb's debut release – "Parastish". Hunger and passion is lacking most of all. And where there is some reserve of that left, original ideas are largely found wanting.

However Entity Paradigm's debut album deserves the honour of being one of the best albums of the year. Intelligence was often shoved to the back of the line in favor of rhythm, expressions of passion and commercial accessibility. Entity Paradigm breaks the norm in style with the release of their debut record "Irtiqa". EP has released a 'concept album' and there's no way why you shouldn't like it. Interesting, complex compositions; extraordinary musicianship is what you should expect from this 5/5 album. It's an album that seems destined to stand the test of time.

The band toured and shuffled between Karachi and Lahore all year. There were quite a few concerts/gigs they loved. EP thinks the album launch concert at the Finance Trade Centre (FTC) was the best they played. The one in Lahore titled the 'Red Tag Gig' along-side Noori and the unplugged performance at Islamabad was fun too.

Ahmed Ali Butt told us: "The year was really good but at the same time the death of a really young friend saddened things a bit. The most exciting thing was the album release of course. And therefore even financially things looked bright although I still haven't become a millionaire!" The most interesting incident for the band was when Fawad got stung by a bluebottle while they were touring Karachi. "We took him to the hospital where the doctor informed us that there is no medicine for this so Fawad had to live through the pain for around 12-18 hours!" Ahmed tells us excitedly.

Coca-Cola celebrated its fiftieth birthday with a blast. Although it was heartbreaking to see a corporate giant and the best bands around relying on pre-recorded music, hey, at least it happened.

December

As the end of the year approached more concerts, more partying, more music and even a few more VJs took over the nation. But what really appealed were some of the best video releases ever. The video of Hadiqa Kiyani's "Mahi" directed by Asim Reza was simply out of this world. Shoaib Mansoor's interpretation of "Anarkali" was undoubtedly the best (sponsored) video this year had to offer. The industry was abuzz with rumours of rupees 45-75 lakhs said to have been spent on this video. And it was worth it.

Amongst the new-acts in the world of music was Ali Zafar, who looks and sounds maah-velous on his debut album "Huqa Pani". The problem is the lack of quality in his live performances, both – physically and vocally. Surely a person must know how to sing and dance to his own tunes.

Despite the depressed state of the economy and other unpleasantness all about (terrorist attacks, killings, quakes, the usual) we managed to see a few bright spots that helped make life's pill a little easier to swallow. Musically speaking, 2003 was definitely a milestone for us. The Kara Film Festival gave moviegoers plenty of motivation to start visiting cinemas again. On the radio airwaves, there were more options for our listening pleasure. With FM 107 there's no shortage of music to listen to all day. And now as we're well into the next year, let's fugghedabout 2003. And without further adieu or indeed ado, let's give a big round of applause to '04.

Review by: Insiya Syed

First published: January 16-22 - 2003, The Friday Times, Lahore, Pakistan.