With the latest episode of its ongoing seventh instalment, Coke Studio just got classier. Since its advent, dense, overproduced tracks have dominated the musical palette of the show. So, it was refreshing to see the stripped-down approach in Usman Riaz’s Bone Shaker.
The song features only two musicians other than Usman, who don’t drown him out and keep his jaw-dropping ability to draw ‘knick-knack paddy-whack’ sounds from the guitar in the spotlight. If you haven’t already realised this, Usman has a special ability. No other musician in the country, let alone his age, has managed to conjure up such an agreeable cacophony with the acoustic guitar. The tabla and flute towards the end add more flavour to this eastern, polyrhythm-packed blistering performance.
But not all tracks are this minimal. In fact, Riaz is the only one to whom such an earnest performance can be credited. The rest, as you would expect, are packaged in what you would normally expect from Coke Studio: layer upon layer of slick, error-free instrumentation.
Zoheb Hassan’s Dheeray Dheeray is a case in point. Despite all the rich sounds, one wonders if Zoheb Hassan is caught too far back in time to make a mark in the present-day pop industry, which, in his own words, did not exist when he and Nazia Hassan started out in the early 1980s.
Still, the track is fun. Sara Haider on backing vocals bears testimony to this with her four-on-the-floor expressions. The musicians look like they are enjoying the groove-packed number, with Omran Shafique aptly seated centre-stage, belting out the tune. Jaffer Hussain sprinkles the Motown goodness with his clarinet. But the fun and the funk are nearly not enough to salvage what seems to be a dated song. If we are to believe that old is gold, we hope the track, just like Zoheb’s heart, will find favour with us Dheeray Dheeray.
Asrar is undisputedly Coke Studio’s trump card. His first song Sub Aakho Ali Ali bagged him the attention he deserved. And with his second offering Shakar Wandaan Re, he might just go down in Coke Studio history as the one who will ensure that those who doubt Strings as the show’s producers have little to complain about.
Here is the tongue-in-cheek Shakar Wandaan replete with blistering banjo, courtesy Tanveer Tofu and a quintessential baaja riff played by Jaffer Zaidi on a hip-looking synth. Perhaps, Jaffer could have sported a harmonium, upping the visual aesthetics while keeping in line with the festive feel of the song. In any case, the tune is infectious.
Javed Bashir’s vocal tone could alone flatten settlements. With his pitch-perfect delivery, Bashir has become a giant of South Asian music. Those who beg to differ should go through his catalogue to lay their contrary views to rest. In Ambwa Talay, he is his usual captivating self. It’s fulfilling to hear Humera Channa’s entry in the chorus to take Amir Khusrau’s bittersweet composition about a girl’s marriage to the cleaners.
She hits all the right notes, without losing the melancholy in the form. Ahad Nayani on drums lends a stellar base and Arsalan Rabbani intervenes in subtle tones with the xylophone. Overall, the track offers a unique view of the intricate relationship between marriage and music in South Asia.
Verdict: The episode proves how it’s not always easy to separate the soul from the sold, the ‘music’ from the ‘merchandise’. But what is apparent is that music is only what the musicians make it to be, and there is no substitute to be in front of them when they do, for, the television is no way to hear them ‘live’.
4/5
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2014.
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