Around the world in Dhaka

Although most of my 2 months spent in Dhaka this summer was unfortunately getting very ill, the first couple of weeks I managed to have some good fun, and see a few interesting shows.

I went to a Le Saigon show for the first time. It was Laila's show, which was a very pleasant and entertaining performance. Her classic beauty and voice, gave the place an atmosphere of a jazz cafe in New York. She sang off tracks (a very hard thing to do!) song after song, covering many artists from many eras, from Sade to Colbie Calliat to Frank Sinatra.


I especially enjoyed her own song, she wrote about a love-hate relationship which ultimately turned out to be with a mosquito! I would definitely love to hear more of her original stuff. Overall she kept the audience on their toes, but lightly with her little jokes and stories, keeping us involved in the show (another very hard thing to do, involve your audience!) She mentioned how she performs with guitarists and other musicians abroad, which has developed my eagerness to see her with a band next time :-)


A totally different show I saw the same week at a more personal space:

A Night with Rob Fakir: This Kushtia Baul is no new name, and it was our luck that we got a very close and personal cosy show with him in August. A close friend of ours invited him down to Dhaka for an all night jolsha in a small open-air little room, in the middle of a large chunk of land filled with trees. In our urban jungle, it was almost a little space of fresh air.

It was word of mouth amongst friends that ended up bringing a pretty big crowd to our friends place, and it was Rob Fakir and his friends' amazing performance that kept us there the whole night.To make things even greater, my fabourite Dhol player Nazrul Bhai was playing with him!

Rob Fakir, in my eyes has a very special something about him, not only his voice and his beautiful do-taara playing, but it's his charisma that entrances you into his music.
I guess it was part of this charisma the London's Evening Standard highlighted him in a review of Bangla Beat to Afro Beat show where he had performed along with Arnob, Kishon Khan's Lokhhi Tera (including myself.)
It was at that show in London that I had met him and had been introduced to this personality or as we are now nicknaming him, the "Rob-star." After his own performance, he had stood backstage for 45 minutes and fully watched our set, a set of 14 band members from all over world mainly playing Afro beat and Latin jazzish pieces merged with Bangla lyrics. He had stood there straight without batting an eye lash, absorbing the playing of the different instrumentalists.

Back to his show, we all sat around him, incences lit and moglai porota's being passed around in between songs, it was homely and warm and I can safely say we felt a part of his performance. He took little breaks and asked some of the singers in the audience to join him. He especially requested Arnob (with whom he collaborated with in Bangla's 2nd album Protutpunnomotitto), saying that it's been a long time since he've heard him sing. Arnob obliged, meekly took the stage, even a superstar like him, humble to this man's connection with Lalon's preachings, his messages and his melodies. He sang Jaat Gelo and Chatokh Pakhi (in which we all joined in.) Following him was Labik Kamal Gaurob, another loyal student of Lalon and later Rob Bhai's son, both bringing two different loves to the songs, one of a city boy growing up in our concrete jungle who found salvation in Lalon's words, and the other of a boy brought up with Lalon's philosophy in his blood and home.
I must say, it was when others were singing that I fell deeper in love with Rob Bhai's Do-taara playing, when he was sliding in and out of their singing and solo-ing in between verses, on his self made do-taara. It was a real treat.
And this way the night continued with all of us contributing to the atmosphere on our night with Rob Fakir.

So there you go, that's Dhaka for you, within 30 minutes drive you can be in downtown New York or a mela in Kushtia. I'm sad to be leaving, but as it goes, we must move on to the next phase of our lives, so next time I write, it shall hopefully be from my new house in India :-)

Peace and Love

Didn't get to Heaven but made it Close

June 23rd 2008- was one out of this world day for me and my sister.

The place: largest venue in NYC- Madison Square Garden
The show: Coldplay's 3rd and last free show celebrating the release of their 4th album Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends.


It all started back in April/May when they announced their free shows, we signed up immediately.
Imagine our disappointment when we didn't win, even then we were ready to travel to see them. So we were looking at shows in surrounding cities, when they postponed them. (They needed more time to be ready for the tour). That was devastating as I would be in Bangladesh by then.

The day of the show, me and my sister were wary of whether we would get tickets, but still, we dressed our best and went. There was a group of people selling tickets discreetly, but at extremely high prices for bad seats, and I was really dodged about whether they were real or not. After waiting around for almost 2 hours, we decided to haggle and just go for it. The ticket was a birthday gift from my sister, and it was my decision, to take the risk of loosing our fortnight's food money on Coldplay. After all it's my most favourite band in the world. Our hearts were beating as they scanned in our "not so free" ticket to the free concert, and... YES they were real, we were IN!

We loaded up on goodies and headed in to our seats. Guess what they were, the furthest sections' last row's seats of the whole venue! But we had a great direct view of the stage. So we watched the opening band and another DJ (opening Man, we call him), but not concentrating at all. The Hall light came on to set the stage for Coldplay.

Then suddenly everything went dark. And we could hear "Life in Technicolour."




We stood up in awe watching the light boom on as the incredible band started the journey. I bet with my sister that the next would be Violet Hill, and I was right! As before the 2 times I've seen them live, (Jan'03 -Ottawa- Rush of Blood to the Head Tour and August 03- Cheltenham- V Festival- yes I know lucky lucky me!)
I could not speak, could not sing- was in the state of speechlessness. Even in the front row at the V Festival in 03 amongst the headbangers, I had just stood there like a statue taking them in.

This time was slightly different, as I watched in absolute awe and disbelief that I was in the same room as Coldplay and they were playing for us, I was far away enough to sway like a madman.

Imagine our surprise when they played "Clocks" next. They had a lovely set, playing songs from Parachutes, Rush of Blood to the Head, X&Y and the new one. I was delighted! I had never heard the X&Y album live before, it was Splendid. I guess I connected to them slightly better as I had been listening for a year (Fix you and Square One.)

Then came my first favourite "Trouble"- I guess you never really get over the first song you fell in love with. I was 15/16 when I heard it and listened to it on repeat before exploring the rest of Parachutes.

For Viva La Vida, that song is "Lost" -the lyrics of which have really called out to me, which they played right after Trouble and it was Amazing!

Although I don't like to judge the artists themselves too much, who could not be absolutely in love with the band's down to earth but lovely way of speaking to the audience. Very sharply dressed, no airs, but like friends, or maybe even nervous performers they chatted away with the audience. And their little stunts were Stunning. They had 3 stages, 1st being the main stage, 2nd being a small one in the Front rows.

And the 3rd was past of the GREAT stunt they pulled. Apparently it was the first time they did this: they just walked up the floors to the 2md last section (just 1 section below us) in the passageway and started singing! ( we obviously jumped out of seats and ran down to see them)



Their drummer sang a cute little song in the passageway, different to their usual style, but I liked the stunt!

The show didn't get the best of reviews, and I admit they were a tad shaky with the new material, but that's live music! It's the mess ups and human error that makes it alive.

I guess words won't really describe how I felt, but it was great: all the songs, Strawberry Swing, Viva La Vida, Lovers in Japan ending the show with Reign of Love.

They didn't encore which was quite sad, and a bunch of us fans were just clapping and clapping till we realised that the equipment was being packed up!

I read later, not to my surprise, many stars were in the audience, Kirsten Dunst, Charlize Theron etc. What did surprise me was how polite the American crowd was (of all ages, ethnicities etc!) Me and A were amazed at their calm and self control, others shows we've seen always have a Huge mosh pit and crazed screaming fans, but the NYC crowd I assume were stunned and speechless like me :-)

Song list:
Life in technicolor
Violet hill
Clocks
In my place
Viva la vida
Chinese Sleep Chant
god put a smile upon your face
42
square one
trouble
lost!
strawberry swing
yellow
Death Will Never Conquer
fix you
lovers in japan
reign of love



They really are breathtaking and inspiring, with so much energy in their songs and their movement. I'm already bidding on tickets for next year!
Thanks to my sister for the incredible early birthday gift!!

Peace and Love,
Armeen

(Photos of the Stage by me, rest- collected from the Internet)

Notun Kore Pabo Bole

Here's an old review of one of my most favourite albums to be released in Bangladesh, wrote this last year:

Sahana’ke notun kore peye: A personal review of Sahana Bajpaie’s album “Notun kore pabo bole”

This album, being by a very dear friend and fellow music lover Sahana Bajpaie, was one of my most awaited. Singing bits and pieces myself, the vocalist is who I scrutinise the most in a song, thereby having very rare favourites. But I remember the first few times I heard Sahana sing, I didn’t want it to end, maybe it was due to the fact that she had a flavour of the Rabindra Sangeets that I had grown up listening to, or maybe the opposite, that her way of singing them was more her own.

Her way of allowing the lyrics to have their space but swaying them in her own passionate way with the melodies is what made me fall in love with this beautiful voice, and it was the day she sang Majhe Majhe at 1am at a home jam session was where the tears in my eyes announced her my favourite female singer.

Amar Nishitho Raate’r Baadol Dhara was a single that got released a couple of years ago, a song with one of the highest plays one many people’s playlist including my younger sister, my metalhead drummer friend and my mother’s. It gave off that vibe that I loved, of making the song her own with harmonies, guitars, percussion, (as opposed to the traditional instruments used in such songs), but keeping Tagore’s shorolipi intact.

The more I followed her voice around I discovered many sides to her rewaz, the “alladi” placing of words, the passionate meditation of her singing, and also her raw approach to keep in absolute tune. This album is a mesh of these, showing off her different approaches to singing, adorning the beautiful lyrics and playing side by side with Arnob’s new approach to Rabindra Sangeet production.

The album opens with my favourite sound, of chords on a piano introducing Arnob on his esraj, which I later find out will play a dominant role with Sahana’s voice on the tracks. Oije Jhor’er Meghe, the first song sets the mood for the album to rest on the playlist. The song bounces of the piano track, with a notable little solo on the esraj.

The 2^nd track Mor Bhabonare, bringing in the more traditional tabla, as well as the more western classical string elements.



In such a manner Arnob treads around the melodies and words of Tagore with various sounds from all parts of the world. With little electronic intros, fading in and out harmonies at the perfect but random places, vinyl strings, a light beat enriching the vocals (Eto din je boshe chilam), funky harmonium use (Tomar khola hawa) and very traditional flute, esraj and tabla movements meshed with many other elements in Tumi Kon Pothe Je ele, Kon Puraton (a duet with Arnob) ,he sets the audience for a new ride in Rabindra Sangeet listening.

Phoole phoole, was the song I felt was the sweetest and most naturally done, with Arnob slowly placing instrument after instrument throughout the track and Sahana’s soft placing of the words onto the melody.

The tiny flaws my scrutinising ear caught aside, my criticism to the album initially was that the music was slightly subtle with its display; ironically Tomare Koriyachi Jibone’r Dhrubotaara the song which gave Arnob the least space and Sahana the full spotlight was the one which struck me the most. It may be Tagore’s loving words or Sahana’s loving way of singing them or the moving esraj solo, but this song brought me closest to tears.

One of my favourite musicians from the group Frou frou once said “Music is useless unless it make’s a total stranger break down and cry”, and although I do agree to that statement, I think it means a lot more when it does that to a friend.

Tagore’s genius is not wasted in this generation with the talents of Arnob and Sahana, respecting and loving his songs. To put it simply, this album is a keeper, which will immerse old Tagore fan’s into his world with a new perspective, and bring new listeners to appreciate his beauty from where they stand.

Sahana's Myspace;

Driving slow on Sunday morning

In February, earlier this year, my sister and I went to see Maroon 5's "Won't be soon After Long" tour. They were touring UK, and to my great joy, they had a show down the road from me at the Nottingham Arena, Nottingham's biggest venue.


We showed up early to see their opening band- Dashboard Confessionals. They're pretty good, still with the amateur rocker attitude. But their mixing wasn't good, and I'd forgotten my earplugs (which I'm supposed to wear amidst loud noise), so only really enjoyed my favourite track of theirs: "Vindicated."


Then came the band we had been anticipating for months: Maroon 5!
I can't really recall the order of their set. But they mainly played from the 2nd album, which had just released a few weeks before.

The crowd was going crazy during "Makes me Wonder." We were missing out on the excitement on the floor, but I think we'd learnt our lesson headbanging at the V Festival, and had swapped our tickets for seats on the bleachers. But I think it was a good trade for my poor ears!

It was pretty happening back at the bleachers, all of us dancing away to "Sunday Morning", "This Love" and swaying and waving phones at the all time favourite "She Will be Loved."

Their mixing was a tad better, although not great. But their Lighting was Amazing. They had a big M on the stage and mad lights changing throughout. I took a couple of shots from the bleachers. All in all though, was a rush to see them Live!

Welcome to my Thoughts

Dear those who can be bothered to read this,

Now that the site is up, the album has released, my university term has ended, and I feel less crowded than I have the past 2 years, so in accordance to my site manager's wishes of armeenmusa.com, I start this blog.

Haven't yet figured out what I'm going to write, but I'm thinking gaan, gaan, gaan as I've already made a blog (archive rather) of the poems I used to write (and some recent ones), so anyone interested, give it a go: moondizzy-poems

Have had a rather silent day today, only ended up listening to 2 songs of Nitin Sawhney's Broken Skin while making lunch. One of my favourite producers, hats off to him for being one of the few to create his own unique sound.

A group of friends and I, performed a song from this album at one of our uni shows. We melted it down, to make it simpler (was a hard song!) Here is our version of Homelands:



Comments are most welcome :-)

Peace and love
Armeen