Emotions can be confusing — they are tied to context, but transgressive. They speak to each of us differently — warmth is betrayal to some, ownership is loss to some others. They appear, and re-appear, in the familiar, and in the foreign. How, then, should one handle multiple emotions stemming from a single experience? By doing nothing. Yes, that’s exactly what you do when you listen to the master of Qawwalis — Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Give in. Just. Listen.
How else can you respond to a voice that feels like rubbing your hands over yards of silk? Smooth, lilting, gentle, yet variational. It feels like a hot air balloon just released. Anti-gravitate and fearless. It feels like divinity has just presented itself to you in an inconceivable way.
Dub Qawwali is a posthumous album of NFAK’s lesser known songs, remixed by French electronica artiste, Gaudi. What’s remarkable is how Reggae meets Sufi, and does not impose its potency over spiritual expression. Instead, we hear an elegant combination, where the Reggae and Dub actually highlight the individual components of Qawwali. This is not your regular remix fare. Dub Qawwali – dreadlocks behind the veil.
Enter Michael Brook. If Dub Qawwali feels like a blend of music cultures, Night Song feels monolithic. The opening track, My Heart, My Life is pure epiphany. How it gains momentum! Night Song is for the lovers of dusk and melancholy.
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Bethe bethe kaise kaise from the album Dub Qawwali by Gaudi and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Buy from Amazon More Dub Qawwali at Last.fm My heart, my life from the album Night Song by Michael Brook and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Buy from Amazon More Night Song at Last.fm |
~ posted by nithya
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dammit arvind. i posted. where’s your compulsory comment? wait, maybe this just is that one comment we should have
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system failure: encountered paradox trying to agree. please delete and recover.
Yet again, I cannot see any correspondence of feelings. Maybe my synaesthesia (synesthesia in EN_US) is directed differently. I guess (to loosely call the genre) ‘Qawwali’ does render itself easily to lounge/ambient-sounding mixes; predominantly (I’m still guessing) from the similarity of beat style and speed. Of course, it takes more than a matching time signature to make the successful blend, but you get the drift.
this is one of those places i disagree with nithya. dub qawwali ain’t a patch on night song. while michael brook gets into the music (his guitar/bass work at least tries to match the roll and yaw and pitch and fever of nusrat’s cryingmoaningweepingburstingloving), the lounge crowd simply slaps on their layer. it’s the imposition of the dj’s gaze on the exotic eastern musician. meh.