Ramadan!!

Following are a few useful websites:

http://www.scholaris.com:
The entire collection of Dr. Israr's Tafseer-ul-Quran (commentary) in English and Urdu can be found on this website.

http://quranexplorer.com/:
This is an excellent website for everybody who wants to listen to qirat (recitation) along with its translation (Urdu and English) or only the translation as well.

http://alafasy.tripod.com/:
The link to my rock star :)...Mishary. You can find all the surah's recited by him on this website.

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/quran/:
You can download a PDF version of the Quran in English and tafseer (commentary) in English as well from this website.

May Allah guide us on the right path.

Scrabble anyone?!!!

INICTEH..can anyone come up with a 7 letter word? I did, and completely instinctively. It was challenged, and I ended up getting 5 extra points. I didn't know the meaning or origin or how to even use it, but nevertheless was a valid 7 letter. To come and think of it, I wasn't even sure if it existed or not, it just sounded one of those duh-challenge-it-if-you-like words.

Scrabble is just plain simply an amazing game. It's a very good pass time and at times really jogs the mind; 3 consecutive Scrabble games, a guaranteed headache!! I have come across some really weird words, especially those two lettered 'unfair' ones. I mean c'mon man, 'CH' is a word, or 'AA' is a word - the latter actually meaning 'flow of hot lava' or something like that.

There is one other word which actually got me into a fight with his highness, thy Hamster :D - 'QI'. He never used to play against me, maybe out of fear that he would lose and he'd discover that I was a deadly player...HA..no, definitely no. In fact, I do recall somebody higher up letting me know as politely as it can sound - 'Sufo, you just aren't that important'. Anyways, getting back to the incident, so here we were playing ourselves out, trying to outdo the other, going neck and neck, with only a few tiles at hand, and he comes up with, not 'EN or 'AN' or 'BE' or 'UN' or anyone of those zillion two letter words, but 'QI', and that too on a 'Triple Letter Score'. 'QI'?!!? It sounds more Punjabi than English or any other God forsaken language. Of course, i ended up losing the game and, in the process, my cool. But yea, just to get the record straight, 'QI' is in fact a word. It's pronounced 'CHI' and means 'life energy', in short.

For those of you who don't know - 'Q' has the highest points, 10, out of all Scrabble tiles, hence, a 'Triple Letter Score' would give the player 30 points straight away. So, bloody unfair, right?

Scrabble has been an integral part of my family's entertainment, along with trekking and hiking. Trips to Kalabagh meant a walk to Meran Jani, and loads of Scrabble to be played while basking in the sun. Oh, good old days!! Every single time we used to be pummeled by the General - experience!! Besides, he is a genius when it comes to this. I'm not sure if Hamster has had any success against him. As far as I recall, I've only been able to best him twice or thrice.

In the recent past, quite a lot of Scrabble has been played at 6/21. Mu'adib and Sakeena make a pretty decent team to play against. So far, the score is 5-1 in my favor. I had the pleasure of introducing this beautiful game to them with all those two letter controversial words. The rules and plays of the game are always met with such disbelief and shock combined with loads of 'nahi yaars'. It's always fun.

It's sad that there aren't a lot of people I can play with. I miss the old times, and soon will be playing against my old competitors again :). Till then, Scrabble anyone?!?!?

Oh, by the way, the 7 letter word was 'NITCHIE' - disparagingly offensive. :)

Cheers

'Sigh' - How bloody self-explanatory!

After almost a years hiatus, I'm back :). I started writing this blog solely concentrating on what used to be my passion - Music. However, the last one year has been a roller-coaster ride for me. Something inside me has changed, I know it and I'm still trying to cope up with it. I haven't written on my blog mainly because I just didn't know how to put my thoughts to words; there was just too much going on in that small head of mine.

Of late I feel things settling down, and my mind getting out of some sort of engulfing vortex of weird and crazy thoughts which I did know existed in as puny and dumb head as mine. Damage control...no no...reflecting...hmmm..close...not making any sense...YES.

Anyways, the main purpose of writing this excerpt is to rid myself off of the lethargy combined with some remote sense of inferiority that has come to reside in my very being. There is a lot to talk about and share; how that has to be done is the challenge. Am I suddenly scared of being questioned and not being appreciated for what I write...maybe.

Over the years, Hamster and Buddy have just been too supportive of every single crappy little piece I've been coining up, musically or otherwise. There are very few blokes I can actually rely on; the feeling of somebody having my back through thick or thin is just overwhelming. I love you guys.

Sigh!! That is one big load of crap I've written. Hopefully, I'll come up with something better in the near future. However, right now, I need to get back to my CDRs - another load of crap I'm writing to give worth to my all so superficial qualifications :P.

Cheers!!
Happy St. Skeletor's Day!! (I know I don't qualify but still...:P)

The Alter Bridge - Creed Dilemma

The latest turn of events in Alter Bridge world has forced me to put Faraz Anwar on a hold.

Creed is one of the best alternative rock bands of the late 90s which sadly broke-up in 2004. With singles like ‘one last breath’, ‘my sacrifice’ and ‘with arms wide open’, Creed will always be remembered as a pioneer of melody and feel-based rock music which had been missing in the newer generation of rock bands. I was personally devastated when the news of Creed breaking up came through. And then ‘Alter Bridge’ happened!

Alter Bridge (AB) has released two albums so far, ‘One Day Remains’ and ‘Blackbird’. The first song that I heard by them was ‘Metalingus’ which was the entrance theme of The Edge on WWE. I soon purchased their album and decided to give them a listen when I heard that AB was all Creed except the vocalist. At first, I was really skeptical and criticised each and everything. I just didn’t want to accept the fact that the ex-Creed members were moving on, and that Creed was definitely over. However, AB won out at the end, and I’ve never had any regrets that Creed broke up to form the band of the 21^st Century!!

In 2008 there were rumours of a Creed reunion for 2009. Mark Tremonti (lead guitarist of AB) made it clear that there wasn’t going to be a reunion any time soon. With AB’s live in Amsterdam DVD set for release, and the AB III in the pipeline, I was pretty relaxed.

But out of nowhere it was announced on the 27^th of April that Creed was getting back together for a reunion tour and new album, ‘Full Circle’. The news has hit me pretty hard, and I’m still coming to terms with what ever has happened. Does this mean that AB is breaking up and calling it one of those 'hiatuses'? If that is the case, how can Tremonti (lead guitarist), Scott (drummer) and Brian (bassist) let go of the worlds best vocalist - Myles Kennedy? AB is much more mature band than Creed could ever be (a topic for another post - in the making). Mark Tremonti came out as one of the best upcoming guitarists in heavy metal bands today. Myles had the following to say:

Many of you are wondering how this Creed reunion tour will affect the future of Alter Bridge. No worries, it won’t. I can assure you that as soon as they finish in October we will move forward.

Contrary to false statements that might lead you to believe otherwise, Alter Bridge continues to be paramount to the four of us.

The guys have my full support. It’s a very complex situation to say the least. It had to be done.

I appreciate the fact that so many of you are concerned about our future. With that said, everything is going to be all right. Alter Bridge’s third record is well on its way. The guys will embark on their reunion tour, I will make my record, and then we will carry on.

"Don’t forget we’re here to stay"

All the best

MK

Posted on: myspace (28th April, 2009)

Hopefully, he’ll stay true to his word. It’d be sad and unfair if AB had to end this way.

AB forever!

Faraz Anwar Part 2 - Maazi, Haal, Mustaqbil (Past, Present, Future)

One of my favourite albums to come out of Pakistan is Mizraab’s ‘Maazi, Haal, Mustaqbil (Past, Present, Future). For the first time in Pakistan somebody tried to make a theme album, and sure enough it crashed and burn commercially. But then a very small percentage of Pakistanis listen to something other than Pop.

Maazi, Haal, Mustaqbil (MHM) is a pretty interesting album with a lot of flavours to it. However, first let’s go over the sound of the album. When listening to the album, I felt it had a very artificial feel to it. The guitars were downright raw, grungy and awesome but the drums really lacked that extra punch that heavy metal adds to them. The sound should be such that it entices a person to start head banging – something that is heavy metal associated with. I don’t really blame Faraz Anwar for that. Pakistan has a serious dearth of good drummers – Gumby being one of the very few. Besides a lack of good drummers, I think the costs of recording live drums would’ve been extremely high at the time MHM was being recorded. Because I can’t really accept the reasoning that Faraz Anwar couldn’t find musicians who can’t play his music.

Other than the drums, Faraz Anwar layered his songs beautiful. The guitars are just spot on. Something that lacked in his composition, ‘Autumn Madness’, can be seen in this album – the freedom with which he plays e.g. ‘Meri Tarhan’ has an amazing solo with very touching phrasing at the end of the song. Besides the solos, the riffs are nasty e.g. I always feel like head banging on ‘Aag’. Faraz Anwar has done an excellent job on electric guitars but in ‘Kuch Nahi’ he shows his expertise on an acoustic guitar.

Faraz Anwar has been criticized for his vocals quite a lot; I think it shows the short-sightedness of music critics and listeners. Firstly, Faraz Anwar is a metal head and likes to make metal music (I will discuss his recent change of genre some other time) and, therefore, it should be expected off of him to scream like a freakin’ banshee or hit those high notes which only crazy vocalists like Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Tobias Sammet(Edguy & Avantasia), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) do so with ease. Secondly, I wouldn’t have wanted Rahat Fateh Ali Khan singing on his album; it’s like asking Norah Jones to sing on an Arch Enemy record! MHM has one of the most nicely done vocals on a heavy metal record to come out of Pakistan which aren’t too many anyways.

Throughout the album Faraz talks about the harsh realities of life and whatever has befallen mankind over the centuries but doesn’t leave the listener with complete hopelessness, and talks about a green future for us. However, the best thing about the album was the smooth transition between the three phases – past, present and future. I think it has been executed very nicely.

In conclusion, I would just say that Faraz Anwar is one of the best musicians to have come out of Pakistan. With Junoon no longer together, Aaroh on the verge of break-up, and the likes of Atif Aslam dominating the music scene, MHM was a breath of fresh air from Mizraab in 2004. Unfortunately, Mizraab haven’t been able to pursue this genre and recently have come out with ballads like ‘Ujalon Main’ and ‘Woh aur Main’. Hopefully, Faraz Anwar will realize that making music he believes in is much more important than becoming just another musician composing ‘sweet’ songs. I hope he doesn’t let go of his identity that he worked so hard to establish.

Faraz Anwar Part 1- The Guitar Idol

http://www.guitaridol.tv/online_final/entry/autumn_madness

Faraz Anwar is a big name in the music industry of Pakistan. And considering he is one of the best guitarists in the region, I was surprised to see his entry into this contest. I think by entering the competition he has put his reputation and image at stake. Anyhew that is an entirely separate debate.

'Autumn Madness' is a pretty good instrumental. However, I think the composition is overshadowed by the competition's pressure, which puts Faraz on the back foot - the creation is influenced and not entirely pure. I think that music should be made in order satisfy oneself first, and that is the biggest challenge that I faced when creating music, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be a 100% satisfied.

Whenever I want to listen to an instrumental, I choose it according to the title. For me it is really important that the title should have a meaning to it rather than a combination of a few cool sounding words. Furthermore, selecting a title for an instrumental is always very difficult and lucidly defines how well the musician understands his own music. Had Faraz named the song in Urdu, I would’ve listened to the song with a little less skepticism.

Does he deserve to be the Guitar Idol?

Faraz is technically very sound with the guitars. However, Salman Ahmed of Junoon proved that one doesn’t really have to be technically sound in order to produce sing-along melodies – having a music sense helps in that respect. But of course when you’re running for a title such as Guitar Idol, you need to show off quite a lot of technique. However, the judges would be looking at much more besides the technique – melody and structure being one of the most important. Therefore, as much as I’d want Faraz Anwar to win the title, he doesn’t deserve it. I think he could’ve done a much better job with his composition.

Recommendation:

http://www.guitaridol.tv/heat_2/entry/new_beginning

Sarmad Ghafoor - one of the most under-rated guitarists in Pakistan and cursed with the dilemma of going for easy money through productions.