t was only two years ago when we were touting Ali Azmat’s debut album, Social Circus. No stranger to the Pakistani music scene, his debut album was special because it was Ali going solo – separate from Junoon, the band that made him famous the world over as an accomplished and talented lead singer.

So 2008 sees Klashinfolk arrive on the scene, Ali’s second album. Pop it into the player, and you immediately recognize this to be classic Ali. Each track wild, eclectic but positively Ali Azmat. A 39 second Klashinfolk Intro starts us off leading to Gallan, the Na Re Na equivalent of this album. Highly memorable, the video for which has been dominating the airwaves in recent months. After listening to the song you’ll know why it was chosen for a video.

Track 3 treats you to sing-along special, Mera Khuda. A feel-good song heavily influenced by the mix of acoustic and electric guitars, falls just short of what you expect from Ali after all these years. Maybe it’s us, but after listening to Ali Azmat blow us away with every Junoon album, you expect nothing less. Tanha Hai Kyon starts with a retro vibe at track 4 – slow, steady yet something you’d skip by the next time you listen to the album.

Enter track 5, Yeh Kya Hua takes you back to Junoon circa 1999. But it isn’t until track 6, Naina, that Ali reasserts himself. You know immediately that this isn’t Junoon. This really is a new voice; very refreshing. Naina has a classical, yellow-mellow feel to it: “Taarey tootey hooey hain, apnay rootay hoeey hain”. This one’s a keeper – don’t say we didn’t warn you when you find yourself returning to PakistaniMusic.com to keep playing it again and again.

Tera Mera is another Ali Azmat track – more closer to the tunes Junoon was coming out with in the 2005-2007 time period. A fast drumbeat accompanying Ali’s recognizable stick-the-mic-into-your-face-and-sing-like-there’s-no-tomorrow vocals. Ley Sumbhal, another mellow-yellow track, stands out as one of the stronger candidates on the album: lyrically powerful, you can’t escape the urge to decipher what Ali’s trying to say here. Ditto for Shukria. This track has an eerie feel to it, with more vocal gymnastics – a complete 180 from the world-at-your-feet feel to Gallan.

t was only two years ago when we were touting Ali Azmat’s debut album, Social Circus. No stranger to the Pakistani music scene, his debut album was special because it was Ali going solo – separate from Junoon, the band that made him famous the world over as an accomplished and talented lead singer.

So 2008 sees Klashinfolk arrive on the scene, Ali’s second album. Pop it into the player, and you immediately recognize this to be classic Ali. Each track wild, eclectic but positively Ali Azmat. A 39 second Klashinfolk Intro starts us off leading to Gallan, the Na Re Na equivalent of this album. Highly memorable, the video for which has been dominating the airwaves in recent months. After listening to the song you’ll know why it was chosen for a video.

Track 3 treats you to sing-along special, Mera Khuda. A feel-good song heavily influenced by the mix of acoustic and electric guitars, falls just short of what you expect from Ali after all these years. Maybe it’s us, but after listening to Ali Azmat blow us away with every Junoon album, you expect nothing less. Tanha Hai Kyon starts with a retro vibe at track 4 – slow, steady yet something you’d skip by the next time you listen to the album.

Enter track 5, Yeh Kya Hua takes you back to Junoon circa 1999. But it isn’t until track 6, Naina, that Ali reasserts himself. You know immediately that this isn’t Junoon. This really is a new voice; very refreshing. Naina has a classical, yellow-mellow feel to it: “Taarey tootey hooey hain, apnay rootay hoeey hain”. This one’s a keeper – don’t say we didn’t warn you when you find yourself returning to PakistaniMusic.com to keep playing it again and again.

Tera Mera is another Ali Azmat track – more closer to the tunes Junoon was coming out with in the 2005-2007 time period. A fast drumbeat accompanying Ali’s recognizable stick-the-mic-into-your-face-and-sing-like-there’s-no-tomorrow vocals. Ley Sumbhal, another mellow-yellow track, stands out as one of the stronger candidates on the album: lyrically powerful, you can’t escape the urge to decipher what Ali’s trying to say here. Ditto for Shukria. This track has an eerie feel to it, with more vocal gymnastics – a complete 180 from the world-at-your-feet feel to Gallan.

t was only two years ago when we were touting Ali Azmat’s debut album, Social Circus. No stranger to the Pakistani music scene, his debut album was special because it was Ali going solo – separate from Junoon, the band that made him famous the world over as an accomplished and talented lead singer.

So 2008 sees Klashinfolk arrive on the scene, Ali’s second album. Pop it into the player, and you immediately recognize this to be classic Ali. Each track wild, eclectic but positively Ali Azmat. A 39 second Klashinfolk Intro starts us off leading to Gallan, the Na Re Na equivalent of this album. Highly memorable, the video for which has been dominating the airwaves in recent months. After listening to the song you’ll know why it was chosen for a video.

Track 3 treats you to sing-along special, Mera Khuda. A feel-good song heavily influenced by the mix of acoustic and electric guitars, falls just short of what you expect from Ali after all these years. Maybe it’s us, but after listening to Ali Azmat blow us away with every Junoon album, you expect nothing less. Tanha Hai Kyon starts with a retro vibe at track 4 – slow, steady yet something you’d skip by the next time you listen to the album.

Enter track 5, Yeh Kya Hua takes you back to Junoon circa 1999. But it isn’t until track 6, Naina, that Ali reasserts himself. You know immediately that this isn’t Junoon. This really is a new voice; very refreshing. Naina has a classical, yellow-mellow feel to it: “Taarey tootey hooey hain, apnay rootay hoeey hain”. This one’s a keeper – don’t say we didn’t warn you when you find yourself returning to PakistaniMusic.com to keep playing it again and again.

Tera Mera is another Ali Azmat track – more closer to the tunes Junoon was coming out with in the 2005-2007 time period. A fast drumbeat accompanying Ali’s recognizable stick-the-mic-into-your-face-and-sing-like-there’s-no-tomorrow vocals. Ley Sumbhal, another mellow-yellow track, stands out as one of the stronger candidates on the album: lyrically powerful, you can’t escape the urge to decipher what Ali’s trying to say here. Ditto for Shukria. This track has an eerie feel to it, with more vocal gymnastics – a complete 180 from the world-at-your-feet feel to Gallan.

Ay Mere Saathi at track 10 is the return of the escapist. The chorus is addictive – just the sort of thing you expect Ali to sing when warming up a crowd at a Klashinfolk concert tour. You Are at track 11 is something you’d rather Ali not attempt again – but you know that’s probably not likely. Sung in English, it mirrors the undertones which influence the rest of the album. While the chorus is certainly addictive, something appears to be missing. Track 12, Sawal, closes the album. A strong track that sounds forboading, it’s a sign of the times we live in. An unfortunate way to round up the album, not because the track hasn’t been composed well, because it has, but you can’t help but be left with a sinking feeling as the song winds down at the 5:26 mark. Or perhaps it’s meant to empower the listener.

All in all, Klashinfolk is evidence that Ali Azmat’s talent is still alive and well. Just when you think you’ve got his vocal style figured out, you find him pushing the boundaries of Pakistani music further. While not the album that will elevate him to solo stardom, no Ali Azmat junkie should be caught without this album in their collection.

at track 10 is the return of the escapist. The chorus is addictive – just the sort of thing you expect Ali to sing when warming up a crowd at a Klashinfolk concert tour. You Are at track 11 is something you’d rather Ali not attempt again – but you know that’s probably not likely. Sung in English, it mirrors the undertones which influence the rest of the album. While the chorus is certainly addictive, something appears to be missing. Track 12, Sawal, closes the album. A strong track that sounds forboading, it’s a sign of the times we live in. An unfortunate way to round up the album, not because the track hasn’t been composed well, because it has, but you can’t help but be left with a sinking feeling as the song winds down at the 5:26 mark. Or perhaps it’s meant to empower the listener.

All in all, Klashinfolk is evidence that Ali Azmat’s talent is still alive and well. Just when you think you’ve got his vocal style figured out, you find him pushing the boundaries of Pakistani music further. While not the album that will elevate him to solo stardom, no Ali Azmat junkie should be caught without this album in their collection.

at track 10 is the return of the escapist. The chorus is addictive – just the sort of thing you expect Ali to sing when warming up a crowd at a Klashinfolk concert tour. You Are at track 11 is something you’d rather Ali not attempt again – but you know that’s probably not likely. Sung in English, it mirrors the undertones which influence the rest of the album. While the chorus is certainly addictive, something appears to be missing. Track 12, Sawal, closes the album. A strong track that sounds forboading, it’s a sign of the times we live in. An unfortunate way to round up the album, not because the track hasn’t been composed well, because it has, but you can’t help but be left with a sinking feeling as the song winds down at the 5:26 mark. Or perhaps it’s meant to empower the listener.

All in all, Klashinfolk is evidence that Ali Azmat’s talent is still alive and well. Just when you think you’ve got his vocal style figured out, you find him pushing the boundaries of Pakistani music further. While not the album that will elevate him to solo stardom, no Ali Azmat junkie should be caught without this album in their collection.

Aap jaisa koi meri zindigi mein Aaye, tou baath bun jaaye

One could easily rank her as the first and foremost pop singer of Asia, generally and the Indo-pak subcontinent in particular. Born in a well to do, highly enlightened family in 1965, she had shown an aptitude for music from her earlier days.As a young child, she frequently appeared in Pakistan television’s music program for children, called “Sang Sang”. Sohail Rana was the lead person of that show. Her father Baseer and her mother Muneeza took great interest in the upbringing and education of Nazia and her younger brother, Zohaib. Both of these gifted kids were admitted to school in London, where they received education as well as lessons in music.

In 1978, in England, thirteen year old Nazia recorded a song “Aap jaisa koi meri zindigi mein Aaye, tou baath bun jaaye” (film: Qurbani, music:Biddu, lyrics: Indeevar, picturised on Zeenat Aman). “Aap jaisa koi” is considered the first pop song of the Indo-Pak Subcontinent, the greatest achievement of Nazia, hence, a milestone in her music career.

In 1979, both Nazia and Zohaib came out with their first music album “Disco Deewanay”, which happened to be a record breaking collection of pop songs.

Nazia was married to an enterpreneur, Ishtiaq Beig, in 1995, with whom she had a son, Areez, in 1997. She had been battling against cancer since 1996 and eventually succumed to it on Sunday morning. She was only 35 years old.

An admirer of Nazia had confided in me the other day: “How could this happen to such a decent girl, with a sweet voice, who had brought happiness to the lives of millions of music lovers around the world. Oh God, why Nazia?”

“Nazia had, indeed, walked all the steps, which had been ordained for her by an authority, which is greater than any human agency”, I answered calmly.