Heading into the final two months of 2017, a lot of music activity is taking place. Our story begins with Coke Studio, music’s biggest and most contested production, which is set for an overhaul as Strings have announced their departure from the show.
Strings (Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia)
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Strings announce departure from Coke Studio and other stories.
Heading into the final two months of 2017, a lot of music activity is taking place. Our story begins with Coke Studio, music’s biggest and most contested production, which is set for an overhaul as Strings have announced their departure from the show.
Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood, who took on reins of the show in season seven and went on to introduce the multiple-producer format, have officially said goodbye to Coke Studio after four seasons in the role of producer/director. Taking to their social media, the music group noted: “Coke Studio Season 10 will be the last season produced by Strings. It has been a fantastic journey for us over the course of 4 seasons and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and share our work with all of you. 2018 will mark 30 years of Strings and we are super excited to celebrate with all of you so stay tuned for more updates as we embark on yet another exciting chapter in our musical journey.”
Saif Samejo
Coke Studio, under the leadership of Strings, became extremely popular, but while the show fetched strong numbers, the criticism meted out to the production also grew in significant fashion. And after ten years of the same ‘fusion’ routine and the same sound, it is time for things to evolve. Under whose leadership this evolution will happen, only time will tell but given just how dynamic the music landscape is presently, the smart play would be to include other genres and new-age artists. Also, if the show does live on, getting out of the cover business will be crucial.
As for Strings, as they said in their social media announcement, next year will usher in 30 years of the band and there is no better way to celebrate this occasion than with some new music and some music videos. Let us not forget that in the tribute to the Junaid Jamshed that was unveiled in the final episode of Coke Studio 10, Strings kind of stole the show when they entered the frame. Five studio albums, some gorgeous videos and this is a band we’re unwilling to write off.
Moving on to other stories, The Sketches seem to be in the midst of a beautiful year. While Saif Samejo’s Lahooti Live Sessions, presently in its third season, is unveiling new songs, Samejo himself was present at the second edition of Sindh Literature Festival in Karachi this past weekend. Apart from participating in certain sessions, Samejo and his music group, The Sketches also took the stage on the first day of the literary event. Singing verses from ‘Main Sufi Hoon’ as well as a thundering rendition of ‘Deen Te Eeman Chadya’, the music group from Jamshoro performed to a packed house. It is obvious that this band has a much bigger following than we care to admit and it was on full display on this particular night. When asked about playing before such a huge audience, Samejo noted that he loved it.
Sikandar Ka Mandar
More music activity is on the way though as The Rivayat Music Series, which is created and produced by Mekaal Hasan and co-produced by Waqas Almas, is back. After making its inaugural appearance with a qawwali evening that was held at the Karachi School of Business and Leadership earlier this month and featured Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad Qawwal, the series is back with its second gig. Scheduled to take place on November 3 at Nazeer Hussain University in Karachi, the evening will feature a range of regional folk songs performed by a collective ‘Folk Ensemble’ featuring Ahsan Papu on flutes, Waqas Hussain on sitar, Gul Muhammad on sarangi, and the charismatic and entertaining Ejaz Lohar on vocals. With no cost of admission, the gig (The Rivayat Music Series in entirety) is meant to bring music to denizens of the sprawling city who belong to overlooked areas where live gigs of this stature are uncommon.
The final update is about Sikandar Ka Mandar, one of the foremost music groups from Karachi who are looking forward to putting out their second studio album. With a line-up that now includes Zahra Paracha and Raheel Paul alongside longtime members Mohammad Ali Suhail and Nadir Shehzad Khan, the band went to the Electrik Studios recently for some live sessions where they performed total of four songs; two new and two older.
Keeping up with that promise, the band has put out the first video from those live sessions while other three will be unveiled soon. Playing ‘Bemisal’ from their debut album, SKM delivered a terrific performance about a song that tackles apathy among other things and it has to be said that Ali Suhail is more comfortable in the role of lead vocalist/backing vocalist like never before and it shows. Given their repeated performances of excellence, we’re hoping they’ll be a part of the upcoming edition of Lahore Music Meet. Until then, head on over to SKM’s social media page for and check out their sizzling performance.
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Sikandar Ka Mandar
