Rakae Jamil (from Mughal-e-Funk), Bilal Ali (from Kashmir) and Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey (aka Alien Panda Jury) discuss what they’ve been listening to
At a time when the manner in which music is consumed has changed drastically with millions of options, finding good music can be a tedious task, particularly if you’re eager for a change as a listener. But, you can always count on musicians who continue to listen to songs that have been favourites as well as completely unknown names to us.
To that end, this week we ask Rakae Jamil (from Mughal-e-Funk), Bilal Ali (from Kashmir) and Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey (aka Alien Panda Jury) what constitutes their recent playlist. This is what they had to say…
Rakae Jamil, sitar nawaz, teacher, member of Mughal-e-Funk, producer
Speaking to Instep, Rakae Jamil revealed that these days he’s been listening to Tinariwen’s ‘Nannuflay’ “for its organic sound and addictive grooves”; Fkj and Masego’s 2018 song called ‘Tadow’ because of the “guitar riff, the arrangement, the overall sound, which is subtle but scrumptious”; Jain’s ‘Makeba’ which Rakae admits is a favourite because “can’t get enough of this song, the singer’s voice, the hooks, the groove, everything!”
The other two songs that make up his current mixtape include Prasanna’s ‘Bowling for Peace’ which Rakae describes to Instep as “a beautiful instrumental with a sweet classical melody; one of my all-time favourites,” and London Grammar’s ‘Flickers’ because of “the woman’s voice, the organic percussive sounds, the soft guitar tone” making it, Rakae puts it, “an unforgettable one.”
Bilal Ali from music group Kashmir, singer-songwriter
On a high since winning Pepsi Battle of the Bands 2, Kashmir is in the midst of re-releasing their debut album and performing when afforded the opportunity, which means traveling from one city to another frequently or one vicinity to another in his home city Karachi.
Speaking to Instep, Bilal Ali revealed the five songs that make up his playlist. They include Kashmir’s Coldplay’s ‘A rush of blood to the head’, Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner’, Vampire Weekend’s ‘Sympathy’, Bon Iver’s 2011 release, ‘Holocene’ Bon Iver and Tennessee’s Kings of Leon song, ‘Wait for Me’ from their 2013 album, Mechanical Bull.
Talking to Instep about these five songs and why they make up his playlist, Bilal Ali asserted, “There’s no specific reason; they’ve just been a part of my playlist for a long time. My go-to music while I’m traveling. My favorite is ‘Reckoner’; it is very well written and composed, especially the From the Basement live version.”
Daniel Arthur Panwaneey (audio engineer at A for Aleph, bass player for The D/A Method; goes by the solo musical alias Alien Panda Jury; associated with Orangenoise and is the co-founder of Sine Valley Festival.)
Daniel, colloquially known as Danny P, has been listening to releases from five artists such as Djrum, Orphx, Apparat, Hadone and Martyn.
Speaking to Instep, Danny revealed his reasons: “Been listening to releases by these artists on regular rotation mostly in my car, makes Karachi traffic a whole lot more tolerable.”
And there you have it.
