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11 top albums of the past 6 months
Raihan Kibria takes stock of the great and the good of the Bangladeshi band scene for the first six months of 2006
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The Bangladeshi music industry has been on a steady rise since the 1980’s when western music first coincided with the diminishing trend in conventional Banglapop and gave birth to the fusion-rock era in Bangladesh. Two decades later Bangla-rock is a hip and happening scene with ten albums released in the first six months of this year.
First on the list is Tahsan with the release of his second solo album, Kirittodash-er Nirbaan. A very different album from his first one, which tended to be more of soft rockish. In this album he has made a slight play with techno, and the overall effect has drawn more and more fans to his style. If there was one gal left who didn’t have a crush on this amazing singer, then she’s a convert now. Even the cynics have been full of praise for Tahsan’s latest effort. The music, say hard-core rockers, isn’t for everyone, but Tahsan’s on the rise. As he claimed to the press, ‘I tried to do something different, and not everyone can acknowledge changes. It takes time, but I’ll get there.’
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Meghdol is the new band that has created a sensation in contemporary Bangla rock and psychedelic music. With their urgent and powerful lyrics and unique instrumental compositions, they have gained attention for composing what they call ‘theatrical music’. Their debut album Droher Montre Bhalobasha has elicited great admiration among the avid music listeners.
The second major album to be released this year was Breach’s eponymous debut album. Definitely breaking all boundaries, this band has not only started off its career in music with a blast, being one of the most promising and favourite newcomers, Breach has built up their reputation and has managed to make a great mix of progressive rock and funk. Definitely an album worth listening to, it features 10 fabulous tracks, with an amazing opening track, which has a great feel to it. Definitely very different from the music that most of their contemporaries play, Breach has given everyone their money’s worth.
Come April, Artcell surprised us all with Oniket Prantor. Much awaited and definitely up to expectations, this album comprises ten well composed tracks, and for the first time (for them), an instrumental. Definitely their best work so far, even better than Onno Shomoy and most of their singles, this album is a beautiful mixture of melody and rhythm. Though some of the tracks lean towards their ‘progressive rock’ attitude, overall the album has been fairly different from their previous work and is a good way to spend the 1 hour, 11 minutes and 5 seconds that it takes to listen to it back-to-back.
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Next to arrive on the scene were Stoic Bliss, with their album Light Years Ahead which paved the way for a new genre of music. While the rock, pop, metal and alternative genres have been delved into, performed and perfected, Hiphop and RnB influences have been lean styles in Bangladesh till this break through by Stoic Bliss. With 13 catchy tracks, the best of which would be Abar Jigaye, a song that’s seems to be blaring from every other passing car’s stereo or music stores. With rhythmic tempo, beats and colloquial lingo the tracks draw in listeners, and have shot the band’s popularity sky high.
In order to aid the impoverished folk legend Baul Shah Abdul Karim, the record-label Sound Machine has released a mixed audio album titled A Tribute to Jibonto Kingbodonti Baul Shah Abdul Karim, the royalties from which will all go to him. The album comprises songs all written and tuned by Baul Shah himself, performed by renowned musicians from all over Bangladesh. This generous group of musicians include the bands Ujaan, The London Underground featuring British musician Prodeep Kumar, Dolchut, Bangla, Ajob and solo artistes Momtaz, Maqsoodul Haque, Shondipon, Himadri, Dilruba Khan, Hasan Banna and Ruhi Thakur. Hats off to all the performers who outshone each other and helped the cause of a riveting album.
Miles, one of Bangladesh’s oldest and most popular bands celebrated their 25th anniversary by bringing out another studio album. Sticking to their tradition of having a ‘pro’ prefix to all their album titles, this one is called Protiddhoni. The expectation from them was sky high but the delivery was short in producing what the urban crowd demanded, nonetheless, the album is good, thanks to the first five tracks.
Shironamhin brought out their second studio album this summer. A concept album titled Icche Ghuri with a folksy-urban vocal style that is unique. Shironamhin did a good job being original and playing their signature tunes, not getting commercial, yet creating tracks demanding multiple plays. The use of Sarod seemed to bring a trademark sound and they certainly didn’t overdo it.
Following these albums, the much loved folk song and fusion band Bangla came up with their second studio album Prottutponnomotitto. The album has been widely appreciated by their fans, and as always, Bangla remains one of the top bands in the mainstream of Bangladeshi music. A trendy album, Bangla gives us a constant reminder to stay in touch with our roots. They help to keep the deshi music alive, with their cool fusion of modern music with folk and Baul songs of old.
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Finally, it was the Close-Up 1 contestants Mehrab, Rumi and Beauty who also released albums Adda and Choron dashi which are huge hits in the industry. The albums not only catered to their fans from the talent hunt that brought them to the fore but successfully added new fans to their existing list which leaves all enthusiast to say CHEERS!
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