When thinking of a really unique sound - that kind of sound that haunts you everywhere you go and sounds like nowhere else on this planet - Pakistan might be that magic place. Though it’s a very young state, gaining its independence 60 years ago, the Pakistani culture carries an impressive collision of cultural influences from Afghanistan, India and Iran.
Pakistan’s musical revolution ended in June 1977, but there were a few golden years with hippie movements, with long hair coming into fashion among young men and hashish becoming the popular drug on college campuses across Pakistan. All this discretely collapsed after a coup d’état and the creation of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia (Islam) law. This marked the end of the “Swinging ‘70s” in Pakistan, as nightclubs and alcohol started being banned throughout the country. Television and cinema, as well as popular music were now exposed to government censorship. Many Pakistani musicians left the country and moved to America, Canada and England.
Heavy weight champion compiler Stuart Ellis of the amazing music blog Radiodiffusion Internasionaal gathered a massive amount of 22 tracks from Pakistani music recorded between a decade, from 1966 to 1976. You should really check out his blog, an oasis of lost gems from countries like Angola, Algeria, Libanon, Egypt, Cambodia, Georgia, Armenia, Vietnam and many, many others.
The Panthers, The Mods, The Aay Jayes, The Abstracts, The Blue Birds and The Fore Thoughts are the featured bands on the compilation, with a few non-soundtrack songs from film composers Sohail Rana and Nisar Bazmi included to round things out. Some of them are greatly documented and exposed by Stuart on his own blog, in the Pakistan section.
”Take over, Panthers!” you can hear right when playing the opening track of the compilation, ”Malkaus” by the band The Panthers, splashing the audience with a crafted fusion of Beatles inspired rock and roll grooves and a psychedelic guitar throughout the song. Very few of the songs were issued as well by the Finders Keepers collective; for example, ”The Khyber Twist” of Sohail Rana is taken from his ”Khyber Mail” LP, originally released on His Master's Voice in 1970 and reissued by Finders Keepers in 2011. But most of them were initially released on the Pakistan division of the international record label EMI.
You really can’t get bored of the diversity of music styles and instruments (sitar, accordion, tabla, organ, guitar, etc), so watch out! This is a great music jewel that really needs to be heard, so give Stuart Ellis and Sublime Frequencies a big hand!
You can find some other Lollywood Pakistani good stuff HERE.
Tracklist:
1. The Panthers - Malkaus2. The Mods - Spring Dance
3. The Bugs - Theme From "Do Roha"
4. The Blue Birds - Hussani Lal Qalander
5. Sohail Rana - The Khyber Twist
6. Nisar Bazmi - Aesi Chal Main
7. The Abstracts - Mahiya
8. The Fore Thoughts - The Boat Man's Cry
9. The Panthers - Simmi Dance
10. The Aay Jays - Lal Qalander Lal
11. The Mods - Bondure
12. The Panthers - Bhairvi
13. The Abstracts - Sindhi Bhairvan
14. The Fore Thoughts - Shahbaz Qalander
15. The Aay Jays - Mizra Ki Dhun
16. The Mods - Garba Dance
17. Nisar Bazmi - Pyar Ki Ik Naee
18. The Aay Jays - The Aay Jays Theme
19. The Abstracts - Lotus Flower
20. The Panthers - Khatak Dance
21. The Fore Thoughts - Jungee
22. The Blue Birds - Sun We Bilou Waliya