This season Coke Studio aims to discover the intricacies of the process of creation and evolution, and how it culminates in the realization of dreams and goals. After the airing of ‘Reason’ and ‘Will’, ‘Conception’ is the third step in the Coke Studio 2010 voyage. Following the natural course of evolution, ‘Conception’ is that third crucial stage when reason and will combine resulting in an idea taking tangible form.

The third episode will feature traditional Sufic works along with sessions inspired from contemporary poets and singers. Sanam Marvi makes her Coke Studio debut with ‘Pritam’, a folk song from the Rajasthan desert that has been passed down through countless generations. Coke Studio brings ‘Pritam’ to the present time fusing Marvi’s strong and textured vocals with contemporary open-tuned guitars tastefully layered over an unmistakable folk groove. The second act will witness Meesha Shafi paying a tribute to the legendary folk singer Reshma with a rendition of the hugely popular ‘Chori Chori’. Re-emerging on Coke Studio, ‘Chori Chori’ is evolved, edgy, experimental, ambient and organic, all rolled into one. Third in the line-up is the versatile Tina Sani, the doyenne of contemporary ghazal singing. With Coke Studio 2010, Sani returns to a recording studio after a 16-year-long hiatus and is joined in ‘Mori Araj Suno’ by Arieb Azhar, who etched his mark in poetry recitation in this season’s debut session. In line with its vision of promoting contemporary pop acts, ‘Conception’ features Aunty Disco Project, a new and upcoming band. Joined by Zoe Viccaji and Sanam Saeed from the House Band, Aunty Disco Project is all set to rock the Coke Studio stage with their original number ‘Sultanat’ in a highly-energetic performance. ‘Conception’ ends with a performance by the iconic Abida Parveen, who sends the senses soaring with the passion of her convictions in ‘Nigah-e-Darwaishaan’, a fusion of kalams by mystics such as Bulleh Shah, Sachal Sarmast and Baba Farid. The musical composition with an ambient sound reminiscent of Pink Floyd complements and accentuates the lyrics, giving Parveen’s compelling and authoritative vocals ample room to shine.

Get ready people! Coke Studio’s session 2 featuring Entity Paradigm is almost out!  The EP band has done numerous songs including Sajjad Ali’s “Bolo Bolo” cover. 

Check out this behind the scene footages.

Listen to the Stereo Nation ft Bohemia: Holi Holi :

After the success of Sharabi with Gippy Gerewal, Bohemia [The Punjabi Rapper] is back with with another hot tune for this Summer “Holi Holi”  with Taz [Stereo Nation]. Be the first to listen this single and leave your comments below.

Listen to the single:

A while back I reported that pop-rock giants Strings and superstar Atif Aslam were collaborating on a tune together. Now the song has finally happened. Faisal Kapadia confirmed this news. The song, written by Bilal Maqsood, is called ‘Ab Khud He Kuch Karna Paray Ga’. “We’re scheduled to shoot the video. It was a lot of fun and it’s exciting. When you collaborate, there is always an extra mile but it was great.”

Hopefully by this time next month, we’ll be singing along. Although Faisal was mostly mum on the subject, he did tell us that “its a motivational song” and will be released as a single.

Meanwhile Strings are also looking at Bollywood offers at the moment. “Rohit Roy is a friend of ours and he wanted us to do a song for a film. We said yes without looking at anything. That’s what friends are for. John Abraham also has a few films on his hands and he also wants us to do a song.” But if we look at Strings’ history in Bollywood, they don’t just sign onto any film. They are very selective. “We are looking at offers but we will sign on if it’s suitable for our genre.”

For now, both Atif and Strings are looking at tours. While Atif Aslam is currently in Holland on a tour, Strings are getting ready to fly out to the US of A alongside Fuzon. It’s early to tell how long the tour will go on. They start off from Houston and may hit Washington DC or New York. But the confirmed venues will be out soon.

“We’ll have the complete schedule within a week.”

Imran Khan was in Chicago a few weeks back promoting his album “Unforgettable”.  Imran and I met at his hotel to have breakfast early morning and we talked about his album, music video, and upcoming tours.  The interview was streamed live on PMC Radio.

Check it out!

PS: This is Imran Khan’s first ever audio interview on any Pakistani music site. You heard it first here!

Leave your comments.

Atif Aslam recently just got done with the N. American tour. Our friends at Urdu Voice Of America in Washington D.C,  sat down with Atif and discussed a few things about his movies, music, album and more!

Check it out!

Part 1

Part 2

Leave your comments.

Vivek Oberoi was in the house on PMC Radio this morning as Prince released worldwide.  According to sources, the film response has been pretty good so far.  Vivek spoke to us about his film, his fans, Atif Aslam’s singing, about Pakistan, and much more!

Enjoy the interview & Support Vivek Oberoi and his action packed movie Prince!

Leave your comments.

Part of the ‘Celebrating Pakistan’ issue…

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
After Nazia Hasan’s breakthrough in the Bollywood film industry with Aap Jaisa Koi (Qurbani) in 1980, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s Munn Ki Lagan for the film Paap in 2004 (produced by Shahi Hasan and Faisal Rafi) is what kick started the trend in more recent times. Rahat went on to release popular numbers such as Jiya Dhadak Dhadak (Kalyug, 2005, produced by Rohail Hyatt), Naina (Omkara, 2006), Jugg Soona Soona Laage (Om Shanti Om, 2007) and O Re Piya (Aaja Nachle, 2007) among others. From 2004 to now, he’s done playback singing in a little more than 25 Bollywood films, and of late he’s also worked on the soundtrack of My Name is Khan (2010) on a song titled Sajda.

In 2002, Rahat collaborated with an American act known as the Derek Trucks Band on a song called Maki Madni on their album, Joyful Noise. Rahat also collaborated with Sukhshinder Sinha on a song titled Gum Sum for the latter’s album, Collaborations Two.

His work on soundtracks for films isn’t limited to Bollywood alone. In 2002, Rahat sang for the soundtrack of the Hollywood film, Four Feathers, and in 2006 he worked on the soundtrack of the Mel Gibson film Apocalypto (produced by Rohail Hyatt).

Strings

When it comes to soundtracks, Strings may not have the rather massive portfolio of Rahat, but it isn’t far behind. Perhaps the biggest news to hit the music block was the fact that Strings did the soundtrack (a song titled Na Jane Kyun) for Spider-man 2. It went on to release popular singles for Bollywood films such as Zinda Hoon for the film Zinda (2006). The video features Bollywood actors Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham. That soundtrack became the favourite of quite a few Bollwood personalities, earning endorsements from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha. Strings also contributed to the soundtrack of Shootout at Lokhandwala with the single Aakhri Alvida in 2007. Both Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood are ambassadors in the fight against HIV/Aids for the United Nations.

Atif Aslam

Our boy wonder has finally broken into the Bollywood circuit and is now considered to be very popular there. Back in 2005, two remixes, those of Woh Lamhe and of Aadat from his debut album Jalpari, became soundtracks for Bollywood films Zeher and Kalyug, respectively.

Atif’s career then followed a string of hits in Bollywood which included Tere Bin (Buss Aik Pal, 2006), Pehli Nazar Mein (Race, 2008), Bakhuda Tumhi Ho (Race, 2008) among others. He’s contributed to a little more than 10 Bollywood films and is currently working on the soundtrack of the upcoming Shoaib Mansoor film Bol, for which he is coming out with two singles, one of which will see a collaboration with Annie Princess.

Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan

Who doesn’t remember Shafqat’s rendition of Mitwa for the Bollywood film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna in 2006? Shafqat’s foray into his solo career has served him well. He sang Yeh Hosla for the film Daur (2006) as well as the background score for Hello (2008), Mumbai Cuttings (2009) and Aashiyaan (2009). He also sang a hit title song Tum Mile for the Bollywood film of the same name in 2009. His first single from his solo album, Kheriyaan De Naal, was very well received in both India and Pakistan.

The band, Call

The what-used-to-be rock band Call has also worked extensively in Bollywood. Notable contribution includes the song Laree Chotee for the film Ek Chalees Ki Last Local in 2007. Two of their other singles Dhadkey Jiya and Yeh Pal, both released in 2009, have been picked up for two other Bollywood ventures, one of which includes the film Aasmaan.
Ali Zafar

The latest Pakistani singer to hit Bollywood in a big way is Ali Zafar, so far the only musician to have bagged an acting role. The film Tere Bin Laden is due for release in summer this year. In it, Ali Zafar has also sung a duet with Shankar Mahadevan which will run as the background score throughout the film. 

KaraFilm Festival

An event that has consistently worked through thick and thin and put a definitive international spotlight on local and foreign talent is the KaraFilm Festival. It has been around for over eight years (the first festival was held in 2001), shown and premiered a plethora of both local and foreign films.

The event is actively attended by film-makers and actors from the world over which included the likes of Mahesh Bhatt, Jamil Dehlavi, Nandita Das and Ajay Devgan among others. As a festival that seeks to promote the art of storytelling through a visual medium, the festival has come a long way from when it first started and is now considered to be among the world’s most prominent film festivals.

As you all know Atif Aslam recently sang couple of songs for a Bollywood movie named “Prince” which starts Vivek Oberoi. 

One of the song “Tere Liye” sparked up a huge controversy, TIPS and Atif Aslam released their official verdict on the situation. Arun Nair, who represents TIPS marketing team made it clear that they would recall the first lot of CDs that have been dispatched for re-mastering.

They lived up to their promise and the lyrics of the song “Tere Liye” have been changed. Atif Aslam recently was in Mumbai and took the time to record the whole song. The whole album has been released and you can have your first listen right here.

Listen to the songs below:

Tere Liye:

O Mere Khuda:

Aa Bhi Ja Sanam:

It was reported today that Entity Paradigm and Arif Lohar were found jamming in Coke Studio in Karachi. They will be part of the season 3 in Coke Studios. It is also heard that EP and Arif Lohar will be doing a song together.

Season 3 will also feature Noori, Abida Parveen, Aunty Disco Project, Karavan, and more.

Pakmanzil had known this news for a long time, but did not publish anything as per request of the EP band members.  But seems like the story is finally out and its all confirmed.