Artist Name : Mauj
Album Name: Now in Technicolor (I still doubt this name, though)
Reason for mentioning the above: Album Review, Of Course.
Since there are no online music stores valid for Qatar, I had to use the services of my brother to download the album, burn it and send it across to me along with “Zameer :From Under The Bleachers”, both of which have yet to be released in Pakistan, my usual resource for attaining
The music which I do.
Anyhow, I had heard most of the tracks prior to the album release ( that does not mean I have personal connections with any of the band members) , I had managed to listen to the tracks because of Tv Performances which Mauj had done for AAG Tv and Play Tv. But me being an ardent Pakistani music fan ( which all of you must know by now), I had to include the album into my collection of Pakistani Music ( that’s the only “COLLECTION” of music that I have anyway.)
Let me share a few track reviews from the album.
Pyaar Ka Jadoo (Cover): primarily the same tune as the original ( Zohaibs track).O.Shafique sings the song in the voice that had been screaming the lungs out, the night before, in a concert, the night before the recording ( that’s too many commas for my own good in one sentence).
Although I feel the guitars should have been less muffled but I guess that is to give an old sound to the song,the ending has a Caribbean feel to it, which is SO MAUJ.
Paheliyan: “taint tainreiun reiun tannanow tannanow” Funky tune, the guitars are slashy and cool, I’ve currently kept the track as a ringtone on my cellphone. Sharp Start and Sharp Ending, this track I am sure has been heard by a lot of people as it was also performed by Omran in Coke Studio Season 1, other than having its video out which further helped in growing the reach of the track.
Aaye Na Aaye: A completely new track for me but surely lit out a flame in me, the track has a sense of its own and has visuals attached to it ,very fresh sounding and can be easily be an awesome background score for a movie.
Hasratein: The track which I had before was all instrumental, it had a finer chords less impure riffs than the “on album” version, the album version is more raw sounding for sure, to compensate for Omrans pleasant sounding vocals.
Overall the album is pretty good , with lyrics that range from playful to mature , guitars that are heavy ,groovy and structured . A professional album , with Omran that’s the least we can expect, the album differentiates between a good act ( Mauj) and mediocre ones ( Aplently)!
