Reliving Reshma
The voice that gained recognition through Radio Pakistan went on to become the signature folk sound of Pakistan. Reshma's dusty appearance hugely contrasted her voice that was extremely mystifying and so uniquely textured that it carved a place for itself among music lovers across the Subcontinent in a very short time. The living legend Reshma showed her discontent with the audience when
they failed to remember their mentor during the time of need. Aged 65 and suffering from cancer, the folk singer has lost her voice that she was once so famous for but those who thrive to promote tasteful ethnic music have crafted ways to bring Reshma back.
Last week during a star studded evening at the Haveli Barood Khana in Lahore, 'Pakhiwas' – the first music video album by a folk artist was launched. The album consists of nine tracks, a mixture of renowned folk songs and 'kaafis' sung by the legendary singer and produced by Sachhal Studios.
One video out of the album titled 'Hatth Jor Nee Aan' has been airing on music channels ever since the launch. The video is directed by Sohail Javed and shows model Zaria lip syncing to Reshma's mystifying voice with a backdrop of Bahawalpur's famous Noor Mahal. However, the video does not do justice to the talented folk artist. With no solid story board, the visual simply shows the model in various parts of the Mahal singing for her beloved. Projected without any aesthetics other than Hajra Hayat dresses and the beauty of the venue, the video is slightly disappointing but hopes are still high for the other tracks in the album.
Efforts such as this are necessary not just to show appreciation for the artist; they are required to keep the fast diminishing sound of folk music alive and to nurture the various forms of music native to our land. 'Pakhiwas' has finally provided fans of Reshma's haunting voice, something to enjoy after a very long time!
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Music In A Digital World – How Fresh Talent Emerges!

Mainstream musicians do not need the internet to create a fan base. Their targets have been achieved through consistent releases supported by television channels and radio stations. It is the younger lot that has to work its way around the recent record company monopolies and the television channel policies but they have better mediums to their disposal. Seeing the current condition our music channels are in, music fanatics have turned towards the internet for salvation. Either making YouTube their launching pad or a fan page their promoter and facilitator, the artist today knows how to get discovered! Let's look at some new musicians who are making it big and spreading like forest fire on the internet!
The Cheapmunks – This duo too made themselves known through YouTube. Their creative mash ups of different contrasting songs were extremely addictive. Suhana Baloch and Mehek Tahirani started to grab attention on the internet and television followed. Their Facebook page has over 24,000 fans and their videos are the most commented on YouTube. The girls are currently keeping hush about their future plans but it seems that the Cheapmunks will come up with something big soon!
Many other budding artists are finding ways to indulge audience through the internet and radio since television has failed to provide them with a proper platform to launch and engross viewers. This is the reason why recently whole albums have been released over the internet. There seems to be a ray of hope with the upcoming record labels but only time will tell whether these too will be able to promote music or not.
Bilal Khan – The singer who shies away from 'chocolate boy' labels too made it big through YouTube. His first track 'Bachana' has over 490,000 views but that was not the beginning for Bilal Khan. While at college, he recorded his own videos and put them up on you tube for his friends, little did he know his songs would go viral and admirers would start piling up! Bilal's official fan page on Facebook has a whooping 63,000 fans and although it is rumored that most of his fans are 'fake', after listening to how much his songs are in demand on radio stations there's no doubting that this young musician has gathered a huge fan base.
The Sketches – This duo has set a prime example of how to build support through social networks. Being in a genus that does not facilitate a huge fan following, The Sketches proved just how wrong the theory was by achieving the opposite. The band that falls somewhere between Sufi rock and unconventional Sufi music made it much difficult for themselves by choosing to frequently sing in Sindhi. Surprisingly, their number of fans on Facebook increased to over 22,000 in a matter of months! The reason was not just their mystifying music; the band made it a point to interact on a one on one basis with fans. The growth was further facilitated by different contests and other promotional activities on their fan page. In November last year, the band openly invited their appreciators to participate in the video for 'Kaanton Ki Deevarain'. Fans were asked to send in videos and photos of themselves holding a banner with a social message written on it. The duo got overwhelming response to their requests and received photos of people from all over the world! The band also frequently announces free giveaways, all of which the enthusiastic fans are happy to receive!
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Lady Gaga Releases 'Judas'

Lady Gaga's 'Judas' is a mixture of 'Bad Romance' and 'Born This Way'. The controversial official release after the song leaked on the internet seems plotted after listening to the track. 'Judas' has nothing new to offer to the listeners and the concept too has gotten fairly old, thus the excitement settled down soon after the track came out. In an Interview last month Gaga announced her plans for the 'Judas' video, "I'm very excited. Actually, I can exclusively reveal here at Google that I will be making my directorial debut with Laurieann Gibson, directing this video with her ourselves," the singer said "It's no surprise, I'm sure, to many of you, that Judas is a man of the biblical senses, so expect to see some symbolism in this video."
The video reportedly features Gaga as Mary Magdalene and is raising quite a few voices. The track however, has debuted on number ten this week.
Pushing the controversial topic and video even further the Grammy winning celebrity said, "I feel like honestly that God sent me those lyrics and that melody. When you feel a message to give to the world and people are shooting arrows through it… there's no way for something that pure to
be wrong."
According to the New Testament, Judas was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and lyrics so typical of Gaga, it is inevitable that many followers of the religion will find 'Judas – the song' offensive. Seems like the star who called Rebecca Black of 'Friday' fame a genius will be getting some hate mail of herself. This is definitely one of Lady Gaga's attempts to find fame in controversy but it seems this time the lady is stretching things a bit too far!