Orangenoise: High voltage

The band Orangenoise, featured in the sixth episode of ‘Uth Records’, impressed audiences.

KARACHI:

What happens when a group of four skilled musicians walk into a studio? They start calling the shots and the producer gets to take a back seat and enjoy the vista. This is what happened in the latest episode of “Uth Records” that featured the gifted band Orangenoise. The band comprises Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey on bass and vocals, Danial Hyatt on drums, Faizan Reidinger on synths and guitar with vocals and guitar by Talha Asim Wynne.

The band has been gaining recognition in the underground scene of Karachi because they produce an unusual genre called shoegaze. The genre is explained in the episode as an evolving branch of music that has a loud, yet appealing feel to it.

Even though the genre they practice is unfamiliar and they themselves are slightly unknown amongst the public, Orangenoise still managed to impress listeners with their song “Chaser”. The track, which is divided into two parts, starts off on a very loud and heavy note with a lot of reverberation and strong sound effects on the vocals that become so intense that one fails to hear Panjwaneey’s voice in the initial two minutes of the song. This, however, doesn’t work against them and in fact adds to the experimental piece the band was trying to crack.

The second half — which sounds more like a second song than an extension of the first part — takes you into the jazzy realm, and the smart incorporation of the saxophone (played by Talha Asim Wyne) makes the second song a worthier listen.

The tight sync of vocals and music shows that the musicians knew what they were doing. However, one can’t help thinking, that if someone like Zeeshan Pervaiz had produced this song instead of Gumby, it would have been a great learning lesson for the young musicians. One of the main reasons behind this speculation is the fact that the Orangenoise’s signature genre depends heavily on post production and Pervaiz is a magician when it comes to audio and video post production.

A visual treat

The video of the song is also impressive. The use of special effects projections over the musicians during the band performance gave the video a very psychedelic and unorthodox appeal. Such an appropriate video for a very Pink Floyid-ish kind of a song can only be expected from someone as unconventional as Pervaiz.

Kudos to Zeeshan Pervaiz

Whatever we have so far said about Pervaiz’s prowess as an episode director doesn’t even come close to what he has actually achieved in this episode. The overall sound design at the beginning of the episode is breathtaking and the use of classic Hollywood style score in the background just goes with the flow of the episode.

With a pinch of salt

Keeping the multitalented Orangenoise and their drive for experimental music aside, one wonders if a platform like “Uth Records” is really showcasing fresh Pakistani talent. If it really is promoting the unheard of and unnoticed Pakistani musicians (a fact that is reiterated in the voice-over of every episode) then one wonders why Gumby included a band like Orangenoise in the line-up when two of the members of this band — Daniyal Hyatt and Faizan Reidinger — have already received a brilliant launch as Mole in “Coke Studio”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2012.