The writer is a music critic, a practising barrister and managing partner of Qayyum and Associates in Lahore. He is a graduate of Columbia and Oxford universities
Ayesha Omar winning the Album of the Year award at the Lux Style Awards (LSA) is such an atrocious decision that it screams for an instant response. If one was being charitable, one could say that she is an average vocalist with a tendency towards sounding alternatively hoarse or throaty. I cannot for a minute concede that her singing is better than Sajjad Ali’s, or that her lyrics are better than those written by Sajid and Zeeshan, or that her music is more compelling than Dynoman’s or that her work is compositionally better than Usman Riaz’s, all being nominees for the same award category. So, one wonders what talent of hers enabled her to win the award. She has supposedly “made deep marks in the field of acting, hosting and fashion modeling”. Perhaps, her talent lies in one of those fields; it certainly doesn’t lie in music.
Regarding the album, I confess I had not heard it before. I had heard the title song “Khamoshi” and found it barely passable. When I saw the video, I thought it was a song which was made in service of a video. A musician I know accurately called it zabardasti ka gaana.
It seemed fair that I checked out the entire album before writing further. So, I searched for it and I searched for it. All over Hall Road, Lahore. Apparently, even the pirates had not bothered pirating this one: the supposed album of the year is not readily available anywhere. I eventually did secure a copy. I suspect the album posters sold more than the album itself, in this case, as the artwork on the album is its best feature. The album seems to be put together by competent musicians for a competent friend or client. There is nothing really terrible about the songs. They are just infinitely forgettable. The fact that there are only eight songs gives the impression that either the said musicians ran out of patience. Or the money ran out.
Interestingly, I have always thought that awards in Pakistan, including the LSA, are nothing more than tokens of mutual friendships. The more intelligent award-givers will occasionally award the actually talented people, so as to give an impression of credibility, but Ayesha Omar’s case belongs to the former category. If all the pretty people want to congratulate one another, they should stick to the pretty side of entertainment. Music surely is not their forte and only the skilled should be awarded.
The award is also a sad reflection on the utter bankruptcy of the Pakistani music scene. All the stars have given up in so far as releasing albums is concerned. No really outstanding album of original work has come out recently. Any of the four other albums nominated for the Album of the Year award would have merited receiving the award more. For my money, if live albums qualify, the best album of the year was not even nominated: Noori’s poorly distributed “Live at the Rock Musicarium”.
The last word on this piece could possibly be given to someone associated with the award-winning album. When needled about the album’s “success”, he irritably retorted: “Aah, but who takes the LSA seriously anyway?”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2013.
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Naamaloom: read last para of the piece.
Who takes the LSA award seriously? It appears that you do Mr. Qayyum? Why else would you bother writing such a long piece?
The Lux Style jury's vote accounts for 30% of the award. The rest is viewers' choice. And you can't beat the popularity of Bulbulay and its characters. If Mahira and Fawad (from the cast of Hamsafar) had done an album with Sarmad Khoosat, they would have won, regardless of where their talents really lie. Although us jury members did nominate Ayesha, we certainly didn't rate her album higher than Dynoman, S&Z or Sajjad Ali. But the viewers had other ideas. They don't know what Sajid & Zeeshan are up to today or that Dynoman and Mooroo even exist. Much as I was surprised to see her win, I for one don't think Ayesha's is a bad album, if one can ignore the fact that she is better known for acting and hosting. It's got atleast three songs, which is more than one could say for the legendary Sajjad Ali's latest (half-hearted) effort. It's also the best produced album of the lot, rather than being a celebration of rock-bottom production values, like most of the 'bedroom productions' albums that were available for consideration this year. Let's not forget that these aren't the glory days of Pakistani pop music and our choices are very limited, as they were last year as well. People rarely do albums nowadays. We haven't had the Fuzons, Atifs and Ali Azmats to consider this year, or even last year, which gave us room to nominate the underground independents we love, in the refreshing absence of mainstream stars who would otherwise completely overshadow bands like Bambu Sauce in the public domain. Music is no longer king here. Drama is. Followed by current affairs. I must also point out that the jury unanimously voted for Mooroo in both the Best Song and Music Video categories, but the public ensured Nouman Javed and Farhad Humayun won. Only so much one can do about the public's taste. It gives me some satisfaction though that we were atleast able to nominate for the public's consideration, fresh talents like Dynoman, Mooroo, Faris Shafi as well as first-timer (though she's been piecing the album together for a while) Ayesha Omer. But if the awaam's voting patterns, since our creation, are anything to go by, we should understand that excellence isn't what they're after
A followup. The last word: Lux Jury member explains Ayesha Omar win:
The jury vote makes up for about 30% of the award. We were all keen to nominate her in the absence of good albums that year. Also because the album has a few good songs and a lot of work has gone into its production unlike the other albums that were often sounded half-baked. Sajid & Zeeshan and Sajjad Ali were rated higher (by the jury) in all probability but let's not forget the public loves Dolly Ki Aye Gi Baaraat and their votes can make all the difference at the end of the day. People don't vote for excellence, they generally tend to vote for whoever they know and love for one reason or the other, as we saw at the elections. We were surprised to hear the judgment but not shocked, for the public weren't going to vote for Mooroo or Usman Riaz either, simply because they don't know them as well, thanks to the death of our music channels and the industry at large
@Ali H:
"the writer is a music critic"
@saf: aw :)
erm, been writing on music for last 20 years. the byeline is from the serious articles i did earlier. prolly should have been on music pages.
P.s) No offence to Ayesha Omar - but she best stick to acting/modeling: that's her forte. Not music. Her music is self-indulgent, boring, and utterly unoriginal.
@Ali H: Idiotic comment. The author of this column and NFP have been the most well-known Pakistani music critics in local journalism.
@Ali H
If you are well versed with the writer's present occupation, you may want to look up his past as well.
Bilal Saeed's twelve was a massive hit among youth. All the twelve songs are good. He deserved that award.
A more pertinent issue... Why is a barrister educated at Columbia and Oxford spending his time and efforts on this? Also, where does the managing partner of a law firm find the time to drive around Lahore all day trying to find an album to be able to write an article he has already decided upon? Finally; why would he put it on paper and have it published for there to be a record of the above forevermore? Food for thought
Amen to that
Every country needs its own Justin Bieber. Simmer down.
I made chapati today, and it got burnt because I left it on the choolha too long. And it was hot today. But not that hot yesterday. I also feel my leg hurts. And my friend's eyes are blue.
Could the above be an op-ed piece in the Tribune tomorrow?
I am amazed this drivel made it to the Op/Ed pages.
Thank you for speaking my mind on this matter!
Ayesha Omer winning this award means that the music industry has faced the same fate as the film industry.