Rough Guide to Nusrat Fateh An

World | Jan 2003

Reviews

Fo
Reviewed 2003-02-04
THE ROUGH GUIDE TO NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN
World Music Network, 2002

A small sampling from the prodigious output of the man who (with his famous “Party”) brought Qawwali music to the ears of the Western world. Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music marked by intense, passionate vocals over trance-inducing drones. Nusrat was one of its greatest masters until his death in 1997. The material on this collection mostly disregards Nusrat’s familiar recordings for RealWorld, in favor of performances originally released by Navras Records and Radio France. A very fine introduction to the man and his music, with good liner notes that explain the basics.

Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6

1. 07:33 – Midtempo, loping rhythm, a catchy refrain brackets mighty vocal flights
2. 13:02 – Midtempo and cyclical; starts gently, peaks 2 or 3 times. Sung in Farsi.
3. 07:28 – Lovely, conversational ghazal; first half free-flowing, second half rhythmic
4. 13:08 – Celebrating spring: vocals both droning and percussive, shifting tempos
5. 10:43 – Sufi love poem, followed by strong, repetitive “spinning wheel” theme
6. 10:53 – Full band makes this fast paced and lively; vocals bounce between singers
7. 03:53 – Modern orchestra/Indi-pop arrangement and relatively tame vocal
8. 10:31 – From Nusrat’s pop phase: dance beat, female backing singers, utterly forgettable

[Fo] - 2/2/03

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Charting

2003-02-03 — 2003-04-07 Reggae/World
Week EndingAirplays
Apr 6 1
Feb 23 2
Feb 9 2

Track listing

1. Ya Hayyo Ya Qayyum
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3. Nami Danam Chi Manzil Budbum
4. Hazrat Khwaja Sangh Kheliyer
5. Mera Yeh Charkha
6. Boha Aes Wele Kine Kharkaya
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