Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

Charkha is not more than an album; it's a labour of love for all involved to carry on the legacy of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's Charkha is the most haunting record in the market right now. Though the hype around it may not have built up because of the subtlety of the record, but now it seems to have filtered in and through and regularly features on the charts. It's been a slow burner but on first listen one can tell that this is a record that will burn long and gain strength. Charkha is classic in every sense of the term.The videos on music channels all over, 'Tere Bina' and 'Kanday Uttay', are only the tip of the ice berg here. Charkha is music to listen to in solitude, preferably with dim lighting. The reworking of Bullay Shah's 'Charkha' and Shah Hussain's 'Sainyaah' included, most songs on the album are a reworking of the qawwalis in Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's repertoire. The only original compositions are 'Tere Bina', 'Na Janay Kahan' and the unsurpassable 'Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye' that became a superhit in India in 2005 when Mahesh Bhatt used it for the film Kalyug. Already a star in India after 'Mann Ki Lagan', 'Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye' ensured that Rahat become a voice in demand across the border; beyond the realm of the Bhatt family.He sang 'Naina' for Vishal Bharadwaj's critically acclaimed Omkara (2006), 'Main Jahan Rahoon' for the surprise blockbuster Namastey London (2007) , 'Bol Na Halke Halke' for Yashraj Films Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) , 'Jag Soona Soona Lage' for the Shahrukh Khan magnum opus Om Shanti Om (2007) and the haunting 'O Re Piya' for Madhuri's come back film Aaja Nachle (2007). Yet it is Charkha, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's solo album that is truly satisfying listening for the qawwali aficionado as well as for those who like trippy lounge music of the sort that Thievery Corporation and Buddha Bar records have made so popular amongst the party crowd looking to chill out to sounds that carry on from where the DJ leaves off.The sound of CharkhaCarefully constructed by Rohail Hyatt, Charkha is a sonic delight. The visual landscape reminds one of a desert in bloom. The musicality is sparse but tasteful (barring the remixes of 'Charkha' and 'Tere Bin', that gradually race thumping into a manic assaulting beat, but more on those later). The album opens with the sublime 'Charkha', that reworking one of the immortal kalams of Bulleh Shah, that puts a whole new spin on the phrase 'the wheel keeps on turning'. With the twang of a guitar occassionally interjecting the more consistent percussion that seems to be modelled on the clapping that traditionally accompanies a qawwali performance, Rahat's vocals build up to the chant 'Aaja Har Charkhe De Gheray Main Tainoon Yaad Kardi'. The sound is modern and yet familiar because the form of qawwali is not interfered with and that has been Rohail Hyatt's aim throughout the album."You can't mess with the form," Rohail resolutely maintained when he set out to do Charkha years ago.Rohail seems to have learned how Westerners worked with Rahat's illustrious uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. There was Peter Gabriel's 'Mast Qalander' remix that burnt dance floor all over the world, but which remained an aberration for the true followers of qawwali and then there was Michael Brooks' interpretation of the Nusrat first in Mustt Mustt and then more noticeably in the super sublime album Night Songs that will never lose it's incredible replay value. Qawwali is music that you sink yourself into and let it seep in; even as electronica can make it more accessible to the modern world it is important that qawwali retain its essence, which is spiritual to the extent that it caused musician Jeff Buckley to famously comment "Nusrat is my Elvis".And this is precisely what Charkha does. It elevates Rahat to a whole new iconic level.

Source:http://www.themuzik.com/