Nescafe Basement is on the roll. Week after week, flawlessly amazing music continues to create stir among music enthusiasts. The two episodes aired in the last two weeks included a perfect original and two perfect recreations. They offer energetically rocking and melodiously soothing tracks. Yet again bringing perfect diversity, the Nescafe Basement episodes 5 and 6 are a follow up of the weekly treats offered this fall.
With episode 5, the brains behind the creative content produced at NB, Xulfi, decided to recreate the work of his own band, Call. The episode included the phenomenal fusion of Call’s Sab Bhula Kay & Nishaan. Unlike the previous episodes of the season, episode 5 featured a single cover. It’s a song that has been received well previously and grabbed substantial praise for its recreation at the basement.
It’s one of those tracks that start grim and then take you by complete surprise with sudden inclusion of electric riffs, heavy drums adding a natural rock impact to it making it the perfect paradigm of brilliantly improvised music. Opening with Abu Bakr's Sarangi blended with Usman’s acoustics, it’s slow yet smooth. Asfer’s brisk and wide opening vocals contrasting with Sameen's ever velvety and varying scales combined with Parizae, Turaab and Rutaba on the backing vocals create a mysterious bliss with in you. It’s inevitable to not appreciate the brilliantly carved Sarangi, percussions and acoustics complimenting each other and the composition. For me, the lines "Khushi Jo Baaton Mein thi, Khuli Wo Baatein Sabhi, Sab Bhula Kay" are the favourite in terms of both the vocal and the musical content. And then there's Adrian’s flute establishing just the much needed subtle aura and leading the dour "Sab Bhula Kay" to the elevating "Nishaan". With Usman and Shahrukh’s perfectly harmonized exhilarating guitar solo synchronized by the energizing percussions accompanied with the chorus, "Saaye Yahan Wo Rastay Hain Kahan", you can't help banging your head to the heightened energy of the song. Even the musicians at the Basement were seen enjoying the fluctuating power of the track. You listen to it once and you can’t get enough of it. It’s both, soothing and inspiring in terms of its music and the exceptionally awakening lyrical content. Smooth, grim, uplifting & melodically creative, Sab Bhula Kay is another successful cover at the Basement.
And then there’s episode 6: A rather elevating original by Usman, Phir Se and then a soft and mind sedating Adam Lambert cover of What do You Want from Me.
Phir Se is an original by Usman’s band Aag. As romantically tragic as the lyrics are, the music is contrastingly brisk and the composition peppy. It’s a perky & slow composition but is loaded with electricity and energy of the instruments. Its well arranged and diverse in terms of its stirring music and fluctuating notes. The song opens with bracing riffs and Bilawal’s ever energizing percussions and you know you will be banging your head to the raucous beats of the track. And just the NB style, it takes you by surprise and the music slows down as Usman opens the absolutely soothing and subtle vocals “Chahatein Dhoka Hai Meri Hasraton Kay Agay” against the perfectly complimenting acoustics and backing vocals. As the track progresses, Haider’s impeccable bass gives it the depth that accolades its soothing vocals and tragic lyrical content. The song moves on deftly before it leads into the uplifting vocals of “Meri Khali Ragoun Mein Tu Bhar Dey Khoon.. Phir Se”. The perfection with which the musicians fluctuate the energy of the song is commendable. Usman’s guitar solo and his raspy vocals take the song to another level of excellence. The aptness of his high scales towards the end of the song are worth an applause. Phir Se is the kind of song that helps bringing you out of your grief struck moods. It’s absolutely elevating despite the anguish in its lyrics. It is bound to keep you hooked to its gravely uplifting music and the ingeniously stirring vocals.
Contrasting to the raspy Phir Se is the remarkably soothing cover of Adam Lambert’s What Do You Want From Me. Distinct from the upbeat original, the NB cover of the song is deliberate, subtle and calming. It’s more like the piano version of the 2009 hit track. The creatively arranged duet contrasting to Lambert’s solo is overpoweringly sleek. With their exceptionally brilliant vocals, Turab and Parizae take the song to another level of tenderness. The strength and passion felt in the vocals of the two youngest members of the Basement left me surprised to know its teenagers creating the magic. They pull heart strings as the song progresses. The lines “There might have been a time When I would let you slip away I wouldn't even try but I think You could save my life” have the power to melt you down. Not just the vocals but the immaculately produced music tell a story. It sounds more like a heartfelt conversation of broken hearts with its consuming music and intense vocals. the softness of the vocals and percussions keep your head swaying throughout the track. From Shahrukh’s restrained acoustics, Usman’s gloomy piano and the perfectly complimenting light percussions by Bilawal alleviated with the delightful harmonies and backing vocals of Sameen, Adrian and Rutaba, the song is perfection at its best. You can’t leave Abu Bakr spotlessly blending the Sarangi in the gloomy and overwhelming aura of the track. It’s a track that has the power to bring tears. Its intense and overpowering. For me its Nescafe Basement at its best!