Female beauty is a celebrated thing, a pursued thing, a commodified thing. Beauty standards exist to be aspired to – even if you come up short you should give those shallow heights a shot. Eleanor Roosevelt when asked if she had any regrets gave a solemn reply “I only wish that I had been prettier”. Pursuing
I find Bilal Baloch, one third of the band Shikari, jamming on a guitar in the grassy courtyard of the Al Hamra at the Lahore Music Meet. ‘Let me just finish this song’, he says to me, but before he has a chance to begin, someone else requests his guitar and launches in to a
Karachi band E Sharp released their second album 600 Saal, the follow-up to 2015's Bahadur Yaar Jung, last Friday 21st April. So we thought it would be a good idea to ask the band, made up of Ahmed Zawar, Anwaar Ahmed and Qumber Kazmi, exactly what their thoughts were regarding the album, and what we should
‘You used to call me on my cellphone.’ It’s about halfway through our chat with Slowspin’s Zeerak Ahmed that I wonder, how did we get onto quoting Drake lyrics? But rather than ringing hotlines, Slowspin is more interested in the quiet power of the first person in music. ‘YOU used to call ME on MY
Wild City is an alternative music and culture platform based in India. Last month, they chatted to us about some emerging Pakistani artists, so it only made sense to get the lowdown on some of the most exciting musicians in India right now. We spoke to Dhruva Balram, head content writer at Wild City, who
Lahore in the summer is colonised by lawn billboards. Fifty-foot women flanking the Jinnah flyover informing us that lawn season is here. IT’S HERE, and this is only Vol 1. I think their ubiquity is supposed to elicit a Pavlovian reaction in women stuck in traffic. But behind those lawn billboards, behind every patronising reassurance
At this year’s Lahore Music Meet, Ali Suhail played a headline set at the Al Hamra, and also provided guitar support for Shajie and Poor Rich Boy. On the side, he’s part of indie outfit Sikandar Ka Mandar. So as a prominent figure on the alternative scene, it’s particularly exciting when Suhail announced his
Shehzad Noor: Yeah because this isn’t indie, this is death pop. Me: What does that mean, death pop? SN: It means really depressing stuff. Jamal Rahman: Love songs for depressives. Love songs for depressives is a pretty accurate summary of Shorbanoor, the solo outfit of Shehzad Noor, previously a member of the band ‘Poor Rich
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing this letter to you as an application to appear on your programme Cornetto ™ Pop Rock. Look, I know what you do. The performance, the music, the showbiz, the glitz and the glamour. I get it. And I am certain that I tick all those boxes. But
The mansplain - we’ve all been there and had it done to us. In Sweden they even had to open a hotline for women so they could talk about it – that’s how often it happens. Of course men derailed the entire thing because they kept calling to report they were worried they’d mansplained to someone and