My Publications

Happy Eid mubaROCK by Faizul Khan Tanim Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and children of all ages, this Eid-ul-Fitr proudly brings to you a range of audio albums, melodic enough to relieve you from all the oily Ramadan food indigestion. So you might as well start saving your Eidi (eid money) just to grab your most favorite disc as they are sure to deliver impulsive minutes of raging rock, ecstatic pop and everything in between. Entertainment, clothes, food and music always have been innate elements of Eid. Music lovers have every reason to celebrate this year’s festival as some of the coolest songs chart the occasion. So, while still in your flashy punjabis and kurtas and eating flavoured shemai with colorful roohafza and other red drinks, put on your shades and listen to some dance beats Habib and his Father Ferdous Wahid has to offer. Yes! Sangeeta has yet another compilation Obosheshe - Habib Wahid & Ferdous Wahid, for you and your kids to dance to songs like the immortal ‘M...

Sounds of ‘Rage’ by Faizul Khan Tanim Audio production house Rage Records, began their journey launching three albums on August 24. Rock musicians Babna, Russell (ex-Warfaze members) and Romel Ali released their album Shantir Bornon, band Re-Dhun with Roj Roj and solo singer Ishtiaq released his debut album Ebong Paharer Gaan on the day. Shantir Bornon A creative mix of all popular elements – scintillating pop, jazzy progressions, latino expressions, stellar dance-rock hooks and so much more, which would comfortably travel from sassy dancefloors, atmospheric bedrooms up to exhilerating live gigs. The songs ride on groovy piano, melodiously moody vocal works, flamenco guitaring – all soaked in a CD with the label ‘must listen’ on top. Tempting eh? Title track Shantir bornon would give you a hefty kick once you have realised how versatile, although preserving their old signature sound, our ex-Warfaze brothers, Russell and Babna, along with Romel have become. The flamenco guitar played he...

Stuck in traffic Faizul Khan Tanim and Musfequr Rahman explore the pain, the causes and possible long-term and short-term relief from our traffic woes photo by Al-Emrun Garjon Ashraf Khan, a student of Dhaka University, once went to the DU campus in the middle of the night on a private car, from his residence in Uttara. ‘It took me only 25 minutes,’ says an astonished Ashraf. Every morning, to make it to his 10am class, Ashraf starts at seven, and barely makes it on time. If one were to look at Dhaka during various hours of the day, between 8am and 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 7pm, and starting from 7pm right up to 10:30 to 11pm on certain roads from the top of a tall building, Dhaka city is at a standstill. ‘All the roads are clogged. The cars are stuck bumper to bumper, the engines release a tremendous amount of heat, drivers honk their horns incessantly, some of the old vehicles let go black smoke, vehicles break lanes and try and enter the ones that are moving faster,’ says Ashraf. ‘O...

10 defining songs of the contemporary bands in Bangladesh and their ‘cheese’ mix Faizul Khan Tanim loves food and he loves music. He takes his passion to new heights as he compares his favourite numbers of different Bangladeshi bands to different forms of world-famous cheese Did it ever occur to you how the process of making varieties of cheese is like producing different genres of creative contemporary music? The formula of success in producing both these products – cheese and contemporary music, require great art and craftsmanship and the great secret lies in making them with varying recipes, and trade secrets, so that they become more desirable with all the delicious deviations. This cheese affair makes me realise how the different genres and breed of contemporary music are produced and transferred in to essential silver discs of pure enjoyment, just as cheese makes exciting and mouth watering stomach trips. Now here are ten essential songs compared to ten essential types of cheese...

Bangladeshi food-icians in Bangkok The taste of deshi cuisine is on the rise in lands afar. Photo and text Faizul Khan Tanim One of my friends once told me that her liking for cities depended on how welcome the city made her feel. I would say, in addition, that the cuisine on offer plays a significant role on the attractiveness of cities, while bridging cultures and establishing a better understanding of countries and their people. After all, the phrase ‘food for thought’ was not coined for nothing. There are quite a few restaurants owned by Bangladeshis in Bangkok, Thailand and among them, four are running smoothly in terms of food quality, presentation and overall business. Each restaurant has enough history and mystery to make the investigation into their past and present entertaining. Thailand saw the rise and fall of many a restaurant, while others experienced hardship but stood their ground, probably taking inspiration from Don Marquis’ famous quotation - Successful people are th...

The pulse, smell and flavour of rural life by Faizul Khan Tanim This nine-song soundtrack compilation poignantly paints an emotional canvas of the free-spirited romantic rural life. The music essentially captures the sound, smell, taste, love, treachery and simplicity of rural Bengal and listening to the CD, you will be able to feel the fragrance of immense green and the splash of river water. The film apparently is set in a backwater ountryside – an island called Monpura, where a shy, nervous and humble man called Shonai is a character who only experiences betrayal in life for his modest attitude and genuine love for a fisherman’s daughter Pori. The main theme music for the film is a flute-influenced piece that lurks on the film with mournful and melancholy sound - to perfectly capture the solemn and earnest gaffes of the countryside that surrounds Shonai and Pori. Their tough life is aptly illustrated in the songs Nidhua Pathare 1, 2 and 3, Jao Pakhi Bolo Tarey 1 and 2, the immortal ...

‘Everyone wants to do something with climate change’ Dr Ainun Nishat, country representative, IUCN, the World Conservation Union talks to Faizul Khan Tanim on the results of the SAARC Summit and whether Bangladesh will go under water Climate change featured strongly during the recently held SAARC summit. Have there been any fruitful results from that? As a member of the government delegation in the SAARC Environment Ministers Meeting focusing on climate change, I would say it was a very successful and positive meeting. All the eight countries are very serious on issues related to climate change and how to manage the future impacts. After the Bali Conference of Parties of December 15 2007 and meetings of the heads of governments of UN on September 24, 2007, the activities, adaptation, and mitigation to climate change are moving very fast. Mitigation to climate change has now become obligation to all nations, which was previously a compulsion for only the developing countries. In SAARC a...

The tenant nightmare Faizul Khan Tanim writes on the various concerns that landlords have before and after letting out a house While tenants have a range of issues with landlords, the landlords themselves are not to be left behind in the number of concerns and reservations they have before letting out a house. Most landlords across the city cite numerous cases of being deceived by tenants, on various occasions being deprived of rent for months and years, and sometimes losing possession of their own property. Like tenants have no recourse to law if they are mistreated by landlords, landlords also feel that once in the hands of tenant who can pull a lot of ‘weight’, the landlord is virtually captive. They also feel that the measure most landlords take nowadays to screen and control tenants is justified in the absence of laws to protect them. A very common complaint is how lodgers deceive landlords while renting houses. ‘I once rented a flat to a decent looking lady who told me that her ...

Sewage leaking to the surface Faizul Khan Tanim finds out how Dhaka’s inadequate sewerage system threatens to destroy the city’s environment photo by Al-Emrun Garjon I step out of my house looking for a ride to the office at Karwan Bazar. I need to walk a certain distance to get to the bus stop or taxi stand, and I have to get across dirty water to get transport most of the time. Vehicles passing by have no sympathy towards pedestrians as they speed over the reeking sewage water spraying all over me. On number of occasions, I needed to go back home, change clothes and make a fresh start. Imagine the time wasted on a busy weekday. This is how Gulshan-1 resident Kader Khan describes a typical morning in a city with a sewerage system in desperate need of upheaval. His voice is one of the many belonging to residents of Gulshan, Banani, Uttara, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, various parts of Old Dhaka and other areas who complain that the stench caused by continuous sewage water overflow or leak at r...

Kozmo Alive with Sohini by Faizul Khan Tanim photo by Arif Hafiz Kozmo Alive, the regular Friday event of Kozmo Lounge, Dhanmondi couldn’t have been any better. Last Friday, the July 25 event featured Sohini Alam from London and was more ALIVE than ever. She is quite easily one of the most powerful singers of the contemporary Bangla music scene and the best thing is to listen to her singing live. It is an amazing experience to feel her singing as she drowns in words, emotionally mingling with the lyrics and singing her heart out. Curiously, although her singing style is very western, Sohini possesses one of the most elegant folk voices of recent times, making for a beautiful fusion. It sounds as though her rebel voice is screaming socialism in the midst of this capitalist world. This came out most clearly when singing the patriotic songs ‘Rashtro Bhashar Andolon’ (‘Dhaka Shohor Rokte Bhashailiee’) and ‘Amar Protibaad er Bhasha’. Not only that, she has the most intoxicatingly mellowed v...

Songs screaming Bangladesh If we had one great compilation of patriotic band songs, of contemporary nationalistic hymns, which would boil our blood with patriotic passion, give goose bumps or even make our hair standup. Which would they be? Writes Faizul Khan Tanim Bangladesh by George Harrison and friends This is the song, which ignited immense strength and power for all freedom craving Bangladeshis in 1971. And again around the early 90’s, when popular TV show Ittyadi telecasted the powerful music video of this song, once again, The Concert for Bangladesh was revisited and it oozed out inspiration about our nation’s birth for the young generation. And today, when this immortal song is played with Harrison’s words: My friend came to me, with sadness in his eyes. He told me that he wanted help before his country dies. Although I couldn’t feel the pain, I knew I had to try. Now I’m asking all of you to help us save some lives...Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh, our citizens should remi...

Powerful, perpetual, and optimistically melancholic Faizul Khan Tanim finds himself mesmerised and awestruck by Black’s latest work Finally, rock music is back again in the midst of other reigning fruity genres. Thankfully, Black’s third studio release ‘Abar’ is filled with sound of acoustic instruments and carries the essence of the prevalent international music scene. Their guitar notes are more emotional than ever. The compositions are built on simple yet energised guitar riffs, kicks, with upbeat imaginative drumming, overwhelming hollered vocals with melodic outline of the song phrases and harmonious bass lines diving into ‘stylish’ without being extravagant guitar solos – a rock music enthusiast’s dream-come-true compilation. So, welcome to this generation’s midlife emotional crisis because the songs of this compilation speak of just that. The album’s most sublime rock minutes are probably the duration of track number six Ei Gaan, a song about clutching on to a vengeance a...

Black launches 3rd album Rock band Black in cooperation with Warid Telecom released its third album titled ‘Abar’ on Thursday at the Bashundhara City Shopping Complex in the city after a break of five years. The band launched its first album in 2001 titled ‘Amar Prithibi’ and second album ‘Uthsaber Par’ in 2002. As the CD was played on the loop at the launching ceremony, it was made clear to the fans by the band that they did not fall short in creating contemporary and creative rock sound. Yes, Black did it again! From their release of the track ‘Obinashshar’ in a mixed album in 2002 onwards, they sent a bold message of creating fresh compositions. Their music always captured the essence of pre- valent international market of the time. The latest title Abar has one of the most superb album cover – a fusion of classic retro style with post-modern alternative rock attitude. All the ten songs from the album have their unique style and taste. With excellent sound production, mature composi...

Our hero on aviators One of the exceptional film actors of the silver screen, Riaz tells Faizul Khan Tanim about the struggles he has overcome from his career and his admiration for ‘Top Gun’ photo by Momena Jalil From aviation, to entertainment and now about to enter business, celebrated film actor Riaz is flying high and looks beyond. Blessed with boyish good looks, a ‘mystery-shrouded’ past, inimitable manners and appropriate acting skills, Riazuddin Ahmed Siddique today stands tall in the silver screen and is one of the most revered heroes in Bengali cinema. He has also made forays in modeling, television drama as well as art house production. Sitting for an interview with him in his house, I noticed his home décor spelled boldness and manliness in a subtle note, and with a tinge of male ego —there are vertical swords as wall hangings, the air force eagle decoration pieces, Victorian furniture, award plates and crests. Amazingly, no show-off and fancy pictures of him hugging super...