Junoon – And Sufi Rock Was Born...

If you live anywhere near Pakistan, you certainly know Junoon. Maybe you have one of their albums, as they produced in 1998 and 1999 the best selling album in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Needless to say, they are one of the most important rock bands in Asia.

As pioneers of the rock movement in Pakistan, Junoon made a clever fusion of rock, influenced by Led Zeppelin, with traditional Pakistan folk music and raga inspired melodies.

When they started back in 1990, rock music from Pakistan was practically non existent. They had to open this new way, and it was not at all easy. For years, they struggled to find an audience. It was not until 1997 that their hit Sayonne got to the number 1 spot in the top South Asian charts, staying there for over 2 months.

Sayonee (1996)

Saeen (1995)

Samitha & Iraj - A Fortunate Collaboration

This post is about two Sri Lankan artists, Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Iraj, who despite being from different generations and styles,  have got together to create a couple of great songs.

Iraj is currently one of the best selling artists in Sri Lanka, he’s the head of the hip hop movement there, while Samitha has a successful career spanning 20 years, with several Sinhalese pop hits in her bag.

They both deserve a blog post on their own, so I will skip further details and go directly to the fun part: the music!

Saara Sadisi


Oba Hinda (Kalpana)

Namgyal Lhamo - Classical Tibetan music with modern instruments

Paradise Lost (2007)

Om Ah Hung (2007)

For information about Namgyal Lhamo, visit her website http://www.namgyallhamo.com or her Myspace http://www.myspace.com/namgyallhamo.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - The more I listen to it, the more I love it

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa form this acclaimed indian trio, known for their scores of Bollywood movies such as Mission Kashmir (2000), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Bunty Aur Babli (2005). From Bunty Aur Babli, comes the song Kajra Re, sung by the famous Alisha Chinai, Javed Ali and Mahadevan himself.

Kajra Re (2005)

The following song and video were made as part of the promotional material for the Times of India’s India Poised initiative, a six-week long campaign that allowed people to talk freely about the problems of India as well as suggest solutions to these problems.

Times of India's India Poised Anthem(2007)

DJ Besho - Hip hop from Afghanistan

Afghan rap


Behzan Kabul Jan

Ananda Shankar - India

Streets of calcuta (1975)


Radha (2000)

Ani Choying Drolma - Om mani peme hung

Ganesha mantra (2008)


Chö (2008)