Devotional Songs

Glad I can find stuff like this. Was nice to listen to it once

Normally when I have my headphones on people ask me what I'm listening to. Thank God that didn't happen today because that would have been a bloody nightmare trying to explain.

I didn’t hate this album, but it just didn’t click with me either.

Loved it, it felt like hearing someone wield their voice like a guitar and solo with it - that and just very pleasant listening with a great energy. Will happily listen again! :)

Top tip people - the Spotify linked album includes a whole other album. You just want disc 2, so you can cut the time of this in half. It's something I'm glad I knew ahead of time, because I tend to listen to these things all the way through, and this one isn't really for me.

It's made with skill and there's some nice enough rhythms in there. I like some of the compositions and the back and forth vocals, when it's not being super repetitive. I don't vibe with world music at all in general, so I guess 2/5 is actually somewhat of an endorsement in that respect...? I'll actually go a 2.5 rounded down, because it was easy enough to listen to in the background.

Interesting!

Melodic dance music in Hindu with vocal harmony. Great energy. Not something I’ve heard before. Quite an adventure. Well done.

"Nusrat, he's my Elvis!"

I first heard of this guy on a Jeff Buckley live album - apparently he was obsessed with the guy. Buckley even did a couple of live covers if I remember correctly, I'll have to dig that album out again. I listened to him a big at the time, but then kinda forgot about him.
This is a bit of a hard one to find, he has a ton of albums on Spotify and Tidal. I couldn't find this one initially, so started listening to a YouTube playlist of the songs. But that kept stopping, so I had another look and found the album "Love and Devotion", which seems to have the same songs and the same album artwork shown in the 1001 entry above. So, not completely sure I'm listening to the right album.
Regardless, what I'm listening to is surprisingly great! I don't speak the language, so have no real context for the lyrics, but they are apparently religious. Being an atheist, I suspect the translation might make me cringe, but they are delivered with such passion and musical talent that I can appreciate it. Some of the songs are very danceable as well. What more could you want? "Allah Hoo" indeed.

I was familiar with his singing from listening to Peter Gabriel and I remember him singing with Eddie Vedder. His vocals on Peter Gabriel's "Signal to Noise" are absolutely chilling. He's got a cool style and impressive voice. Plus, the drums are hypnotic and I liked the guitar parts (or whatever the plucked instruments were). Like most anglo-centric music listeners, I have no idea what he's singing and have a hard time telling the songs apart, but I enjoy the vibe.

An album and artist I would surely never have come across without starting this project - the perfect example of why I wanted to do it! A surprise and delight, and a body of work I know I will come back to (once I have time to pick albums myself again!)

I'm certain this is very nice for someone, but that someone is not me.

Couldn’t get into this one

(April 12 2024) 2nd album in a row I can't listen to with Apple Music; I see there are about 9000 other albums of his there, so I will share a Wikipedia quote from Chris Nickson, of Global Rhythm: \"trying to make order of Khan's entire discography would be a nightmare.\"

I'll get to Devotional Songs soon, but for now today's substitution is obviously Vampire Weekend (2008), followed by TV on the Radio’s Nine Types of Light (2011). Never really got around to hearing them, but I've often heard it said that Vampire Weekend is the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan of New York indie rock :p

(April 16 2024) It was there the whole time! Bundled in a release called Love and Devotion, and mistakenly dated 1988. Wot

Ok, those were definitely some songs of devotion. I think my favourite ones were tracks 2 & 4. I might put on the “Love” half later, but no guarantees.
I don’t have my copy of the book right now; curious why this is Khan’s entry into the book out of all his other 9000 releases

I grooved to this all day long. Wish I could understand the language.

I first heard about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan from Jeff Buckley who said that "he's my Elvis" and I always thought that was a very interesting way to put it. I never really liked Elvis and would take Nusrat any day. Wonderful music on this record. I get that it's not for everyone but I am glad to see it included here. Chances are anyone who is only vaguely familiar with qawwali music heard it from Nusrat. Unbelievable vocals on this album, though I can't understand what he's saying but you don't really have to. The man could sing. And the energy in this recording can really be felt. Even though I wouldn't listen to this all the time, I still have to give it 5/5 because it is a brilliant record that everyone should certainly hear at least once.

Ok cool, this will be something different. Confused as to the title not matching the album cover on this page, so I hoped I grabbed the right one. This guy has a massive discography.
Already vibing with the first track. My unaccustomed ears would argue all these songs sound very similar. But I'm glad every time this project introduces me to something not American/British.
Enjoying the sound though, 4*

Great to listen to something different. Unfortunately, I totally lost interest after 10 minutes.

Not really my thing but im sure its someone's.

Me gusta Nusrat desde que lo pusieron de moda con la banda sonora de Dead Man Walking. Y pasado el tiempo me sigue gustando, desconectado de ese sentimiento lo mismo es difícil disfrutarlo. Comprendo que esto tenga malas puntuaciones (no lo he mirado) y que su éxito se deba al arrastre de esos años 90, pero al menos como algo importante para una parte del mundo no puede obviarse algo de música de la India como algo a oír alguna vez en la vida.

A great texture, interesting arrangements, and it's always nice to hear music from different cultures.