"United Sounds Of Asia" ist eine neue Compilation-Serie auf STRUT von Chris Menist und Maft Sai! Der erste Release kommt vom legendären Afghan Ghazal Sänger Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, aufgenommen in den Radio Afghanistan Studios und später als eine Reihe von 7'' Singles im Iran veröffentlicht. Inkl. raren Fotos & neuen Liner Notes.

Nashenas first made his move towards music aged 16 in 1951when he approached Afghanistan’s national radio station, RadioKabul, with an idea for a broadcast and, impressed with hislanguage skills, they offered him a permanent job. “I was inclose contact with some of the big names in Afghan music likeJalil Zaland,” Nashenas explains. “My father had a gramophoneand we listened to other singers like Ustad Qasim Khan andKundan Lal Saigal.” After unsuccessful initial forays intosinging sessions for the station, he honed his skills as a writer,singer and musician, playing the harmonium. Inspired by amovie he had seen at the cinema, Nashenas wrote a new poemand sang on air again after the evening news, using the name‘Nashenas’ (meaning ‘unknown’) for the first time. Following awave of positive feedback from the public, he was given a newweekend slot and built his reputation through film songinterpretations, famous poems set to music and his owncompositions sung in Dari and Pashto.
Nashenas would witness turbulent times as Afghanistan founditself caught up in the Cold War and the early ‘90s civil war untilit became too dangerous to stay in the country. Through a friendin the U.N., he was able to seek asylum for himself and hisfamily and take up residence in London, continuing to work as amusician and giving concerts globally.
Most of Nashenas’ recordings during this period were onlymade for broadcast, later surfacing on singles through theRoyal label in Iran. Life Is A Heavy Burden is compiled fromthese singles by Chris Menist and Mads Jensen. All tracks areremastered by The Carvery and both formats feature new linernotes including an interview with Nashenas. The album is partof the new United Sounds of Asia series curated by Chris Menistand Maft Sai of Paradise Bangkok.

Für Fans von: Mahwash, Jagjit Singh, Rahim Bakhsh, AhmadWali, Zahir Howaida, Mohammad HussainSarahang, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Amir,Faiz Karizi, Shamali Afghan, EnsembleKaboul,