তুমি আর তো কারো নও, শুধু আমার
যত দূরে সরে যাও রবে আমার
স্তব্ধ সময়টাকে ধরে রেখে
স্মৃতির পাতায় শুধু তুমি আমার

কেন আজ এত একা আমি?
আলো হয়ে দূরে তুমি
আলো আলো আমি কখনও খুজে পাবে না
চাঁদের আলো তুমি কখনও আমার হবে না

রোমন্থন করি ফেলে আসা দৃশ্যপট স্বপ্নে আঁকা
লুকিয়ে তুমি কোন সুদূরে
হয়ত ভবিষ্যতের আড়ালে
তবে আজ এত একা কেন?
আলো হয়ে দূরে তুমি
ঘাসের চাদরে শুয়ে একা
আকাশের পানে চেয়ে জেগে থাকা…

This is the first track of Tahsan’s third solo album “Ichche”, released last week. I’ve been listening to this song non-stop for the last 8 hours, and thought of sharing it with my readers. I’m dedicating it to a very special person — hope she understands what I want to mean.

Click here if you can’t see the Bangla text above.

Over 10,000 youngsters were present at Gulshan Youth Club playground to witness the first ever Anti-Corruption Youth Concert in Bangladesh. It was organised by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in order to create awareness among the youth of our generation against vices such as corruption which is manifested in almost all the sectors of the country. The slogan of the concert was “durjoy tarunno durnity rukhbei” which means “unconquerable youth will confront corruption”.

The performers were (in the order of appearance): Rab Fakir, Feedback, Souls, Fahmida Nabi, Hyder Hussein, Shahed, Pop guru Azam Khan, LRB, Meghdal, Aklima Baul, Gambhira troupe, Mehrin, Shironamheen, Pentagon, Meghdal, S. I. Tutul, Renaissance, Warfaze, Dolchhut, Black, Sumon from Aurthohin, and Artcell. Each of them sang two songs each.

Overall, it was a good concert. The sound system was okay, so was the security with enough armed police. Channel I recorded the entire program, whereas Radio Foorti and Radio Today telecasted live. Refreshments were available, coffee was sold for 3 taka per cup, burger and sandwich for 40 taka, hot dog and fountain coke for 15 taka. Two third of the crowd was under the age of 21, with a significant number of bosti people. Did I mention that the entry was free of cost?

Location: German Club, Gulshan 2, Dhaka
State of mind: Intoxicated

It was a night of funky jazz tunes that probed us all into the highly diverse repertoire of prolific German drummer Wolfgang Haffner and his band. The quartet played cosmopolitan jazz music for one and half hour in front of few hundred audience, among which two-third were foreign diplomats. The Bangladeshis who were present all seemed to be affluent high society members. The old haggards who were there were all accompanied by ladies half their age. Mysterious, very mysterious.

The pool-side porch was literally jam-packed with audience, with a very little space to move around. I was lucky enough to get space on the front side, but I had to squeeze myself between two “deshi” and two “bideshi” girls. I enjoyed the music so much that I didn’t even bother to ask their phone numbers… big mistake.

The concert was organised by Goethe-Institut Dhaka, and it was a part of Haffner’s “Shapes” tour in South Asia. Haffner played drums, Christian Diener and Frank Kuruc played electric guitars, and Sebastian Studnitzky played keyboard and trumpet. We were told that Haffner performed in more than 50 countries in the last 20 years, and appeared on over 350 albums by various artists. He also released 11 albums of his own! According to this talented drummer, his inspiration comes straight from his musical heart. This quartet’s next concert will be held day after tomorrow in Kolkata, India.

Realisation of the day:
Alcohol + hot ladies + live music = totally intoxicating experience.

Hardware: AverMedia FM Tuner card + external antenna
Software: KRadio on Kubuntu Edgy

I just got hooked with Radio Foorti — I’ve been listening to this station non-stop since yesterday. This private FM radio station is mainly broadcasting modern Bangla songs, along with band music and a bit of oldies and folk. I really liked play list — they didn’t choose to broadcast boring Rabindra Shangeet which would make people like me fall asleep. Their play list of oldies is great too, they have carefully selected once-a-super-hit songs that have great messages. They aren’t playing songs from Bangla movies, which is good. What impressed me the most is the crispy MP3 quality stereo playback, and their style of picking songs and switching genres. Purely professional!

Tune to FM 88.0 MHz if you’re and listen to Radio Foorti! As they says, “radio manei foorti”!

A cool fact that amazed me is the term “RJ” or “radio jockey”. So if I ever get a job as a RJ, then I’ll be known as RJ RJ, right?

Due to overwhelming requests, I’m putting up their contact information here:

12-14 Landmark Building,
Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212
Phone: (+88 02) 883 5747
Fax: (+88 02) 883 5746
E-mail: write@radiofoorti.fm
Website: www.radiofoorti.fm

For all the RJ wannabes, here’s what to:

1) Download this form (right click and choose Save As)
2) Print it out and fill up it
3) Send it to RJ Hunt, GPO Box # 984, Dhaka 1000

♪ Click here to listen to Radio Foorti! ♫

Update on December 28:
They have started playing English and Hindi pop tracks on a program named Club Foorti. This program will be aired on every Thursday from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM. The first English song was played yesterday on a program of RJ Nusrat — “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira.

Update on September 20:
Radio Foorti changed their frequency — they are now on air on 88.0 FM instead on 98.4 FM.

From DJ Adam’s official site:

“Adam Sheridan was deemed the Best Undiscovered Talent by two of the top five DJs in the world Paul van Dyk and Ferry Corsten, in 2003. Throughout 2003 and 2004, Adam has risen through the ranks and has now become one of the most accomplished and sought-after new talents to emerge from the UK. His unique style of three deck mixing and crossing genres from trance to techno, as well as his highly acclaimed production, has grabbed the attention of clubbers, promoters and his DJ peers and has propelled Adam from undiscovered to distinguished.”

Download this live performance of DJ Adam Sheridan and judge whether he’s good or not.

My iPod Shuffle finally arrived today, much earlier than I expected.

The nifty little device came with an attractive packaging, and inside was my iPod Shuffle with custom laser engraving. I’m headbanging to my trance MP3s now, so this is the end of this entry!