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     Volume 7 Issue 36 | September 5, 2008 |


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Music

Kick Starting with Dour

Elita Karim

It has been almost nine months since Dour had launched their debut album. Time seems to have done a lot of good for the members of Dour, not to mention their debut album gaining immense popularity amongst the music listeners in the country.

Dour had become a household name in the rock music scene in Bangladesh when Drockstars part 2, a reality rock music show on Channel I had hit the scene last year. Clinching one of the top positions in the contest, Dour signed a deal with G Series, thus coming out with their debut self-titled album on 18 December 2007 at Coffee House on Elephant Road. Very recently, Dour has also been accepted as one of the members of the Bangladesh Musical Bands' Association (BAMBA).

The Dour members, Turjo (Drums), Shaon (Guitar and Vocals), Pappu (Keys and Vocals), Turja (Bass) and Pranjal (Vocals and Guitars), have always been very popular in the young rock scene in Dhaka. However, it was only after they appeared on screen with their band Dour that music fans began to take notice of them and their music.

Produced by Iqbal Asif Jewel, the famous guitarist of the band Miles, the album Dour is a set of ten songs. The songs might have not created a revolution of any kind in the music scene, but over the last few months, the album has become a part of every music listener's collection.

Some of the songs reflect on the real-life events of the band members, while others speak largely of musical influences of big time musical legends in Bangladesh. For instance, the very first track, Porobashi speaks of the passionate sorrow of a young man, who is away from his beloved. To add to it all, the fusion between folk and mellow rock brings out the melancholic sweetness of the composition.

A favourite amongst many is the track Mukhosh, a punk rock composition in the album. This track is all about the millions of similarities between people from all over the world. However, at the end of the day, their differences are marked with all the different masks that they wear.

Some of their compositions bear similar streaks to those of the legendary band in Bangladesh, Miles. It is especially difficult not to miss the bass line in the track Priyotoma that sounds very much like a Miles number. Pranjal, the vocalist of Dour who is also an ardent fan of the band Miles disagrees. "Maybe it sounds similar because Jewel bhai (Iqbal Asif Jewel) produced this album and was with us right from the beginning," he reasons. "This might be a reason as to why listeners find a lot of Miles' influence in our music." Incidentally, neither Pranjal, nor any of the other members of the band seem to really mind the fact that listeners keep comparing their music to that of Miles. "Most of the people who have listened to our album appreciated our work," adds Pranjal. Recorded at Dream Desk, Not OF This Earth and Sound Garden, the album has been mixed and mastered by Iqbal Asif Jewel.

The best part of this album is that, though it started off a little slow in the beginning, it has not been written off completely by the listeners. The music is still refreshing and the lyrics heart touching.Dour's self-titled album can be found at all the major CD outlets in the country.

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