MEGADETH, Tornado of Souls

Sixteen years have passed since the release of “Saturate”, and like aged wine, Breaking Benjamin's music has matured beautifully. That notion is quite obvious as soon as you listen to the album that came out this year on April 13: Ember.

Twenty years is indeed a long time to continue an organization and take all the leading roles, specially in North America where life is a rat race. Even in that race, someone wins, someone stays in the fast lane to take the right exit and reach the destination in mind.

ARCTIC MONKEYS

Association with Professor Afia Dil dates back to August of 1947, when Abbasuddin Ahmed had migrated to erstwhile East Pakistan. He had rented the home of Afia's mom, Safura Begum, a pioneer of women's education herself.

My Hero

Portugal. The Man's latest album, Woodstock, is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it's a perfect remedy for your EDM-infused indie dance-pop needs, a far departure from their usual alt-indie rock style, but the same tune is a huge cry of "sell-out" to a lot of fans.

Teenage Dream

REBOOT

Eye Of The Tiger

The incessant chatter around me about Korean dramas made me curious as to what exactly makes these dramas so special, so I decided to actually watch one. While searching for a drama to watch, the first thing I realised was that the episodes of almost every drama were at least an hour long each and they never went on for many seasons, hence saving the sanity of both viewers and writers.

Metal music is like quicksand. If you don’t like it, you avoid it completely. If you enjoy some of it, then before you know it, you’re listening to bands whose names you can’t pronounce. Just like quicksand, by the time you’re done binging, you have sunk to the depths and are surrounded by the weirdest songs.

The 8-track album kicks off with “Shikol Chirra, Kutta Bhagey”. In your face, as the artist put it himself, the song is as much political as it is a song about self-reflection. With the accompaniment of a suave yet ominous guitar intro, Farooque's voice takes the reins from the get go.

After returning from World War II the famous poet Kazi Nazrul Islam resided in Kolkata and neighboring areas till 1972. It was his seat of work, his city of fame. In 2014, the West Bengal Government built an archive in the name of Nazrul Islam. The Urdu phrase that comes to my mind when I see this memorial structure titled `Nazrul Teertho' is: Der se, durast se.

Someday You Will Be Loved

An artist, when he teaches, becomes the leader of the youth who are learning not only music; but also a code of conduct which they can adhere to throughout their lives, and draw strength from the words and tunes of the poets. Simply uttering the words, without the deeper meaning influencing the soul is like parrot chatter.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Hungry Like The Wolf

Space Oddity

Before writing about Shabana Tajwar, I had not known about any Bangladeshi opera singer, in fact I didn't know any opera singer at all. Up, close and personal, I have known some Western singers, but they are not opera singers. However, I have heard about opera training, that it is very extensive like Eastern classical music and to be an opera singer of repute you have to train for many years.