The band, Kabul Dreams, is made up of vocalist Sulaymon Qardash, bass player Siddique Ahmad and drummer Mujtaba Habibi, who claim to be the country’s first and only rock and roll group.

“One year ago in December we decided to create this band and since it was happening in Kabul, we thought Kabul Dreams is a good name,” says the 19-year-old vocalist, who bears a distinct resemblance to Liam Gallagher of the British band Oasis.

“It’s a real dream to play indie rock music in Afghanistan.”

Watch the video of The dream of all my life below:

Catching on fast
I caught up with the three-piece in Delhi, where they took part in the South Asian Bands Festival, which seeks to promote regional cultural ties.

Qardash – who likes indie fashion – grew up listening to Britpop bands like Radiohead and Travis.

With the political turmoil which gripped Afghanistan in the 1990s, all three members sought refuge in the neighbouring countries of Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran, where they were influenced by the Western music they heard.

“During the years of the Taliban, we were away and one positive thing for all of us was that we had an opportunity to learn music and have good facilities where we could practise,” says Ahmad, who lived in Pakistan for 10 years and played with bands producing new music.

While original Afghan music is closely associated with traditional instruments like the rubab and dombura, indie rock is still a new genre – but it is catching on fast among Afghan youth.

Exposure
“Lots of young people are listening to rock music,” says Ahmad.

“Because we don’t have any rock music, they listen to international bands and music from neighbouring countries like India and Pakistan.

“We thought it was about time for Afghanistan to have its own rock band.”

The group mixes Afghan rhythmic patterns with rock and roll music.

And what’s more unusual, they sing in English.

“Since the three of us come from three different parts of Afghanistan and speak in three different languages – Pashto, Dari and Uzbek – we thought it would be a good idea to sing in English,” says Ahmad.

Habibi, on drums, feels they will also get more international exposure with a language that is spoken widely.

But first things first: the band has yet to release an album.

So far the trio have only performed for a niche group of expats, non-governmental organisation workers and educated young Afghans familiar with the new genre.

But the continuing security threats in the country have placed restrictions on public gatherings and their performances.

And in the absence of an organised music industry, new bands like Kabul Dreams face difficulties in financing and producing their music.

“Other bands around the world have lots of opportunities and facilities, but we have to do everything ourselves,” says Ahmad.

“We have a video shoot, we have to take care of everything. There is no production house that we could go to.”

Provocative
The 27-year-old studies during the day and works with Habibi in a recording studio.

Qardash is a presenter with a private TV and radio station. Much of their salaries is invested in Kabul Dreams.

Despite the challenges, the trio want to bring a musical revolution to the Islamic country, where playing rock music is considered too Western and provocative.

“Playing rock music is a risk but we want to play in Afghanistan,” says Qardash, as he tunes his guitar.

“We love our country and we want to change our young generation, we want to make something new.”

Ahmad points out that Kabul Dreams is truly multi-ethnic, consisting as it does of an Uzbek, Pashtun and Tajik.

“The reason we formed this band was to give a message to the Afghan youth, a message that they can live together,” he says.

BBC News

Presented to you by our sister site VirtualAfghans.com, the following is a list of most notable and downloaded hit songs of 2009 which gained great popularity and exposure on a variety of websites, radio stations and satellite channels. These songs have been compiled exclusively by Virtual Afghans and appear in no particular order of rating or significance.

Hope you enjoy the songs… don’t forget to downloaded high quality and voice free mp3′s of the songs in links below… comments and suggestions are welcomed.

Note: The MP3 songs of this album will be available for download very soon… please keep checking.

The 4th Annual Ariana Television Network’s Awards show was held in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, December 5th, 2009.  Your favorite Afghan celebrities and artists from all over the world were invited and given recognition for their achievements. The awards show reached a global television audience covering the majority of Afghans everywhere. It was a wonderful opportunity for supporting Afghan culture and the performing arts.

The recorded program will likely be broadcasted end of December or for new years.

Below is the list of 2009 award recipients (not in order):

Best Male Artist: Farhad Darya
Best Female: Naghma
Best New Male: Shekeb Osmani
Best New Female: Ghazal
Best Duo: Hafiz & Devyani Ali
Best Ghazal Artist: Najim Nawabi
Best Mahali Artist: Mir Maftoon
Best Album: Jawid Sharif (Kankaash)
Best Track: Bia Janam (Tawab Arash)
Best Music Video: Atish Ba Dilam (Valy)
Best Patriotic Song: Shahe Mardan (Jawid Sharif)
Best Lyrics: Maadar (Hafiy & Devyani)
Best Light Song: Dokhtar-e Afghan (Mozhdah)
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients: Zahir Howaida, Afsana, Rahim Mehryar, Parasto, Ustad Arman, Madadi

AfghanMP3.com editor’s note:
Though better than last year’s show… like most of you, we felt that some of the awards given in certain categories were biased simply because certain artists have videos and program deals with Ariana Television Network.

No disrespect to Tawab Arash and Jawid Sharif – they’re both great artists, but by awarding Bia Janam and Shah-e Mardaan as Best Song and Best Patriotic Song of the year respectively, is ATN telling us that they are better than Latif Nangarhari’s Afghanistan or Farhad Darya’s Atan? Mozhdah’s Dokhtar-e Afghan for Best Light Song? You kidding me!

We are witnessing small but positive signs of Afghan music industry picking itself up through the production of better music and videos as well as tv programs… let’s hope that people in charge of such award and tv shows do justice by selecting and awarding the appropriate winners instead of playing favors or the usual biased politics.

Some fundemental changes are necessary, both by TV stations and our artists, if we want to see our music industry succeed in the right direction.

Check out darya’s message:

De Afghaanse zanger en songwriter Farhad Darya is de meest invloedrijke muzikant sinds 1980 in zijn vaderland. Hij heeft in zijn carrière al vele prijzen gewonnen, waaronder de Human Rights Award in 2006 en Leading Singer of Afghanistan in 2002. Hij wordt als grondlegger gezien van de hedendaagse muziek in Afghanistan. Zijn invloeden zijn hoorbaar in vele verschillende muziekstijlen en hebben vele generaties geraakt. Zijn muziek wordt gekenmerkt door een mix van Afghaanse en internationale muziekstromen.

Zijn nummer “Kabul Jaan” (Geliefd Kabul) was het eerste lied wat op de radio in Kabul te horen was in 2001 bij Radio Afghanistan. Vanaf 1980 heeft hij meer dan 30 albums in Afghanistan uitgebracht. Op zaterdag 26 september is deze levende legende in Ahoy Rotterdam te aanschouwen vanwege de viering van het Suikerfeest.

Source: Dutch website

Darya, who has brought a fresh breath of air to Afghan music industry with his latest pop rock genre, here can be seen as the foundation for new generation of Afghan artists when it comes to preparing and organizing for concerts.

I am sure you are with me when I say this: This is how it’s supposed to be done.

I had an opportunity to attend Farhad Darya’s concert in Vancouver, Canada (where I live). The quality of sound, music and preparation blew me away. I could not have been any more proud to be a fan of Darya and Afghan music during that concert.

Below you can view clips of this documentary, courtesy of BBC.

His job is to make sure that trains run on time, stations are kept clean and passengers have a hassle-free journey.

For thousands of London commuters he’s just one of the many staff managing their daily commute.

But Mr Nangarharay is no ordinary worker – in fact he’s a singing sensation in his home country, Afghanistan.

His lyrics inspire many Afghans. His words – his fans say – offer hope to a country destroyed by 30 years of war. His music encourages fellow Afghans not to lose faith. And his message is a personal one.

Mr Nangarharay fled the Taliban 10 years ago and settled in London.

The 28-year-old says that he too is a child of war and understands exactly how his countrymen feel.

He says that his country’s history is what inspires his songs.

“Like everyone else, I left my country and lost family members, so I sing the song. I hate anyone who destroys or kills Afghans, so I urge those who are misled and carry out suicide attacks and kill school children, that this is not the time to pull the trigger,” he said.

The ballads of Mr Nangarharay depict Afghanistan’s violent past and present.

His latest number – Afghanistan – regularly features on Afghan television and radio channels.

“This song motivates me to hate those who kill with guns,” says one Kabul man, Mohammad Gul. “People are sick and tired of war.”

Mr Nangarharay says the lyrics of the new song aims to encourage fellow Afghans to move away from the path of violence and strive for a future filled with peace and prosperity.

“I ask those who blow up schools, kill people and carry out attacks to not let people misled them. Don’t kill, don’t kill your brothers,” the singer says.

Musical bond

It is no coincidence that Mr Nangarharay’s songs have witnessed high sales in a country where entertainment is largely restricted to Bollywood films and songs.

Music was a key part of Afghan cultural identity and played a crucial role in keeping the ethnically diverse country together until the Taliban took control in the 1990s and banned all forms of it.

Because of his music, Mr Nangarharay has now become one of the most watched, listened to and spoken of figures in Afghanistan – and among millions of Afghans scattered around the world.

About 3,000 people attended his concert in Australia recently – a sign of his growing popularity outside Afghanistan.

One of Mr Nangarharay’s songs was written by leading Pashto poet, Babarzai, after a controversial US bombing in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

An Afghan government investigation at the time concluded that 45 women and children and two men had been killed when the US bombed a wedding party in the village of Deh Bala.

“Where there is a wedding procession, or a funeral is taking place – it is no time for pulling the trigger,” Babarzai wrote in the song.

For Babarzai, the song represents Afghanistan’s sad affiliation with war.

“War is a sad reality of our life. My message is for peace. In the song, I ask for all bombs – roadside, plane, suicide – and those who pull the trigger, to stop,” says Babarzai with tears in his eyes.

“People love Mr Nangarharay because he sings with so much passion, dedication and energy,” says Babarzai, who is also head of cultural and musical programmes at Shamshad TV.

This analsysis is endorsed by Kabul fruit seller Mohammad Musafir, who listens to Latif Nangarharay’s song on the radio.

“I like his song. He has a message for peace. People like music and will listen to him. You need to bring peace with nice words not with guns and tanks,” he said.

Pashto poetry is an integral part of Afghan society. Every year there are hundreds of poetry contests across the south, east and south-east of the country.

Poets at these meets castigate corruption, the lack of reconstruction, civilian casualties caused by the international forces, killings by the Taliban and others – and urge people to stop the violence.

According to Latif Nangarharay, his music is addressed to Afghans killing their own.

“My message to them is not to kill children, their countrymen and don’t attack our cities and markets with bombs. These young people are misled.”

———————-

Lyrics to Afghanistan

Latif Nangarharay’s song, Afghanistan, has been a hit inside and outside the country. The lyrics were written by the Pashto poet Babarzai, who says the song represents Afghanistan’s sad affiliation with war.

Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here
This town of mine is full of the impoverished people
It is not meant to be hit by bombs
Where there is wedding procession, and funeral taking place
It is not time for pulling the trigger
Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here

People as ugly as the smoke of the war
As undignified as their weapons
Don’t bring fire to the beauty of my city
Don’t bring further external wars here
Don’t let my sisters become brotherless
And don’t become homeless like yesterday

Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here

Don’t let my fields become ugly
Or the tip of our raised turbans fall down again
Don’t let the cries come to our streets again
And my meadows catch fire again
Let’s make a united Afghanistan
So that we don’t burn in our own fire

Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here

——Allah———-

May it not happen, it goes away
May not the old beauty go away from Kabul
May not these beauties become ugly
And cities and villages get separated from each other
They died of thirst even though there were rivers
And we lose our copper mountains

Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here

Listen young man, how could you possibly pull the trigger?
We are destroying our grandfather’s house
How could the sword not break in your hand?
While destroying the Paktia turban (Paktia pride)
For God’s sake recognise your brothers
Call Afghanistan your holy land

Afghanistan is not meant to be destroyed
No-one is meant to be killed here
Don’t bring fire to the beauty of my city
Don’t bring further external wars here
Don’t let my sisters become brotherless
And don’t become homeless like yesterday

Farhad Darya has been chosen as artist of the year 2008. This was a very important year in Darya’s career since he released two albums, came with a new videoclip “Dohle Bezan” and gave a tour all around the world. The following was stated about the choice for selecting Darya as artist of the year.

“In an effort to recognize the efforts and work of one of Afghanistan most beloved artists in the year 2008, VirtualAfghans.com has chosen Farhad Darya the 2008 artist of the Year.

Mr. Darya had one of the most incredible year of his music career to date with the release of two beautiful and hit albums: HA! and Yaahoo in which he introduced his fans to his new style of world pop songs. He also performed in many successful tours all over the world, from North American cities to Dubai and Tajikistan.

Farhad Darya has recently and noticeably been promoting his charity organization of Kochah which has earned him even more love and respect amongst his fans and admirers all over the world.

All of the achievements mentioned above granted Farhad Darya the deserving title of ‘VirtualAfghans.com 2008 Artist of the Year‘, a new web award system and tradition that we will try to keep in order to highlight and appreciate the hard work of our talented artists.”

Source: Virtual Afghans