The weekly mixtape 03: Meesha Shafi and Strings reveal what’s been on their playlist

Some of the biggest names in the history of contemporary music of Pakistan, Strings co-founders Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood who have released all but one song from the album 30 (Tees), and the singer of the decade, Meesha Shafi, tell Instep what they’ve been listening to and what are some of the songs/artists on their mixtape.Bilal Maqsood from Strings, Pakistan’s longest running music group… The five songs Bilal Maqsood has been listening to off late include ‘Friday’ by Goldspot from the 2005 record Tally of the Yes Men; ‘Play God’ by singer-songwriter Sam Fender; ‘Land Lady’ by the Irish rock band, U2; Porcupine Tree’s 2005 release, ‘Lazarus’ and ‘Up&Up’ from Coldplay’s fantastic 2015 album, A Head Full of Dreams. Faisal Kapadia from Strings, Pakistan’s longest running music group… The 5-tracks Faisal Kapadia has been listening to include a varied list as well as a Pakistani artist. They include ‘Closer to the Edge’ by 30 seconds to Mars, ‘In My Blood’ by Shawn Mendes, the evergreem Coldplay number, ‘Fix You’, U2’s 1992 release, ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’ and Ali Sethi’s Noah Georgeson produced single, ‘Chandni Raat’. Speaking to Instep, Faisal Kapadia explained, “‘Closer to the Edge’ is my gym song and whenever I hit the gym, the workout session starts with this song.”‘In My Blood’ by Shawn Mendes is, according to Faisal, is a song he was introduced to by his children and whenever he goes to drop them to school, this song is playing loudly in the car. “‘Fix You’ is an all-time favourite,” admits Faisal by Coldplay and it’s in my playlist in a permanent sense. It is one of those songs I have to listen to every single day.”U2’s 1992 release, ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’ has been special to Faisal because as he tells Instep, “When the song released, I was in college; I remember I used to drive and every day I would listen to the whole album and this was my favourite and it is still my favourite and I listen to it a lot. Ali Sethi’s Noah Georgeson produced single, ‘Chandni Raat’ says Faisal Kapadia, “In recent releases locally, ‘Chandni Raat’ by Ali Sethi is something I thoroughly enjoy. I enjoy Ali’s singing and so, I’ve been listening to it, a lot.”Meesha Shafi, singer-songwriter, composerThe singer of the decade - if you asked me - who broke new ground in mainstream with ‘Mein and is coming back as a judge on Pepsi Battle of the Bands - Meesha Shafi is a non-conformist and it reflects in everything she does including her current playlist.Talking to Instep, Meesha Shafi revealed the five songs that she is presently listening to and we are intrigued. Among them is ‘Cigarettes after **x’ by Apocalypse; Billie Eilish’s ‘Ilomilo’, John Mayer’s ‘New Light’, the epic Florence and the Machine’s ‘Howl’, Bjork’s ‘Venus As A boy’, London Grammar’s ‘Hey Now’, Coldplay’s ‘Don’t Panic’ and Angelo De Augustine’s ‘You Needed Love, I Needed You’.

from The News International - Instep Today https://ift.tt/2FVigqj