Usman Riaz, “Fire Fly”

This young prodigy was recently unveiled by the awesome Uth Records. I decided not to post that performance, nor the episode review because I felt it could have been handled differently. THIS is what the Uth Records track should have resembled, in my opinion. Solo acoustic instrumental. Having said that, I’m sure Usman was blown away at the chance to collaborate with a guy like Ali Noor. I wasn’t too keen on the arrangement of it though. Fire Fly, on the other hand, is much more focused on his incredible tapping talent and composition prowess. 6.53 goes by in a flash, a whirlwind of organic sounds, from the thumping and tapping of the guitar’s body to the power chord hammer-ons of the ‘chorus’. Gumby noted that there wasn’t a market for this type of music in Pakistan. While I agree there isn’t a mainstream market for it, I also believe his instrumental stuff will make serious serious waves on the internet in front of a global audience. Guitar enthusiasts in Pakistan (and trust me, there are a lot of those kind of people in the country) do recognize and appreciate this level of competence with a musical instrument. He should stick with more tracks like this, having guest vocalists act as backup, but keeping his talent up front and center. Also, having an awesome video as this doesn’t harm either. Bilal Khan and Shayan Agha did an incredible job, and their hard work pays off in this piece.