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Searching the apps store, we found these to be the most efficient in offering music and news at a time when choice overload can overwhelm a listener.
It has been said before but in these dangerous times, it must be said again. Instead of getting caught up in a crowd that could not only infect you but those around you, the better decision is to follow guidelines and maintain social distancing. It is not easy but one thing that does have the capacity to provide the human brain with catharsis is music. Even with the existence of the home-grown app, Patari, a listener may not always be in the mood for local content or musical material that is made by Pakistani artists but is not available on Patari. It depends on just how curious you are about the counterculture at home as well as other musical cultures and more.
Therefore, here is a shortlist of free apps, available for any android gadget as well as Apple products, such as iPod Touch, to download for free exploration.
Not all Pakistani artists based at home and abroad prefer Pakistani music app, Patari, hosting their content. The entire catalogue of Mooshy Moo, the pioneering independent net label from Karachi, established in 2007, is hosted by bandcamp (in addition to a singular website).
Musical material from founder Dalt Wisney as well as artists likes Mole, Toll Crane, Smax, Noahs Heark, Mighty Hook, Nakama and Slowspin is available on bandcamp. Individual pages for several artists also exist such as Nawksh, Slowspin, Ali Suhail and many others. A lot of the local counterculture material is available on the website with many – if not all – Eps and LPs available for free downloads. Others might require payment but it doesn’t require more than what has been earned. Some of the most elaborate music coming out of Pakistan can be streamed on the site as well. It has, in many ways, become the antithesis to Patari from which a slew of artists wanted their content pulled. It’s great that they have other options to broadcast their work on!
When man landed on the moon, there was nothing but abyss and blackness except for a blue circle that was the earth. Now imagine an app that gives you the globe and lets you roam about, listening to whichever part of the world you have selected. The numbers of green dots tell you how many radio stations you can explore so in some parts of the world there is only one dot while others have many to choose from. The channels, available for streaming, vary in languages. It is also amusing to find what is played in different parts of the world and just how much music from America has found an audience on a truly global scale. But it offers everything from Arabic music to tribal beats to acidic music to sonorous music from unknown as yet artists depending on where you make a choice to land. French music is often enigmatic as a foreign film, made in a foreign language. Some channels also report news so it is more than only music and it’s entirely free, at least for now.
Deezer is not Spotify, for sure, but it is the answer when Spotify says it’s not available in your country. It makes you wonder where to head to stream music you already know you like. It could be Sting or The Smiths or Craig David or Joni Mitchell - Deezer has it all. If you choose to not pay, you will be hit with ads after a couple of songs but it offers music from different decades like the ’80s, ’90s and so on and also gives you a choice of potential playlists for you, based on your listening habits.
Imagine watching a new Netflix show and the music is enchanting. You can go online and search Google or download Shazam that will do it for you. Shazam is an app designed for a music listener to simply find and recognize any song, whether you know it, or most possibly you don’t.
From the score of Medici: Masters of Florence to the incredibly moody musical landscape of True Detective (Season 1) and the award-winning western Godless to network shows like ABC’s Bones or the soundtrack of the once-hit TV series, Gossip Girl, Shazam recognizes most of the music and works better than other apps designed to do the same. Once downloaded, it works for free.
Genius is the best website if you are interested in lyrics of the music you are listening to – at least one that features words. Ahead of other websites, Genius can also provide other albums of the same artist and is growing as more and more information about the real context of the lyrics is also being added. Not all of it is validated but for those listening to lyrical music, Genius is the app to download to have the lyrics available at your fingertips.
