Wednesday SXSW Showcases

Overload

The Music of Pakistan

Sponsored by the Foundation for Arts, Culture, and Education, the Pakistani showcase returns with especially eclectic talent. Co-founder of experimental collective Forever South in Karachi, Dynoman manipulates electronics into sounds – as much art as dance – as heard on his forthcoming LP Travels to Janaicah 2: Songs for Lana. On the other end of the spectrum, Rahim Yar Khan's Wahid Allan Faqir draws on a love of Sufi poetry for traditional music performed on the single-stringed kingh. Hailing from the same Sindh region as Faqir, Mai Nimani casts an even wider net, performing both Sindhi and Punjabi kalaams and traditional Sindhi folk tunes accompanied by her husband and brother-in-law. Imran Aziz Mian Qawwal brings gang vocals, fleshed-out arrangements, and an element of mysticism to his Sufi recitations. Cranking the electricity, Overload, Lahore's self-proclaimed "loudest band in Pakistan," conjures a distinctive sonic wash, incorporating traditional Qawwali into its electro-acid funk.