[rhythmdevils]

Nusrat is amazing.  Both the quality of the musicianship and the feel, which is deeply spiritual, but not cheezy-happy at all.  It reminds me of India more so then any other music I have heard (yes, even though he is from Pakistan). 
 
Can yall recommend some similar artists? 
 
This is the album I have:  Shahenshah
 

 
Here's a song from the album if you haven't heard it
 

 

 

[tru blu]

Can't be sure, but I think one reason that no one's contributed to this thread is that qawwali, the spiritual-based music that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan made, is not Indian. It's Pakistani…two very, VERY different things…

 

[rroseperry]

^ And it's not pop music, though people tend to think of it that way since someone did that mashup of "Mustt Mustt" back in the 90s.

He's got a huge catalog. Some of it's on Shanachie, some are imports. Amazon has a good selection but I'd skip the later stuff put together after his death.

edited to add: It wasn't a mashup strictly speaking, but a dance version

 

[rhythmdevils]

I figured I must have said something offensive.   OP has been edited. 
 
Quote:

Can't be sure, but I think one reason that no one's contributed to this thread is that qawwali, the spiritual-based music that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan made, is not Indian. It's Pakistani…two very, VERY different things…

"very VERY different"?  Really?  I spent 8 months in India and I heard music that sounded very close to Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn's music all the time.  And even if I didn't, it is in fact very VERY similar music to what is made in India at least musically.  The lyrics I cannot understand... 
 
It does seem like pop music to me simply because it is more accessible than other music I have "from that area of the world".  But that could be because it is a different style, from a different country, which I did not realize. 

 

[ramadugu]

I can recommend some songs. A R Rahman is a big fan of Nusrat Sahab. The songs that ARR scored which he dedicated to Nusrat Sahab are:
1. Tere Bina (Movie Guru)
2. Piya Haji Ali (Movie Fiza)
3. Arziyan (Movie Dilli 6)
4. Khwaja Mere Khwaja (Movie Jodha Akbar)
5. Gurus of Peace (Album Vandemataram)
 
Now you might feel these songs do not exactly fall into qawwali or sufi style that Nusrat Sahab rules but you might like these songs.
 
Other artist that has deep roots of sufi is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Awesome singer. He has sung many hindi songs and he has his own compositions. If you live near Chicago, he is coming in May, 2011.
 
Enjoy!!

 

[tru blu]

Some musics travel quite far away from their places of origin…they're just funny that way. I've never been to India, but when I hear the term "Indian pop" it makes me think of Bollywood film music like Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and, yeah, A R Rahman. India's so huge, though, that I'm sure it contains multitudes.
 
As for qawwali, I'd suggest two family troupes: The Sabri Brothers or Mer and Sher Ali. Nusrat has a few nephews and a cousin in the game now, too: Rahat's more famous 'cause he made it to the West first, but I think cuz Badar Ali Khan and the two nephs who make up the group Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali have him beat on both vocal power and Western beat-consciousness when they decide to roll that way. I also like special lady Abida Parveen; women aren't s'posed to sing qawwali, so she initially pissed a lot of folks off by embarking on a career. She may even be a bit earthier than the rest of the younger generation, probably 'cause she had sump'n to prove. Hope this helps…

 

[rhythmdevils]

Thanks for the recommendations.  I'll check them out! 
 
There's tons of pop music from the US that came way before any electronics.  There's good and rubbish pop music.  I think it just means "popular" as in accessible.  The Beatles are pop music.  I'm not sure about the musical terms here, I didn't study music in school or anything, but I think it could be said that pop music is more about melody then complex musical structures.  Nusrat seems like pop music to me for this reason, and that's why I said "classical" because there's no drum machine for example.  But I could definitely be wrong. 

 

[ramadugu]

@tru blu,
Thanks for those suggestions. I have never heard other nephews of Nusrat Sahab. May be because they are not into singing in Hindi films. I'll check out their music.
 
-Sai

 

[FalconP]

More melancholic, and somewhat more lyrical, is the Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov (also known as Alem Kassimov and a dozen of transliterations). His long-form improvisation songs, based on folk poetry, are mostly about unrequited love rather than religion, but his vocal delivery and emotional sensitivity reminds me strongly of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

 

[mukulymn]

There are 2 to 3 albums named soulful sufi. You can try that.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

More melancholic, and somewhat more lyrical, is the Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov (also known as Alem Kassimov and a dozen of transliterations). His long-form improvisation songs, based on folk poetry, are mostly about unrequited love rather than religion, but his vocal delivery and emotional sensitivity reminds me strongly of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

I've actually seen Qasimov live…he really brings it.
 

 

[ardgedee]

In terms of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's own albums, the best recording quality is the stuff on RealWorld (like Shahenshah) and Ocora/Radio France (a five-volume set of two concerts, some time in the 80s). I don't think they're the best performances, though. Shahenshah is the most detached and uninvolving of his recordings, and the one I listen to least often even if the sound quality is stellar.

I have a few Pakistan-produced albums where the performances are much more lively and rolling and almost punk rock intense. The recording quality on them can be distractingly bad, though.

The Shanachie releases (like Intoxicated Spirit) split the difference; some great moments, and good-enough technical quality.

Sorry for being a little off-topic, I can be more specific and namedrop some related artists once I've got access to my music library again. I was fascinated by qawwali for a few years in the mid-90s and ended up with a pile of albums. NFAK had a large catalog of releases even before his death, and like Elvis and Tupac he might be even more prolific dead than alive; even if you never branch out to related artists or buy anything released after his death you can accumulate hours of good qawwali.

 

[gratefulshrink]

I second the recommendation for the Sabri Brothers