Showstopped
By Orin
There are good TV shows and there are bad ones. Some fit the categories of bringing new ideas to life in the best possible ways and others make life miserable for us (and, eventually, for the network). They really deserve to be cancelled. But some, however, have such genius in them that the suit wearing-rating loving networks executives fail to even comprehend their potential and dump those great ideas, proving why they are what they are (TV devils).
For us TV geeks, those are the times of misery as the time spent together with our screen friends become even more precious. We try cheering ourselves up by thinking that 'it's their loss' and try to see the brighter things in life.
Today we pay tribute to the great shows that have been dumped because of the eternal inanity of the networks.
Arrested Development (2003-2006): This show is the epitome of family comedies, which portrays the eccentric and wild Bluth family. This has hilarious dialogues delivered spot-on by great actors and is one of those shows you can just keep watching (with your headphones on and laugh constantly and get weird looks from people around). I believe this show is among the favourites of anyone who has ever watched it. Sadly though, with all this credit, FOX didn't continue it after just three seasons, which is a tremendous loss for the TV world. They truly made a HUGE mistake.
Futurama (1999-2003): Matt Groening is a genius. He created The Simpsons and after two decades, it's still going strong. Wish the same could be said about Futurama, too. Futurama was perhaps Groening's best creation. Set in a time 1000 years from now, this was really a revolutionary show. It was geeky, funny, witty and satirical all at the same time. This had something for everyone and no matter how many times you watch it, you still be amazed. Then it got cancelled.
The show has bee revived again but it doesn't have the former brilliance.
Dollhouse: (2009-2010) Dollhouse wasn't the best Joss Whedon creation, but it had a nice concept. It might have lacked a few things, but this certainly doesn't justify it being dumped after just 2 seasons!
My name is Earl: (2005-2009) My name is Earl and How I met your mother started around the same time. Both show excelled at first and managed to become quite stale-ish during the third season. While How I met your mother was revived, NBC discarded Earl. If the story of someone meeting their kid's mum is worth 5 seasons, then Earl probably deserved a bit more.
Family Guy (1999-2002): Family Guy is one show (with the exception of South Park) that can literally make you go “Are they even allowed to air that?” This crazy show breaks limit every scene in every episode and just prove how far they can go to prove something. The dad, Peter, almost makes Homer Simpson look like the guy who wrote Iliad. After the cancellation, family guy was renewed again but it's not been nearly as enjoyable.
Chuck (2007-present): Back in 2007, when it was first aired, this quirky, flashy show was considered among the 'must watches'. Within two years, the network began thinking otherwise. NBC cancelled chuck, but the loyal fans went to great lengths to rejuvenate it. This has been renewed now, but just like Futurama and Family Guy, seems to lack the charm of the former self. Hopefully things will get better.
Firefly (2002): Firefly has almost a cult-like fan base. People never hesitate to say that this is their favourite show ever. This was the crown jewel among Joss Whedon's creations. Despite all these, it was abandoned. The network says it cost way more than it was bringing and the fans argue that this was poorly advertised and the episodes weren't aired in order. This debate will go on. And FOX deserves to be blamed. Die Rupert Murdock, die.
Stopping these incredible shows really make you believe that television networks are run by a bunch of pea-brained apes that can only identify large numbers. Curse them.
Music
From next week onwards, we'll be trying to keep up this column featuring hot new UG bands. So if you think you're good enough, please email either Alvi or Musarrat with your info and videos at untamed_unwanted@hotmail.com or musarrat.92@gmail.com.
AFTERM@TH
Local band, Afterm@th, is fast becoming a staple in the concert and café-show lineups. Despite their short time of being active, the band already has a strong fan base.
The band now has Navid I.C on Vocals, guitars and flute, Faheem Hussain on Guitars, Shahjalal Shaikot on Bass and Rezwanul Kamal on Drums.
When asked why they've chosen to call themselves Afterm@ath, the band says, “It means the effect of something. We chose the name because we think our music has an aftermath, meaning it has an effect on people who listen to us.”
The band, focusing on Alternative, Heavy, Progressive, Soft Rock and Grunge genres have performed in local alternative gigs, both plugged and unplugged, for the past couple of years.
They started their journey in '07 with founding members and Faheem and Taushif. Soon after Shaikot joined on bass and, with Taushif on vocals, Faheem on guitars and Shaikot on bass, they debuted at the 'Wireless Session Season 2' on November 27th.
Sochi, a friend of Faheem's then started to help the band find a drummer and Sakib joined. The band soon realised that they needed another guitarist for their kind of music and so welcomed Brenton a month later.
With the band complete, they did a lot of shows in the UG scene and developed started getting fans because of their great music and amazing vocals. But due to unavoidable circumstances and personal reasons Taushif and Brenton left the band in 2009. Navid, also in Old School, joined the band as the new vocal and they've been settled with four members ever since.
So what inspired these four guys to make music together? “We had the same vision and we have a united passion for music. Maybe we won't do this professionally in the long run. But for now, we have a common interest in music. While different bands inspire us without a doubt, it's each other that are the biggest inspirations. When we started jamming and practicing music we got inspired by each other. We realised that we blend smoothly with each other. When Sakib starts a beat, Faheem comes up with the chords, Shaikot puts in the bass line and Navid comes with a tune and the lyrics. We're just very connected.”
They list their collective and individual influences as: Creed, Alterbridge, Nirvana, Black, Nemesis, Arbovirus, Audioslave, Disturbed, Aerosmith, Pantera, Warfaze, Joe Satriani, Adam Jones, Tom Morello, Mike Einziger, Mark Tremonti, John Frusciante, Incubus, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Victor Wooten, Flea, Justin Chancellor, Steve Harris etc.
They've already gotten some recognition for all their hard work and great music: the band has done two radio interview (one with Radio Foorti and the other with Radio Amar) and they've released a track in Mixed Tape, the album released by Fahim Music. Currently they are working on a new track titled 'Moho'. Their second track 'Matir Roud' is a crowd pleasure at concerts with fans even requesting it. The track has been primarily selected for mixed album Rock 404 & 505.
They're also working on their solo album, but till then expect more tracks of this great band to be in mixed tapes.
For Afterm@th fans wanting to stay posted on the bands gig, tracks and videos, please join their Facebook page to stay updated.
By Musarrat Rahman
Defiance
The underground music scene has recently experienced a sudden influx of a lot of young bands. To be honest, most of these bands are rubbish. However, there are a few bands that stand out from the rest and deliver something new and refreshing every time they hit the stage. That is exactly what Defiance offers to its crowd. I got a chance to sit down with the band and this is what they had to say.
When asked about the band name, they answered by saying, the word Defiance itself defines them as a band and how they view their generation. No other word defines them better. The band thrives to push forward into something new and break away from the norm. From the very beginning the goal was to create a totally unique sound.
The current line up features:
Md. Mashnoor Chowdhury Vocals, Sadab Yamin Bass/Vocals, Golam Saif Irfan Guitarist, Shahnewaz Reza Mansur Guitars, Shaan Ahmed Chowdhury Drums/Percussions.
The band main focuses on genres such as Post Thrash/Groove Metal/Metalcore. However, Defiance does add a little bit of their unique style to the genre and successfully make it their own.
All of the members have their own experience with music. Each one has a different story to tell, but as a whole, they have been touched by some band(s), some genre(s), or some unique style of sound that has influenced them into doing what they do today.
These two school friends (Yamin and Zeheen) deviated from the regular rock genre and faded into more aggressive genre(s) after the band Encore broke up. Ayman (from Elysium) joined as another guitarist. A young drummer (Atanu) was recruited. The four shared similar taste in music and started jamming together, with Yamin on vocals. Defiance became active officially in the late July of 2007 and quickly earned a good reputation in the underground. However Ayman left the band due to educational pressures and Zeheen joined "Mechanix". The band peacefully separated their paths with Zeheen.
However the band was rejuvenated with almost a new line up. Saif, Mashnoor and Reza were responsible for resurrecting the band and this time the band hit the underground scene with a newfound force. Atanu had to leave the band due to personal reasons and Shaan, a childhood friend of Yamin, joined as their new drummer.
The band was initially influenced by Megadeth , Metallica and Pantera. Later they started experimenting with new age music such as groove metal bands like Machine Head, Soulfly and Chimaira to name a few. Metalcore bands like Trivium, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains also play a vital role in influencing the band.
In terms of performances and singles, the band has done numerous gigs all around Dhaka city. The band has its two singles, which the fans can find at their facebook page, and one of the single will be released in an upcoming mixed album. Munnawar, a friend of the band, helped them out to put the lyrics on their first single.
When asked about the future the band replied by saying that they plan for a bright future and have intention of stopping. Defiance finds the present line up to be pinch perfect and everything clicks well.
I have been lucky enough to catch them live, and if you are looking forward to something new or just looking for good music, Defiance is definitely worth a shot.
