Zain Create have an offer for limited time, if you register before the 1st of april you’ll get KD 5.100 (thats 5 kds and a 100 fils) of credit to download songs off their music store. I went ahead an registered, it was an easy process and I got the promotional 5KDs credited to my Zain Create account. You should all register, there is no need to miss out on this one time deal.
Anyway, I looked around the site, then wanted to download something to try the service out. I went to the top 10 list and found that Fadhel Shaker’s new album is in the #1 spot (Not just that, He is #1 in the top songs, albums, and artists list!) so I went with Fadhel’s new album. I bought the album (10 tracks, each track costs 300fils. You can’t buy the whole album as of now, but it says in the FAQs section that the option will be available soon. It better be). I bought the album and am now listening to 2 of the songs.. the download rate is between 10kbps and 35kbps (I’m using ego 7.2).
I’m listening to Jowa Al Roh right now and the quality is superb. the song is 4:27 long, in MP3 format, 6.2MB, 192 Kbit/s. Obviously good quality. and comes with an ID3 tag with the picture of the album’s cover.
The whole site is very well designed and is easy to use. I love it.. but there is room for improvement. Hear me out if you have a say in this project:
1- I need to be able to tell which song is already downloaded. Like for example as I was downloading Fadhel’s songs, I lost track. There needs to be a sign or a label on the song which has been downloaded so i don’t download it again by mistake.
2- The lack of Mac software is not acceptable.
3- The song sampling is very fast, which I appreciate a lot, but sometimes the play button doesn’t work and I have to refresh a few times before I can start sampling the song.
4- I should be able to download the whole album as a package, coz it was a hassle downloading each track separately. I know it’s coming.. but still, it should be available from the start imo.
5- It says that once I download a song, I should receive an sms immediately, and yet, I downloaded 10 songs, wrote this post and still not a single sms.
I think the service is very good and that Zain did a great job with this whole thing.
Visit Zain Create and get the offer before it expires.
Update:
I was sent an email by Zain replying to the 5 points I wrote above. Here is their reply:
1-Noted will work on it you can check your downloads on my create section .
2- Noted will communicate your request if doable.
3- This is related to your browser
4- working on it,, coming soon along with video clips , ringtones & wallpapers .. & non Rotana songs …
5- This is due to the free promotion once you consume your 5 KD , you will get a chargable sms once you purchase a song ( charging is via sms for free songs no sms is sent only a box stating your free purchase ).
Finally , try out the streamed channels of Rotana( Audio & TV ) as well on the website & try to download the mobile application from web its compatible with Nokia & Sony Ericson symbian mobiles ,,, blackberry soon ….
Saleh & Dawod AlKuwaiti were Jewish musicians who lived in Kuwait in the past. According to the article, they were ingenious musicians “”They even invented certain scales that didn’t exist at the time.” The Emir of Kuwait would go visit them in their house to listen to their music. They named one of their sons Sabah after the Emir’s family name. The Emir also attended his circumcision (6ohoor) and gave them a box full of gold coins as a present.
The part in the article where it mentions their stay in Iraq is what caught my attention the most. It says that the AlKuwaiti brothers were responsible for inventing what we now call “Traditional Iraqi music.” The Iraqi government didn’t want Saleh and Dawod getting credit for the great music they were introducing and were labeling AlKuwaiti’s music as traditional/old iraqi music, as in ‘not originals’, and in some cases it was credited to other musicians by force.
They immigrated later to the newly occupied palestine. That was when they faced the biggest blow to their talents.. Not being able to play their music in concerts, where it belongs, but instead they played in family dinners and parties, “had to play weddings and barmitzvahs and family fiestas, with people eating and drinking… and not listening.”
Anyway. The article is an interesting one and you should read it. The video on top is of a song I’m currently in love with, produced by Saleh AlKuwaiti.
There is a new radio station, 94.9 fm, that specializes in Kuwaiti folklore music. I’m new to this whole genre of music and just beginning to get into the whole samri thing, and I’m loving how old some of the songs are and how some, now famous wedding songs, are covers of unrecognizable originals. If you’re a fan of old Kuwaiti songs then you should tune in
Again this was one of our Bahrain trip stops. The exhibition is held in Moda Mall. Billboards and decorations outside the mall were all about the Om Kalthoom exhibition and the music inside the mall was all Om Kalthoom’s. The exhibition was surprisingly small and the items were very few (aside from her photos) considering all the signs and flyers we saw about the thing. However, to be there and seeing her stuff was worth it. Read the rest of this entry »
I enjoy listening to Christmas songs a lot, and because I’m not Christian, the songs for me aren’t necessarily seasonal, I can listen to them all year long. I mean, I don’t listen to them all year long, that would be overdosing, but when I do put on a song, I don’t wanna stop listening. They’re soothing and calming.
My absolute favorite classic Christmas song has to be O Holy Night, Mariah’s version, which is in my opinion the ultimate version for the song. Another song on Mariah’s Christmas album ‘Jesus oh what a wonderful child’ is also one of my favorites. I especially like her singing toward the end when she let it rip with some very soulful vocals. Other classic song sung by Whitney that I like is joy to the world, very nice rendition, she sung it for her 96 soundtrack, the preacher’s wife, and thank God she did coz her voice back then was still in a good shape for this genre of music. Then there are the famous ones like Nat Coles’ The Christmas song and Evlis’ Blue Christmas… among others.
So anyway.. do you like Christmas songs? What are your favorites?
Ali just spotted an elevator parking near Villa Fairoz.
It was actually under testing and not officially launched. I remembered i saw this one when i was in Tokyo in 2004 and it took us 4 years to get this technology to Kuwait. I think a 4 years lag is not that much looking at the gap in technology between Kuwait and Japan
Thanks Ali
UPDATE:
Ali also capture it in motion .. Thanks again
Incase the video isn’t working, you can check it out HERE.
This video may be a bit old but I keep going back to watch every now and then. This guy’s voice and his ability to change tones amazes me. Listen closely at 1:00. Absolutely amazing!
I’ve been listening to this song, changes, from Will Young’s new album for the past couple of days and I can’t seem to get enough of it. I like how the lyrics are light and somewhat sad but then the song comes off happy and uplifting.
Take a listen:
[audio:http://somecontrast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/01-changes.mp3]
5 months ago I posted how it was easy to get an iTunes card off ebay, and till a couple of days ago it was the only way I could get an iTunes card. Well, the other day khalid made a comment on that post saying that he sell those cards.
I emailed him and learned that:
1-He sells iTunes gift cards and provide the cards via email.
2-Every $1 = 350 fils, which means a $10 iTunes card would cost 3.5kd and so on..
3-He’s got 2 bank accounts as a method of payment, meaning you deposit the card’s worth to his account on either Gulf Bank or NBK.
Here is his E-MAIL if you’re interested in buying some iTunes cards.
Apple just wrapped their ‘Let’s Rock’ event and these are the announced products:
-New iPod Nanos.
-iTunes 8.
-New thinner iPod Touch 2.0
-New colors for Shuffle.
-iPod Classics (I don’t get this update. They no longer have the 160GB?)
Apple will hold an event on the 9th of this month, it will be probably mainly for the mini ipods, but who knows maybe they’re gonna introduce the new tablet 9K2HN stay tuned coz i think ena alah hadaak o elfal lekhwanek inshallah
UPDATE: it seems that im a bit outdated, coz there are no ipod minis for couple of years now, I guess I meant to say ipods nano. Thanks Kha for the correction
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: August 19, 2008 09:36 AM
LOS ANGELES, Calif.
What would it sound like if 15 of the hottest female singers joined voices? The answer will be revealed Sept. 2.
That’s when “Just Stand Up” hits airwaves and iTunes. The song features Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood. All sales of the star-studded single will benefit cancer research.
The charity tune was conceived by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who produced it with longtime creative colleague Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds.
Listen to the song “Just Stand Up”
[audio:http://somecontrast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/stand_up_to_cancer_-_all_star_charity.mp3]
My friend just sent me a link for a site where you can find a ring tone for almost every arabic name. I found my name and my parent’s. Click HERE and find yours.
A ringtone with my name
[audio:http://somecontrast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yousef.mp3]
It’s been awhile since I last heard something new from Whitney Houston, but Whitney is back people! I just got her new song featuring Akon, titled “Like I never Left”. Its a nice breezy summer song, a catchy slow jam and for some it could be a perfect sing along song. Just the perfect song to ease back into the public and for the people to warm up to her again. Akon’s part is good too, their voices compliment each others.
I think its good they decided (and by they I mean Clive Davis) to leak a song like ‘Like I Never Left’, which I consider a safe song. Vocally and lyrically its very safe and could be received well at radio. They could’ve easily gone with a big production big over the top vocals, but They were smart not to do so, imo, and by leaking this song so casually without announcing to the world that its her first single from her new album, they’ll get a chance to remind people of Whitney and at the same time avoid getting harsh criticism for it not being first single material.
I like the song a lot. Here, listen for yourself:
[audio:http://somecontrast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/whitney_houston__ft_akon__-_like_i_never_left.mp3]
i love what Zain is doing in the past 2 years which is targeting the whole world, they want to expand as fast as they can! which is obviously amazing! this is their new ad which is pretty good too, Sara7a i loved their previous ads.
More over if any one want to put this as a ring tune for his/her mobile i just uploaded it so you can download it directly through our site.
My brother once told me not to try any chinese restaurants outside of Kuwait. He said that the chinese restaurants in Kuwait are very careful when cooking the dishes, they don’t want to alienate their Kuwaiti customers by cooking real chinese food, coz sometimes its too much for them to handle. My Brother basically said that in Kuwait they cook Kuwaiti friendly chinese dishes.
My brother’s favorite chinese restaurant in the world is Peacock in SAS Hotel, since Peacock is highly overrated in my opinion, I tried to take his advice with a grain of salt. I wanted to prove and make a point to myself, that there are good chinese restaurants out there, somewhere.
Today, I was out by myself, and I like to try new places when there is no one around. The reason I don’t prefer eating at new places with people with me is coz I don’t like the disappointed look and the “its all your fault” stare when the food turns out to be inedible (which often is the case). Anyway, As I was saying, I was out by myself and wanted to try a chinese restaurant, to prove a point. I entered the first restaurant I saw. Its called Chez Leung. There was no one inside besides the 2 chinese guys eating at a table near the kitchen and talking with the waitress, they were her friends, I think.
I chose a table and sat. I inspected the place for awhile, thinking to myself “this looks like a nice authentic restaurant. Look at the plants, the frames, the little plastic kitty waving, the plants again, the music… err.. the music?!” the Eagles “Hotel california” was playing from the speakers. Not so authentic. I was expecting some whiny girls singing words I don’t know. The waitress came, very friendly, took my order then went to the kitchen, all the while smiling like she’s just seen a friend. I took out my laptop, no wifi signal, returned the laptop back only to find the waiter standing next to me with my starters. The dish came out fast, definitely not a good sign. My starter was chicken on toast with sesame. It tastes bland, I couldn’t really taste the chicken, it tasted like a dessert called Samsamiya, Which I hated since I was little. My brother was half right by that now. But there was still hope, a chance for me to be right for doubting my brother. Not so long after she took my first dish, she came back with the main course, Hot & Sour chicken. It did not look very appetizing, and the mood they’re trying to set with the music is not working out well. By now George Michael’s “Careless whisper” was playing, followed by “you take my breath away”, Savag Garden’s “I knew I loved You”, Bryan Adams’ “Everything I do”. At first I was blaming the radio for playing all those songs, but after hearing them all back to back it was clear now that it wasn’t the radio playing all those songs, it was a them.. the restaurant! coz no radio would risk its reputation by playing all these sappy songs consecutively! (unless its 99.7 RKFM).
I finished eating and asked for the check. I couldn’t have been more off with the restaurant choice. The food was horrible, The place was not as authentic as I hoped for (I saw a ketchup bottle) and the music selection was… no comment.
I paid and headed to the door, A song started playing as I was stepping out the door, I couldn’t really catch it, it went something like this “If… I.. Shoould stay.. I would only… be in..”
Someone threw a hat at Amy winehouse’s head during her performance and she thought it was the guy in front of her trying to pull her hair (wig). So, she reacted just like any other person would react infront of 80,000 people, she elbowed the guy and then punched him several times just to make sure she got him.
I’m surprised though at how well the fan is taking it. He’s not thinking of suing and not even mad at the singer. Click HERE to watch the interview with punched fan.
