Ahmad Zahir - (2012) Volume 3 The King of 70's Afghan Pop 2xLP

 Pharaway Sounds ‎– 004 

Double LP of amazing Afghan pop obscurities, deluxe packaging* Pharaway Sounds' last instalment of Ahmad Zahir classics presents twelve psychedelic, romantic ballads by "Kabul's answer to Neil Diamond." Against a backdrop of wah-wah guitar, spaghetti western brass, discoid synths, swaying organ and tabla rendered with FX every bit as epic as the Hindu Kush, Zahir emotes for his country against adverse political conditions. As the son of prime minister Abdul Zahir, Ahmad was exposed to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle and would eventually surpass his father's fame, penning provocative lyrics which spread political themes as far as Iran, which was concurrently becoming as conservative as Afghanistan, eventually leading to parallel fundamentalist revolutions and resulting in his shadowy death at the age of 33. These tunes are testament to a time when that region was relatively as progressive as the rest of the world, a far more modern place than it is today.