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instep analysis Grammy nominations rock! The million dollar question is, who will be nominated for music awards in Pakistan for a year that hasn't seen many major releases! As the Grammy nominations are out, Instep takes a look at albums that released and didn't release this year in Pakistan and which artists should make the nominations list as the award season comes calling in the coming months By Maheen Sabeeh

It is ironic. 2007 is the best year international music has had in years. Yes, there was no U2 but there was the troubled British soul diva Amy Winehouse, the "King of Sex" (according to Rolling Stone) Justin Timberlake (not even Robbie Williams has been this successful since breaking up with Take That!), there was the prog-rock genius of Tokio Hotel (all the way out from Germany), rapper and hustler Kanye West with his latest high school trilogy record, Graduation.

And the Grammys honour roll carries on…. Bruce Springsteen returned with Magic, on which he went back to old-school classic rock. Throw in the king of reinvention Timbaland, who's been a guiding force for Justin Timberlake and the man who reinvented Canadian singer Nelly Furtado into an international superstar with Loose and also released his own record, Timbaland Presents Shock Value and you have a fascinating year. Also throw in Babyshambles, the Pete Doherty band that returned with the punk garage Shotter's Nation and Foo Fighters, the American rock heroes who came out with a new mature record. The more seasoned musicians become, the more nuanced their music gets. Hence, it isn't surprising that most of the above-mentioned artists have picked up nods at the Grammy Awards.

But flip the map and return to Pakistan and it is a sad situation. As Amy Winehouse went onto impress everyone from Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Fergie to Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) and Sir Elton John, here it was the constant flux in the never-ending political soap opera (judicial crisis, emergency, black out of television channels… we all know the story) record label battles and lack of funds that led to delays in album releases from the big guns as well as impressive new artists who were expected to make their debut on the music scene. The consequence is, all major music award ceremonies will have a hard time in finding the right names to nominate. In other words, not all albums that have come out this year are worthy of nominations for Best Music Album at the Lux Style Awards and at the various awards shows hosted by various channels. Here's why…

Strings, who were supposed to release their album (Dhoop) in September, are now looking at a 2008 release. Atif has yet to release his "actual" sequel to Jalpari, Meri Kahani (initially being touted as Hungami Haalaat). Jal are still not out with their new album Boondh. Meanwhile Mauj's long-awaited debut has peen pushed to 2008 too and God only knows when Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's Charkha (produced by Rohail Hyatt and Faisal Rafi) will see the light of day.

The new Fuzon are still nowhere in sight; if you remember, Shafqat had departed and some Rameez Mukhtar had stepped in. Fuzon never released his picture because they wanted him to be a surprise element, but it's been a long time since then and we're still waiting to be surprised! Then there are the promising newcomers - the melodic boys of Kaavish and the impressive foursome Siege whose debuts are nowhere in sight before 2007 draws to a close. Let's get to the others… drum masters Overload, the phenomenal Mekaal Hasan Band and the metal men of Mizraab – no one released an album this year. Noori have disappeared altogether. Ali Noor had surfaced on Music Mastermind and Ali Hamza is still missing in action. Rumour has it that he has left the band, but the Ali brothers remain tight lipped. However, the last time Noori played in Karachi at a concert for Geo, Ali Hamza was conspicuous by his absence.

Ali Azmat might release his second solo album, Klashnifolk, in December, at least that is his plan. And should he take the plunge, his second effort may well be the saving grace of 2007. After all, we need our big guns as much as we need the young new budding musicians in-the-making. As the Grammy Awards nominees just released, one is reminded of what an incredible year 2007 has been for global music. Amy Winehouse walked away with six nominations including the four big ones – Album of the Year, Record of the Year for her album Back to Black, Song of the Year for 'Rehab' and Best New Artist – and Kanye West went onto pick up eight nominations including the most prestigious of all categories (behold: Kanye has done it again) for Album of the Year for Graduation

In comparison, our year in music was dull, dull, dull! Haroon and Mizmaar both returned with Haroon Ka Nasha and Sitara after years but their albums are average at best. Yes, these are albums that one can listen to but that groundbreaking quality, the beat and change of sound that came out from artists like the most lauded musician of the year Amy Winehouse as well as Kanye West, Babyshambles, Justin T, Nelly Furtado, Timbaland as well as others is missing. Music is at its best when it's either raw and/or diverse. 12000 members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (who decide the Grammy nominations and wins) went for the most creative of names. And it wasn't because these artists were constantly in the news for misdemeanours or because they are gorgeous. The Academy went for them because the whole point of the awards is to recognise talent that is creatively diverse even as it is contemporary.

But in our case, we weren't really shocked, rocked, inspired, and awed with music releases this year. And surprisingly enough, out of the four interesting albums of the year, two were in English. The four interesting albums were Rough Cut by Aamir Zaki and Hadiqa Kiyani, Volume I and II by Co-VEN (Company of Vicious Earth Navigators), Naraa Sada Ishq Aye by Abrar ul Haq and Jaanay Do by Ali Haider. While Aamir made the bass guitar weep, the guitar wrench and topped his own debut by miles, it was sadly not accepted enough. This is partly because Hadiqa Kiyani singing in English hasn't gone down too well with fans and also because neither of the two have held concerts to promote their effort.

Co-Ven - whose sound can be simply defined as summer grunge - on the other hand, have regularly performed and are just out with a phenomenal new video, 'Broken Boundaries' that has been directed by wacko, off the wall and ingenious director Uns Mufti. Co-Ven have definitely developed a cult following. Abrar ul Haq returned with tongue-in-cheek bhangra that is his forte and with the often mysterious lyrics, it may not have been one of his finest efforts, but it got a listenership, especially after he was taken to court for calling some girl Parveen, namkeen! Controversies do wonders for album sales. Same is the case with Ali Haider who returned to his pop roots with Jaanay Do and composed mature pop ditties in all his glory. But neither Abrar nor Ali Haider were accepted as wholeheartedly as they usually are, even as they continue to have a following in and outside Pakistan.

Nonetheless, a buzz was created by these for albums and at least showed some courage and experiment. And for just that, these artists deserve nominations, especially Co-Ven, Ali Haider, Hadiqa and Aamir Zaki and they just might get them… after all there is no one else to nominate! All the big guns of music are now looking at 2008 for a release. All said and done, one thing is for sure. If 2007 was the most incredible year for global music, 2008 will be the same for us. Just imagine Strings' Dhoop and RFAK's Charkha and it is enough to set your heart spinning all the way to New Year's Eve and beyond!