Various Artists - Abandoned (2022)

Abandoned is a cross-section from Iran’s vibrant and impressively imaginative ‘alternative’ music scene. ‘Bayāt-E-Fārsi’ by Bamdad Afshar is an example of the beauty coming out of all this. After eerie high notes from Niusha Ghorbani’s cello, bass-guitarist Pouya Shomali plays some sober notes and broken chords. The cello then returns, electronically multiplied, expanding into a bewildering orchestral climax, before resolving in some final flageolet-like tones on the cello. The piece could make a great soundtrack to a movie in one of Iran’s thriving film industry. Golfam Khayam’s atmospheric ‘Mirroresque’ features her on guitar. There’s the track ‘Ash’ by Arash Bolouri and Ata ‘Sote’ Ebtekar who organise the Tehran Electronic Music Festival. The title of another of their recent releases, Majestic Noise Made in Beautiful Rotten Iran, is maybe indicative for this whole album. ‘Nagasaki’s Digit’ is by Ehsan Sadigh, founder of experimental rock-ensemble Quartet Diminished. The final track, Aso Kohzai’s ‘Oudlājān’ was written for traditional Persian instruments, piano and electronics, honours Iran’s musical past through a heartrending sample from a 1909 recording made at the tenth anniversary of the Gramophone Company, by Rezagholi Khan Norouzi, underlining a typical Iranian circularity of innovation and tradition.

Tracklist:
1 01. Isa Ghaffari - Desolate Sway (03:25)
1 02. Soheil Mokhberi - Arbāb Jamshid (05:42)
1 03. Golfam Khayam - Mirroresque (06:19)
1 04. Ata Ebtekar - Ash (07:01)
1 05. Ehsan Sadigh - Nagasaki's Digit (06:36)
1 06. Bamdad Afshar - Bayāt-E-Fārsi (04:09)
1 07. Aso Kohzadi - Oudlājān (07:47)