Mani Rahnama, a relative of Babak’s on whose last album Babak’s work first appeared, is to be back after six years of absence from the scene with his eight opus ’til date called “Kojaa be khande miresim”. The album featuring eight tracks is composed by Mani himself and arranged by late Andre Arzomanian. The lyricists on the album are Yaghma Golroee, Babak Sahraie, Nader Bakhtiari and Mariam Aasdi. The album is due out Eide Fetr (id al-fitr), on IranGam.
The new 14 member ensemble Avaye Mehrabani will soon be performing their fusion of FOLK, POP and JAZZ on the stage of the Vahdat hall. It’s interesting to see what kind of audience this ensemble which consists of both male and female musicians and is founded and vocally led by a woman, namely Soheli Pourgerami, will be performing for. Will it be the female-only crowd that is by law allowed to hear a woman singing as a lead or will it be a regular venue with mixed gender audience?!
After Benyamin’s gig in US the manager Rajabpour and ARIAN have announced that their first US tour will kick off in Los Angeles October 2. The band will be enjoying the company of their original member and arranger Ninef Amirkhas, who is currently residing in US for his studies and haven’t been working with the band on their domestic projects and concerts. In this tour ARIAN will be playing a selection of their four released albums and also the recent released singles.
Behnam Safavi who released his debut album last year has in an interview with Moosighie Iranian attacked the underground movement of RAP and HEAVY METAL music! He says that in a country where people watch their music on satellite televisions and then download underground songs from the internet legal industry has no meaning or chance to survival. Poeple no longer can determine what’s good for them, he argues, since bad music gets to promote itself as mainstream. I will abort my career the moment I no longer can make a living from it, Safavi says. The system has to help us legal musicians to stop the threat of RAP music! Rap is destructive music that pollutes and needs to be stopped from overgrowing the wholesome music that we bring for the society. I also hate METAL and HEAVY METAL, Safavi complains. Any import of any Western music is not good. This is satanic music that corrupts! We should not idolize someone who breaks his guitar on stage! If I was put in a position in charge to scrutinise and issue permits I would have banned all these types of music, as music done by corrupt individuals for the corruption of our society. Such music should not be heard! We should nurture our Iranian culture by not letting such satanic influences in our homes, Safavi concludes.
I’ve said it many times before and it is a bitter reality that bears and needs to be addressed many times more, we Iranians often very conveniently build a totem of evil to blame for all the evil doings bestowed upon us. While we are either not concious or courageous enough to admit that this way of thought actually is rooted in our culture and is not a phenomenon suddenly embodied by a clerical oligarchy! This particular interview with a member of our youngest “POP” artists proves my point exactly. You do not need to be a Valiye Faqih in order to have such medieval values and thoughts about pluralism and progress, in fact there is a little dictator living in every one of us waiting for an opportunity to rule over the others! Doesn’t these words of Safavi sound awfully similar to the thoughts of the so called leader, which I posted days ago?! I for one do not want him in charge of anything, I fear the sheer thought if it even! To be fair, Khamenei’s diplomatic take at least sounds like a lesser evil in comparison to this outgoing potential evil crawling under the skin of our society. Truly alarming!
Following the growing rumours and even reports about Habib’s concert dates the Iranian minister of Culture and Guidance (Ershaad), said in a press release that no permit has been issued to any so called returning LA-artist. Seyed Mohammad Hosseini made clear that there has thus far been only one application submitted to the ministry, which has not yet been processed. We can not and do not control the returns or departs of expatriates, however as far as our legal responsibilities are concerned we have not issued any release or performance permit to anyone.
According to Mooisghie Iranian ARIAN have in their latest concert showed a parody clip of the Latin soap operas which get dubbed and broadcast on farsi1 at the moment. The “arian1″ clip featured the members Payam (in wig!) and Sanaz in a couple’s intrigue while being deliberately dubbed badly, without proper lip-synch! It should be mentioned that farsi1 is currently growing popular in Iran due to its broadcast of latest Hollywood movies and TV-series, all dubbed in Persian. And the government is focusing much of its energy to jam the signal and disturb the reception in the capital!
Mohammad Nouri has passed away, at the age of 81. Classically trained Nouri become one of the iconic Iranian musicians through his unique blend of Iranian FOLK music, CLASSIC Western music and high-brow POP music. He was also one of the few to keep his legal and popular status both before and after the Islamic revolution. Nouri will be remembered for his many, many timeless opuses transcending generations and uniting a nation. May he rest in peace.
Khashayar Etemadi who has spent his four past years in bitterness over the fact that the undergrounders have made him and his generation of 2nd Khordad singers to feel like has-beens and asked authorities to stop this decadence by granting him some position in an institution to scrutinise every artist for permits has now turned coat once again and come out with his brand new album “Baayad Be To Bargardam”. An album with 8 tracks which Etemadi has composed and produced together with Behrooz Saffarian and Rasoul Rasouli in 100% artistic agreement, according to himself. The album is sponsored by Mercedes Benz and released on the new label Nahale Roudaki.
Reza Yazdani says in an interview with Moosighie Iranian that his contribution to the religious compilation “Hasht” was because of his belief. No matter whether we are religious or not all Iranians love Imam Reza, Yazdani argues, besides how could one ignore the date of the event this particular year? The 8th day of the 8th month in the year 88, to celebrate the 8th Imam! I am just sorry that the compilation was delayed and wasn’t released on that special day, he says. However my only condition was to have the freedom of delivering the homage in my signature style, and I am glad that I got to do exactly that. A ROCK piece that differs from the rest of the songs on the track list. Electric guitar and religious theme do not necessarily clash, Yazdani concludes, but rather appeal to a different part of the audience.
Hamid Askari has according to Moosighie Iranian announced the planning of an upcoming American tour, in which he will be visiting at least 10 different cities for concerts. Askari has also announced a third album to be on its way, set for release in Mehr month. However unlike what some rumours have had this album might not be titled “Coma 3″, Askari explains, I haven’t picked any title for it yet but it will be featuring nine tracks.
You might have caught Neemeha’s music video on Bia2, Neemeha is an Iranian experimental POP-ROCK fusion band formed in Toronto by Behnam Jahanbeiglou (lead singer, guitarist and songwriter), Arshiya Basiri (drummer) and Behrouz Jahanbeiglou (percussions, clarinet and vocalist). The band seem to be receiving a positive feedback from the audience as they have reported sold-out venues in Canada, during this short time since their emergence.
They are now to release their debut album entitled “KOOK” (clever cover image!), which features 12 original songs with themes about peace, love and society. Neemeha explain that they have tried to create new melodies and modern harmony in their tunes, and by using traditional Iranian instrumentation they have aimed to add a different characteristic to their music. “KOOK” will be released on July 25, 2010 and distributed by MZM in Los Angles.
For more information feel free to check out Neemeha on their fan page on facebook.
After having rejected the rumours about ARIAN’s break up and announced that a new album is on its way, Ali Pahlavan is now opening up for the possibility of not releasing the album after all! He says to the same reporter that in case the band don’t manage to produce enough material for a complete album they will be releasing an EP or single songs. Which basically puts the group back into the rumour square!
According to Nassim magazine Habib has ever since his return been accompanied by a government official everywhere in Tehran, while he and a camera crew from the Iran Music TV have already started shooting music videos around Iran! Including one at his mother’s grave. Habib’s first concert is scheduled to be held in Kish on 25th Mordad, reports Ruydadhaye Moosighi.
Habib’s son Mohamad who has already released three album, two together with his dad and one solo, is also in Iran according to Nassim and Habib has expressed hope for a performance permit even for Mohamad. I have to say that now a certain interview in the Tapesh TV’s new year show some years ago comes to mind, in which it was brought up that Habib is very strict and concerned about his son’s interaction with models in the videos! Because now he is trying to argue his case by saying that he has never appeared in front of a camera with someone of the opposite sex, I wonder if he will use the same argument for his son!
Following his controversial supposed sit-downs with several LA singers, of which Habib is a confirmed case, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the head of the Iranian Presidential Office, had a sit-down with several domestic singers behind closed doors. According to Farhad JavaherKalam’s interview with Moosighie Iranian Mashaei regards POP music very highly and had consulted with the artists on the current climate. He needed their help to stop the cultural erosion, Javaherkalam said to the press, something which he and fellow artists agreed with. The President’s Chief of Staff had promised to support and finance domestic productions that were potent and resilient enough to stand the cultural invasion!
DJ Aligator has been nominated by the multinational Big Apple Music Awards, along with DJ Tiesto and Armin Van Buren, to compete for the “Best DJ of 2010″ title. The event will take place at the Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom, on November 14, 2010. The criterion for the nomination is the international success and popularity of these DJs. If you wish to support DJ Aligator as your favorite DJ in this prestigious awards and international celebration, or for more information, please visit the links below:
Mohsen Yeganeh’s second album has finally received permits from Ershaad and is to be titled “Rage Khaab”. The album didn’t only receive a publishing permit but also a performance permit, hence as soon as the permit was issued coordinator Hamid Keshavarz announced that the entire album will be performed pre-release on his concerts in Isfahan this week.
If there is one domestic artist that has frequently used the term “Mafia of music” in his rhetoric it is Hami! Recently in a gathering held by IranGam to review Hami’s latest sound-track compilation “Aakhodaa” (such events are the domestic industry’s equivalent to the Western release parties), Hami unexpectedly targeted a new group as the part of the music Mafia. Namely the film companies which were accused of deliberately delaying the production of the collection in order to destroy Hami’s career!
Ali Lohrasebi has taken his 26-piece band on a national tour. He assures those who might worry about the concert being dark and gloomy that it would definitely not be the case. Lohrasebi says to Moosighie Iranian that he has rearranged all songs in order to create a more upbeat and energetic atmosphere which differs from his album. People will be reconsidering their image of me after this LIVE experience, he claims.
I have finally read the entire interview and like I mentioned in my blog earlier this morning Habib himself refers to his many songs with religious themes to vouch for his pious character. He says that he sang those songs through the past three decades while he didn’t even needed to when living in West. And the couple of songs of his which might sound indecent are that way because of the decadent LA atmosphere! Those in fact have been mixed in a way to appeal to this decadency, argues Habib. The mixings have been beyond his approval and he was forced per contract to have these songs in his career, he concludes. However he refuses to stand for them, he says, and certainly wont be held accountable for their existence!
Peykeiran.com features a scan of the first page of a hardline daily called “Raahe Mardom”, which features an exclusive interview with Habib who recently returned to Iran! Unfortunately the article itself isn’t featured. In the comments below the headline Habib says that the system is against decadence, not music and art! Those who are considering a life abroad should reconsider since that is no place for living, nowhere is like your own country. He also says that there are possibilities now created for those who intend to return form the exile! Habib thanks the people and the authorities and says that Iranians should take pride in that fact that Iran has turned into such a political power! IRI is definitely using this high-profile return for its own benefit and agenda, like I had predicted that it would. Ershaad had previously said that it’s the artist’s “character” that counts and not his deeds, indicating Habib’s open religiosity and the fact that much of his songs are filled with religious terminology such as “namaaz” and “rooze”!
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