And finally the management of Taraneye Sharghi dares to admit what the authorities have been claiming all along, that there will be no Chris de Burgh concert! The concert has been postponed indefinitely and as you have been reading in this blog before the reason for this is most likely the alleged link between the artist and the MKO organisation! However Ershaad has so far claimed that they have never rejected any application, since de Burgh has never made any!

My girlfriend, just like most girls, is crazy about Sex and the City! She has watched every single episode at least a 100 times and each time its as if she is watching it for the first time! With same undivided attention and enthusiasm. I have gotten a couple of the limited editions of the movie for her and the first of them which you see here is the German Fashion Edition of the movie, designed as a chic little pursue! Rather creatively and relevantly deigned. Hope she likes it!

I have once said that if I was female and a celebrity I would have been Anastacia! Needless to say I’m a fan of the little lady, her strong voice and sexy image. Anastacia is back now after years of fighting breast cancer and recovering from it. The new album is entitled “Heavy Rotation” and features the same old Anastacia vocally and musically, so far nothing has changed!

But she has made a questionable move image-wise which has kind of disappointed this fan and that is to drop her trademark glasses, which were a big factor in her sex appeal! At least to me, who have a fetish for ladies wearing chic glasses!

Soon a new music festival will see the light of day in Tehran! In affiliation with United Nation and in celebration of the World Aids Day the five day long event will kick off on December 1. Hosted by Niki Karimi and Mohammad Reza Forootan, performing artists will be Ali Reza Assar, Mani Rahnama, Reza Yazdani and Mehran Modiri. The festival is predicted to be sold out!

I finally watched “Mongol” last night! Had really looked forward to see this Russian adaptation of Genghis Khan’s rise to power. And what a cinematic experience it was, enhanced by the use of authentic language and sceneries. Every frame was like an epic painting. “Mongol” depicts the young Temudjin’s life prior to his era of world domination, which he is best known for! Therefore its interesting to see him as a child, lover and father, before being reduced down and forged into the brutal ruler that he came to be!

I’m sure this portrayal will be considered controversial by many historians and mainly Iranians, but like with everything that attempts to retell history even this account is subjective and should be considered as such! However it adds nuance to the legend and does so by narrative finesse and a sense of cinematic authenticity. Definitely worth watching!

I have told you before, I’m getting old! Yep! When I wrote the review on Nooshafarin’s latest, I applauded her decision to give credit to the original composer of the song “Ya Ali”. Today Ahmad, your fellow reader and one of those who have frequently aided this reviewer in research for his reviews, pointed out to me that this song is actually a cover on the Arabo-Andalusian song “Ya Ghali” by the Alabina inspired band Guitara! He was right and the funny part is that I know that song and have listened to it many times before, yet I wasnt able to recognize it in this particular shape and cover! Which indicates a good cover (and that I’m getting old!). However some suggest that its original is Indian and that it is called “Ya Ali” originally, an answer to the question I raised in the review! Further it has been used in the movie “Gangster”. So whether its Indian or Arabic is not clear to me so far! However as far as Nooshafarin’s version goes its not a rip-off but rather a text book example of how a legal/ethical cover should be conducted! Well done!

The autumn is here with all its glorious melancholia and the mood calls for the elvish voice of Sarah McLachlan and her fairy melodies to echo through the moon-lit nights! As the result of a perfect timing a BEST OF album has just been released, which sums up her two decades in the business and comes in two different digipak versions. A regular edition with two brand new tracks and a Deluxe double CD with 12 BONUS tracks and a booklet full of Sarah’s drawings. The following song is not featured on the album but its my favourite song featuring Sarah so I thought giving it a play, enjoy!

When you visit the many blogfa blogs devoted to piracy and illegal distribution of Iranian music there is one certain behaviour which strikes one as peculiar in that particular context. And that is the choosing and picking of one single singer to endorse and promote in a legal and ethical manner! In the middle of all self-righteous act of wrecking you see a raised sign of sanctioned morality which advocates: “please support X by buying his music and not downloading it!”. And this very contradiction in attitude and action reflects the very hypocrisy that resonates in our culture and society! As long as its “them” and not “us”!

Mohsen Yeganeh whose legal album has sold more than 150.000 copies till this day, says in an interview with Shahrvande Emrooz that even though both his and Chavoshi’s music were recorded in and leaked from the same studio they never met before the actual incident. Unlike Chavoshi, Yeganeh admits that he deliberately released his tracks illegally after having been rejected by Ershaad in the begining. I wanted exposure and feedback, he explains. He says that not all artists are privileged enough to enjoy the support of the state media like Ehsan Khajeamiri does. Someone who Yeganeh doubts would have been the star he is today if he wasn’t favouritised by IRIB. Yeganeh only regrets that his name has been listed with the majority of the undergrounders whom he consider as underachievers! He says that he is getting more and more into ELECTRONICA and that it will put its flair on his future music, his next work however will be a REMIX album.

thanks to Mansour J.

Hossein Arab Assadi of Ershaad said in a press conference that education is considered being one of the fundamental pillars of music and should not be pursued as a “hobby”! Anything but a “professional” approach is considered as undermining and should be reconsidered by those many who take it lightly.

The Iranian/Filipino Sepideh Vaziri is currently one of contestants on the Swedish IDOL. This exotic lady is a perfect specimen of the new generation of Iranians around the world with a multi-ethnic and -cultural background. A beautiful blend of features and talents! She has an amazing voice which has spellbound both the public and jury in Sweden! Here is taste of what she does:

If you like to see more of Sepideh, there are more of her to be found on youtube!

Few days ago I was going through some of my old mix-discs when suddenly Saeid Shahrouz “Eblis” started playing! Bringing back memories and reminding me how much I really enjoyed and missed his voice and music. I began wondering why we haven’t heard from the man in so many years, while he used to release albums on an annual basis! Coincidentally I was informed today that his brand new album was released without any advertisement a few weeks ago, entitled “Bikhaabi”. Behrooz Saffarian has co-composed and -arranged the album.

Its good to have you back!

I keep getting emails asking me why I haven’t announced the departure of Kourosh Yagmaie! Well to my knowledge the whole thing has been a nasty rumour! Reportedly he is alive and well, working on new material.

Hamid Askari is according to several concert arrangers the unofficial record holder of concerts in Iran! This in a time when POP performers are being discriminated against.

Chavoshi’s legal debut is finally released and confirmed available in the stores! The album comes in three different types of packaging, namely wallet, jewel case and digipak. A new website has also been launched, dediacted to the new album:

http://a-lotus-sprout.com

thanks to Mansour J

Hossein Zaman will be back, once again, with a new album called “Gharaare Aasheghi”. A collaboration with prominent creators such as Behrooz Saffarian (pic), Toraj Shabankhani and M. R. Cheraghali.

House of Farhad is being dissolved due to internal turmoil! So far the indefinite postponing of the long announced Farhad Awards has been blamed on the lack of location, now as the dirty laundry is being aired in Fars News things seem to have a less pleasant explanation. Reportedly there is an ongoing legal dispute between Farhad’s family and the other parties in the board of directors, regarding the legal rights when it comes to the awards. A disagreement which has developed into a dispute in courts and as long as the issue hasn’t been solved the fate of the awards is uncertain. The family however attempts to establish a new independent House of Farhad, as soon as possible.

As I personally expected the Chavoshi album which was due out today has been postponed till further notice! Rumour has that its due to the label Barbad Music’s problems with authorities!

Chavoshi who is currently the talk of the press in Tehran, has in recent interviews suggested that competing companies have had a role in ruining his reputation with Ershaad and now aim to get their album-releases coincided with his so that they can sell their products when people visit the record stores to get his album. But I don’t mind helping them out, he says to Shahrvande Emrooz.

“Ye Shaakhe Niloofar” features material that is what the fans expect, its commercial in that sense, even though it no longer represents Chavoshi’s personal taste and style. Next album however will. It will be less POP and more experimental and avant-garde. Even though there is TRANCE on the new album I’m more of a soft ROCK fan says Chavoshi. The singer and his arranger Ahari also make sure to let us know that Mohsen Namjoo has expressed request to do a collaboration with Chavoshi. The album is currently under production but he is now more careful to give the new material an early exposure, based on the previous experiences that got his albums leaked and his legal career postponed. All songs leaked were done by the studio owners who recovered those deleted demos from their computers, some even recorded their own voice and made it sound like a duet while it wasn’t (perhaps referring to the Mohsen Yeganeh duet which Chavoshi has always rejected), claims the singer.

Chavoshi assures us that he will never again attend to themes and lyrics with negative vibe and energy, since he didn’t like them even when he made them before and now it doesn’t suit his mentality to sing songs about “hate“ and “suicide“. The early songs were misunderstood explains Chavoshi and unrightfully got to represent my style and music. He admits that the music was a product of a certain musical wave and trend that brought him and others to the musical foreground back then. While he understand that much of his popularity depends on exactly that misunderstanding, he realises that he has changed and feels more socially-morally responsible. He cant stand for such an attitude in general and wishes to promote morality and love. He sees those songs as mistakes and would like to put that part of his career behind him, once and for all, according to the interview with 40cheragh.

I have no issue with Ershaad, Chavoshi says, they rightfully thought that since I didn’t report the leaked songs I myself was responsible for the leakage, while I didn’t know that I was supposed to report such a thing. He realises that many have lost their popularity after legalisation but claims that he wont since he is constantly developing. As an answer to why he is public/media-shy he replies that he doesn’t seek fame while others use him to reach it. By taking pictures with him while he is asleep or present themselves as him in public in order to sign autographs. I try to avoid people and media, in past people have exploited my friendship says Chavoshi.

While he now in retrospect sees his involvement in the “Santoori” movie as a smart move for his career (as opposed to how he has expressed regret last year) he realises that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that he will never again attend to scoring soundtracks. Since any other attempt to surpass will fail and fade in comparison. Mohsen Chavoshi claims that those who suggest that its not his actual voice on the albums are lying and that he doesn’t even use any significant effect on his voice (!) or manipulating it in any other way than applying echoes. His declining of the invitation to perform at Kish Festival was due to him not being ready to give concerts yet, he says, and not that he is scared of people hearing his real voice. In fact there might be no one who is a more solid live performer than I am, Chavoshi confidently claims! Finally he informs that he is not willing to give concerts outside Iran, because that might jeopardise his career inside the country.

A sneak peek at the album cover image, which promises a rather refreshing concept!

Thanks to Mansour J

Mohsen Chavoshi’s legal debut is released with 12 tracks and will be available in the stores as of tomorrow morning! If you haven’t followed the whole story behind this album feel free to type “chavoshi” in the blog’s search engine and read the older posts. I will also write more about Chavoshi and this release tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Davood Behboodi’s new album “Nazgol” is released as a combo CD/DVD package:

http://musicboxla.com/dabenagol.html