Another postponing on the way, this time Hamid Askari’s “Coma 2″ which will be postponed ’til after the ongoing presidential election. The company is afraid that a release today risks being overshadowed by the election campaigns in media and chooses rather to wait one more month. By the way, a month ago I mentioned in my blog that Benyamin had accused Askari of ripping off his signature style! I am not sure what has happened since then but now he suddenly recognizes the same Hamid Askari as one of Iran’s top five pop artists, which he would use in a dream team!!! Iranian (in)sincerity never seizes to amaze me!lol

Note: thanks to Ahmad

Due to unexpected pre-release leakage Reza Sadeghi’s third legal album “Cheghadr Sakhte”, which was due out these days, is postponed until further notice! Reportedly Sadeghi and the producers have panicked and fear a commercial failure due to the leakage. Therefor the album is about to undergo a serious make over and boost before a release date is set. The track list is said to be revised and the title changed to something new.

I’m watching the first season of the critically acclaimed and multiple EMMY-awarded TV-series “Mad Men”. I’ve never thought a show about an era wherein the American society and culture were highly charged with a post-war arrogance, moral hypocrisy and sexual/racial chauvinism would charm me to such extent. But I’m hooked! Caught in time I normally hate! But someway, somehow I frickin’ love it! For the moment at least!

I wish I lived back in 1959. Had my office on the Madison Avenue with a view over Manhattan and my healthy full-figure secretary serving my every possible need. While my homemaking wife made me pumpkin pie filled with love and devotion after having put the children to bed. I wish I ruled the world of advertisement as a sharp dressed shark and pomade-greased creative mastermind with the smirk of success on his face! A mad man by the name of …Don Draper!

The Belgian CLUB act SYLVER are back with a new studio album. They have also gone from being a duo to being a trio! Unfortunately the album is also, in my opinion, the weaker of heir albums considering their amazing debut  “Chances” and the even stronger follow up “Little Things” which delivered a minimalistic and melancholic sound. They have since then gone more and more towards the euphoric sound, even though still remaining minimalistic. Nonetheless there are still material of the initial SYLVER calibre on “Sacrifice”. If not then there is always sweet-singing Silvy’s lovely legs to rest eyes on! hehe

The scene you see above displays the ruins of a civilisation that once used to be my home!lol This is what a home tends to turn into every now and then when its habitated by a shopaholic slash workaholic indvidual who lives a nomadic urban life! The combination of a too small place, too much stuff and no time to sort things out adds up in a pile of mess. And this is what my place often looks like during the seasons! However summer is usually when I get time to do my spring cleaning, where I attend to some serious house shuffling. Hopefully in a few weeks from now all items to be or not to be spotted in this mess will be put to their respective place. Amen!lol

I work with kids, giving them social and emotional training (EQ). However our sessions often end up being discussions about STAR WARS! Kids have a very limited understanding of history and time, so as far as they are concerned everything that exists right now has been created for their pleasure only! Therefore it’s very hard for them to understand how I, their grownup teacher, not only watched the movies when he was their age, long before their existence, but unlike their other teachers is something of an expert of the universe. I somehow know things that don’t even exist on film. They beg me to basically hold lectures about the past and future of the galaxy far, far away! And the fact that I come up with own JEDI characters and draw them realistically is to them a Godlike feature. They worship me as if I was George Lucas himself!lol Speaking of good old greedy George, many have a love-hate feeling towards the man. Love him for his creative mind and hate him for his cash-in ambitions! But regardless of how you feel about the man, you can’t deny the fact that he more than 30 years ago created a universal saga which amazingly keeps feeling current and relevant for the kids of today, yesterday and tomorrow! Technically and narratively timeless.

Got this press-release the other day, sounds like an interesting project which should be supported!

“Compilation Album of Iranian Underground Music to be Released

London, 19th May 2009 - The first in a series of compilation albums tapping Iran’s
thriving underground music scene will be released worldwide in July 2009.

UK-based Bar-Ax Promotions has teamed up with USA indie record label Bamahang
Productions to release this music series in order to help give worldwide exposure to
the struggling underground musicians in Iran.

Despite the many restrictions imposed by the Iranian government on art in general,
the music scene has been increasingly active and has grown to encompass a wide
variety of music styles including Blues, Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal, Fusion,
Jazz, Rap and Hip Hop.

While most of these bands and musicians are still active in Iran, the government
does not allow them to record, publish, or perform their music in public. This is
partly due to the uncompromising nature of their music and lyrics in tackling social
and political issues. However, even simple romantic themes are also frowned upon by
the Iranian government.

The refusal of these musicians to stay within the undefined red lines of
self-censorship in Iran makes them outsiders to the circle of favoritism and
government backing which a limited number of groups have been able to enjoy in
recent years, allowing one of them to go as far as recording with 80’s pop
star Chris De Burgh with government approval.

This music series aims to introduce Iranian underground musicians to the outside
world and to provide a unique portrayal of what goes on musically and artistically
in basements and private home studios in Iran, in the face of government control and
restrictions.

About Bar-Ax (www.bar-ax.com)

Bar-Ax is an independent cultural organization created to boost the freedom of music
in Iran and to enhance the artistic freedom of its musicians. Our aim is to be a
major knowledge and promotion centre for the contemporary and alternative
(non-mainstream) music of Iran, and to propagate and enhance the position of
Iran’s musical life, both nationally and internationally. Bar-ax also assists
filmmakers and producers from Iran in distributing their work to representatives of
TV stations and festival programmers, and arranging for their participation in
prominent film and documentary events.

About Bamahang Productions (www.bamahang-productions.com)

Bamahang Productions is the leading record label and music production company
dedicated to promoting Iranian alternative and underground music. Relying on its
huge grass-roots network of musicians and music lovers worldwide, Bamahang
Productions has managed to produce and promote many Iranian alternative musicians
and bands, most notably Kiosk (www.kiosk-music.com). In July 2005, Bamahang
Productions released Kiosk’s debut album “Adam Mamooli (Ordinary
Man)” which became the first officially released and copyrighted music album
from Iran’s underground music scene on CD and available for Digital
distribution on iTunes.”

The image above is a snap shot of the teaser poster for Guy Ritchie’s take on Sherlock Holmes. Casting Downey Jr. as a geniusly wacky Holmes looks simply brilliant! Counting down to Christmas day is nothing I should really do now that it has just started to get warm here is Sweden, but I make an exception for this one!

The Danish OUTLANDISH are back with a brand new album after four years of semi-absence. The HIP HOP trio which remade Khaled’s “Aicha” and reintroduced it to the world in English have made a name for themselves through their unique and authentic fusion. A South American, an Asian and a North African have brought music of their cultures and continents to blend in a Euro-American melting pot, Nordic style! “Sound of A Rebel” is on high rotation at my place at the moment and considering its rich exotic flavors it will most likely remain so throughout the entire summer.

One of the things that annoys a DVD collector is a rating logo on the cover. Not discretely on the back, but rather on the front! Like the UK logos and even worse the Australian logos. Now the German government has apparently decided to break the record by introducing the biggest and ugliest logo that has ever been! And by that having their industry practically kissing their Limited Edition-export goodbye! Talk about ruining a collectible, which such items really are. Often even numbered. Imagine buying an original Reuben with a big ass ugly logo on it saying “Warning: Nudity!” I remember IRI censoring the images in children’s books back in Iran, when I was a child. Hand-painting veils on for instance the fairy godmother in the popular Japanese edition of Pinocchio! Might sound funny but it was really tragic. Never could I imagine a Western society turning so morally panicked that it loses perspective and respect towards art and culture! Its shameless really. Look at the new ATB album displayed below, the Limited Edition is graced with such a disgrace just because it happens to include a music-video DVD! Now that’s one Limited Edition I personally wont buy, thats for sure! They haven’t even considered hiring a creative team to at least making it blend in the design. A sign of pure ignorance and arrogance!

I have many times in my reviews urged artists and companies to use the talent and creativity of their fans in the design of their products. Instead of letting unengaged professionals throwing together unengaging artworks with neither meaning nor appeal, use some of the excellent fanart out there. Or arrange contests in which you provide high resolution images and an overall concept for artistic fans out there to develop and present. This way you interact with your fans on a whole different level, you let them help to produce the product which they are supposed to pay for! That will make them a part of the project and therefor also a protector of the art. They will feel responsible towards the creation and act accordingly. The owners of the Iran-based Hermes Records who are famous for their bohemian style and avantgarde approach to Iranian music have taken a step in such constructive direction. Hopefully more will follow their steps!

“Photo Contest for an upcoming release

1000 Acacias (Hooshyar Khayam) - Piano Solo
Hermes Records in conjunction with the photographic site AKSbazi.com are launching a photographic contest for the cover of the upcoming release 1000 Acacias (Piano Solo by Hooshyar Khayam).
To enter the competition you will need to register on AKSbazi.com’s homepage and look for 1000 Acacias under ‘upcoming projects’.
Submissions must conform to AKSbazi.com’s required size format which is set at max 1000 pixels width or height and not larger than 500KB. In addition a high resolution copy of the work must be available by the winning artist for printing purposes.
The contest will be open to submissions from Ordibehesht 16,1388 (06/05/09) and will close on Tir 31, 1388 (22/07/09). The winner will be announced on Mordad 3,1388 (25/07/09).
“Please note that the contest may not produce a winner”

In the event of a winner being selected, the product will be produced on minimum 2000 copies, distributed both nationally and internationally with full credits to the photographer.
A small token of appreciation will be delivered to the winner on behalf of Hermes and AKSbazi.com.

Tips:
- Should you wish to see previous album covers produced by Hermes records, click here.
- The photos do not necessarily need to contain Acacias! Participants are free to have even their abstract approach to the album name and its music.
- In order to listen to excerpts of the music from the album click on the samples below”

http://www.hermesrecords.com/

I have previously stated in this blog, I have decided not to review Mansour’s new album and I gave my reason and my opinion in a nutshell. Yet I receive numerous emails from listeners asking me to write this review in order to convey their disappointment. My friends, its neither my intention nor ambition to do something I have already done! Years ago! Yet gets neglected by both you as a consumer and the artist as a producer. What you should be aware of is that what you happen to hear today on this album is a direct result of your own actions! As I wrote in my review on “Ghashange”:

“… my suggestion to you, my dear reader, is that to buy this album ONLY if you truly enjoy the featured material and prefer what Mansour delivers today to what he delivered pre-Divoone! Because by buying the album you cast a vote and show that THIS is what you want and what you get in the next album is another leap towards the direction he is heading right now! But if you don’t then you will CONFRONT, send a message and make the artist think again and realize that perhaps this is not what the majority of his fans want from him! He should and CAN deliver material that are light-years superior to these! Don’t get blinded by love, encourage your artist in the RIGHT direction!!”

You see, it didn’t really require me being Nostradamus to foresee today’s reality! This is a profit-driven industry after all, so you do the math. A simple case of cause and effect. Push the ball in one direction, whether intentionally or not, and it will roll that way! What the LA industry has become today is the direct result of what you have chosen to support. As simple as that, so think about it! If you want something other than what you happen to get today, then start to source- and course-correct! It’s never too late.

Pragmatic IRI politicians have always employed young musicians in order to appeal to the younger voters. It wasn’t long ago that Mahshar aka DJ Maryam preformed in support of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s candidacy, a concert which was later denied by both parties even though documented on both ads and tape! In current election the candidate Mehdi Karroubi, a former revolutionary hardliner who conveniently joined reformists in Khatami’s rise to illusionary power after 2nd Khordad, recently staged a rather controversial publicity stunt! According to “Etemaad” he arranged a meeting with none other than some of our more flamboyant undergrounders such as Alishmas, Ashkin and Amir Masoud who all happen to be longtime Sasy Mankan collaborators! Karroubi declared his paramount support for youth who need to look and act differently in the society and the addressed youth in return announced their endorsement of the new patron of underground art. I can almost hear a campaign song for Karroubi ending with ” … Sasy Mankan Porodakshen!”!lol

Even though I have always doodled in my notebooks and written in my sketchbooks, its the first time that I’ve decided to officially combine the two in one single book! The hybrid book in cloth binding and its white unlined sheets are meant to be filled with some unknown content during the upcoming summer and I just can’t wait to see what kind of surprises my subconsciousness will come to dump in its nurturing womb!

A picture tells a thousand words they say, then how about thirtysomething pictures?lol These are a selected few from the more than four hundred photos I happened to snap the other day at the Jean Michel Jarre concert! Man what an amazing show he delivered! As expected. It was an orgy in sound, light and colour! If you happen to have the slightest interest in electronic music and would like to experience a pioneer and living legend LIVE then this is your chance. Might even turn out to be the last time, considering his age (even though the man is fit as a highschool kid)! Its worth every penny, a taste of history. If you do decide to go make sure to get a good seat. My friend and I sat near the stage and it was really an intimate communcation. We also had the chance to go near the stage to take a close look at the legendary equipment. Items such as the Laser Harp, MOOG liberation and the Theremin were there, in close range! Simply a priceless experience!

Gorgeous tour T-shirt depicting vivid lights and colours in the shape of the man’s profile!

I just realized that the new logo for Sirvan’s website, which is displayed on his T-shirt in the pic posted earlier today, kind of reminds me of a certain website’s logotype! Hmmmm …

Sirvan has in a controversial interview with “Etemaade Melli” criticized the recent undergrounders who’ve gone legal for not being able to even repeat themselves in their legal debuts, let alone to reinvent! The results are beyond critique, Sirvan says, only Mohsen Chavoshi managed to deliver something different. However he has failed in updating to something which suits him better than his established sound, Sirvan claims, since a change just for the sake of the change alone isn’t enough. Chavoshi failed to meet the consumers’ demands, Sirvan explains. We have no longer musicians entering our industry he says, most newcomers just work with computers and the musicians we have available are left from 7-8 years ago. Sirvan says that he is still hopeful about the future of the industry, if he wasn’t he would have given up singing and just attend to producing. He says that after all the experience in the industry these few years he has reached the conclusion that a song has to enjoy at least one of the following two features, if its to make itself heard. One is vulgar or explicit lyrics, the other is an extremely different music. I have tried the second approach in my recent album, he says, people of all kinds are able to compare my music with today’s international music. Sirvan admits that he has been tempted to attend to illegal production during the past years, in the absence of copyright laws and a supporting mass-media. However its not worth to ruin the legal status for a couple of months faster release, he argues. Sirvan explains that his debut was mainly acknowledged by musicians while the general public didn’t really realize what it delivered. It was first after my similar arrangements for other artists that my name was noticed. He also says that many of the artists who initially criticized his music for not being compatible with Iranian musicality and mentality later came to approach him for same kind of arrangements for own songs. Offers which I refused, explains Sirvan, they didn’t believe in me when it meant something to me. The only person who believed in my work was Behrooz Saffarian, whom I today consider as the only arranger of POP music in Iran. Our musicians make the mistake to compare themselves with LA-musicians rather than with international artists. They haven’t even heard anything other than LA-POP and my professional policy is that if a singer’s ambition is to hire me to have his song arranged like a 3rd class LA-production then thats what I will deliver for him, he says to “Hamshahrie Javaan”. But I personally regard the latter when it comes to myself and believe that there is nothing international artists can do that I cant! In regards to having left TRANCE behind in favor of HOUSE Sirvan explains that what is considered TRANCE in Iran is not TRANCE per definition, but rather TECHNO which died a decade ago! Thats why it is doomed to fail if resurrected the way its done by Iranians, he explains. I always produce songs for others in genres apart from my own so that they cant be related to me, Sirvan adds, thats why I have never regretted not singing the songs myself. Finally Sirvan explains the reason why he refused to work with Sadeghi again, despite the huge success of “Vaysaa Donyaa” and the early reports and later unexplained rejection about such collaboration being repeated on Sadeghi’s new album. He wasn’t completely fair and acted ungenerous when in came to giving me my share of the credits for the success of the song (meaning in media and not on the album cover)! It was after all the strongest feature on the album. I never acted on the claim of those who suggested that it was mainly due to my arrangement that this song became huge, while Sadeghi reacted negatively by taking all the credits for himself!I don’t work with such characters, Sirvan concludes.

Note: thanks to Ahmad.

Man I can’t wait!! It looks so promising!