Category Archives: Iran: music, culture, social issues

Iranian New Wave Music: Sehrang – an Iranian accoustic trio greets the world from Europe!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Almost every month I find out about the existence of an Iranian musician or band in or outside of Iran. Since beginning of last year I have been aware of an new Iranian music scene which I would like to call the Iranian New Wave MUSIC (INWM). Most of these Iranian musicians who represent INWM either live and perform in Europe, in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, England, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and in the US, or in Iran hiding in their homes. Performing their music at private parties or at European embassies in Tehran. All of them have one thing in common: searching for their own voices or identities. Like their foreign counterparts they want to contribute to the “pluralistic-modern world of music” and be a part of it without forgetting their Iranian roots.

Testing the Limits of Collaboration - painting by Nicky Nodjoumi

Testing the Limits of Collaboration – painting by Nicky Nodjoumi

Most of these musicians are into jazz, blues, reggae, electronica, indie-rock, heavy metal, Flamenco, Indian classical music, Latin music, Iranian folk music, Western contemporary and classical music. They either like to experiment with their traditional instruments, such as tar, santour, dombak, ney and daf, hooking them up to a lap-top in order to create sounds which are beyond of the original sound of that specific instrument. Or they play foreign instruments from the beginning.

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Surviving Members of Yellow Dogs and Free Keys Release Statement About Murder-Suicide in Pitchfork

Photo by Danny Krug

Photo by Danny Krug

Surviving members of Brooklyn bands Yellow Dogs and Free Keys have released an official statement about Sunday night’s brutal murder-suicide in East Williamsburg.

The following statement was written by Yellow Dogs’ Siavash ‘Obash’ Karampour and Koory Mirzeai, with help from band manager Ali Salehezadeh, Pooya Hosseini of Free Keys, and street artists Icy and Sot.

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Tehran-Brooklyn’s The Yellow Dogs are dead!!!

The Yellow Dogs , an Iranian alternative rock band, isn’t around us any more. Two members were killed this morning. Apparently by another Iranian musician. (Detailed story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/nyregion/4-dead-in-brooklyn-murder-suicide-police-say.html.) It’s a shame to see young Iranian musicians in NY to kill each other – for a stupid reason. They say it was about money?!
For DooBeeDoo it’s a big loss because theses young musicians played kind of music which could have been the voice of young Iranians who want “to rock” in order to make some changes in their lives in Iran. My condolences……………….…….

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Asia Society Symposium: The Shiraz Arts Festival (Iran) – A Global Vision Revisited

Date: Saturday, October  5, 2013
Time: 10am – 5pm
Venue: Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, New York)
Ticket: $25
Genre: symposium

From 1967 to 1977, the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran was an important international festival, hosting a dizzying array of artists, from the avant-garde to the traditional. The eclectic mix included Western artists from theater including Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, and Robert Wilson; music including John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis, Max Roach and Karlheinz Stockhausen; and dance including Merce Cunningham. Asian and African performances included Ravi Shankar, Indian Kathakali, the Senegalese National Ballet, Balinese Music and Dance, and Noh Theater among others.

1977 Shiraz Arts Festival poster.

1977 Shiraz Arts Festival poster.

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