ambient / experimental
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Art is often something misunderstood, frowned upon and, in some tragic cases, even strictly forbidden. Cultural differences mean other opinions about art and about what is possible and what is not. Over the years, many people have been imprisoned and even murdered because of their music, their drawings or their performances. Yet, there are so many brilliant artists to be found allover the world, some of them expressing themselves while they're constantly being treatened to death.
This album is dedicated to those people.
Aria Rostami hails from San Fransisco (US). As the child of immigrants from Iran he realised that his thoughts about his home country grew from the opinions of the Iranian people in his environment. His view upon Persian culture was different from the whole picture and in fact, so is ours. So he took on a very American approach to his own art, by using technology which is available almost everywhere. Internet and smartphones became the foundations for this record.
'Sibbe I, II and III' are processed field recordings, sent to him from Tehran, Kerman and Taipei and enhanced with piano, Turkish tar, melodica, glockenspiel, vocals, synthesizer, violin and computer. Along with the other tracks on this album, the result is an amazing journey through different cultures, influences and musical styles. Musically, I would place this album in the experimental ambient section, reminding me of acts like Lustmord, Raime, Zoviet France and several others.
Although the tracks are calm, soothing even, there's still a strange, unsettling overtone. This grabs the attention of the listener. 'Delta' for instance, constists of several layers of soundscapes and drones, accompanied with eerie noises here and there. After that, the 'Sibbe' trilogy sets in, combining that approach with those processed field recordings. The result is amazing and even a bit otherworldly at times. THese three songs fit perfectly together, even if the original sounds come from different places.
'Nosferatuva' is a lot darker than its predecessors, driving on a grinding drone and incorporating several haunted vocal samples. Here the album takes a dive into the massive world of dark ambient and becomes a mesmerizing experience. 'Vietnamoses' goes back to experimenting with strange electro-acoustic sounds. Right before the track becomes too strange, deep beats appear, giving the whole a nice drive and turning it into my favorite track on this album.
'Crwthrúd' closes the album, again in quite an experimental electro-acoustic manner, this time starting with eerie violin sounds and never letting that weird atmosphere go. In some way it's compareable to an alien lullaby, or a broken children mobile. Fact remains, it's a great track again, like all of them on 'Sibbe'. I'm quite impressed by this work, and certainly by the amount of variation. So all I can do to end this review, is recommend checking it out if you're an experimental ambient fan, whatever piece of this bizarre planet you're from...
Serge
This album is dedicated to those people.
Aria Rostami hails from San Fransisco (US). As the child of immigrants from Iran he realised that his thoughts about his home country grew from the opinions of the Iranian people in his environment. His view upon Persian culture was different from the whole picture and in fact, so is ours. So he took on a very American approach to his own art, by using technology which is available almost everywhere. Internet and smartphones became the foundations for this record.
'Sibbe I, II and III' are processed field recordings, sent to him from Tehran, Kerman and Taipei and enhanced with piano, Turkish tar, melodica, glockenspiel, vocals, synthesizer, violin and computer. Along with the other tracks on this album, the result is an amazing journey through different cultures, influences and musical styles. Musically, I would place this album in the experimental ambient section, reminding me of acts like Lustmord, Raime, Zoviet France and several others.
Although the tracks are calm, soothing even, there's still a strange, unsettling overtone. This grabs the attention of the listener. 'Delta' for instance, constists of several layers of soundscapes and drones, accompanied with eerie noises here and there. After that, the 'Sibbe' trilogy sets in, combining that approach with those processed field recordings. The result is amazing and even a bit otherworldly at times. THese three songs fit perfectly together, even if the original sounds come from different places.
'Nosferatuva' is a lot darker than its predecessors, driving on a grinding drone and incorporating several haunted vocal samples. Here the album takes a dive into the massive world of dark ambient and becomes a mesmerizing experience. 'Vietnamoses' goes back to experimenting with strange electro-acoustic sounds. Right before the track becomes too strange, deep beats appear, giving the whole a nice drive and turning it into my favorite track on this album.
'Crwthrúd' closes the album, again in quite an experimental electro-acoustic manner, this time starting with eerie violin sounds and never letting that weird atmosphere go. In some way it's compareable to an alien lullaby, or a broken children mobile. Fact remains, it's a great track again, like all of them on 'Sibbe'. I'm quite impressed by this work, and certainly by the amount of variation. So all I can do to end this review, is recommend checking it out if you're an experimental ambient fan, whatever piece of this bizarre planet you're from...
Serge