Delkash
1924 – September 2004
Another obituary post, in tune with the ambient mood: a tribute to Delkash‘s powerful voice and songs. Some of her 50’s classics here.
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Iran album strikes web protest note : Young Iranians, with their fondness for Western music, are not the natural market for the country’s leading classical Persian musician, Mohammad Reza Shajarian. But his latest album has caused a stir among the Iranian online community, with web users urging others to attend Mr Shajarian’s concerts and to buy his album, … link to the article / listen to Put down your gun, wonderful words of Fereydoon Moshiri – I didn’t find an English translation of this poem, please let me know if you find one.
The craft of music
These last weeks were intense.
It was like riding on a roller coaster with an odd promiscuity of joy and horror. It is very difficult for me to write anything in the midst of all these extremes. Fortunately Zizek has a “do nothing” rational for those like myself: keep quiet instead of adding more noise to all the noise.
h/t to Nazy from Berkeley
Santurnavazan Ensemble perform “Ze Ba’ad e Ma,” (Beyond our Path) at Tehran University
See also: Ardavan Kamkar
Perfectly displaced
After our daily dose of gloomy news here are Abjeez singing about their car, house, husband, cat and their life.
The following is their promo video for their new album: Perfectly dispalced
Previous posts: DemoKracy, Abjeez
Tu me haces falta: watch video
High School Musicians
This deserves a separate post. I had it initially attached to the previous post Mouseland: both borrowed from Renegade Eye‘s blog.
Here are the wonderful High school musicians from Venezuela. Don’t miss Arturo Márquez‘ Danzón No. 2 at minute 6.50 directed by Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel and the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra
Founded in 1975 by the very inspiring José Abreu, El Sistema is a publicly financed voluntary sector music-education program in Venezuela. “Our first goal is not to create professional musicians,… Our goal is to rescue the children.” Lennar Acosta, now a clarinetist in the Caracas Youth Orchestra and a tutor at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory, had been arrested nine times for armed robbery and drug offenses before the sistema offered him a clarinet.
See also: Venezuela youths transformed by music
I didn’t learn anything like that in high school, not much else either. Anyway here I am on the obsessive-compulsive mode, listening to the second part over and over again:)
Global Zoo
Release of a new album by Kiosk. You can hear the first track: “The happy-go-lucky pragmatism”. I will post the lyrics in English.
“Global Zoo is how KIOSK sees the world today; the dialogue of civilizations apparently hasn’t worked too well and as a consequence the world has turned into a zoo, as opposed to a jungle where the inhabitants at least have their freedom. Even though we all left Iran many years ago, we still haven’t completely settled down, and maybe that’s why we have been so attracted to and influenced by Gypsy Jazz music on the new album.“
“[…] the lyrics of Arash Sobhani (lead vocalist , songwriter and guitarist) continues the social commentary on a wide variety of issues affecting the daily lives of Iranians all over the world.”
A folk song in this album features the great Namjoo as a guest vocalist.
Previous posts: Kiosk, Amor de la velocidad
Roya
A short intro on Roya Bahrami‘s life changing experience, also links to her music: Persian/Flamenco/Poetry
Around the Blogosphere
Mearsheimer and Finkelstein debate and other Al Jazeera coverage on the Israel lobby at Reclaiming space (don’t forget the comment section) Many interesting posts at The Fanonite
Un Belge au pays des Iranians: Face à la réthorique guerrière des USA contre l’Iran, on va à la rencontre des Iraniens et de leur pays. Sans pouvoir donner une image complète de la réalité complexe de l’Iran l’idée est de décrire au mieux ma perception de la vie quotidienne…
Rochong is back and angry … like the rest of us.
Rewarded for war crimes, Kosovan and Albanian guerilla, les Politiques
Hasta Siempre
Pedestrian writes things and I get obsessed with other things, the voice and the music…
Thx 99 and BB2 for the test of the test testing the integrity of the test …:)
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A few links: Iranian blogospher tests government’s limits, NYT
Bloggers in Iran push limits of government tolerance, IHT
The above articles are based on a Harvard study: Mapping Iran’s online public: Politics and culture in the Persian blogosphere
Inside Iran, a CBC documentary
Axis of adventure: Iran, The Telegraph + a photo gallery
Film Links and More
Film society presents young Iranian filmmakers. (Synopsis, trailers here)
A World Between is the true story of a young Iranian American raised in the US, who travels to Iran to discover his father’s homeland. Sample video
Young republic by Nooshin J. Navidi: Navidi made her first trip to Iran in Spring 2006 to explore the country for sixth months. Born in Southern California to an Iranian father and Korean mother, Nooshin graduated from Stanford University with a Masters in Sociology and Bachelor in Communications.
More videos on Iran including American life in Iran, 1975
Link via Peyman
Our Friend to Humanity gives some historical context for the current strained relations between America and Iran.
More links/events at Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute
Peace Corps Writers Blog: Iran
A Test from BBC-Science & Nature:
Can you tell genuine smile and fake ones?
(15 out of 20 for me)
Namjoo
Zolf bar bad
Mohsen Namjoo singing Tresses in the wind by Hafez
Official website
Lyrics: English, Persian
Hafez will never turn away from you
For he became free the day he was entrapped by you
Forever Under Construction 
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