Electroacoustic piece compose inspired by the travels to the archaeological park San Agustin (Colombia 2006-07)

San Agustín La paradoja en piedra - El lavapatas - El doble yo (2007)

Aromas (2015)

Some more alternative musical hiphop musings brought to you by Does Stir? and Sonus. Enjoy, and be sure to let us know what you think!

Stirus - Surviving Minds

Zen Banka

1979-08-18 Lotus Sutra

opaltapes.com/album/sacred-horror-in-design

Developed from a commission by CTM Festival as an audio/visual project in collaboration with Tarik Barri, and inspired by their 2017 theme of ‘Fear Anger Love’ and its relationship to his childhood following the 1979 Iranian revolution, the record reveals a dramatic blend of acoustic Persian instrumentation and contemporary electronics. Sote aims to devise an idealised fusion of the musical heritage and tradition of Iran with the forward-thinking vision which has propelled his storied career producing techno, hardcore and computer music for labels like Warp, Ge-stell, Morphine and Repitch.

Now living in Tehran, his music has frequently grappled with the strict cultural restrictions imposed in his country over the past few decades, finding a space and setting to nurture new developments in experimental sound and performance; first documented on last year’s ‘Hardcore Sounds From Tehran’ on Opal Tapes.

Working with Arash Bolouri who plays the santour (Persian hammered dulcimer), and Behrouz Pashaei on the long-necked, four-string setar, Sote frames and responds to their traditional artistry. On occasions he directly manipulates the music emanating from their ancient instruments, cultivating and thickening up a surreal and beautiful tonality plucked from their strings with a series of processing techniques, but mostly each track is a peaceful arrangement and partnership, Sote electro-acoustically augmenting their movements within his own cybernetic framework. The resulting form gives the impression of semi-improvised gesture between three skilled partners, a deft call and response that uses digital techniques to extend the intentions of the performers into a modern, shady, but ultimately optimistic narrative; creating an paradoxical amalgam of the mythic and the profane as strong as any folk music.

Across the six tracks the strange strings tend to conduct the overall experience, tuned to the unusual colour and complex microtonality found in the classical music of Iran. Blurts of noise, sour tones, and a vaguely technoid or dubwise impression expose the inner rhythm and counterpoint embedded in this strummed music, building a new understanding and doorway into unfamiliar timbres and environmental patterns which govern us. At times it finds the artist at his most compositionally delicate and measured—listen to the sense of space afforded to a beautiful solo that drifts throughout “Boghze Esfahen” and then into “Plural”—and redoubles his focus on what new insight might be gained from the emotional, mathematical and polyrhythmic principles underpinning Persian music.

The electronic parts on final track “Holy Error” are sourced from Sote’s residency at EMS Stockholm in late 2016, utilising their remarkable in-house modular Serge system and divesting from conventional Iranian tonal motifs for a spikier duel with the instruments.

Synthesis: FM 
Dastgah: Nava & Chahargah 
Instruments: Santour, Setar & Kamancheh (by Kian Farahani)

Plebeian

Spiral Rainbow (2017)
Dedicated to Justin Matthew Yore
Fao: Handpan, Composition
Composition for Handpan with simple electronics
Video: https://youtu.be/9iyaSOf6lnc

Sprial Rainbow Electronic (2017)

A new release from the Singaporean artist Fauxe. 
‘I K H L A S’ was created after an eight-month visit to Malaysia last year, and mixes traditional samples from that country with the distorted bounce of hip hop grooves. Singapore acrimoniously seceded from Malaysia in 1965 and their relations have since been fractious, yet the two countries have a deeply-held shared history. "Singapore and Malaysia to me had always been two different places," says Fauxe. "Right now it feels like we have always been one. I hope the music brings about a certain understanding and appreciation of what both countries share." Named after the Bahasa Melayu word for ‘sincerity’, ‘I K H L A S’ serves as an ode to Malaysia and its sonic legacy.

For this release, Fauxe worked with samples from traditional Malaysian Tamil and Hawaiian Malay music. This fusion reflects the musical globalisation Fauxe sees both in Malaysia and his home country. "Right now, it’s hip-hop that’s blossoming in popular consciousness; trap is an element that even someone living in my neighbourhood would be into," he says. "Hip-hop has become accessible to most young youth here. This album incorporates a lot of modern hip-hop elements, but also incorporates a lot of dance music vibes I was experiencing, hanging out with the crew from SaturdaySelects whose music output features more dance/remix/halftime incorporated grooves." Above all floats an irresistible pop sensibility; breezing through 16 songs into thirty minutes, ‘I K H L A S’ is a joyful, danceable exploration of the Kuala Lumpar music scene

I K H L A S

FAUXE - ONDEH - ONDEH

"This song is a pure improvisation, played on the day of the recording.

The atmosphere of the ancient villa in which we were recording, together with the softness of the sound obtained by the felt mounted between the hammer and the string of the grand piano, led my to discover this unknown territory, in which everything is light and ethereal. The result is in a silky melody, which can only by listened with eyes closed."

Transitions (EP)

Buy Digital

Eyes closed

Performed By Fluido Cósmico 
Song dedicated to HaiHuo 2019 海或 (Taiwan)
https://www.faoto.net/project/fluido-cosmico/

(Voice, Djembé, chrarango, percussions, Synth, Electronics)

HaiHuo

海或 [Haihuo] (2019)

Fluido Cósmico > Elegua > Yeshe > 2019 > Bogotá, Colombia
A version from Yeshe's "Elegua" (2010)
Fao > Handpan / Ghungroo
Ya Chien Lin > Udu
Gustavo Perez > Talking drum
Paula Contreras > Chelo

Album
fluidocosmico.bandcamp.com/releases
Web
www.faoto.net/project/fluido-cosmico/

Elegua (Cover)(2019)

Music for the cosmos
unpublished songs / rarities

Aromas (2015)

Fluido Cósmico

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