The emergence of hip hop in the 1970s and 1980s in inner city America represented not just the formation of a new sub culture but also of a political community rooted in earlier social and cultural movements like the civil rights movement and black nationalism. This is exemplified not only in the lyrical and musical content of the work being created, but also by the formation of political and social organisations within the hip-hop community, including Russell Simmons’ Hip-hop Summit Action Network and Afrika Bambaata’s Universal Zulu Nation, which aim to direct hip-hop’s cultural power towards avenues that result in tangible social and political change. Similarly, in early 20th century India, the Ambedkari jalsas played an important role in pulling together so-called untouchable castes across the country into a collective political community that could organise and agitate for social and political rights. This discussion will look at how music can help create political communities and how these communities intersect with pre-existing notions of identity, class and political power. Can music help us find new ways of organising ourselves socially and politically that challenge the divisive hierarchies of social orthodoxy? Especially relevant here is how genres and cultures can enable the formation of music communities that go beyond borders - both national and cultural - and whether that ability creates new possibilities for political theory and practice.
This episode features musicians and organisers Taru Dalmia (New Delhi) and Behrooz Moosavi (Tehran/Berlin)

Episode 6: Alternative Communities

1. Brian Emo + Newborn Porn - David Boring (Cover)
2. Old Song - TÖ(r)TEN ORIGINAL
3. Machine #1 - David Boring (cover)
4. Fischerinsel - TÖ(r)TEN ORIGINAL
5. 闹海 - 哪吒乐队(cover)
6. 吹蛇 - TÖ(r)TEN ORIGINAL
7. C minor Etude - TÖ(r)TEN ORIGINAL
8. 24小时摇滚聚会 - 刺猬Hedgehog (cover)
9. Butterfly - TÖ(r)TEN ORIGINAL
10. 火车驶向云外，梦安魂于九霄 - 刺猬Hedgehog (cover，角色反串)
11. DON'T BREAK MY HEART - 黑豹乐队Black Panther (cover，角色反串)

2022.10.22 Performance Silence & Mosh 静默与躁动 演出

Writing Credits: 
Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, 1931

Performance:
Georgina Robertson, vocals, 2024 London
Kat Keys, piano, 2024, London

Recorded at:
RMS Rehearsal Studios, London

Artwork:
Georgina Robertson 2023-2024

All Of Me

Made for wherever the mood hits 🌼 🌱 🍊 🍭 🐥 tech house beats that settle in your chest, with a peppering of UKG, jazz and disco.

blŵm 001 ~ slinky Latino Afro tech house

Website : WWW.DEEPHOUSETEHRAN.NET
Soundcloud: @deephouse-tehran
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Deephousetehran
Instagram: www.instagram.com/deephousetehran/
Email : Info@deephousetehran.net
Sufi-inspired singer and composer Mentrix draws her sacred music practice into a secular exploration of the illusive dualities of Existence and belonging for her bold debut album My Enemy, My Love, for which she also inaugurates her female-led record label, House Of Strength. Iranian-born Berlin-based Mentrix - real name Samar Rad - fuses eastern and western sounds with lyrical songwriting, crisp drum machines and propulsive traditional Sufi instruments, into a bold and luminous goth-pop debut. Her dazzling polyglot sound has arrived fully-formed, sounding like an Iranian take on The Knife or Zola Jesus. 
Mentrix moved to France aged 8 by the end of the 8 years long Iran-Iraq war. At age 14 she moved back, and had to relearn her Farsi mother tongue almost from scratch, going from studying Latin and French literature to Arabic and the Qu’ran. She then spent time in the UK and now lives in Berlin. Summing up My Enemy, My Love, Samar says: “This album reflects my relationship with the contrasting worlds I lived in, with myself, and all my existential wanderings.”
Samar’s songwriting is inspired by Persian traditional poetry, the teachings of Sufism, intertwine with contemporary synthesizers and drum machines into heady trance-like pop songs. Her lyrical existentialism searches for meaning, a future-leaning ode to her origins.  ‘Longing’ is inspired by traditional Mooyeh mourning chant from Lorestan in Iran. ‘Dreams’ builds euphoric trance-like rhythms over a swirling dense backdrop; ‘Loyalty’ chants for patience to a marching drum; the title track spirals into tightening circles of accelerating ecstatic percussions; twinkling synths ride rousing electronic chords in the reflective ‘Igneous Sun’, all textured with distinctive and Iranian instruments such as the tombak, kamancheh, ney and daf (usually played by Samar herself), combined with European pop structures. 
The title of the album is both a reference to being seen as both an immigrant and a deserter, and to the daf, the Sufi religious instrument she plays. The daf is the punctuation around Samar’s songwriting – a large hand drum with metal ringlets, its propulsive and trance-like sound has an earth-shaking kick with the sharp clamour of metal. “In Sufism the daf is a calling for the soul to awaken,” explains Samar. “It makes that big sound because it’s empty, and its emptiness means two things: on the lower level someone who is empty and has nothing to offer makes a lot of noise. On a higher level, when you are truly empty of the world the entire universe can resonate within you. It’s the dark side and the bright side of the moon in one instrument.” 
Her self-produced music videos are striking cinematic counterparts, offering alternative visions of femininity, and the awe-inspiring landscapes of her home country. “It is very important for me to associate my music with the landscape of Iran,” explains Mentrix. “I am forever attached to my birth place, and my identity and aspirations are very rooted in Iranian culture. Since the West so often portrays Iran in a questionable way, I feel obliged to share its diverse and positive faces to the world.”

All Of Me

Georgina Robertson

Recent comments

Peter Robertson

Peter Robertson

Related tracks