Comments on: Watch Iran's emerging new music talent

Watch Iran's emerging new music talent

hoder — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:08:00 -0800

Iran: This musician is revolutionizng the music scene (Video) Mohsen Namjoo and her superstar

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:19:11 -0800

Context for those of us with barely a passing acquaintance of Iranian pop culture?

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:44:27 -0800

Lyrics? In English? "Whistling" tag? I love the music and imagery. But what Kattullus says too.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:46:30 -0800

Lyrics in English: Let not the wind into your tresses or I will go into the wind Let not seduction be your way or I will loose mine Drink not with any old contender or I will drown in pain Savor not your wine or I will turn red in sobriety Lock not your hair or I will be locked in remorse Twist not your hair or I will get twisted Become not the rival's friend or I will become mad with rivalry Feel not for others or I will cease to feel Open your face and I won't need a flower Stand tall and I won't need the air of heights Paint not the town red or I will shed blood for tears Cherish not the other's company or I will perish Steal not the limelight or all light will leave me Ogle not or I will melt beneath your gaze Be kind to this poor suitor and come to my aid For me not to appeal to the Messenger Hafez will never turn away from you For he became free the day he was entrapped by you. Do your own fucking legwork next time.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:48:41 -0800

I hope that's not that pretty woman singing. Baad is the word alright. Can't plucking your eyebrows and wearing bluejeans get you arrested in Iran?

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:55:00 -0800

I think the tune was stolen from a Russian folk song, though I can't remember which--it sounds extremely familiar. Possibly Aleksandr Galich. The singing is awful, but the tune is great (duh). The directing in the video is shit.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:59:12 -0800

Mohsen Namjoo is a dude. His official site is down. Since hoder isn't giving us more to go on... Here's a rather annoying article (though not more annoying than the average Rolling Stone feature) from iranian.com gives more background and explains what's so groundbreaking. According to this site the woman in the video is Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, who is supposed to have been on a sextape that leaked onto the internet, but rose to fame as a soap opera actress.

By: rdone

rdone — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:06:57 -0800

Singing awful? Not hardly. Mohsen's voice reminds me of Dave Van Ronk's: enormous power, idiosyncratic intonation, melisma, dynamic modulations of volume. Even the steel string guitar sounds Dave-like in spots. This song shows again the expressive power of a single male voice with guitar, whether it be from Fars or Flatbush.

By: lenny70

lenny70 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:09:38 -0800

I know this guy. Actually my dad knows him. He is one of the people leading the new generation of music in Iran. People that I know usually either really love him or really hate him. Personally, I can't stand him. Most of his style is copied from different genres (both Eastern and Western). But he usually pastes the borrowed pieces in a random nonsense mesh, where the lyrics and the music and the sound effect share nothing but a 'cool factor'. His music pretty much always give me a headache. I would recommend checking out Kiosk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ZM1Du_zYY) for another modern Iranian band. While these guys also borrow most of their music, at least the lyrics and general feeling of the songs match with the borrowed pieces. --- This is just my personal feeling about these bands. Hope I haven't offended anyone here.

By: effwerd

effwerd — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:16:07 -0800

Wow, this song is great. Thanks, hoder. Reminded me of Tom Waits in parts.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:25:42 -0800

I like that cast-intonation-to-the-wind quality of reckless abandon this singer has: for me it's quite reminiscent of Flamenco singing styles. Very human. And I appreciate how minimal the arrangement is. I'm a fan of minimal arrangements: there's just so much music these days which is over-thick, too jammed up. This breathes, it harkens back to a time when an unprocessed voice and a lyric was... enough. And yeah, snsranch, the whistling tag: good call! The video gets tiresome really fast, though. I think the song deserves a better visual interpretation.

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:26:06 -0800

lenny70: Thanks! I really liked that Kiosk song. I'm going to try to find an album somewhere. Is that their best?

By: goatdog

goatdog — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:29:21 -0800

I could totally see that chick's ankle.

By: lenny70

lenny70 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:35:31 -0800

This page lets you stream their first album: Ordinary Man. Here you can find all their music videos. here is one my most favourites with English subtitle. [Lyrics] The power of love or love of power Modernism versus tradition forever Living in the evil axis Speed freaks in jalopy taxis Why feel any pain and suffer When pills and powders' all on offer Nothing for lunch or dinner to make Then let them eat Yellow Cake

By: effwerd

effwerd — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:41:14 -0800

His site index says the site is down but his music page has a (12 MB) track, also.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:09:07 -0800

Can't plucking your eyebrows and wearing bluejeans get you arrested in Iran? You need to watch the music videos made by the Iranian ex-pats living in LA. Meow. Actually, almost all the Middle Easter music videos I've seen have featured wicked hot women.

By: nola

nola — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:50:21 -0800

Man it's been a rough day for posters in the blue , sorry about that hoder. I enjoyed it.

By: peeedro

peeedro — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:13:29 -0800

I blame Queen.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:39:15 -0800

How could anyone think the singer was a woman?

By: BuddhaInABucket

BuddhaInABucket — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:55:34 -0800

Oh my... as someone who grew up with Persian music, and has heard some pretty bad Tehrangeles Pop, this more than anything else makes my ears bleed.