A Guide to Iran’s Electronic Underground « Bandcamp Daily
▻https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/04/06/iran-electronic-music
“By the time I was a teenager living in Tehran, underground music was all rock, metal, and hip-hop,” says Siavash Amini from his home in the Iranian capital. “In the past [all] musicians wanted to be mainstream, but were forced to stay small and underground.” Speaking to Amini —freshly returned from his first European tour—the changes in both the climate and the mindset in present-day Iran become clear. “Right now,” Amini says, “being underground is not as much a limitation as it is a decision to disconnect from the mainstream.”
The existence of any kind of underground or electronic music scene in Iran is a relatively recent development, arguably part of a quiet and generally slow shift in the country’s post-revolution identity. Those changes came to a head with the election of reformist and relative centrist Hassan Rouhani as President in 2013, which opened up a doorway for Iranian relations with foreign countries, all but shut off after decades of international sanctions.
The Islamic Republic that emerged from the 1979 revolution quickly quashed the country’s burgeoning pop and rock music scene, in favor of state-approved folk and classical styles. Iranian pop and rock musicians stayed all but silent throughout the 1980s, but years later, after the arrival of globalized digital media and swappable MP3s, government repression isn’t enough to stop a new generation of musicians creating digital noise, heavy techno, and textured ambience.
The Ultimate Guide To Iran’s Underground Electronic Musicians - Electronic Beats
▻http://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/the-ultimate-guide-to-irans-underground-electronic-musicians
Are you ready to discover quality electronic music from the margins? Look no further than Iran’s burgeoning underground music scene. The country may not be on everyone’s radar for boundary-pushing experimental music, noise and techno, but in the last few years, a handful of musicians in Tehran have carried the torch for unique electronic composition. Artists like Nesa Azakikhah, Sote and 9T Antiope are among the producers making a distinct impact on genres in the realm of industrial, ambient and minimal.
Thanks to Bandcamp, you can now browse a playlist of nine Iranian electronic music pioneers. The article includes a detailed breakdown of each producer’s work and composition process as well as previews of some of their best tracks. Listen to some of our favorites below and check out the entire list here.