Centripetal Force (North America), Cardinal Fuzz (UK), and Radio Khiyaban (Europe) are excited to announce Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian's second album Noor-e Vojood. The album is being presented digtial;y, as well as a 500 copy vinyl pressing. The album will be made available for preorder on January 24. Its release date is March 7.
Heydarian is a young Kurdish tanbur player from Kermanshah, a city in the mountainous western Iranian region of Horaman. The son of a local instrument builder, he grew up surrounded by the local traditional music styles, studying with a number of well-known master musicians before recently entering university to study Persian classical music.
Noor-e Vojood is much more focused than the first album, Songs of Horaman, The spirit of improvisation is still there, but this time the compositions are more intentional and possess a more poetic flow, a hallmark of Iranian sacred and classical music. And while the music is not explicitly psychedelic, it certainly is a heady affair and lends itself to mediation and associated practices.
"Bàyeh Bàyeh" is currently streaming and available to listen to on Bandcamp. The song is performed in an ancient tradition of tanbur playing, a modal scale meant to channel feelings of joy and exhilaration. Songs performed in this style are played in ceremonies celebrating victory. In the framework of the entire album, "Bàyeh Bàyeh" helps build the epic nature of Heydarian's musical storytelling. The song also provides a sort of much needed respite for these trying times.
Preorder the vinyl edition of the album from Centripetal Force, Cardinal Fuzz, and Radio Khiyaban.
