alireza mashayekhi / ata ebtekar / the iranian orchestra for new music “ornamental” double long playing record set

• ornamental
  
• little tales 3
  
  
• pearly gates
  
• little tales 4
  
• broken silence
  
• little tales 1
  
  
• meta xy
  
  
• phonata
  
• little tales 2
  
• tonus

january 2009 release ; striking double-lp set, covering a collaboration between venerable iranian electro-acoustic composer alireza mashayekhi & his iranian orchestra for new music and younger computer musician ata “sote” ebtekar (the two were previously paired-up on sub rosa’s excellent “persian electronic music: yesterday and today 1966-2006” set) ... ... and by striking, i’m referring both to ata’s transformations of the acoustic sound-materials, and the cover’s intense aperiodic geometric tessellations :: echoing much of the “live electronic” work that dots the 60s / 70s compositional landscape, the raw acoustic timbres of mashayekhi’s writing are rarely heard herein ; ebtekar’s unfettered electronic processes (including much use of classic modes such as ring modulation, along with contemporary granular & spectral reductions) render the sparse writing a constantly mutating stew of gained squawks and fizzing, gauzy drones ... it’s rare to hear such a project come from anything other than the academic label-system these days ; even rarer that we’re treated to such a deluxe double-lp edition ... highly recommended !!!

isounderscore press release...

[iso_07] ata ebtekar & the iranian orchestra for new music performing works of alireza mashayekhi "ornamental" 2xlp. release date: january 20th, 2009 artist location: berkeley, california u.s.a. total running length: 51:11 an ambitious, extremely complex, and sonically rich project that gives us an immense pleasure to release. an incredible collaboration between ebtekar and alireza mashayekhi's iranian orchestra for new music in tehran, iran involving dozens of trained musicians. ebtekar has recently returned to the bay area from his three year stay in iran where he closely worked with legendary composer alireza mashayekhi. the album spans 50 minutes crystallizing acoustic instruments and electronic music composition with ten tracks fully realized by ebtekar and mashayekhi's orchestra. ata ebtekar (b. 1972, hamburg germany) aka sote is an iranian-american electronic composer and sound artist. his compositions are sonic tales synchronously decoding and regenerating customary patterns of thought in nature; aural designs of crisis and harmony where contempo meets folklore, orchestrating an artificial saga with a variety of illuminations and analysis. presented here is a full-length album involving dozens of trained musicians performing works written by legendary iranian classical and electronic music composer alireza mashayekhi in which ebtekar was granted freedom by mashayekhi himself to arrange and transform these compositions into fully realized pieces using his techniques of synthesis and electronic manipulation. "ornamental" continues to explore even further than that which was presented in sub rosa's 2007 anthology, "persian electronic music (yesterday and today 1966-2006)". the album also continues the radical experimental departure from his early electronic music work as sote in the 12"'s published by dielectric and warp records. ebtekar's work continues to be painfully singular and shines bright in its ability to eliminate barriers the world over between noise, silence and modern electronic music composition. all music recorded in tehran, iran. limited to 500 copies on black vinyl on full color spot-varnish matte jackets. mastered by thomas dimuzio at gench studios in san francisco, ca. artwork and design by brandon nickell.

alireza mashayekhi / ata ebtekar / the iranian orchestra for new music “ornamentalism” compact disc

• pearly gates (5:38) 1999
  
• little tales 4point5 (2:03) 1993
  
• ornamental (9:51) 1995
  
• little tales 3 (3:17) 1993
  
• broken silence cmpd (3:20) 2002
  
• turquoise gas in ice (3:35) 
  
• aural blue (0:24)
  
•  phonata opus 11 remod. (6:35) 1999
  
• little tales 2 (2:02) 1993
  
• meta xy (12:58) 2001
  
• pattern logic (0:21)
  
• little tales 1 (2:25) 1993
  
• tonus (3:02) 2006

sub rosa press release...

ornamentalism ata ebtekar & the iranian orchestra for new musicperforming works of alireza mashayekhi     sr284  an organic electrocution perfect follow-up to the highly acclaimed persian electronic music (sr277), this new persian music album involves a cast of seasoned musicians performing works written by legendary iranian composer alireza mashayekhi ; in which ata ebtekar (aka sote) was granted complete creative freedom by mashayekhi himself to transform these compositions into fully realized pieces using his techniques of synthesis and electronic manipulation.it's an organic electrocution without sacrificing the beauty of the performance. these sound sources and compositions were metamorphosed via electronic processing, rearranged and decomposed using sound generators, effect boxes, modular synthesizers and samplers. finally, ebtekar programs synthetic sounds and adds new electronic harmonies, melodies and soundscapes to the sonic palette of western classical music and persian instrumentation for a unique musical experience. sote unites the grace and symmetry of noise and silence inside the magic circle of electronic music composition. the tehran contemporary music group cofounded in 1993 by farimah ghavensadri and alireza mashayekhi. in 1995 mashayekhi established the iranian orchestra for new music as a performing entity. the tehran contemporary music group's main goal is the presentation of new music in order to promote young composers and performers. the group has also helped to establish the biannual for composing and performing of contemporary music in iran. alireza mashayekhi: a short biography alireza mashayekhi was born in 1940 in tehran, iran. he is one of the pioneers of modern music in iran. mashayekhi's works have been performed in iran and abroad for more than 35 years. mashayekhi believes that contemporary composers should create music in wide range of styles. his own compositions have tended towards three major direction: pieces that are directly inspired by iranian music (e.g. symphony no. 5, persian suite and shahrzad) and compositions that are not directly related to iranian music (e.g. symphony no. 6, concerto for violin and orchestra,sonata for piano) and multicultural compositions (e.g. symphony no. 8 and the electronic composition east-west). at the time of stalin in the ussr, many pieces were composed with predetermined identities in honor of marxism and leninism by the request of the governmental authorities or by the artist's own whishes. among these pieces those with artistic rightfulness remained and they were honored in both east and west, but the political weight of the other ones did not succeed to help them survive. alireza mashayekhi alireza mashayekhi is regarded as a pioneer iranian avant-garde composer whose ideas and works, which have been performed in iran and abroad for more than 35 years, have greatly influenced the contemporary music in iran.. hooman asadi of the university of tehran, iran ata ebtekar aka sote: a short biography aka sote is an iranian-american electronic composer and sound artist. he was bornin germany to iranian parents, spent the first eleven years of his life in iran and the next six years in germany. at the age of seventeen he moved to the united states and lived inthe bay area for fifteen years. he has spent the last few years living in tehran and workingon several projects. one of these projects was released in 2007 as a double disc set called 'persian electronic music - yesterday and today' (sub rosa sr277) for which he compiled early electronic music from alireza mashayekhi who had created these compositions forty years ago. disc two features ebtekar's own electronic compositions to present a timeline in modern iranian music history. sote's compositions are sonic tales synchronously decoding and regenerating customary patterns of thought in nature; aural designs of crisis and harmony where contempo meets folklore, orchestrating an artificial saga with a variety of illuminations and analysis. he believes that music is a cultural habit of sound and anti-sound (silence). therefore, he generates music without a specific culture, which he believes to be 'the other sound'.

alireza mashayekhi / ata ebtekar / sote “persian electronic music: yesterday and today 1966-2006” double compact disc set

• alireza mashayekhi - shur, op.15 (1966)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - mithra,  op.90 (1982)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - development 2, op.24 (1970)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - east-west, op.45 (1973)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - chahargah 1, op.75 (1979)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - panoptikum 70, op.27 (1970)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - stratosphaere 1, op.46 (1973)
  
• alireza mashayekhi - yaad, op.66 (1970)
  
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - miniature tone
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - nashid
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - saint homayun
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - synthetic overture (satan's lullaby)
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - micro tuning
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - breadth digit (glass lung)
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - robot radif
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - tahrir (love-birds drowned in sorrow)
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - picture of a whisper
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - cry
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - lovaz
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - niaaz
  
• ata ebtekar / sote - plainsong