Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian

Songs of Horaman

Genre: FOLK / ROOTS

LP (Black Vinyl)

Boomkat Product Review:

Utterly fierce and beautiful Kurdish folk and Persian classical performed on tanbur and percussion in the mountains of Iran, showcasing Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian & Behzad Varesteh’s relationship with the landscape and tradition around them on their first vinyl release.

Stemming from a cult tape release last year, ’Songs of Horaman’ centres on the spellbinding tanbur recordings of Heydarian, the son of an instrument builder from Kermanshah, a city in the western mountain range of Iran that the record is dedicated to. In fiery cascades of thrilling rhythmelody sometimes joined by thunderous drums, as well as more romantic solo pieces, the recordings display Heydarian’s feelings on his homeland and provenance, bringing a distinct passion to his improvisations on traditional maqams, or melodies, and the traditional Persian tasnif, or ballad.

We’re frankly floored by the energy and verve of these recordings, ranging from extended instrumental storytelling styles to intense and relatively concise works that add up to paint a vivid portrait of the historic region which borders modern day Iraq, and has demarcated Persia’s natural defences for millennia. Two enrapturing, durational improvisations bookend the set, with ‘Improvisation Based on Shushtari’ introducing Heydarian’s thrillingly spiky technique, before longtime collaborator and family friend Varesteh joins in on thunder rolls of percussion recalling Mohammad Reza Mortazavi’s tombak improvs, and they reprise the formula with gripping momentum in closer ‘Improvisation Based on Sahari Suite and Sama-e Sejaran Suite’.

In its mid section Heydarian boggles with the fleeting quick/slow solo course of ‘Tarz Suite’, with ‘Bayeh Bayeh Suite’ leaving his pal to solo on percussion before knitting in folk-dance dervish. It’s a wonderful expo of timeless tradition channelled with a contemporary intensity and vitality, recorded right on the biting point for optimal immersion.

LP (Black Vinyl) (5)