– Extraordinary work from this Tehran innovator, 30 years in the game. Presser: Ata Ebtekar (aka Sote) composes music with a deeply-held conviction that rules and formulas should be deconstructed and rethought. A pivotal figure of the electronic music scene in the Middle East, he alters musical modal codes from their original tonality and rhythmic tradition to achieve vivid synthetic soundscapes. The music on 'Parallel Persia' was created in Tehran, Iran, in early 2018, after Donau Festival commissioned Sote to do an electro-acoustic AV project for their upcoming festival. The set combines various synthesis techniques [notably, physical modelling, FM, wavetable, granular and additive] with Iranian acoustic instruments [santour, tar] that are pushed beyond ordinary operation. Thus the synthetic and acoustic combine with equal strength to form a euphonious and complete whole. |