More Folk & Pop Sounds from Pre-Revolutionary Iran - Various Artists

Okay, here's another 5 of those lovely Persian 7" singles. This is heavy, saturnine music from an area of land that is home to some of the world's oldest civilizations. And a couple of jaunty dance numbers thrown in for good measure. What I find particularly interesting about these old records is the way these songs blend sounds and instuments from traditional Middle Eastern music, from the music of the Balkans and from Western pop styles. Apart from that, I don't know much (anything) about these songs, who performed them or when they were recorded, however I have found a couple of websites that hold information aboout the Iranian music scene of the '60s and '70s:

http://jessekaminsky.com/intercontinental/covers/

http://www.persiandiscography.com/

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/

While you're browsing those sites you can always get today's 10 Persian songs HERE.
As always, any info or translations would be greatly appreciated.

Mahasti - Del o Del (Folk & pop sounds from pre-revolutionary Iran)

Mahasti, the Lady of Hearts and Flowers, was a popular singer in pre-revoltionary Iran, and this crackly album sounds like a relic from a long forgotten time, despite the fact that it was only released in the mid '70s. Its not just the poor condition of the vinyl that makes these songs sound antiquated, its also some elusive quality to the music itself. It has a weight that seems to be lacking in much Western pop musics. It is heavy, mournful. Those strings are dramatic and Mahasti's beautiful voice is filled with sorrow and weary resignation.

Here's some film of Mahasti singing a song on Iranian TV:


Tracklist:

01 Dige Basse
02 Del Ke Gonahi Nagare
03 Bestare Gham
04 Ashki Baram Namonde
05 Saghi
06 Del o Del
07 Khonetekouni
08 Vay Be Halet
09 Dela Menat Kesh
10 Jodaiye To

Get it HERE.

More Scratchy Old Persian Pop from Pre-Revolutionary Iran

The last batch of Persian pop 45s that I posted here proved very popular, so here's a few more for your listening pleasure. All 3 of these great records feature unknown male vocalists. The first two are kind of urgent and quite hectic, while the last (which has the beautiful label artwork) has a kind of languid, melancholic psychedelic beat sound going on.

As before, I'd really appreciate some help finding out who the artists are because I can't read Farsi. And many thanks to those who took the time to find out about the last lot, all info about them can be found in the comments for that post.

UPDATE (04/03/09):

Many thanks to Iranian blogger, Jadi for the information about these great Persian songs.


These two songs are by Aghasi and side 1 is called Amene:





These two are also by Aghasi and side 1 is called Leily.



Having done a bit of digging, it seems that Aghasi was very popular across Iran and appeared in a number of films. This clip of the man in action is great:



This one is by Artik while the song title is Matrood.



This is the b side of the Artik single and its called Vaghti Del Khosh Nabashe (When you do not feel good in the heart). The label artwork belongs to the Shah's Ministry of Economy and the Empire of Iran's logo is printed at the top...every object has a story to tell, and this record came dancing to the market just like Marx's table.




23/10/2009

Here is a zip file containing all 6 tracks:

Pops Sounds from Pre-Revolutionary Iran Volume 2

Scratchy Old Records from the Iran & Egypt & possibly Lebanon

All the broken links from this previous post have now been fixed so you can listen to and download these fabulous Arabic and Persian pop records. Check them out, and I'd still be really grateful if anyone could identify the mystery music.
Thanks.

Scratchy old records from the Arabic speaking world

These pieces of vinyl were picked up over 10 years ago in a dirty old second hand shop. They were in a box, surrounded by knick-knacks, broken furniture and old tins filled with gaudy costume jewellery. I bought them for pennies, took them home and played them a couple of times, since then they've sat in a box in my house, surrounded by knick-knacks and broken furniture. The other day I found them, cleaned them up and played them again, hearing them with new ears. I like these scratchy old records. With the cd we're offered the promise of perfect sound forever, but I don't generally want that. I like the imperfection of old vinyl. Maybe its a fetish on my part, but the crackly sounds of old records serve to remind me that these commodities have TRAVELLED...across borders and through time. They've rested awhile in one place or another and then moved on and in the process they've witnessed a changing world. I sometimes like to think of the stories these objects might tell me, of the places they've been and the people they've met. These particular old records come from the Arabic speaking world...this is Arabic pop music from the '50s and '60s and how they came to end up in a junk shop is anyone's guess.

(Somebody has mentioned that this page is confusing, so just to clarify...the label photographs are followed by the songs from that record, ie this photo is of the label of the Om Kalsoum single and the two songs are side 1 and side 2. Hope this helps.)





Om Kalsoum was one of Egypt's most popular singers and her voice is wonderful on these two moody songs.






Pooran was a popular singer in Iran throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s. I'm loving the two songs on this 7", especially side 1 with its air raid siren and dubby echoes. This stuff feels a bit like its beemed in from another planet...Iran of the 1960s possibly?

(Pouran)

Anonymous wrote: "Just so you know, these songs aren't Arabic, they're Persian. The first song is "Sheytoonak" (شیطونک), and the second is "Ghariba" (قریبه), both from the album "Darya Darya" (دریا دریا). The singer is Ramesh (رامش)." Thanks to him for the info!








I have no idea about these last two singles, who they're by or where they're from is a complete mystery. Please comment if you can enlighten me. In the meantime, enjoy these transmissions from a forgotten world.

Note added 29/11/08:

Still not been able to find out who the mystery records are by, but just read a lovely post about Umm Kalthum (or Om Kalsoum as she appears on this record) over at Babe(b)logue. You can read it here, and there's also a whole album of her best recordings to be downloaded.