Aria Rostami - Czarat EP

  • Share
  • Lofty ideas don't always work on the dance floor. Aria Rostami’s previous releases on Crash Symbols and Audiobulb’s sublabel, Audiomove, have explored crackling textures and narratives influenced by literature and film. 2012's Decades/Peter explored the identities of both himself and one of his late collaborators. 2011’s Form dwelled on things coming to an end, with clearer sounds at the beginning deconstructing as the album progressed. "Czarat" is a bit closer to conventional dance music. It's a melting pot of musical signifiers from around the world—the title combines the Russian "czar" and Persian "Zarathustra." A florid line played by a tar (a Persian stringed instrument) takes center-stage in places, complemented by rising synth arpeggios, staccato plucking and a noodling organ solo. The skipping kick-hat combo offers little in the way of grounding, and the track doesn’t build and recede so much as cruise madly across the space-time continuum. Secret Circuit’s Acid Dub is gentler and more cinematic, washing the tar in a haze of chords and languid Spaghetti Western guitar licks. "Vietnamoses" starts as a noisescape of processed instrumental scratches and hums. It then picking up a sparse rhythm before the hum drops out, leaving behind a colourless, 140-BPM drum track. In a party situation, it would depend entirely on the setting and the open-mindedness of the crowd whether these would lead to wormhole devastation or simply confusion. If only there were more music around like that.
  • Tracklist
      01. Czarat 02. Czarat (Secret Circuit Acid Dub Remix) 03. Vietnamoses
RA