Enthusiasts in L.A. have compiled the 16-track 'Pomegranates.' It's their way of sharing tunes rediscovered from the 1960s and '70s.
It might not have been your typical party-time call and response, but the sold-out crowd at Cinefamily last week was as enthused as any frat house -- ready to thrust fists and shake hips in homage to Persia's pop past.
“I say... 'Disco!' You say 'Iran'!"
“Disco!" ... “Iran!"
“Disco" ... “Iran!"
Hundreds were at the Fairfax Avenue theater to celebrate both the Persian New Year and the release of “Pomegranates" -- an eclectic, infectious mix of long-lost Iranian pop -- 16 tracks culled from an era of both the shimmy . . . and the shah.
“This music is from a time when Iran was hip," said the evening's co-host (and the disc's co-compiler), Arash Saedinia, “when they were wearing miniskirts under their hijabs."
“Pomegranates" offers an Iran that many might not know ever existed -- an exuberant collection of '60s and '70s psychedelic, funk and folk music that reflects a society completely in sync with the revolutionary music of the era. With the shah's policy of rampant modernization and Westernization, the country experienced both an undercurrent of discord as well as an embrace of global grooves.
The compilation is evidence of this dichotomy -- as traditional Farsi folk music collides with everything from Serge Gainsbourg-inspired bubble gum to swinging London swank. This strange collision is immediately evident on the album's first track, “Helelyos" by Zia.
It might not have been your typical party-time call and response, but the sold-out crowd at Cinefamily last week was as enthused as any frat house -- ready to thrust fists and shake hips in homage to Persia's pop past.
“I say... 'Disco!' You say 'Iran'!"
“Disco!" ... “Iran!"
“Disco" ... “Iran!"
Hundreds were at the Fairfax Avenue theater to celebrate both the Persian New Year and the release of “Pomegranates" -- an eclectic, infectious mix of long-lost Iranian pop -- 16 tracks culled from an era of both the shimmy . . . and the shah.
“This music is from a time when Iran was hip," said the evening's co-host (and the disc's co-compiler), Arash Saedinia, “when they were wearing miniskirts under their hijabs."
“Pomegranates" offers an Iran that many might not know ever existed -- an exuberant collection of '60s and '70s psychedelic, funk and folk music that reflects a society completely in sync with the revolutionary music of the era. With the shah's policy of rampant modernization and Westernization, the country experienced both an undercurrent of discord as well as an embrace of global grooves.
The compilation is evidence of this dichotomy -- as traditional Farsi folk music collides with everything from Serge Gainsbourg-inspired bubble gum to swinging London swank. This strange collision is immediately evident on the album's first track, “Helelyos" by Zia.
