I tuned in to the Sonic Planet radio show on WICB recently (DJ’ed by my multi-talented friend Franck). As soon as I turned on the radio my attention was immediately arrested by some extraordinarily intense and beautiful music. It sounded very modern, and also very old and traditional. I’d never heard anything quite like it. I was just electrified by this song. By the time it ended I was firmly resolved that I MUST find out the band that played it and get a copy of the recording. Franck announced that it was by an Iranian band called Niyaz. I had never heard of them before but I immediately became a fan of this group and looked up their website and a few youtube videos of their music, such as this one:
An interesting feature of this video is the fellow playing a peculiar stringed instrument I have never seen before. It looks and sounds kind of like an electric kemanche, only bigger. Whatever it is I like it.
Niyaz does traditional Sufi devotional songs but uses very modern musical and production techniques. The resulting songs have a unique timeless quality, a conflation of the ancient and the contemporary that sounds, strangely enough, perfectly natural. I think their singer Azam Ali has an incredible voice. Here’s hoping that they play a gig in upstate NY someday…
