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Prison Episodes, an opus five years in the making, is Pouya Pour-Amin's cry of anger and sorrow against our times. Structured as a series of sketches, this harrowing and powerful album explores the experiences of a political prisoner from her or his incarceration to breaking point.
In this era of political extremism, repression and very often despair, this album could not be more timely. Composed in Tehran, Prison Episodes is a meditation on political repression, defiance and the limits of endurance and hope. Harsh, grating, transcendent and despairing it offers a soundtrack to our global political moment.
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Pouya Pour-Amin is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and actor from Tehran, Iran. He has worked with Tehran`s Camerata contemporary music ensemble both as a double-bass player and a composer, and presented works at SET Fest in Tehran, CTM in Berlin as well as composing for theatre, film and TV in Iran. He is also active, along with Sara Bigdeli Shamloo and Nima Aghiani in the band Migrain Sq. Pour-Amin first appeared on Flaming Pines as part of the Absence showcase of experimental music from Tehran, curated by Arash Akbari. This is his first full release on the label.
credits
released June 26, 2019
A note on the artwork:
The artwork for this album is by the prominent Iranian contemporary artist and grave marker Barbad Golshiri. Entitled Quod 2010 it features words in Persian of the prison memories of A’ezam, a political prisoner of the 1980s, retold by Akbar Sardouzami. The text reads:
'A’ezam has been degraded and tortured, living in timelessness and facelessness. She has nothing, and has turned to nothing, she says. Then one day she finds a rusty pin in her solitary confinement. She starts to draw squares, and the squares become her world: ‘Then I saw if I draw a square within another square and reach the depth, the square turns to a point. The cell was too dark, but I could see a point in the middle of the square that helplessly looked up at me and said: you should testify that I’ve been a square. You are the only one who knows that I have been and still am a square.’
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Credits:
All music composed by Pouya Pour-Amin
Violin/Viola: Adel Poursamadi
Trumpet : Sardar Sarmast
E.Doublebass : Pouya Pour-Amin
Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space.
Album Art : Quod by Barbad Golshiri
supported by 14 fans who also own “Prison Episodes”
smooth but uneasy drones overlaid with beautifully curated samples(?) and subtle noise and distortion. evokes cold and loneliness while being sonically 'real'. excellent! Giles
supported by 14 fans who also own “Prison Episodes”
This truly beautiful album feels like a hidden gem of texture, tones and of course, patience. Upon the first listen I instantly fell in love with it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys untethered music that flows with its own current. glumburger
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supported by 14 fans who also own “Prison Episodes”
In Bokeh, Wil Bolton patiently crafted six tracks, where processed field recordings and reverberated synthesizers melodies are carefully balanced.
Chimes, bar-like talks, distant traffic or whispers from the wind frame the story of this release in a very small location. We are only one step away from saying that the artist takes us in his privacy with Bokeh ; and I'll go for it.
Very personal and sensitive, this album takes place behind the closed doors of Bolton's near environment.
Lovely. Dotflac