ATA EBTEKAR/SOTE AND IRAN’S EXPERIMENTAL ELECTRONIC BRAINBLITZ

For a number of years Iranian musician Ata Ebtekar has mined a fierce collage of electronic sounds drawing on all aspects of Persian culture/sub-culture. From pre-revolution days when Iannis Xenakis was contracted by the Shah to commemorate Persia’s 1000th anniversary with torched hills accompanying 59 blaring speakers of abstract sounds, to its modern state where cultural oppression still can’t keep the outside advances of sound away from hungry progressive musicians, Ebtekar has constructed an incredible world as his alias Sote.

Having been schooled in music in Berlin and later San Francisco, Ebtekar returned to Iran intent on making a difference, and has done so over the course of numerous releases on Sub Rosa, Warp, and via stints at numerous international festivals. His music as Sote certainly culls from a long history of Persian traditional and classical music, processing the rich string tapestries of instruments such as the setur and santar through computerization into otherwordly compositions rife with improvisational elements. This in particular is something he cites as a parallel to the chaotic life of Tehran, and the visible crashes between established thinking and progressive art. It’s been a bit of a Trojan horse against the establishment who are more focused on censoring lyrical-based artists who are perceived threats to the government; his stance is to fuse radical, futuristic ideas into the listenership there by simply making music, hence he’s been relatively unhassled. Inevitably, he hasn’t become a solo swordsman against it all. He’s done full on collaborations with the likes of the Iranian Orchestra For New Music, and fans in the region have been going forth to move the needle forward on the Middle East’s rising role in the advancement of electronic music throughout.

Ebtekar has been super active as of late, you should dig into his curated Zabte Sote Bandcamp page showcasing other Iranian artists, and experience it for youself. Sote’s Ministry of Tall Tales (SVBKVLT) and Majestic Noise Made In Beautiful Rotten Iran (Sub Rosa) very much continue to fuse modern classical and spiky electronic elements, and the very recent Sound System Persepolis (Diagonal) in some essence rechristens the Xenakis event to an even darker and sped-up present. – Brian Turner