Kourosh Yaghmaei – Back From The Brink, Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock From Iran 1973 – 1979 – Now-Again – NA5066 - ****

Two recent compilations of Iranian psychedelia, Pomegranates and Raks Raks Raks, suggested hidden deposits, but this double set is the motherlode.
Raised on Allied radio rock, Kourosh Yaghmaei slipped Western acid-pop into Persian scales, creating headily perfumed hybrids from reclaimed microtones. One in five Iranians bought his 1973 debut 7”, Gole Yakh, but Yaghmaei was soon testing censors with wild dervish grooves like Ghazal, the echo-laden fuzz blues of Baroona, and the eerily hallucinogenic Khaar.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution brought a seventeen year ban, recently reinforced, but Back From The Brink is a powerful testament.

(21/8/11)