SUSSAN DEYHIM & RICHARD HOROWITZ - Desert Equations: Azak Attra . LP
SUSSAN DEYHIM & RICHARD HOROWITZ - Desert Equations: Azak Attra . LP

Crammed Discs

SUSSAN DEYHIM & RICHARD HOROWITZ - Desert Equations: Azak Attra . LP

€18.90
MADE TO MEASURE - VOL. 8 - REISSUE.

When it first appeared in 1986, the Desert Equations: Azax Attra album was greeted with enthusiasm, awe and disbelief: nobody had done anything quite like that before, and this dizzying, inspired blend of Persian tradition, New York avant-garde and electronic music remains incomparable, powerful and mesmerising to this day. Combining the sublime voice of Iranian vocalist Deyhim and the electronic wizardry of US composer Horowitz, this haunting and futuristic album prompted writer Paul Bowles to wonder: "Was this composed under the influence of Majoun?”, and convinced filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci to entrust the soundtrack music for his Sheltering Sky movie to Richard Horowitz (which earned him a Golden Globe).  Desert Equations wonderfully blends the duo’s multiple sources, including their experiences at the epicentre of New York’s early 80s avantgarde music and theatre scene, Sussan Deyhim’s knowledge of traditional Persian music and its reverberation in modern Iranian arts, and Richard Horowitz’s background in jazz, electronics and Moroccan folk music. 

This 2021 remastered reissue includes three previously-unreleased bonus tracks, and a rich booklet with photographs and notes recounting the duo’s fascinating life stories.

Sussan Deyhim went on to work with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Jah Wobble, Bobby McFerrin, Adrian Sherwood, Ornette Coleman, and renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat. Richard Horowitz collaborated with Jaron Lanier, Hassan Hakmoun, David Byrne, was the original artistic director of the Gnaoua Festival in Essaouira, and wrote & recorded film soundtracks for Oliver Stone a.o. In April 2021, Deyhim and Horowitz have performed at the Nobel Prize Summit.

Tehran-born singer Deyhim’s microtonal wailing probably woke you up during The Last Temptation Of Christ... Her stunning voice combines eerily with Horowitz’s ethnocomputerology to create intense techno-dance moods and sci-fi prayer calls (Voice, USA, 1987)

Perhaps you could call it techno-ethno pop, or world beat... a hi-tech confluence of muezzin scales, micro-tonal music and ceremonial choreography.  (Melody Maker, UK, 1989)

Sussan Deyhim spits fire, and her vocal work is fascinating… haunted inspiration, strange modes, hosts of voices, both celestial and animal (Libération, FR, 2000)

1986/2021 © CRAMMED DISCS - MTM 8