Various Artists – Pomegranates – Persian Pop, Funk, Folk And Psych Of The 60s And 70s (2009)

Bright Persian psychedelic pop, funk, soul and boundless grooves from the 60s & 70s — one of the greatest compilations yet from Finders Keepers! Many of the tunes are actually classics of the era’s Iranian scene, if wildly fresh and new our ears, while others are quite obscure all around, but all of it is fresh and exciting exotic pop that we’re thrilled to see collected. The sounds draw from the creatively fertile period when traditions were combined in music all around the world — with hypnotic eastern raga strings blended with global funk and jazz, bursting pop tunefulness and both meditative and instantly gratifying melodies of myriad influences, borderline disco grooves and beyond. Exciting stuff! 16 tracks in all: “Helelyos'” by Zia, “Biya Bar-e Safar Bandim” by Mohammad Nouri, “Talagh” by Googoosh, “Miravi” by Soli, “Kavir-e Del” by Marjan, “Naz Kardanet Vaveyla” by Sima Bina”, “Sharm-e Boos-e” by Ramesh, “Cheshm-e Man” by Dariush and more. (dustygroove.com)

Pomegranates