Kamran Sadeghi Under The Peace Flag CL Series | The Electro Review

Kamran Sadeghi
Under The Peace Flag
CL Series
TBR: 19th June


Since working along many lines, all of which involving the missions of many other talents, Kamran Sadeghi really wanted to make something just for himself. Of course, when we work alongside luminaries in our field, we all have to make compromises, adhere to standards set, and do our best to gel with the opposing forces. A work to compliment the bits that Sadeghi felt were left out allows him to appease his own spirit animal. In his own words, he was “letting it off the leash”. Giving free run to all the unique and individualistic elements while getting excitedly enthusiastic about the unusual and experimental, we're left with a five track release involving three Kamran Sadeghi original works and two remixes. These have been given to a couple of quality dance acts and received reworking apt for those deep dance-floors.


It begins with a complex minimal beat, made of moving parts and independent drums. Each on its own shelf on a level in the wall of sound, from the background comes a liquid surge of passion. Synthesiser wind effects and sunny tones glisten while a recording of Hanne Lippard plays out with subtle echo. This sound capture from a Berlin art exhibit named Flesh at the fashionable KW not only takes the vocal sample but the atmosphere and ambience of the exhibition room itself. Poetic musing lines ruminate across droplet beats and shimmering pads. We can't help but be drawn in by the words and sounds as they bump into each other just before they meet our ears. Spiral is a dreamy and thoughtful entry that encourages relaxation and patience in the progression.


Melting Pot follows. It's a slow breathing exploration of a live recording with kit and tech on the table. No computer wizardry in this production then, playing the instruments as they were meant to be played for everyone's pleasure seems like a 20th century way of doing things for some. Not Sadeghi, he knows that a true craft can take many forms. Clattering tones and staggered drum tap and click along a neatly infused line of rhythm. Minimal beats with a simmering tempo allow this number to really take its time. Sounds in the underscore shift and evolve, turning over in their sheets to give new textures and cartography to the waveforms and flow.


Next, we get a funky bass-line matched with static and digital drumming. Elements of sonic feedback warble on the end of the tones as they push in line for the entry to the club. Beats, grooves and melody form a gently moving progression through high energy shuffling. Sloshy bass with steady loose fitting drums dig a line through the floor we can all fit into and dance. Differing energies carried with each sound add their own flavour of involvement for the biscuity rhythm. Distant synthesiser can be heard singing behind a thick fabric curtain, lullaby key and wistful pattering make the whole one of escapist attraction. With the title, Return To Tender, maybe we're reminded to think about the feelings of others rather than our own.


For the first remix edition, Spiral is handed over to Sateq. This takes its time to open, as a sonic wave dissipates in reverse to form a substantial audible quality, a drum slowly builds up with slow beats. A kick is added to add a new layer and this is joined by thumping drums that hang at the back, giving us all a nudge when left behind. New percussion finds their way in, each piece adapted for its position in the collage. There's an energy about this mix that gives it a more forward facing and motivational feel. Melody whistles through distant rooftops as yet more percussion works its way into the layerings of rhythm. If the vocal sample from Hanne Lippard is in there, it's been changed into something else. There are lots of unusual sounds in this composition, each one invoking pages of mental imagery.


Finishing with a new version of Return To Tender mixed by Steve O'Sullivan, the EP wants to return to the percussive side of the record. That bass-line returns however its been squashed into a little box. The compression keeps the timing yet removes some of the energy allowing for all manner of background elements to creep in. Ceramic drums and plastic springs build until a new bass drum reveals itself. A heady quality to the kick arrives to give the track a boost. Now the elements take their time to bring about new and fascinating angles of sound. Evolutionary progressive and dynamic, the central one two rhythm becomes a pole that the track twists and swings on like a seductive dancer.

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