Welcome to the home of Rif Mountain Records, a small independant co-op label.
Roshi featuring Pars Radio is the project created around the songs of Roshi Nasehi and the electronic soundscapes of Graham Dids (Gagarin, Nico, Pere Ubu etc). Born in Wales to Iranian parents, Roshi Nasehi is a singer/songwriter who presents her own evocative original material alongside sometimes quite radical interpretations of the Iranian songs she was brought up listening to. Her songs reflect her origins, influences and experiences in a personal and unique way - they are reflective, melodic and quirky, her voice airy and tender. When she interprets Iranian song it is in a personal style bringing a contemporary edge and an authentic understanding of context and language.
Roshi feat. Pars Radio released their debut EP (And Stars) and album (The Sky and the Caspian Sea) on Geo records in 2008 and 2009 respectively, both receiving wide-spread acclaim across Europe and beyond, from Mixmag ("Stunningly beautiful Welsh-Iranian electronica torch songs...") to New Internationalist Magazine ("...a debut album that exudes confidence and promises the start of a great future"). In 2010 Roshi contributed to The Owl Service's Pattern Beneath the Plough project, providing a stunning piano and vocal arrangement of When a Man's in Love for the EP The Burn Comes Down.
The next release from Roshi will be the Mehregan EP on Rif Mountain in March 2011. Taking its name from the Iranian Autumn festival which celebrates the harvest, Mehregan is a beautiful and subtle EP which sees the duo rework five Iranian songs. At times the sound is stripped down to nothing more than vocal layers (the version of '50s folk-pop ballad Jaane Maryam, originally recorded by Mohammed Noori), the minimal arrangements allowing Roshi's voice to take centre stage, enhanced by the tasteful treatments of Graham Dids and, on Sari Gelin, the accordion of New York based Amy Kohn. Opening track To Bio (Come to Me Beloved) is a haunting piece that fades to silence as Roshi sings in Farsi " ...you did not come and I died", while Gol e Gandom loops the Autumnal message "Wheat flower is blooming my beloved, wheat flower is blooming". The primal, upbeat children's song Lor Batche brings the EP to a close in playful fashion leaving you with the hope that Roshi continues to explore the music of her Iranian heritage in tandem with her wonderful original compositions.
Photography by Brian David Stevens { http://driftingcamera.blogspot.com }