Hjirok (Vinyl)

1. Sanandaj 06:12
2. Hjirok Rock 05:03
3. Yahu 06:05
4. Jin Bo Chie 06:01
5. Maly Men 06:04 video
6. Meselek 05:20
7. Gorman 06:30
8. Tehran 05:41

HJirok is a mythical figure, conceived as a fictional character by Iranian-born Kurdish singer and artist Hani Mojtahedy. Together with versatile music producer Andi Toma of Mouse On Mars, she combined a variety of sounds collected during their joint travels to Iraqi Kurdistan and elsewhere with heavily processed recordings of Sufi drum rhythms and setar melodies. The result is a driving, dubbed-out, and deeply intricate soundscape that perfectly sets the stage for Mojtahedy’s extended, unconventional vocal techniques and polyglot lyrics. Both informed by tradition and rigorously forward-looking, »Hjirok« (with a lowercase J) is at once a profoundly personal album and a universal utopian promise. As a ghost from the past, HJirok draws on Mojtahedy’s memories to mould a new future out of them.

The foundation for »Hjirok« was laid in the city of Erbil in the Kurdish part of Iraq. During one of their stays in the region, Mojtahedy and Toma recorded the three percussionists Hadi Alizadeh, Jawad Salkhordeh and Serdar Saydan as well as setar player Ali Choolaei from Mojtahedy’s backing band while they were playing the rhythms and notes that she had grown up with in the house of her grandfather in the Iranian city of Sanandaj. Her memories of that place... more
credits

released March 8, 2024

Catalog Number: AVM 077

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Produced by Andi Toma. Co-produced by Hani Mojtahedy. Vocals by Hani Mojtahedy. Poems selected from Jalal Malaksha, Abdul Peshew, Molavi Kurd and Edib Chalk. Mixed by Andi Toma at Paraverse Studio in Berlin. Recorded in North Irak Kurdistan and Berlin between 2021 and 2023. Recording engineers Siamand Mohammadi and Constantin Carstens. Additional sound processing by Constantin Carstens. Cover art and photo by Siamand Mohammadi. Vinyl cut by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering. Mastered by Zino Mikorey. Press release written by Kristoffer Cornils. © & ℗ 2024 HJirok under exclusive license to Altin Village & Mine — all rights reserved.