In whirling, abstract flights of noise and oscillations, composer Arash Azadi makes electronics that evolve as if in an electro-organic primordial ooze. And he has something to say about returning us all to a deeper state of existence.
Pictured at top: one of Arash’s scores.
Typically, at this juncture, I would nod to where an artist was born (Iran) and where they’re based (Yerevan, Armenia). Persian musical background is important to Arash’s expression, training, and artistic statement – but otherwise, I would be missing the point. (See also in his bio the intentional disinformation or re-information that places his birth in 2015 in Yerevan.) This music brings us all to another plane of being, a truer self.
And you’ll feel that right away in this music – take the rush of cosmic noise around track #4, synths blurting out like Sun Ra-style mating calls. You get the sense that time-space is liquid, bendable, and warped around the tracks.
In the midst of such violence around us, here’s some deep space sonic freedom. As Arash writes:
The album The Spontaneous Innocence of Being is an exploration of the pure, untainted essence that every living being is born with—a state of being that is harmonious, spontaneous, and free. It is a musical meditation on the fundamental truth that all creatures, from humans to trees, rivers, and stars, emerge into existence in a natural state of innocence.
In our earliest moments, we are like the earth’s first dawn, fresh and unsullied, carrying with us no preconceptions, judgments, or malice. We live in harmony with ourselves and the world around us, guided by instinct and intuition, much like how a flower blooms without asking for permission or a river flows without hesitation. This innocence is a universal bond, shared by all living beings, and it connects us in ways we often forget as we grow.
The sounds in this album will embody this primordial state, using organic, experimental, and ambient tones to evoke the purity of the natural world. The album will be an invitation to return to that innocent space within us, where creativity, love, and empathy flow effortlessly—where our actions are not dictated by external forces but by the simplicity of being.
As we age and experience life, society often imposes layers upon us—expectations, fears, judgments, and divisions that distort this original innocence. War, hatred, racism, xenophobia—these are not born from our souls; they are learned constructs, deviations from the natural harmony we were created to live in. Yet, if we could only remember our innocence, if we could live in that state, there would be no room for such divisions. Our hearts, in their most authentic form, do not know how to hate. They know how to connect, nurture, and embrace the diversity of life just as the elements of nature coexist in peaceful balance.
Each track will act as a mirror to different stages and expressions of this natural purity. Some may evoke the stillness of early childhood, others the dynamic spontaneity of nature—wind, waves, the rising of the sun. Together, they will create an immersive soundscape that encourages listeners to shed the layers of complexity and return to simplicity. To a world where we live in harmony with one another, with ourselves, and with the planet.
This album is not just an auditory experience; it is a call to remember, a call to reclaim what has always been within us—our innocence. A call to believe in the possibility of a world where we live as we were born to live: in love, not fear. In unity, not division. In peace, not conflict.
Let us rediscover our innocence, and in doing so, rediscover the potential for true harmony in our lives and the world around us.
For an especially healing experience – one you might want today – there’s his transcendent meditation from 2020 on Artsakh, just as Azerbaijan was besieging the territory:
The piece “Ջուր և Աղոթք (Water and Prayer)” brings together field recordings of water, synthesized sounds based on water, mixed with samples of Armenian prayers from Komitas Vardapet’s choral work Patarag (Armenian divine liturgy). Water here is used as a sacred symbol of life and cleanse, and Prayer represents the faith to good and love. It is easy today, in the middle of the war and other global crises, for our hearts to harden and get filled with anger and hatred. I hope this piece will bring calmness to our minds and peace to our hearts.
In a separate social media post, Arash has spoken to some of his aims with music generally – and the connection to Persian tradition:
تمرین هنری من حول محور مضامین مفهومی می چرخد، با تمرکز بر تأثیر استعمار فرهنگی – به ویژه اینکه چگونه غرب زدگی و جهانی شدن فرهنگ ایرانی را از اوایل قرن بیستم پاک و خالی کرده است. این در مورد ایجاد قطعات زیبای موسیقی نیست. در عوض، در مورد به نمایش گذاشتن فقدان موسیقی اصیل و زیبا است که برای بیش از ۲۵۰۰ سال زندگی کرده است و قدمت آن به امپراتوری ایران و حتی قبل از آن بازمی گردد.
از طریق استفاده از صداها و نویز الکترونیکی، به طور نمادین فرآیند بیگانگی فرهنگی را بررسی می کنم. تحریف موسیقی سنتی و فولکلور ایرانی در آثار من نشان دهنده روشی است که فرهنگ‌های بومی به پژواک‌های مغشوش گذشته‌شان تبدیل می‌شوند و ما را به سمت یک بحران هویت سوق می‌دهد که در آن احساس می‌کنیم مجبور می‌شویم میراث خود را به نفع نسخه‌ای غربی شده از خود رها کنیم.
با پردازش این صداها به نویز، ترکیب‌های الکتروآکوستیک من بیان می‌کند که چگونه استعمار فرهنگی غرب به آرامی سنت‌های باستانی و غنی مانند سنت‌های فرهنگ ایرانی را از بین می‌برد و تکه‌هایی از تاریخ تحریف شده را پشت سر می‌گذارد.
My art practice revolves around conceptual themes, focusing on the impact of cultural colonialism—especially how westernization and globalization have been erasing and emptying Persian culture since the early 20th century. It’s not about creating beautiful pieces of music; instead, it’s about showcasing the absence of the authentic, beautiful music that has lived for over 2500 years, dating back to the Persian Empire and even earlier.
Through my use of electronic sounds and noise, I symbolically explore the process of cultural alienation. The distortion of Iranian traditional and folk music in my work represents the way native cultures are turned into confused echoes of their past, pushing us toward an identity crisis where we feel forced to abandon our own heritage in favor of a Westernized version of ourselves.
By processing these sounds into noise, my electroacoustic compositions express how Western cultural colonialism slowly disintegrates ancient, rich traditions like those of Persian culture, leaving behind fragments of a distorted history.
I’m excited about where this project is leading. It comes with a self-reflective examination of the role of technology and cultural colonialism – and a reminder of life of the soul, beyond the illusions of the world (just in case you’re needing to escape those this week).
Bonus round here for anyone still reading – by total chance, this video popped up again in my feed. It’s worth visiting as a reminder of the mind-closing evils of orientalism. That’s a technological issue as much as a musicological one, too. And I believe technology works when it values human life and opens itself to possibilities.
And to close, if you missed Arash’s 2017 release I put out on CDM’s own Establishment, it was an epic work: