Square Wave 008: The Story Of Soosh

The subject of last week’s Square Wave (007), dEbruit, used the power of disjointed arrangement to make something fun; wonky beats, samples of “ethnic” percussion, and synth punch painting a picture of the same ilk as his color-coded, jewel-eyed EP covers. To balance him out, this week’s favorite square instills a somber mood. Soroosh Khavari, known to those listening as Soosh, has a story, and whether or not it has influenced his sound is up to you.

The PR blurb packaged with the promo copy of his self-titled debut EP said it all in one mysterious and unsatisfying sentence, as they often do. Something like: plucked from over there, now over here, making beats that you can hear and pick apart and judge in the above folder. Following some digging, the beginning of his story turned up in a 2006 article for BBC News. In a sequence of his own simple sentences, Soroosh told the story of his parents’ escape from persecution in Iran the early 80s, a time immediately following the Islamic revolution when the state’s hated group du jour were the minority followers of the Bahá’í faith. Leaving all their belongings behind in their home, with the family of four on hired motorcycles, the Khavaris fled to Pakistan, and eventually to the UK where they joined Soroosh’s grandparents. Glasgow was the backdrop of their new life.

Soroosh grew up without a conspicuous personal memory of his homeland, cultured instead through the teachings of Bahá’í, and otherwise a regular Scottish kid with Scottish friends and Scottish style, in Scotland. He grew up and became a dentist. As grown ups often do, Soroosh began feeling a curiosity and, subsequently, a longing for the place he rose from and escaped from without ever knowing it. When he wrote his BBC article in 2006, Soroosh mentioned the idea of backpacking through Iran, a desire thwarted by his parents’ fears rooted in their recollection of a land never safe despite reports of progress in tolerance. They were right, and today two of three American hikers still detained there since a 2009 trip are proof.

Soosh ep….. Available now at boomkat, itunes etc…. by Soosh

Taking a sabbatical from the wild world of Scotch dentistry, Soroosh found himself in British Columbia, and the mellow weather and landscape found their way into his heart, mind, and sampler. Here, Soosh completed his EP; seven instrumental tracks built from thick piles of incongruent loops, filtered groaning voices, and drums in the distance. It could be that his story is coming through in these songs, with the melancholy hopefulness that we feel when we see true forms of nature after years within concrete, or home after a lifetime away. It’s equally possible that this is just what he wants to hear in his music, regardless of story or theme.

This is some of that emotional production that Flying Lotus and his cohorts have adopted, and that Boards of Canada are not often enough given credit for. It’s slow, quiet, and earthy, with lots of little bubbling flourishes that push it along like a stream.

Soosh EP is the fourth release on the Jumble imprint under Russia’s Fuselab, and if you’re feeling these sounds, be sure to seek out the second and third releases, by Switzerland’s AEED and France’s Powell, respectively. AEED’s Titles is on more of the hip hop tip and Powell’s Densuiis big, big beats.