"Much of the 'fusion music' pumped out by a new generation of bands in Iran transitions from East to West...writing Farsi lyrics onto non-Iranian genres like rock, jazz, and country. While the results can be novel and crowd-pleasing, the mix often feels more like an overlay of disparate elements than a seamless, authentic form of art.
This is what makes the sound of American-Iranian musician Fared Shafinury and his Austin-based band, Tehranosaurus, stand out from his contemporaries. Born in a small town along the Gulf of Mexico, and classically trained on the cello, Shafinury later unearthed a deep-rooted love for the music of his parents' homeland -- the traditional vocal repertoire known as the radiff. His compositions thus move against the current, by retracing the arc from West to East. In his hands, the setar, an Eastern cousin of the guitar, and Fared's virtuoso specialty, yearns not for a departure from Iranian form nor the emulation of Western genres, but arrival at the point where binaries and boundaries bleed and blend until they dissolve completely. " - Tehran Bureau 2010
