Monday, February 13, 2023

Radio Free California Episode 2307, Dancing in Azadi Square, and a few cheap shots

 


New music this week from (gasp!) Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins, Trev Lukather, a great remake by Voiceplay, new music from Lies (formerly of American Football), Kelela, Paramore, Hiromi, Black Belt Eagle Scout and much more. Enjoy!

If you want to follow these artists, take a look at their artist profiles on Spotify. Many artists link to their socials from there.

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So I have a new single out tomorrow, and I'll be honest I don't expect it to gain much traction. It's a dour instrumental track and not everyone will find it pleasing to listen to - although I do. But it does have a story.

In October of 2022 a couple, Astiyazh Haghighi, 22, and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 21, filmed themselves dancing and posted it on Instagram. The entire video is 16 seconds in length and you can see it here. It's a joyous expression of love.

Thing it, they did this in Iran. Specifically in a public space called Azadi Square. You can see Azadi Tower in the video. Dancing in public is illegal for women in Iran, as is men and women embracing, and women leaving their hair uncovered.

This probably wouldn't have meant much in the grand scheme of things, but between them Haghighi and Ahmadi have over 2 million followers on Instagram. The video went viral, and the government was embarrassed.

They were each sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison. EACH.

For some context here, a man named Sajjad Heydari received a sentence of 8 years for beheading his wife. But at least he didn't embarrass the government.

How fucked up do you have to be to think this is acceptable? I'm not criticizing Islam here. I criticizing the disparity. The inequity. The idea that dancing and being in love is somehow worse than murder.

I wanted to write a song about it, but I didn't have anything at my immediate disposal to work with. I started looking through old demos I had made to see what I could work with and I came across this moody bit of work organ that is somewhat reminiscent of Led Zepplin's "No Quarter"

I remixed it, expanded it, and it will be available at all the usual places on Valentine's Day.




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Cheap Shots:

What the hell have we been shooting down, anyway?

Oh, in case you didn't notice, the worst environmental disaster in US History on American Soil is currently underway in Ohio/Pennsylvania.


They're not going to interview Jared.

Even this white boy liked De La Soul. This is a loss.

Can anyone really explain to me the obsession with the genitals of other people's children? I mean aside from the undeniable fact that they're all fucking perverts.

Celebrating the joys of 20% of the population during the month we celebrate their contributions isn't "woke" you fucking racists.


You know all those Jesus ads during the Super Sports Bowl game thing? Shame the people behind it don't really practice what they (pay $20 MIllion to) lecture.


It shouldn't come as a shock to you that if you erase their history, Black folks are going to get active in Home schooling

This is going to be an awkward meeting. Maybe.

I think it's worth point out that this happened two months ago, and we're only finding out about it now.

Face it, while this is pretty cool most of us won't be going to the show. But check out the news anyway - it's worth it for the video just a few scrolls down.


And because I love you, here is the video for the LIES song in this week's playlist. All the effrects are practical, and at the end they show you how they did it.




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