We’ve taken a pause from our schedule of CD albums due to our local post office closing, following the outbreak of Covid19. We launched a digital series called Home Diaries, in which we’ll release EPs and albums by an international line-up of artists, with the music created during lockdown and social distancing conditions.
The series reflects a range of sounds, styles and ideas, as each artist portrays their own reflections uniquely. Each release is digital only for now, as we hope to raise what we can to help keep our label ticking over at this time. The releases feature a recurring polaroid image of a small lonely house, with a coloured filter chosen by the artist for each respective release.
Our 19th Home Diaries edition is by Mehrdad Kanani an artist and photographer from Tehran, Iran. This is Mehrad’s debut and is a collection of three pieces coined from his time in quarantine, in which he lived alone. This mini album channels frustrations of cancelled travel plans and the loneliness of living along, unable to go outside to meet friends. During the process and with time to think and create, he struck upon a wave of positivity which he has channelled into the noise and fuzz of these Ambient soundscapes.
We have an exciting line-up to follow and each release will include bonus PDF liner notes, which has an interview with the artist on how they made the album, what their situation is like, what they have planned, their influences and what equipment/techniques they used. There are also additional photos provided by the artist as part of the PDF too. Click on the link below to check it out:
-LABEL LINK-
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/home-diaries-019
-ARTIST LINK-
https://mehrdadkanani.bandcamp.com/album/home-diaries
press release
“Home Diaries is an invitation to artists and musicians to create an album or EP to document their personal experience during the lockdown or social distancing conditions that are upon us, due to the coronavirus outbreak. The series reflects a range of sounds, styles and ideas, as each artist portrays their own reflections uniquely. Each release is digital only for now, as we hope to raise what we can to help keep our label ticking over at this time. The releases feature a recurring polaroid image of a small lonely house, with a coloured filter chosen by the artist for each respective release. We interview each artist and this is included as a bonus PDF with the download. You can also check out the Home Diaries series on Spotify if you prefer, which will be available to stream in due course.
Mehrdad Kanani is a photographer and sound designer based in Tehran, Iran. He got in touch after learning of our Home Diaries project, as he had been writing some material based on the sounds inside his head. These were on his mind as he wrestled with the idea of quarantine and self isolation. Living alone, he initially felt suppressed, especially after travel plans had been cancelled but throughout the process and through his work on the sound content of his Home Diaries, Mehrdad adopted a positive approach. Amidst the murk and fuzziness of the opening track ‘A Dreamless Sleep’, a half-tuned radio broadcast beams out waves of positivity, which ultimately shifts aside for another quiet pause. This gentle smearing of noise, hum and fractals somehow lends itself perfectly to the dreamy melodies that blur in and out. The jittering thoughts of a solitary soul that flit about, like positive and negative electricity charges, have been sonically transcribed for you, the listener.“
credits
Written and produced by Mehrdad Kanani
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Harry Towell
whitelabrecs.com 