Water From The River by Aria Rostami

The title track of Aria Rostami's "Water From The River" album kicks off in a rousing fashion with quick beats and celestial melodies, all lifting you off your feet and placing you up amongst the stars. "Red of the Burning Wood" is a dense collage of percussive loops, fractured R&B vocals, and heavenly chords that suspend mid-air. Then, "Gandom" offers more compelling broken beats, meticulously layered percussive sounds, watery synths, and muffled vocals that offer many different focal points.

"Esfand" on Rostami's "Water From The River" ups the energy levels further and is a hyper-speed rhythmic workout with shimmering pads and tightly interwoven layers of drums, while "Water Returning" is an ambient interlude that allows you to catch your breath. "Farvardin" once again takes off on fantastically intricate jungle rhythms and deft drum programming that is organic and alive, after which "White of the Burning Forest" shuts down with another impossibly vibrant and lively mix of groove and tropical sound designs that keep you afloat amongst smeared cosmic pads.

I think of Water from the River as a protest record to some extent but more on the level of the human experience of being caught up in forces. The larger world pushes in one direction, the ambitions of people pushing in other ways, and you as a singular human caught in the tides - like water from the river carving through a boulder over time and being swept away with it towards something else.
Aria Rostami

Brooklyn-based Aria Rostami has been releasing music since 2011 and, since then, has released on esteemed labels like Dark Entries, Geographic North, and Spring Theory, both solo and in collaboration with the likes of Saint Abdullah, El Joven, and Daniel Blomquist. His beat-driven electronic music is often conceptual, draws on a wide range of influences, and is made predominantly using hardware.

Aria Rostami - Water From The River
Release Date 17th May 2024
Label Aria Rostami

Tracklist
1. Water from the River
2. Red of the Burning Wood
3. Gandom
4. Esfand
5. Water Returning
6. Farvardin
7. White of the Burning Forest