Portraits in Sound, Vol. 1

This is a collection of selections from our roster of world music artists. Featuring songs from Haunted By Waters, Mythos, Axiom of Choice, Aldoush & the Human Exchange, Yussi & Django, Yaghoub Zoroofchi, Parinaz, and the rest of the best in world music. This CD will give you a taste from the menu of magical world music here at X DOT 25 — seventy-three minutes that takes you on a journey to distant realms and other eras.

When hanging a portrait, it is very important what frame you choose. X DOT 25 Music invites us to consider melody "portraits" from the Middle East, Ireland, India, Azerbaijan, Africa, South America, etc. in contemporary western "frames." The lyric and background meld together succinctly thanks to the fact that these talented and developed artists are based in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, France, Persia and so on. They are knowledgeable both in the ethnic sounds they are bringing out and the culture they are bringing it into. Among the salient cuts here are the amazing gypsy/flamenco guitar duets of Yussi & Django, masterful tabla percussion from Emam & Friends and the operatic tenor of Yaghoub Zoroofchi. — Thomas Schulte, All Music Guide

There are many talented world music artists on the X DOT 25 Music label — so many, in fact, that we felt compelled to pick the best of the best and feature them in a sampler. With so much fantastic music to choose from, we had to release a record that would give a broad cross-section of the listening public a taste of what we're about here at X DOT 25 Music.

So we sat down and listened closely to the myriad of talent in our library, and selected the thirteen songs that we feel represent the creative zeitgeist that moves us at this company. Audio portraits of artists like the intensely creative Haunted By Waters, the exotic lyricism of Aldoush & the Human Exchange, and the romantic, moving Yaghoub Zoroofchi; the playful virtuosity of Yussi & Django, the gut-grabbing textural and rhythmic sense of Mythos, or the jubilant aural celebrations of Karumanta Jamuyku. Add the sheer energy of santur player Alan Kushan, the sensuous power of Axiom of Choice, and the traditional beauty of Parinaz, Kamel Alipour and Sheila Bazleh — and you have seventy-three minutes of music that takes you on a journey to distant realms and other eras.