We're back with Aria Rostami's Czarat EP, Spring Theory's sophmore release. Rostami is a San Francisco-based musician whose roots extend off into theoretical dimensions far beyond conventional dancefloor fodder (his material has appeared on labels like Audiobulb and Crash Symbols). For Czarat, however, he's honed his approach to produce an unusual dancefloor anthem. Melding influences from around the world, the song arrives at something that sounds like acid house and techno as interpreted through an internet-enabled, information rich dialog of the present moment.
The names of the songs on the release hint at this culture clash. Opener "Czarat" is a fusion of the Russian word "Czar" and the ancient Persian god "Zarathustra." Rostami refers to this as a "cultural mishmash" and ultimately the names are a nonsense words, creating something new from familiar ideas. The song stands as a reference to the melting pot of disparate sounds within: Motorik Krautrock and North African rhythmic pulsations, Arab synth solos, Chicago acid lines, and Japanese riffing results in an overarching East meets West sensibility, gelling together to create something novel from a chaotic, contemporary trans-cultural communication. And while seemingly heady in its references, hidden beneath its surface is a banging house music core that positions the track well for those moments when the spotlights cut out and the strobes kick in.
Or, for less intense moments, LA's Secret Circuit takes Rostami's original and re-interprets it as sunny Balearica, with warm acoustic guitars and delay washes that make for a round, mellow feeling that keeps the energy laidback, sleek, and sexy — like a tripped-out renegade party on some forgotten beach along California's Pacific Coast Highway.
Finally, "Vietnamoses" rounds things out. A completely different direction, it reveals aspects of Rostami's more experimental side, with a downtempo feeling inspired by (but, we stress, not evocative of) dub-techno juxtaposed with less overt influences from music around the world with it's twangs and drones. Space is the key here — his whipping drum patterns lull a hypnotic trance beneath massive walls of metallic echo and delay and a heightened focus on transition (one of Rostami's favorite themes) allows the song to grow in unexpected ways.
