Born in Tehran and based in Vienna, Rojin Sharafi occupies a pivotal space in the urgent arts scene that thrives under the shadow of Ali Khamenei’s oppressing regime, built around Ata Etkebar aka Sote. Not surprising then to find Sharafi’s debut - ‘Urns Waiting To Be Fed’ - released by the latter’s crucial Zabte Sote label. Escaping any given forms and conventions, Sharafi’s musical ventures through uncharted electroacoustic cartographies, disrupting any hierarchies of rhythm, melody and timbre in a flow of mutating sounds that never reaches any sort of climax or conclusion. A wormhole where traces of traditional music from Iran are subverted against metallic percussion, 8-bit particles and nuanced textures that don’t follow any logical canon, but probe the unknown without ever repelling us. An achievement. Photo: Hessam Samavatian