As some of you may or may not know, I have an EP out on Dubsided called “Bandari Funk”.

It was meant to be a cheeky reference to Baile Funk to mess with the press (kinda like Fidget house was). But what exactly is “Bandari”?

Essentially, it’s the traditional form of Persian/Iranian dance music that still persists today. Not all Persian music has Bandari elements though.  For example, the music of the Googoosh in the 70′s was pretty much western influenced lounge/pop music than actual Persian music.

Like Cumbia or Soca for example, Bandari has a very specific and distinguishable rhythm.

The first track I posted is “Ashegham” from singer Suzan Rushan’s album  “Shazdaih I Ishq”

ASHEGHAM

Notice the 2/5 beat that it begins with. This is the Bandari break and this is how you can tell it apart from other forms of Iranian music.

Now to show the difference here’s another track from the album that clearly is not bandari.

SHAHZADEH

Phew! we’ll leave it there for now.

This is just scratching the surface of Bandari music as well as Persian music as well.

Keep an eye out for LESSON 2 as I go into other forms of Iranian dance music as well as more bandari.