Saman Shahi: Microlocking
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If you missed Saman Shahi's 2020 debut album Breathing In The Shadows, Microlocking offers a satisfying introduction to the Iranian-Canadian composer's music. At a compact twenty-five-minutes, the EP hardly provides an exhaustive account of the sonic realm his material inhabits, but it's an appealing appetizer nonetheless. As the title suggests, the EP includes microtonality and rhythmic interplay as points of reference, yet the sonic terrain expands into other areas too as its four tracks play out, the concluding one a remix by Tehran-based electronic music producer Behrooz Zandi of the opening piece.

Shahi's established himself as a strong Ontario presence over the last decade. His work has been featured on the CBC and at Ottawa Chamberfest and the 21st Century Guitar Conference. He's worked with the Canadian Opera Company as a composer and teaching artist, is a known figure in Toronto's contemporary music scene, and, even closer to textura's home, leads the Peterborough Concert Band. Ten years ago, he founded the collective ICOT (Iranian Composers of Toronto), for which he's also the organization's executive director. As a composer, Shahi's ambitious, his CV indicating that he's created operas, song cycles, orchestral works, and electronic pieces.

He's no minimalist of the (early) Glass sort, though echoes of it do emerge in “Microlocking I.” Performed by junctQín Keyboard Collective (Elaine Lau, Joseph Ferretti, and Stephanie Chua) on six digital pianos (half pitched a quarter-tone sharp), the material mesmerizes for its interlocking rhythms, parabolic ostinatos, and, of course, the ear-catching microtonal pitches. To Shahi's credit, he could have had the performers simply lock into a repeating pulse and left it at that; instead, subtle adjustments in dynamics add drama to its development, and changes in structure and density enhance its impact. Stated otherwise, the piece registers as a fully fledged composition as opposed to quasi-generative exercise.

“Microlocking II” couldn't be further unlike the opener in featuring the guitar playing of Andrew Noseworthy exclusively. As different as it is on timbral grounds, a connection to the opener is retained in the inclusion of repeating patterns, though brutalizing stabs and noise textures tend to shift attention away from the underlying elements. That the performance is so bold doesn't argue against it, however; if anything, it's refreshing to be presented with something so challenging and confrontational. While Iranian traditional improvisation practices are cited as an inspiration, the piece feels rooted as much in psych-rock and avant-punk. The EP shifts gears dramatically once again when Shahi on electronics collaborates with accordionist Matti Pulkki on “Microlocking III.” Executed with even greater ferocity than the solo guitar exploration, the performance allows Pulkki ample opportunity to unleash wild volleys of smears and chugging figures. There's fireworks aplenty in this high-energy throwdown, especially when Pulkki's playing is so agile and uninhibited.

In time-honoured fashion, Zandi's “re-composition” of the titular work elaborates on the original by adding a downtempo hip-hop pulse and other textural elements (Shahi's also credited with electronics on the remix), the outcome a denser take that's truly a bonus yet engrossing nonetheless. Consistent with the original, Zandi strips things down and then builds them back up again, the remixer here cleverly toying with expectations and keeping the listener engaged right up to the trippy coda.

December 2021