
You can now access your favourite pop recordings at the touch of a button, whereas before, building a similar collection would’ve required spending a fortune and dedicating a whole room in your apartment to storing them. But don’t think that it’s always been this way or that it always will.
The world changed the moment that information could be properly stored. Before the printing press, it was believed that wisdom could only be delivered through the spoken word. Once you heard it, you used it. If you didn’t use it or weren’t able to remember so as to tell it to someone else, it was bound to disappear forever. And a lot of wisdom did disappear forever.

Fouad Samiei is an artist who has set out on a mission to preserve ancient wisdom. He has set out a difficult task for himself. The “Mystic Tales” EP isn’t merely an exercise in documenting ancient Persian music. No, its purpose is also to add contemporary elements and to catch you in its sway. This music is alive, and information needs to be used right now.
That is not to say that you will not have to make an effort to receive it. The music may well introduce sounds you are not wholly familiar with. However, the Oud and the Setar, played by a masterful musician, are an easy sell. These instruments are not just part of the history of millions of people. Within their sound lie secrets that are waiting to reveal themselves to you.
The EP, released by record label Tunitemusic, is made up of three compositions. The first, “Home is so Far Away”, is a song covered in longing and nostalgia. The instruments themselves may be exotic, but the language that they speak should be familiar to all listeners. The emotions found in a blues, a ballad, or even a gloomy grunge song are all found here as well.
Music is not only a universal language but the one that most easily communicates the most complicated feelings to others. This is why “Night Tale,” a mysterious composition and a recording that makes great use of the ambience created by the ancient instruments, is, similarly, one that doesn’t need to be explained to be understood.
Where does this leave us? Taking the same journey as others have for thousands of years. And in Fouad Samiei’s case, working to ensure that some of those journeys and their meaning are kept safe so that others may benefit from them. The EP’s closer, “Mystic Flight”, is a beautiful composition, a soundtrack to an otherworldly journey. In more than one way, with this collection of songs, Samiei opens a door, and it’s up to you whether you will attempt to sneak in.
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