saint abdullah: to live a la west pt 1

Every new St. Abdullah record is an attempt to present new ideas and To Live A La West is no exception. To Live A La West is simply moving, a collection of profound and spiritual tracks miraculously existing at the impossible intersection of free jazz and electro where mystery and clarity exist together. Neither complicated or complex but profound, St. Abdullah's new work is partially inspired by their love for Jon Hassell's compositions. CD features guest appearances by John Butcher, Aquiles Navarro, and Kol; packaged in a heavy-duty digipack with metallic gold printing. Saint Abdullah on the release: "This album, like all of our albums, are rooted in our human stories. Personal stories, family stories. This one happens to focus on the chapter that began when we moved to Canada as kids, and left Iran for good. To live in the West doesn't necessarily mean to be Western. That is a choice. As kids, it felt a necessity to be like the western kids. To imitate their culture, choices, way of life. That's what was acceptable, even desirable -- a life lived with less tension was the motto. We were already different enough. It was never our parents who asked this of us. More the environment. There was a moment, after grade 6 graduation that our mother has on film (she has everything on film), where we're begging her to let us go to the dance that took place after the ceremonies. Our father was strictly a no, our mother was on the fence. In the end she won out, and we got to go. It was such a wild feeling, having only been in the west 3 years at that time. So maybe that's what this album is about, an imitation? But who we are imitating, I'm not sure anymore. No one directly, certainly, but a cannon perhaps. Imitate better than they can infiltrate. Faster than they take over our cultures, our lands, our youth, we take over theirs. Still reflecting..."