Nine Heavens
Encyclopedia
Nine Heavens is the second album of Iranian music group Niyaz
, an acoustic electronic project. It was released on June 24, 2008 on Six Degrees Records
.
The album is divided into 2 discs. One is the electronic version of the album, while the second disc presents eight of the songs as acoustic versions with the exception of "Iman", which is mostly an electronic/ambient piece and features no acoustic instruments but includes Azam Ali's vocals. Many of the track titles were revealed on site of the band's label.
Nine Heavens reached #4 in the Billboard
Top World Albums chart.
folk song.
"Ishq" and "Tamana" are based on ghazal
by Khwaja Mir Dard
.
The words to "Iman" are drawn from two ruba'iyat by different authors: Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir and Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali.
Another pair songs, "Molk-e-Divan" and "Sadrang" draw the lyrics from works by Amir Khusrow (امیر خسرو دهلوی), a 13th century mystic and poet who, like Niyaz's vocalist Azam Ali
, was a Persian
raised in India
.
Niyaz
Niyaz is an Iranian musical trio. The group was created in 2005 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice...
, an acoustic electronic project. It was released on June 24, 2008 on Six Degrees Records
Six Degrees Records
Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. It has been described by the journalist and producer Derek Beres as "one of the most groundbreaking labels of the past decade."...
.
The album is divided into 2 discs. One is the electronic version of the album, while the second disc presents eight of the songs as acoustic versions with the exception of "Iman", which is mostly an electronic/ambient piece and features no acoustic instruments but includes Azam Ali's vocals. Many of the track titles were revealed on site of the band's label.
Nine Heavens reached #4 in the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top World Albums chart.
Disc 1
- "Beni Beni"
- "Tamana"
- "Feraghi - Song Of Exile"
- "Ishq - Love And The Veil"
- "Allah Mazare"
- "Iman"
- "Molk-E-Divan"
- "Hejran"
- "Sadrang"
Disc 2
- "Allah Mazare" (acoustic)
- "Beni Beni" (acoustic)
- "Sadrang" (acoustic)
- "Tamana" (acoustic)
- "Feraghi - Song Of Exile" (acoustic)
- "Hejran" (acoustic)
- "Ishq - Love And The Veil" (acoustic)
- "Molk-E-Divan" (acoustic)
Lyrical sources
"Beni beni" is based on an 18th century Turkish SufiSufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
folk song.
"Ishq" and "Tamana" are based on ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
by Khwaja Mir Dard
Khwaja Mir Dard
Khwaja Mir Dard was born in 1721 and died in 1785. He is one of the three major poets of the Delhi School—the other two being Mir Taqi Mir and 'Sauda'—who could be called the pillars of the classical Urdu ghazal.-Philosophy:...
.
The words to "Iman" are drawn from two ruba'iyat by different authors: Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir and Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali.
Another pair songs, "Molk-e-Divan" and "Sadrang" draw the lyrics from works by Amir Khusrow (امیر خسرو دهلوی), a 13th century mystic and poet who, like Niyaz's vocalist Azam Ali
Azam Ali
-Biography:Born in Tehran, Iran 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, India. Ali and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California in 1985, after which Ali discovered the santour...
, was a Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
raised in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Use in pop culture
The songs of "Nine Heavens" were played in several episodes of the HBO series True BloodTrue Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...