Various Artists

Discotchari is delighted to release a first-of-its-kind various artists compilation: Tehrangeles Vice (Iranian Diaspora Pop 1983–1993), fully licensed from Taraneh Enterprises. The album is a groundbreaking exposé of the vibrant subcultural hub of Tehrangeles (portmanteau of Tehran + Los Angeles), and the action packed, true story of the Iranian diaspora music industry. Featuring 12 tracks remastered by award winning Osiris Studio, lyrics and translations to all featured songs, original cassette covers, a 20+ page album note booklet by Dr. Farzaneh Hemmasi and more!

Sprawling from Westwood to Glendale across the San Fernando Valley, the Tehrangeles scene was cultivated by the same producers and artists who industrialized the “golden age” of entertainment in pre–revolution Iran and fled from the 1979 Islamic Revolution along with millions of Iranian citizens. Through music and visual media, Iranian producers and artists working out of Tehrangeles have engaged in what the Iranian government calls a “cultural attack” against the Islamic Republic for over 40 years.

The album title Tehrangeles Vice underscores the illicit nature and daring circumstances from which Tehrangeles pop music was born and compares its legacy within Persian media to one of the most significant crime–drama TV shows of all time. In the same manner that Miami Vice and its aesthetics had a dynamic impact on sonic, visual and cultural trends in the United States and around the world, Tehrangeles media was a shock to the systems of Islamic Republic ideology and Iranian expatriate communities. Listening to these songs in hindsight, the contribution of Tehrangeles can be better understood as a triumphant effort to preserve Iranian identity by realizing it in conjunction with prevailing music genres of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and to rebel against the oppressive regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran through the most seductive of means: dance music.