Helel Yos

It’s hard not to be swept up by the ecstasy of Zia’s album “Helel Yos”: the way the spirited percussions, hand claps, uplifting horns, and chanted vocals of opener “Kofriom” accelerate and intensify until you’re swept up into its intoxicating groove, or the crazy scatting vocals and whistles on the title track. Zia captures the hypnotic energy of  Bandari music —  the style of music and dance from the southern coastal regions of Iran — and fuses it with fat funk basslines and psychedelic arrangements. A joy.