Little Mountains by Mantis

Little Mountains is formed around our personal interpretation of melodies from Iranian, Kurdish, and Macedonian traditions. Concepts borrowed from our respective backgrounds in various traditions, such as Iranian radif, folkloric music from the Middle East, and Eastern European traditional melodies, as well as contemporary composition and improvisation, are interpreted and collectively incorporated into these collaborative works. Our approach to learning and teaching these folk songs to each other relies mostly on oral transmission, memorization, and listening to the emotional worlds within the melodies.
This album was recorded at the Contemporary Art Center recording studio at the University of California, Irvine in the summer of 2019.

Niloufar is a kamancheh player and composer, from Iran. She is an imaginative interpreter of Iranian music and uses story-telling and poetry as a source of inspiration for her music.
Antonin is a pianist and composer from the Czech Republic. He composes primarily solo piano and electronic music, and incorporates preparations, cyclical textures and various vernacular music.