Artist description This album is a compilation of Emerald Iris 1 (the album I recorded with Elias) and 9 new tracks (the old tracks were remixed). All in all, the album is a blend of atmospheric moods, ambient electronica, sensual guitars, jazzy riffs, poetic lyrics, plowing beats... and blues! This album is me. It basically deals with what goes on in my head when I go to sleep; in the sequence of the CD: from the minute my head hits the pillow until I open my eyes in the morning. The music is put together in the relative order of my mind's interaction with my emotions; at various levels of consciousness.

Music Style world beat, new age, progressive rock, electronic

Musical Influences Pink Floyd, Anathema, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Frederic Chopin

Artist History It all started in 1998, when one day, Joe Seif and Elias el Mokdessi went to a studio to dish out an album: Emerald Iris 1. This was a 5-track album. At the time, we congratulated ourselves- after all, we were super-cool: we had just recorded an album! That soon subsided, however, when we got together with some of the most incredible musicians in Lebanon, and keeping up with them soon became much harder than recording an album. Our jam sessions were simply a higher state of existence. Aside from making our own music, which was extremely trippy, atmospheric, and technically demanding, we also covered some Pink Floyd (Time, Comfortably Numb, etc.) and some Phish (Limb by Limb, Wading in a Velvet Sea). Soon enough, we landed an unforgettable gig at Hard Rock Cafe- the crowd went berserk, especially when we covered "time" by Pink floyd.. Members of the group came and went at random, and either way, our level rose astronomically. Soon, we were playing a wide range of fusion/jazz/funk improvisations that were so intricate and expressive, with everyone raping their instruments in a lofty form of intercommunication. Thus, E.I. is now beyond a band, it is the DEVELOPMENT of the musicians within it, and includes all of their advancements and achievements. Based in Lebanon, it is a uniting factor of a bunch of struggling Lebanese musicians.

Group Members Joseph Seif (piano, guitars, synths, loops, rain stick), Elias el Mokdessi(guitar)

Instruments piano, guitars, synths, rain stick, drum loops

Albums Emerald Iris..Or How I Learned to Fight Gravity

Additional Info This is the shoter version of the album. The actual album is 15 tracks (67 min. long).

Location Akron, Ohio - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).