Mohsen Namjoo is an Iranian singer-songwriter, setar player and music researcher, born in Khorasan in 1976. His music combines Persian classical scales and avaz with electric guitar and the vocal techniques of rock and blues.4
Recordings
12 releases, oldest first. Select one for its details and sources.
No matches.
Life & work
Songs in circulation
Namjoo’s songs spread through Tehran’s underground music scene while he was a college student there.5 His first album, Damavand, circulated unofficially as bootlegs in Iran.6
Toranj appeared in 2007.4 Recalling its making, Namjoo said that its pieces had been written in Iran in the year or two before recording, through collaboration with his friends in the Mashhad group «ماد».7
Solo stages and live recordings
In January 2006, Namjoo played a solo set at the International Rotterdam Film Festival’s Tehran Hotspot, his first performance outside Iran.8 He arrived in the United States in 2009 and subsequently toured internationally.4
Live performance also became part of his recorded work. Alaki captures a February 2011 performance at Stanford University. Accounts differ on its release year: Namjoo’s official biography gives 2011, while Stanford’s Iranian Studies biography gives 2012.84 13/8, listed in his official discography for 2012, is another live album, recorded at Berkeley.4
Study, collaboration and older compositions
In 2014, Namjoo taught “Tradition and Protest: Iranian and Persian Music” at Brown University as a visiting professor of Iranian Studies.5 His collaborations include Phantasm, a 2019 album made with santoor player and composer Ehsan Matoori.9
Motantan, released in 2020, reaches back to music from his student years. Namjoo recalled playing its closing piece, «خشم کردم», on setar while at university in his early twenties.47 In discussing the album, he also described adding instruments to his usual ensemble of guitar, bass, drums and his own setar.7
Sources
- 1Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · music.apple.com
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Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music
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- 2Motantan - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
4 quotes
Motantan Mohsen Namjoo Rock · 2020
Motantan by Mohsen Namjoo on Apple Music
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March 4, 2020 13 songs, 1 hour 9 minutes ℗ 2020 Mohsen Namjoo
- 3Mohsen Namjoo | محسن نامجو – Telegram · t.me
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Mohsen Namjoo | محسن نامجو – Telegram
https://t.me/s/Official_MohsenNamjoo
http://youtube.com/@officialmohsennamjoo
- 4Bio — Mohsen Namjoo
13 quotes
Born in 1976 in Khorasan province, one of epicenters of poetry and music north east of Iran, Mohsen Namjoo is a Singer Songwriter, Music scholar and Setar (traditional Persian lute) player currently based in New York City.
Seamlessly blending the Classical Persian music and scales with electric guitar,Rock and Blues vocal techniques with Persian Avaz (singing).
2007 Toranj, Tehran: Barbad Music In.
Since his arrival to the U.S. in 2009, Namjoo has been touring the world
2011 Alaki, Live at Stanford University. California: Payam Ent. Inc.
2012 13/8, Live at University of Berkeley. California: Payam Ent. Inc.
2020 Motantan (Gtandiloquent) Daf-Daf
http://soundcloud.com/mohsennamjoo
2019 Sowday e man (Phantasm) (With Ehsan Matouri) Sheed Records
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf8EMYdv6DTYpqCjEGb83SA
2023 Restless
2024 Oula
His latest album, Magnetism is released on December 21, 2025.
- 5An exiled Iranian musician goes avant-garde · Brown University News
2 quotes
While at college in Tehran, his songs exploded onto the underground artists’ scene and he was proclaimed a rock star.
As visiting professor of Iranian Studies with Middle East Studies, he teaches “Tradition and Protest: Iranian and Persian Music.”
- 6Damavand (2005) · Mohsen Namjoo
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The first Mohsen Namjoo album that was released unofficially via bootlegging in Iran
- 7از اعجاب «مُطَنطن»؛ گفتوگو با محسن نامجو · Radio Farda
3 quotes
فقط آلبوم «ترنج» بود که قطعاتش در ایران و در همان فاصله یکی دوسال قبل از ضبطش ساخته شده بود، که در واقع حاصل همکاری من بود با دوستان مشهدیام در گروه «ماد».
ولی «خشم کردم» که قطعه آخر است، جزو قطعاتی است که من حدود بیست و یکی دو سالگی در همان زمان دانشگاه با سهتار میزدمش.
افزوده شدن سازهایی اضافه بر آن چهار ساز اصلی است که ما همیشه استفاده میکنیم، یعنی گیتار، گیتارباس، درامز و خود من با سه تار.
- 8Evolution of Iranian Rhythms · Stanford University, Iranian Studies
2 quotes
Namjoo’s first performance outside of Iran was in January 2006 at the Tehran Hotspot of the International Rotterdam Film Festival where he played solo.
Payam Entertainment released Namjoo’s latest album Useless Kisses in 2011, and Alaki in 2012, which live recording from a performance at the Stanford University in February 2011.
- 9Ehsan Matoori | Bio · Ehsan Matoori
2 quotes
Ehsan’s debut album, “Phantasm,” a collaboration with Mohsen Namjoo, was released in 2019.
Ehsan Matoori (Santoor Player, Composer, Educator)
- 10Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
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October 10, 2007 9 songs, 48 minutes ℗ 2007 Raha Records
Mohsen Namjoo
Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo
- 11Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
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September 8, 2007 9 songs, 48 minutes ℗ 2007 Mohsen Namjoo
Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo
- 12Listen to Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo | Spotify · Spotify
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Listen to Toranj - Album by Mohsen Namjoo | Spotify
More by Mohsen Namjoo
Restless
Album • 2023
/album/59UuC85QgjBoUR6Xdr3C3x
- 13Stream Mohsen Namjoo | Listen to Toranj playlist online for free on SoundCloud · SoundCloud
One quote
Stream Mohsen Namjoo | Listen to Toranj playlist online for free on SoundCloud
- 14The Band | Kiosk · Kiosk (official site)
2 quotes
2008: Ay Yarom Bia featuring Mohsen Namjoo
2009: Morgh e Sahar (Bird of Dawn) featuring Mohsen Namjoo
- 15Stream Morghe Sahar - Kiosk (Feat. Mohsen Namjoo) by KIOSK | Listen online for free on SoundCloud · soundcloud.com
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Morghe Sahar - Kiosk (Feat. Mohsen Namjoo)
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- 16Alaki - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
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December 26, 2011 9 songs, 1 hour 11 minutes ℗ 2011 Mohsen Namjoo
Mohsen Namjoo
Alaki - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music
- 17Stream Mohsen Namjoo | Listen to Alaki الکی playlist online for free on SoundCloud · SoundCloud
One quote
Stream Mohsen Namjoo | Listen to Alaki الکی playlist online for free on SoundCloud
- 1813/8 - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
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13/8 - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music
- 19Stream Mohsen Namjoo | Listen to 13/8 playlist online for free on SoundCloud · SoundCloud
One quote
13/8
- 20Phantasm - Album by Ehsan Matoori & Mohsen Namjoo · Apple Music
2 quotes
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Phantasm - Album by Ehsan Matoori & Mohsen Namjoo
- 21Mohsen Namjoo - YouTube · YouTube
11 quotes
Phantasm
Ehsan Matoori, Mohsen Namjoo
OLAK5uy_lp7GGyBlfwCU1SPs5vY3BUKuIAPiBOtTM
Restless
Mohsen Namjoo
OLAK5uy_nlLozun5iQdSvVS4DreOsUqzECKVUMU5Y
Oula
OLAK5uy_kTksdfpU7931S_xlqkI6Rp2RouguFkCYA
Magnetism
Mohsen Namjoo, Kābin
OLAK5uy_k4gy1_QTSwanRU2kSkzFlq5aqYIH7a8xQ
- 22Phantasm — Spotify album catalogue · Spotify
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Phantasm Ehsan Matoori Mohsen Namjoo spotify:album:6BpNS2A9Tjat8gJxqLGrKi
- 23Restless - Album by Mohsen Namjoo · Apple Music
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June 1, 2023
Restless - Album by Mohsen Namjoo
- 24Oula - Album by Mohsen Namjoo - Apple Music · Apple Music
4 quotes
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May 17, 2024 9 songs, 45 minutes ℗ 2024 Daf-Daf Production
Mohsen Namjoo
Oula - Album by Mohsen Namjoo
- 25Kisti? - Single - Album by Mohsen Namjoo & Kābin - Apple Music · Apple Music
2 quotes
Kisti? - Single - Album by Mohsen Namjoo & Kābin - Apple Music
March 27, 2025
- 26Kisti? | Mohsen Namjoo
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Daf-Daf Production
Kisti?
- 27کیستی؟: انتشار و عوامل ·
3 quotes
آواز: محسن نامجو
موسیقی و تنظیم: کابین
کلام: هلالی جغتایی
- 28Kisti? | Mohsen Namjoo, Kābin | Spotify
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Kisti?
- 29Magnetism - Album by Mohsen Namjoo & Kābin - Apple Music · Apple Music
3 quotes
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December 21, 2025 9 songs, 33 minutes ℗ 2025 Daf-Daf Production
Magnetism - Album by Mohsen Namjoo & Kābin - Apple Music
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- 33Mohsen Namjoo feat. Kābin - Nobahaari.mp3
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Mohsen Namjoo feat. Kābin - Nobahaari.mp3