World Fusion / World Traditional / Worldtronics
Boutique San Francisco Label • Est. 1990 • Distributed Worldwide by The Orchard / Sony Music Group
The Legendary Original World Music Breakthrough Album · Circa 1994
The debut album that reshaped world music. Formed by Persian émigrés including Mamak Khadem, Pejman Hadadi, and Ramin Torkian, their sound features soaring Persian vocals, intricate percussion, nylon string guitar, and a unique quarter-tone guitar. Rooted in the Radif, the music honors tradition while expanding far beyond its boundaries. Brought to X DOT 25 on the strength of The Child Within’s success, Beyond Denial was produced in-house by Aldoush Alpanian and became the label’s defining international release — its success carrying many of its players on to prominent careers of their own. The record also marked the first meeting of Pejman Hadadi and Yussi; their collaboration continued the following year on several tracks of Yussi & Django’s Bandidos De Amor (1995) — sessions now being given their own release as The Desert Sessions.
"One of the wonders of World Trance Music" — LA Times
"Near Eastern art music, deeply moving and utterly beautiful" — Rhythm Magazine
The latest music from X DOT 25 Music
Dark, sensual, cinematic. Marking a bold evolution into EDM/techno, Hance delivers a darker, high-energy sonic experience. Lead single from the upcoming album Black Relic. Streaming worldwide via The Orchard.
Inspired by the Kingship Ring of Ardeshir I. Blending the poetry of Rumi with trance-ambient soundscapes, four vocalists and layered global rhythms deliver a dark, textured, and deeply captivating sonic journey.
Blends Carnatic and Hindustani traditions with a global musical sensibility. Featuring tabla virtuoso Abhijit Banerjee, the album unfolds as an intimate yet expansive sonic experience on the 10-string double violin.
Reuniting original Shakti members Shankar & Vikku Vinayakram. Soaring vocals and violin meet masterful ghatam — dynamic, high-energy, virtuosic. The unmistakable sound of Shakti reborn.
Groove harp, vocals, chants, flute, santur, harmonium, and world percussion. Led by Barbara Imhoff, Cait McWhir, and Tina Blaine — a powerful convergence of artistic voices and a deeply transcendent experience.
Persian-spiritual world fusion. Soaring Farsi vocals over a blend of Eastern and Western instrumentation — violin, setar, santoor, tabla, oud, and more. A contemporary exploration of devotion and longing.
The legendary 1993 Wammies Award winner, now remastered. Ancient Iranian village melodies fused with Persian poetry by Koorosh Angali — a cornerstone of X DOT 25's early catalog reborn with renewed clarity.
A meditative instrumental journey. Acoustic guitar as the seeker, gheychak as earthly emotion, flute as breath. Eight tracks composed from Arash Adelpour's own meditation practice.
No. 40 on the TransGlobal World Music Chart. Mastering Persian classical tradition while pushing into bold avant-garde territory — honoring heritage while redefining its boundaries on the santoor.
21 artists · 53 albums · World music from every corner of the globe
A 35-year legacy of world music excellence
Established in 1990, X DOT 25 Music is a trailblazing boutique label with a 35-year footprint in the San Francisco Bay Area, showcasing a vast variety of music from the most remote corners of the world. Pioneers of World Trance and World Fusion, they have fused World, Trance, Down-tempo, Classical, Electronic, Rock, Jazz, Flamenco and Traditional elements into a fine line of music that pushes envelopes in uncharted territories.
Many artists developed and presented by X DOT 25 Music have gone on to become stars in their own genre — including Mythos (Universal/EMI) and Axiom of Choice (Narada/Virgin Records). The label is proud to have produced high quality world fusion concerts at world-renowned venues including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
