Greek Alternative bands

Zen Garden

2011-05-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

Zen Garden were born in 2007 by core- creators Stefanos Tortopoglou (Music: Synths, Guitars, Samplers, Programming) and Roxani Garefalaki (Vocals, Lyrics, Performance: stilts, silks) both of whom are on an ongoing journey through the corridors of music. It is a circle of people in an interactive creation, which integrates:
Yiannis Smeros and Yianna Medvedeva in Aerial Acrobatics- silks, Physical Theatre- stilts, Spyros K. (bell), member of Visual Vibe Project in live Visual environment, Michalis Mazis in Bass and guitar, Live Percussionists: Manolis Kambouris, Tolis Metso , Giorgos Koukoulis, and the technical crew: Kostis Margas in lighting design, Stefanos Konstantinidis - sound design, Crystalia Basta - Stage manager, Konstantina Krigkou- costumes.
They have participated in live acts around Greece (Ghost House ,Club Mansion, Soul Club, Void dance bar, Olympia Mall -Trikala 25.10.08 etc), dressed with music the production “Deva” of the DanceTheatre Synergion of Arts and of the DanceTheatre Fygein Adynaton “Facts and Faculties”, while on the other hand they have taken part in the music orchestration of artmentary Chania/Eco.
In 2008 they create the ‘Feeling in Process’ project with which they were the opening act in Juno Reactor Live in Athens (19.4.08), and the opening act of international Aurora Festival (Kavala 25.8.08).
They participated in free concerts for the familiarization of public spaces (Propilaia 19/12/08), the festival of University of Ioanina and festivals like Eco Festival and the Void Network’s Space Technologies- Kratiras Theatre, Electro Free festival, Indie Free festival ‘09.
With their project ‘Semantic’ they opened the Future Sound of London in Athens-23/5/09 at Olympic Softball stadium- Elliniko. Moreover they perform also with their projects: AudioVisual live set and electroacoustic live quartet. In all their projects they explore and look into the creation of an experience which travels through musical landscapes, marrying electronic with natural sound, as well as the magic of live visual art and movement.

Vlastur

2011-05-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

Vlastur started his journey into music as a Bass player. Back in the mid-80's, he was a founding member of the Cohash Funk, an underground funky group. In 1998 alongside Frequency Freak, fellow Cohash funk guitarist and Spiris, a dubby drummer, formed "Apeuthias Syndesi" now known as Direct Connection, a dub experimental laboratory. They released "Dub Infection" in 2007(candy flip recs). Even though he started as a Bassist in Direct Connection, he is the main FX Sound Engineer of the band.

In the meanwhile he was also working as a session musician with various artists and bands. Between 2004-07 he teamed up with Palyrria an ethnic-electronica band and in 2005 recorded "Methexy"(protasis recs) with them and has played in many of their gigs.

"InterAxion Dub" is the first fully length work of Vlastur. Influenced by all his beloved sounds from Dub to Dubstep trough Psy, Ambient, Drum n' Bass and Traditional Mediterranean sounds (july 2009 EQnation recs)!

Vlastur MegaDrop is the live project of him. He performs his material with the help of 2 skilled musicians. Dark Elf (Synth, Fx, and Mixing/Master) and Frequency Freak a.k.a. Fefer(Guitars and Synths)

Most enjoyed gigs : Indie festival Athens 2009 ,Aurora festival 2008-09 , Butterfly dance festival 2006-07 , Samothraki dance festival 2005 , Earthdance Athens festival 2009 , Legalize IT protestival 2006-09 , B-Fest Athens 2009 , Music day Athens festival 2004-07 , Opening acts : Juno Reactor live in Athens 2008 , Ojos de brujos Athens 2007 .

Herod Atticus Odeon Athens festival 2008 , Pallas theater 2009 , ( like a session musician with Lena Platonos ) .

Emotone

2011-05-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

In July 2010, Tomas Weiss and Tania Giannouli founded Emotone. Emotone is a project for eclectic new music in the exciting crossover field of Electronica, Electroacoustic, Ambient, New Classical, Leftfield and other (im)possible combinations. Emotone is founded by Tomas Weiss & Tania Giannouli.

Tomas Weiss: Born near Frankfurt/Main (Germany) in 1975, Tomas Weiss built early on a deep relationship to many kinds of musical styles. From 1997 to 2004 he worked as electronic DJ in different national clubs and with radio stations. From 1997-2005 he owned the vinyl store "el culto" - a shop selling high quality electronic music.

He created the music network "el culto" - a global and idealistic portal for contemporary music. Supported artists are: Klaus Wiese, Mathias Grassow, Con_Sense, Thamnos, Submental, Solveil, Circulum musicum, Emotone, Nautic Depths, Rüdiger Gleisberg, Bruno Sanfilippo, Nostalgia, Amtana and others. He co- founded Emotone project with his partner Tania Giannouli - Tomas Weiss is also responsible for the labels "Musical Philosophy", "Thar", "Sound Claim" and "ClassXX".

Within his different projects and collaborations his aim is to create and release exclusively high quality music and also to expand and break artistic boundaries - his work expands into many styles including Ambient, Electronica, Classical, Experimental and possible combinations.

Tania Giannouli: Coming from classical music training, she studied piano (solist diploma) and composition at Athenaeum Conservatory. She has attended workshops on composition, improvisation and computer music technology. She also studied Agriculture in Agricultural Univercity of Athens.

Her film & theatre music has been performed at many festivals throughout the world (Greece, Iran, Romania, Bosnia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Bulgaria, UK, Turkey, Indonesia, Spain, Lithuania, Morocco, China, Brazil, Kenya, Poland ). As a pianist she is into concerts with a theatrical touch ("The album of Madame Bovary and other stories", "Les Eluard"). She performed in Chris Soumka`s “16 Days” (Archangel music) in collaboration with the Sofia Symphonic Orchestra.

She has participated in ElectroMediaWorks Festival ’08 & '10 and she has performed together with electronica musician Spyweirdos at Synch Festival (2010). Collaboration with Dissonart ensemble and Athens Youth Orchestra .

She is also into improvisation and she co-founded the free improvisation band 4+1. Their first cd "4+1 live at Sfendoni" is released by Triple Bath.

In April 2011 Emotone performed in 6 dogs, Athens presenting their upcoming cd “Slow motion” (Databloem). On stage were: Tomas Weiss (laptop, synthesizers, live electronics), Tania Giannouli (piano), Solis Barki (percussion, rare instruments), Vassilis Tzavaras (guitars, fx, loops).

Visuals projection by Vasilis Kountouris.

www.emotone.net

www.el-culto.com

www.youtube.com/in2elculto

www.myspace.com/taniagiannouli

www.soundcloud.com/tania-giannouli

4+1

2011-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

The ensemble 4+1 was Created in 2007 from musicians who have coexisted in several bands in the past, through improvisation and various musical influences, The group tries a range of sound associations, using natural instrument sound or transformed electronic sound, playing with the alternation of melody, rhythmical motives and timbre, 4+1 'S effort Is making music that combines prepared stuff with improvisation

4+1 give often concerts in Athens, they have participated in ElectroMedia Works Festival '10 and in June 2010, four members of 4+1 (Tania Giannouli, Vasslis Tzavaras, Stamatis Dellaportas, and Giannis Notaras who then left the group) performed together with the electronica musician Spyweirdos at Synch Festival as Schema Ensemble.

The first 4+1 's cd is now out on Triple Bath

Tania Giannouli: piano
Vassilis Tzavaras: guitars
Stamatis Dellaportas: clarinet
Nikos Nikoloupoulos: flutes
Orestis Zafiropoulos; cello

www.4plus1.net

www.youtube.com/TesseraSynEna

I saw fourtythree sunsets

2011-04-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Indie rock band from Athens. Formed in 2009 as an acoustic trio, playing covers from foreign indie bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Death Cab for Cutie, Arctic Monkeys, Beirut, Bon Iver, Empire of the sun, Queens of the stone age, Radiohead and many more but also writing their own acoustic songs.
In 2010, they were searching for new sound, more concrete and full, so they found two great artists for bass guitar and drums. At that point, they started recording their first promo EP with 5 songs.
Now a new era begins in 2011. Their first promo EP is ready after one year of recording and mixing and will soon be sold through MySpace,Facebook.
Fasten your seatbelts!
The future is unknown, but the trip has started.

Zebra Tracks

2011-04-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Their first release in early 2006 was the double A-side single (Silicone Valley/ Borealis Fallacia. The sales of the CD single (700 copies) and the number of tickets in the concerts were an unexpected success.

Zebra Tracks are picked up as opening act for Television Personalities and is appearing in the concert for the 4th European Social Forum on 6 May and on 22 June in the Music Day on Kotzia Square stage, one week after their participation in the Urban Fest Osijek in Croatia.

The fuzz around the band’s name was followed by interviews in Rock Magazines, Radio Stations and Mad TV’s "Post Alternative" show.

Meanwhile the song “Spare Time Soundtrack” is recorded at the Sonic Playground Studio and is included in the original soundtrack of the movie “Approaching of the hour”.

The next plan was the outer Athens scene. The decision to follow Film, one of the most important Greek bands of EMI, at their tour in Greece, led them to 10 northern cities in December 06.

In June 2007 the Zebra Tracks E.P. is released and distributed by Sonic Playground. It receives great critics, hits No1 in the indie record shop Vinyl Microstore and stays there for 3 months. It’s also voted 4th best Greek release of 2007, by the readers of the Velvet magazine.

The same time Placebo picks up Zebra Tracks as an opening act for their concert in Lycabetus Theatre, where Zebras play in front of 7000 fans. One month later Zebras play live with Kaiser Chiefs, Long Blondes and Good Shoes at the Open Air Festival.

During 2008 the band spends most of the time in studio recording the debut full-length album “A family picture from… Zebra Tracks”, which is finally released in October 2009 by Sonic Playground Records. Zebras play live with the Levellers at the opening of Fuzz Club before presenting the album in Athens on 31/10. Since then, they are touring around in various cities and working on new material.

Pig in a Poke

2011-04-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Pig in a Poke is an indie-alternative english speaking Greek band based at the city of Volos. They appeared for the first time in April 2005, and after that many live appearances followed, mainly at Cafe Santan rock bar for two consecutive years on a weekly basis. During the years 2008-2010 the band appeared with many known artists of the same genre, like Abbie Gale, B-Sides, The Place Within, The Fuzzy Nerds, Mr Minimal, Ska Bangies and Pavlos Pavlides & The B-Movies, Rosebleed, Travel Mind Syndrome, Biotech, Fuzzy Nerds, 81db etc. in various cities, like Athens, Volos, Patra, Katerini, Lamia. The band also appeared in Going Youth Festival 2009 in Athens and on MAD TV's show MAD DAY LIVE, as well as on ANT1 TV's Radio Arvyla show in October 2009. In 2010/11 the band already appeared in Volume Festival 2010 in Volos, alongside Blue Jazz Fiction, Burger Project and Monika.Next on schedule is the CD presentation party on 18/11 at the Tsalapatas complex, Volos and the support of Puressence on 30/11 and 1/12 in Larisa and Volos respectively.

Dirty Granny Tales

2011-04-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Dirty Granny Tales is an acoustic/experimental group, combining puppet theatre acts with music.The compositions are dark, full of gothic lyrics and atmospheric melodies, reminding strongly The Tiger Lillies.

Dirty Granny Tales describe themselves as below:

“What happens when music brings puppets to life?
It’s when the Dirty Granny tells her stories…

This is not the sweet Grandma that will narrate a fairy tale for the children in front of the fireplace. She is not the one to knit a woollen scarf while the kitten cuddles on her feet.

This old woman is dirty, releasing a rotting smell. You can’t define the gaze on her face, because it’s absent, you can’t stand the timbre of her voice because it’s piercing your brain with the strength of a thousand needles. Her guise is freezing cold, makes you wonder if she belongs to your World. What kind of stories would such a creature chronicle? Not the kind that work as a lullaby…

The more repulsive her aura, the more you become bewitched. What is that she is knitting with her nails? Would you dare to try it on?”

Pop eye

2011-04-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

Popeye wasn’t their favorite comic book hero. Pop music though is their favorite music…so in 2005 they decided to take a look at pop music. Yannis Kalatis (laptop, music keyboard, guitar) takes over programming, instrumentation and production (in collaboration with GAD.), his brother Markos handles the guitars and Dimitris Kampouris writes the lyrics and sings. All three of them compose. Theirr song “if you…” is included in the collection Silent Wonder compiled by Dimitris Papaspyropoulos (it was also included in the collection Audiobook 3 compiled by Kostas Mprellas from www.postwave.gr). Debut single “the deepest sea” is released by The Sound Of Everything with remixes by GAD. and a French-style re-work by The Flying Silly Brothers. Our debut cd “Pop Eye” is available by Shift Records (June 2008). Last 2 years (2007-2008) they had a lot of performances (Athens Video Art Festival, Gagarin, Gyalino Upstage, An Club, Soul Stereo, Braff Club, Khpos/Syxnothtes, City, European Music Day) and on May 2008 they were the opening act for DELERIUM at Gagarin.

drog_A_tek

2011-04-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

drog_A_tek is a flexible musical band re-inventing itself at each meeting. A mixed and eclectic set of improvisation disorder, formed in 2001 in Athens, they record moments in real-time and produce temporary audiovisual environments. They use objects, analogue and digital musical instruments, typewriters, frequencies, images, recording archives/waste and technology landscapes to which they manufacture small public fragmented narratives.
drog_A_tek develop their shows beyond any normal use of their materials. Emitting, and receiving known/unknown stories and ephemeral desires. They print music, posters, stickers, write on walls and on the internet. They have played at the Athens Festival, in various clubs in Athens and Thessaloniki and many other festivals.

May Roosevelt

2011-04-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Thereminst May Roosevelt was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. Her first encounter with a musical instrument was at the age of twelve, when she took to violin lessons. Nine years later her violin was replaced by a theremin, one of the earliest electronic musical instrument invented in 1919, by Leon Theremin. Aside her personal projects, May Roosevelt has collaborateed with several musicians and bands in Greece including Xaxakes, Matisse, Mary & the Boy, 2L8 and the LBO. She is currently working as a graphic designer.

From artist’s official myspace page

Influenced by the very reverend trinity of Bach, Björk and Klaus Nomi, May Roosevelt is an extraordinary thereminist, composer and producer with a sense for good, old-fashioned drama. Her classical arrangements will give you the shivers (or, at the very least, remind you of movies that gave you the shivers), with nods to early industrial or electronic music and a passing resemblance to the god of thunder behind a theremin. Like many people, she got into music via her first Casio synth as a kid. If her knack for otherworldly sounds is anything to go by, that Casio must have been possessed by some very restless and musical ghosts.

Discography:

PANDA, A STORY ABOUT LOVE AND FEAR

CooRecords 2009
Embarking from the ethereal tradition of Clara Rockmore, the composer and performer May Roosevelt guides the listener through 8 songs dealing with the mysterium tremendum. "Panda, a story about love and fear" is a concept album that narrates a story of a girl that is afraid of almost everything. Will she be able to overcome her weaknesses and embrace the assuring love of a panda or will her fears rule out any chance of happiness? This modern fairytale unravels through a musical dialect comprising unique vocals, English lyrics and a complex of electronic soundscapes. The eight original compositions stem from the esoteric quest for a dreamworld and define its obscure innocence. The production infiltrates the contemporary r'n'b and pop esthetics with sonic nuances of industrial electronica, screamo while leaving enough aural space for the omnipresent and otherworldly cry of the Theremin. May Roosevelt delivers an album where she maps out a path for refining not only the genre of electronica, and the ethereal frequencies but also the possibilities offered by a home studio recording, in complete absence of physical instruments. "Panda" was recorded in total by May herself; a painstaking process where at times she had to cope with broken hard drives, loss of files and other unfortunate surprises. In parallel to her music career, May Roosevelt works as a graphic designer. The EP's artwork is designed by herself and is fully attuned to the music.

HAUNTED

Self Release, 2011
"Haunted": The Strange Musical Case of May Roosevelt
May Roosevelt's new album "Haunted" opens doors to phantoms of the past. The work's eight musical compositions are supernatural entities of modern technology that hover in the air, bursting open the chest of rustic tradition only to be transformed into rhythms of Greek dances.
Following "Panda, a story about love and fear", composer and thereminist May Roosevelt uncovers a dark and reclusive universe defined by motion and dance. "Haunted" starts with the zeibekiko dance rhythm in 'The Unicorn Died', which was composed and presented for the first time in London at the Red Bull Music Academy in February 2010. The original idea evolved through an intense speculation about the place held by traditional Greek rhythms in the canon of Greek electronic music. This exploration subsequently led to the creative transformation of eight different Greek dances presented in "Haunted".
The Theremin, a very complex instrument yet absolutely submissive to the hands of May Roosevelt, was used to create a plethora of curious sounds ranging from wind and stringed instruments to an imitation of human voice. The Theremin's unique sound also shifted from a bagpipe (in 'Oomph') to a Pontic Lyre (in 'Mass Extermination'), and from a clarinet (in 'Vow') into a violin (in 'Dark the Night'). Through the use of electronic beats to form each rhythm alongside synthesizers and vocals, May Roosevelt attempts to embed anew Greek musical idioms within contemporary music while retaining all their respectable characteristics.
The title "Haunted" - inspired by the idea of hauntology, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida - defines the concept and underscores the character of the compositions: The phantoms of the past and the spirit of future, mingled, haunt the music of May Roosevelt.

Sediment Bruise

2011-04-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Sediment Bruise created at 1999 at Sallonica city (Greece) when Nick and Mikelantzelo Nikolaidis decided to form a band in order to express their music style.Their musical influences are Deus, Sonic Youth, early 90's and also more pioneer sounds, like: Massive Attack, Sigur Ros, Roykscopp, Tool, Arcade Fire and many more...

B-Sides

2011-03-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

The band B-sides is the evolution of the music journey of a company of friends that started at the end of 1999. After approximately 5 years of live gigs, live club appearances and song recordings that group broke up.

The two guitarists and bass player decided to continue with a new drummer and no singer. They involved their sound in countless rehearsals from 2004 till early 2007. After changing their drummer and a few months later adding a singer, B-sides found the sound and personal style they desired and decided to get it out to the public.

In December 2007 they performed their first live as support group for the band Flakes at Politeia Live Hall in Patras.

At the start of 2008 they recorded and released 500 copies of the independent demo single “Morning After” which included the songs “Queen” and “Forest”. The single was released for free.

The song “Queen” was included in the collection Audiobook no.4 of Postwave.gr. It also was aired on the radio of Max FM, Politeia FM and Mojo Radio and was published three times in the first positions of the top 10 of the latter station.

In spring of 2008 the band recorded two more demo songs named “Kill” and “Who”. A demo single called “K-9” was released but not in quantities and was only handed out to friends and radio stations.

In May 2008 they took part in the 2nd Music Wave festival at An Club in Athens.

In June 2008 they took part in two more live festivals in Patras (School of Rock and Free your Voice) and also performed live at the club Catamaran.

Also in June they released on the internet a remix of the song “Kill” by Chris Nemmo. The EP “Bad Science” that was produced in limited copies right after that, included all the previous recorded songs and the remix of Chris Nemmo.

In August 2008 they submitted the song “Queen” for the Coca Cola Soundwave vol. 2 Contest. The song got distinguished by the critics and led to the participation of the band at the Athenian SoundWave live gig. The event took place at Bios Club Athens at the end of September 2008 with the participation of the bands Le Page and Monika.

In October 2008 they recorded one more song entitled “I speak your words”. Currently this song can only be found at the band’s site and myspace page.

In November 2008 “Queen” was included in the compilation CD of the issue 6 of Muzine Magazine (www.muzine.gr).

In December 2008 B-sides’ first official release comes from B-otherSide Records. A limited edition 7” inch vinyl single entitled “Queen” containing the songs “Queen” and “Forest” in special vinyl mastered form. The recording, mixing and production took place at Noisebox studio from sak (Dionisios Mpastas, member of Raining Pleasure) and the master was performed by Eroc (former drummer of Grobschnitt) and Takis Dimoulas at Original Meister Studio in Germany. The single was cut in 500 copies.

In December 2008 the song “Kill” was included in the new double collection of Dimitris Papaspyropoulos (Best Radio).

Story without end is B-Sides' debut album and their third official release from B-otherside Records!
It comes as a CD that contains 10 songs.
Most songs are new but two of them had been included in the first demo (Queen and Forest) and were recorded again and Rekill is a new version of the well known Kill.
The album is promoted by Inner Ear Records and distributed by Klik Records. You can find it in all musical stores or order your copy direct from Inner Ear's e-shop.

B-sides are:
Vassilis/Singing
George/Guitars
Chris/Guitars
Yannis/Bass
Christos/Drums

New Zero God

2011-03-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

New Zero God is a Greek punk/post punk rock band formed in 2006. Their popularity in Greece may be due to the veteran musicians who make up the band; as most Greek rock fans were already familiar with Mike Pougounas and Averkios Hadjiantoniadis from The Flowers Of Romance, which is considered a legendary Greek gothic rock group. Costas Spanos and Dimitris Steves played with Pougounas in his previous band, Nexus. While New Zero God is billed as a post-punk group, their sound may lack any true classification, as their current style is a culmination of a musical evolution that began with The Flowers Of Romances pure punk style, later gothic rock style, and then Nexus industrial style.

Berlin Brides

2011-03-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Berlin Brides’ sound is a hybrid of electro, punk and powerpop. They were founded on September 2007 by Natasha Giannaraki, lyricist and lead singer and Marilena Orfanou, keybordist and composer who gives the band its electronic identity. Conceived in Berlin and formed in Greece, they are reinventing the music scene in Athens with their caustic lyrics and their combustible live performances. They have toured Greece extensively and have played in Buffalo Bar, London as winners of the Velvet Magazine Prize 2009. Their performance was followed by an invitation to play at Offset Festival, Essex, where they received rave reviews. Berlin Brides' first single "Rejection Junkie/Off The Rack" is out on a 7" clear vinyl and their their debut album "Modern Celibacy" is due to be released in October 2010 by Inner Ear Records.

1000mods

2011-03-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

1000mods are a down tuned psychedelic desert stoner rock band from Hiliomodi, Greece. ''They play desert rock and play it well''(Matthew Tranker (StonerRock.com)

1000mods have supported desert rock legends from Brant Bjork, iconic Athens stoner band, Nightstalker, Radio Moscow, Colour Haze and My Sleeping Karma.

Their commitment to vintage equipment, thick and heavy analog sound and their remarkably passionate on stage performance is what sets them apart.

'Some of the best down tuned psychedelic desert stoner rock you'll hear without listening to Kyuss'(heavyplanet.net)

Their self financed 2007 first EP "Blank Reality" was described as Fu-Manchu at three-quarter speed and was a favourite with Acrimony, Slo-Burn and Kyuss fans. Huge, doomy, bluesy and nasty all wrapped up in a thick and professional production.

1000Mods are back burning up the scene with brand new 7” EP “Liquid Sleep,” available on coloured (light green) vinyl by SuiSound.

Brotherhood Of Sleep

2011-03-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

On autumn 2006 the basis was laid down for a new group from its two founding members, George G. /guitar (ex- Choir Macabre) and John K. /guitar (Afformance). The main concept would be experimentation in heavy music. Without pre-set ideas on how or what to play they've started rehearsing giving birth to the first main riffs that would later on constitute the nucleus of what was next to come. On this ride after a couple of months along came Serafim G. (Rojo / The Wannaflies) on drums. A few rehearsals followed with this line-up so they all start realising their parts within this musical journey and how they could put their personal perspectives to the aid of the whole. Due to excessive professional and musical obligations with Afformace John K. after a while had to leave. Danny A. /bass, Serafim’s long-time friend and fellow musician with the psychedelic/stoner rock outfit Rojo, came in to save the day. The group re-started rehearsing in a more frequent and consistent manner to bring out the best possible of each member so that musical entity that would be later referred to as Brotherhood Of Sleep could be conceived grasped and in depth understood from everyone in the band...

... An ancient civilization descending ferociously through the sky. Low frequencies transmitting the Earth’s pulse deep in mountainous caverns where mystics in sacred slumber, share their secrets of old; giving way to the view of a Depthless Sea where all dreams seem to melt… The wind howls like a constant drumbeat above this small town of the East. Hate forecast for those who chose to baptise themselves in lies (yes, hate can sometimes be a noble virtue)… Love for the ones who choose to cherish and admire life’s beauty. Visualise the truth that was always within you. Listen... Fall to your Mind’s Fire, Celebrate...

Sun of Nothing

2011-03-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Sun of Nothing is a doom metal, sludge, black metal and noise-inspired four-piece band from Athens, Attica, Greece formed in 2000.

”…and the spiral keeps evolving abrasively downwards and inwards, approaching a liquid and unstable core. A heavy and dark core, enclosing the most acid elements: aural extremity, black and white nihilism, grim vagueness, cynical extroversion…”

Following their previous two masterpieces, Sun of Nothing, the spearhead of Greek sonic extremity’s vanguard, are ready to release in collaboration with CTS Productions their third full length album, entitled The Guilt of Feeling Alive. Beyond black metal bleakness, post-metal ingenuity and post-punk numbness, incorporating Koreisch’s cross-genre eclecticism and Godflesh’s nihilistic aura, combining Shining’s catatonic chord pounding, Khanate’s crawling gloom and Discordance Axis’ ear crushing sonic blasts - Sun of Nothing manage to create a sonic identity that’s both personal and radical.

Surpassing any easy categorization, they create their unquestionably greatest and richest release to date, adding the peak to an imaginary triptych - a memorial dedicated to the sonic violence and the inner darkness.

Current lineup consists of :

Ilias Apostolakis - vocals;
Giannis Panoutsopoulos - guitars;
Andreas Starogiannis - bass guitar (currently also End, Enshadowed);
Dimitris Zafeiropoulos - drums (currently also End, Enshadowed).

Former members :

Nikos Giagudakis - bass guitar;
Lefteris Elefteriou - drums (currently Bullethole, Perdition Temple, Naer Mataron).

http://www.sunofnothing.com

2 by bukowski

2011-03-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

2 by Bukowski is a post-rock band from Thessaloniki, Greece, but members live in London, UK. They first formed in 1998.

As band member George once claimed, “if we saw each other all the time, we might have written 30 albums a year”. So with the long distance relationship going, the new album Yzordderrex, the follow-up to 2003’s Drink From My Bastard Grail, took a modest 2-years to make.

Despite the band’s reluctance, 2 by Bukowski were constantly being described as Europe’s answer to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The two bands, sharing perhaps the grand and magnificent landscape of their music, but the similarity ends here.

Recently George said that they are not playing as 2 by Bukowski anymore but have a new outfit called Voyr in the works.

DISCOGRAPHY:

2001
What a long strange journey this has been
CD/LP (Poeta Negra, LP limited to 500. PN14)

2003
Drink From My Bastard Grail
CD LP (Poeta Negra PN22CD)

2005
Yzordderrex
CDLP (Very Friendly Records. VF011CD

Interstellar Overdrive

2011-03-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

The core of what was to become interstellar overdrive was formed around 1998 in Athens, Greece; since then little or no resemblance exists. The genre changes dramatically with every new project.

In 1999’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest (held in Athens) the band was awarded with the first prize leading to the realisation of the debut album (Pegasus Records, 2000), which was recorded from May 1999 to June 2000 at various times.

From April 2002 to January 2003 the band, with a different line up this time, records a second album titled ‘Surface b’ again for Pegasus Records. The genre is a lot different than the debut with influences ranging from indie to post-rock. Yet, within this album there is evidence of a more experimental and less commercial approach to music.

From May 2003 the band stabilizes its line up (Catherine Papahristou, Pepy Kosma, Alex Sakellariou, Orestis Karamanlis) and records a series of pieces for different occasions. Within Spring 2003 “A short piece for the poison–man” is ‘exhibited’ along with the homonymous painting of Stefanos Rokos. In July, ‘Pop+Rock’ Magazine hosts the same song in a collection. In March 2005, ‘Pop+Rock’ Magazine hosts ‘Happy Hour’ in a collection for the Greek English-spoken scene.

In November 2005 the band records a series of pieces for the painting/engraving exhibition of Stefanos Rokos in Athens at “Agathi Hall of Art”. The music was intended to accompany the catalogue of the exhibition titled “Noise and Useful Objects” and was reproduced in 1500 copies. It consists of a mixture of electroacoustic sound and songs divided in 9 parts. The album was recorded in Cambridge and Athens and mixed by George Priniotakis at ArtRacks studio. It was disposed free at the opening day of the exhibition.

In January 2009 the band’s 3rd official album - titled “Hibernation” - was released by Studio2 Records. This is by far the most elaborate work to the present day. It was produced in 3 countries (Greece, England and Ireland) within the span of 5 years. It has been co-produced at SARC, a research center on sonic art, implementing also new methods for musical expression and human-machine interaction.

The music of interstellar overdrive has also been used in film and theatre.

At the moment the band continues to undertake an even more experimental approach investigating alternative ways to produce music using new media (even though its members are scattered).

http://www.interstellaroverdrive.gr/

GAD

2011-03-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

The whole story began in 2004, when Hercules Anastasiadis (Atria) and Kostas Antoniadis (Narrow Paths), decided to compose a track for the Greek Electro Vol. 2 compilation. Their friendship and their mutual respect for the work of each other became the ideal recipe for this project.

In 2005, during the album's recordings, TC, Antonis Antoniadis and Spyros Papakotsis joined the group and GAD. started to perform in various stages and festivals.

Finally, in 2007, "System May Fall" is being released by Shift Records and Mike Semertzoglou became the missing piece of the puzzle...

Their debut album was a success and the single "The End Of The Road", one of the biggest radio hits for 2008. GAD. opened for Nouvelle Vague and Chicane and they're still on the road for shows...

In 2008, GAD. co-produced the Pop Eye debut album.

"The Perfect Crime" was released on May 3rd 2010 from "Shift Music" in Greece & Cyprus. All tracks have been written by Iraklis Anastasiadis and Kostas Antoniadis except for "True Love" (composed by Iraklis Anastasiadis, Kostas Antoniadis and Lego Boy).

Mani Deum

2011-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

P. started Mani Deum in 2005 as a project dedicated to the band that was and still remains the main source of inspiration either in music or poetry, Current 93. In late 2005, P. started writing the first Mani songs and slowly took their personal form as a folk noire/ experimental band.

In late 2006 man0s . K joined Mani Deum and the recordings led to the first demo CD that was ready one month later. In the beginning of 2007 Elisabeth (former En-Garde vocalist) joined Mani Deum as the female vocalist. A few months later Francesca became the cellist of the band and in June 2007 Eygenia (Piano) joins the band. For the needs of the live performances Jason (Bass & Percussion) joins the band and so Mani Deum took their current form.

Mani Deum have appeared for some time on Nocturne Experimental Radio and several other online radio stations, have participated on the 3rd compilation of www.neo-folk.it which you can download for free and in June 2007 they were interviewed by Major Tom on Athens International Radio.

Mani Deum have performed alongside Allerseelen, Paul Roland, While Angels Watch, Defile Des Ames and Svarrogh.

“And I tried to help me pass the Time
With Blood Pollution in my mind
And I see dust was in the air
Infected Kittens everywhere…”

www.myspace.com/manideum

Absent without leave

2011-02-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

Absent without leave is the solo project of George Mastrokostas, based in Athens, Greece.
Recording everything himself in his home-studio, he produces a sound that has at times been described as a mix of shoegaze, post-rock, ambient and electronica.
He has just released his third album, called faded photographs, featuring guest appearances from some really great artists, including port-royal, stafraenn hakon, epic45, millimetrik (below the sea, le chat blanc orchestra, glider, parallel lines) and members of hood, the declining winter, plumerai, eksi ekso, tupolev, slon and others too.
To date, he has released his music on labels such as distant noise records (uk), unlabel (uk), chat blanc records (canada), awkward silence recordings (uk), thisquietarmy records (canada), symbolic interaction (japan), october man recordings (uk), friend of mine records (japan), duotone records (japan), bsbta (denmark), fuzzy panda recording co. (usa) and also on his own label sound in silence (greece) and has collaborated for split releases and remixes with artists like port-royal, yellow6, televise (ex-slowdive), landshipping (ex-metrotone) featuring isan, millimetrik and kimonophonic amongst others.
He has played several gigs in Greece at various venues, including synch festival 2007 (alongside mum, !!!, front 242, fischerspooner and alexander hacke, amongst others) and has shared the stage, most of the times after being personally invited by the artists themselves, with god is an astronaut, 65daysofstatic, port-royal, piano magic, i like trains, jeniferever, manyfingers (ex-movietone, collaborator of matt elliott / third eye foundation and hood), millimetrik, section 25 (from legendary factory records), sigmatropic and many others.
He has composed the soundtrack of the short film the crossroads (directed by Petros Sofikitis) and his music has been played on some of the best radio stations worldwide like BBC 6 Music, Resonance FM and others too.

http://www.myspace.com/geezertek

Parallel Worlds

2011-02-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Parallel Worlds' music is a combination of dreamy/atmospheric textures with pure analogue electronic rhythms and sequences, combining the feel of modern electronica and ambient with 70's electronic music. For Parallel Worlds, melody is essential, but most important is emotional context. Parallel Worlds' tracks try to reach to the listener's heart and mind.
Parallel Worlds use mostly Hardware machines. Mainly huge Analogue Modular systems and Analogue Step Sequencers of the past and present combined with digital FM and virtual analogue synths and sampling.
Parallel Worlds are the main project of Bakis Sirros with John Sirros. They were originally born in 1994, but only after 1998 they started to be a part of the active Greek electronic music scene.
In parallel, Bakis Sirros is the moderator of the Doepfer A100 modular users group helping, in an important way, the progress of the tools for experimental electronic music in the 21st century. He has also done some extensive sound design work, as well as a Sample CD, for the well-known UK analogue modular synthesizer company Analogue Systems.
During these last 7 years, Parallel Worlds have played live also, participating in the E-PHOS electronic music festival in summer of 2001, Mad club, Club22, Music day festival 2006, Small Music Theatre, Synch Festival 2008, Reworks 2009 and some other Greek venues.

http://www.myspace.com/parallelworldsmusic

Gravitysays_i

2011-02-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

The group gravitysays_i was created in the March of 2003 by Manos Paterakis and Nikos Retsos at the home studio of the latter in Piraeus with a view to embellishing with melodies their expectations, their lives, in a country which devours it’s children and the quality of being different, as the two creators perceive it. Their maiden appearance in the record industry, released by Sirius, comprises nine musical pieces, inspired by the egoism , the vanity and the aloofness of the contemporary man… A concept album of non-stop performance, where the electronic element meets the traditional instruments, while the minimal norms follow a general pop-rock current. Despina Stamati (voices) and Dimitris Chadjimitros (bass) have helped in the creation of “The roughest sea” and whose dynamic presence led to the accomplishment of debut album. At this moment gravitysays_i are working on new material with a new member

http://www.myspace.com/gravitysaysi