Description
‘A Life Is A Billion Heartbeats’, continues Yannis Kyriakides & Andy Moor’s exploration and mining of the rich and mysterious terrain of Greek Rebetika music from early 20th century.
Their first release of this project (simply entitled ‘Rebetika’) was for the most part taken from a live recording at the CCA, Glasgow in 2006. For that, Yannis had created processed versions of Andy’s favourite Rebetika tunes which served as a matrix or palette onto which both musicians then improvised using electric guitar, live sampling and electronics. In this new set of songs they have revisited similar elements but with a new approach in the combination and juxtaposition of Rebetika elements with their own distinct sonic explorations.
The songs and improvisations on this LP have grown and expanded in repertoire and range of expression, giving more space for rhythmic and hypnotic elements to come to the fore. The music travels from more composed and arranged renditions of the old tunes, to completely improvised pieces that try to capture a sense of the gesture and tonalities of the source music, albeit with a contemporary edge.
The material derives again from the golden period of Rebetika music, the late 20’s and early 30’s, including voices such as Rita Abatzi, Markos Vamvakaris, Giorgos Batis and the great guitarist and singer Kostas Bezos. The title of the LP ‘A life is a Billion Heartbeats’ alludes to the transient sense of life found in their songs, and of the many of the musicians in the underground of Greek life in those turbulent times.
This release marks the beginning of special one off collaborations between Discrepant (UK) and Unsounds(NL) to produce vinyl editions of the Unsounds catalogue.
PRESS
”You’re not just hearing swell old tunes or bracing noise; you’re hearing how people deal with the past, and how knowledge of the past is enshrined, appropriated, or extinguished.” Dusted Magazine
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All direct orders receive a digital download in your choice of format. This is available once the physical records ship. If you just wish to purchase a digital download only you can do so at Unsounds.com.
