Kristi Stassinopoulou and partner
Stathis Kalyviotis have been experimenting and testing the bounds of Greek music over several albums, but this one might prove to be the best yet. Working with traditional music, in this case demotika, the songs from the Greek islands, they make the music into a heady, psychedelic swirl of sound -- hence the title -- using largely acoustic instruments mixed with electronics and samples. It's headily artistic, yet it manages to be music for the gut as well. Not understanding the language is no barrier here, as it's the sound that carries, often lulling and soothing, yet sometimes pushing hard, as with "Rodo Tis Protonastasis." They call it reinvented folk, and that's an apt term, transforming the old into the new, so that it shines as brightly in the modern age as it did in the past, and remains just as relevant. ~ Chris Nickson