Ιστορίες απο την δισκοθήκη μου: Το Ελληνικό συγκρότημα Wasteland

Όταν έψαχνα στους δίσκους μου να βρω το Let’s All Go (To The Fire Dances), πέρασαν από τα χέρια μου τρία σιγκλάκια του Ελληνικού συγκροτήματος Wasteland και κάπως αιφνιδιάστηκα αλλά είπα πως θα το κοιτάξω αργότερα.

Το κοίταξα τώρα και πραγματικά, το ένα το έχω διπλό. Το “The Move/Stormy” του 1996 που ήταν και η τελευταία δουλειά που κυκλοφόρησαν.

Το συγκρότημα είχε δημιουργηθεί το 1989 στην Αθήνα και αυτούς που εγω γνώριζα καλύτερα ήταν τα αδέρφια Άλκης και Γιώργος Πρινιωτάκης και ο πληκτράς τους, ο Κυριάκος ο Πουρσανίδης ο οποίος αργότερα έκανε τους Blue Birds Refuse to Fly και κυκλοφόρησε τρία άλμπουμ, το Give Me The Wings... του 1998 με την Ελληνική Physis Records και δύο με την Ιταλική Decadance Records, το Anapteroma του 2004 και το Xenomorph Angel του 2007.

Πληροφοριακά, επειδή είμαστε καλοί φίλοι εγω και ο Alessio Bandiera που είναι ο ιδιοκτήτης της Decadance, η εταιρία του έπαιρνε τις κυκλοφορίες που έκανα με την δική μου, την Cyberdelia, και τις διέθετε για διανομή από την Audioglobe η οποία ήταν ένας πολύ μεγάλος Ευρωπαϊκός διανομέας.

Δεύτερη αγκύλη της αγκύλης στην παράγραφο, η Physis Records είχε κυκλοφορήσει και το πρώτο επίσημο άλμπουμ των Ophelia’s Garden το 1997 με τίτλο Blood Wedding.

Για να καταλαβαίνουμε πως υπήρχε πολλή κίνηση στην δεκαετία του ’90 στο underground…

Πίσω στους Wasteland λοιπόν, Πέρα από τον Άλκη που έπαιζε μπάσο και δούλευε στο δισκοπωλείο Metropolis, τον Γιώργο που έπαιζε κιθάρα και τραγουδούσε και τον Κυριάκο που έπαιζε πλήκτρα, στο συγκρότημα έπαιζαν και ο Άγγελος Πικράκης – κιθάρα και ο Θοδωρής Σκάνδαλος – τύμπανα.

Το ένα και μοναδικό ολοκληρωμένο άλμπουμ τους, το Dream Drops, τους το κυκλοφόρησε ο Πέτρος Κουτσούμπας με την εταιρία του, Pegasus Records, το 1993.

Το 1994 η Pegasus έβγαλε το σιγκλ τους «Moon On Fire / Lonesome Yesterdays» ενώ το επόμενο σιγκλάκι τους, που ήταν όπως είπα και η τελευταία τους δουλειά, ήταν το «Move / Stormy».

Θυμάμαι πως τα παιδιά αγαπούσαν τους Mission από τις κουβέντες που κάναμε αλλά ο ήχος τους όπως θα ακούσετε στο βίντεο που βάζω, ήταν αρκετά πιο ποπ και μερικές φορές μου θύμιζε τους Αυστραλούς Church της εποχής του άλμπουμ Starfish (είχε το «Under the Milky Way» για να βοηθήσω όποιον δεν θυμάται).

Υπήρχε κι άλλος λόγος που συναντούσα τον Γιώργο τον Πρινιωτάκη συχνά. Δούλευε ως ηχολήπτης στο στούντιο Voices που βρισκόταν στην οδό Θήρας στην Κυψέλη και το είχε ο Φώντας Ξενιός,

Το είχε ανοίξει το 1986 με τον Γιώργο Γκίνη και ήταν και οι δυό τους μέλη των Alive She Died και των Trespass.

Κάποια στιγμή ο Γκίνης έφυγε και έκανε με τον Γιώργο Μπουσούνη το στούντιο ηχογραφήσεων Μορφική Ροή ή Morph Flow…

Ο Πρινιωτάκης άνοιξε και αυτός το δικό του στούντιο ηχογραφήσεων το 2001 που λέγεται Artracks.

Η ανάμιξή του με τους Common Sense, ως guest στο σινγκλ “Grotesque / Child’s Play” είναι η αρχή της μουσικής σχέσης του με τον πιανίστα και πληκτρά Χρήστο Αλεξόπουλο μιας και ο Πρινιωτάκης εμφανίζεται να κάνει παραγωγή στα άλμπουμ Κύκλος, Η Άλλη Πλευρά (και τα δύο στην Hitch-Hyke το 1999).

Θα σταματήσω στο project που έκανε με το όνομα Όραμα και κυκλοφόρησε ως συνθέτης και στιχουργός, το 1999, το άλμπουμ Ονειρομηχανή στην Virgin.

Από εκεί και πέρα, εμφανίζεται ως ηχολήπτης ή ως παραγωγός σε άπειρες κυκλοφορίες.

Ο αδερφός του τώρα, ο Άλκης, φαίνεται να συμμετέχει μουσικά για τελευταία φορά στο άλμπουμ του Χρήστου Αλεξόπουλου Η Άλλη Πλευρά, όπου παίζει και ο Σκάνδαλος, των Wasteland και μετά χάνω τα ίχνη του.

Ο Πουρσανίδης πέρα από τους Wasteland και τους Blue Birds Refuse to Fly, συμμετείχε σε δύο τραγούδια του άλμπουμ  Loveternal που κυκλοφόρησαν οι Ophelia’s Garden το 2000 και το 2002 έκανε και το 2002 το άλμπουμ Ονείρου Οδύσσεια με το project, Aroma.

Από το 2007 και μετά δεν βρίσκω άλλες κυκλοφορίες του.

Ούτε του Πικράκη βρίσκω άλλες κυκλοφορίες πέρα από τους Wasteland.

Τελευταία φορά που βρέθηκα στο ίδιο πάλκο με τον Γιώργο Πρινιωτάκη ήταν κάπου στο 2007 μάλλον, όταν παίξαμε, οι New Zero God με τους Common Sense, στο Μικρό Μουσικό Θέατρο.

Ελπίζω να μην κάνω λάθος, εκείνο το βράδυ νομίζω ήταν.

Κατόπιν βέβαια, ηχογραφήσαμε το πρώτο άλμπουμ μας στο studio του και εκεί το άκουσε ο Χρήστος ο Αλεξόπουλος και μας ζήτησε να το κυκλοφορήσει με την εταιρία του, την PuzzleMusik.

 

A Sinister Light – Don’t be a Stranger

Three years after their debut EP, A Sinister Light from Switzerland finally present the first single “Don’t be a Stranger” off their upcoming album “Discerning Spirits” (to be released in May).

Based in Switzerland, long-term collaborators Fabrice Noir, the visionary behind Cabaret Bizarre – the legendary European dark cabaret show and club night, and renowned DJ Blake, celebrated for his monthly post-punk and new wave “Cloak and Dagger” nights, joined forces in 2020 to create A Sinister Light.

Infused with darkwave, industrial, post-punk, and techno influences, A Sinister Light delves into dystopian narratives rooted in existentialism and nihilism, exploring metaphysical realms. Their music offers a cathartic journey into an enigmatic darkness, where genuine enlightenment emanates from within.

Since its debut in March 2021, A Sinister Light’s inaugural EP has swiftly captivated DJs and dark wave enthusiasts alike. March also marked a significant milestone as the duo secured a deal with Cold Transmission Music, Germany, as they diligently finalize their debut album Discerning Spirits, set for release in May 2024.

 

The Armoires celebrate their 10th Anniversary with new single “We Absolutely Mean It” out April 19

The Armoires, who feature the Big Stir label’s founders Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome return to celebrate their 10th Anniversary as a band, and to continue previewing their forthcoming album due this Autumn, with the new single “We Absolutely Mean It” – a driving, psych-tinged, harmony-powered theme song and manifesto for where the band is today. The followup to their late-2023 indie hit “Music & Animals”, the new single is out April 19.

The new material from the indie pop quintet represents both a fresh start and the distillation of the potential inherent in their unique sound – somewhere between the sunshine pop of the ’60s, the college rock jangle of the ’80s and the Sarah Records/C86 chamber pop aesthetic of the ’90s – and a lyrical approach that’s always felt untethered to any one era or place. They’ve even put a name to the soundscape they inhabit: Octoberland, both the title of their forthcoming album and a destination frequently referenced in its songs. Their songwriting has become worldbuilding, even as their melodies and arrangements have grown more accessible, accomplished and inviting over the course of their career. The world around them may be a mess, but The Armoires are in a very good place of their own creation, and eager to welcome you to join them there.

The preview single “Music & Animals” set the stage at the very end of 2023, and the brand new “We Absolutely Mean It” goes so far as to put forth a manifesto (and a de facto theme song) for the band. More than ever before – and very much by design — the signature harmonies of co-leaders Christina Bulbenko (keyboards) and Rex Broome (guitar) present themselves as the voice of a singular, ambiguously androgynous entity. And their instrumental chemistry with violist Larysa Bulbenko, drummer John Borack and bassist Clifford Ulrich feels more instinctive and communal than the product of any singular perspective or ego. There’s a cohesion, confidence, and sense of purpose to The Armoires today that’s both a reaction to, and a natural progression from, the pop experimentalism of their 2021 breakthrough album Incognito, a playful collection made of up double-sided singles originally released under fictitious band names. Having played as fast and loose with their identity as artistically possible, the band has refined their identity and staked out a territory that’s very nearly a genre of its own.

Although they emerged from the LA power pop scene and wear their penchant for hooks and harmonies on their paisley sleeves, The Armoires have always displayed ambitions that run towards the more impressionistic side of indie rock. The fact that their repertoire features covers of songs by The New Pornographers, XTC and John Cale tells a tale in itself, and the set of originals that make up the new album represent a compelling synthesis of their cross-genre influences. But it’s also the most distinctive statement of the band’s unique collective personality yet. “This is the first record that Rex and I sat down and wrote together with a full understanding of the band’s strengths and quirks,” says Bulbenko, “and we found ourselves delighted to lean into every last one of them.”

Joining them for the first time across an entire album is the band’s definitive lineup, with Larysa Bulbenko’s viola weaving through the arrangements and the rhythm section of Ulrich and Borack empathetically driving the journey ever forward. Along with Michael Simmons‘ deft touch as a producer, they ensure that the band’s most adventurous album is also their most coherent and warmly welcoming yet. The Armoires are headed out for Octoberland… arriving in 2024.

THE FOUNDATION OF BIG STIR RECORDS

Big Stir Records emerged as a natural progression of the monthly Big Stir Concert Series in Los Angeles, launched in 2016 by Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome. Their initial goal was to nurture the local guitar pop community, but as that community coalesced and grew, the outlook became global, spawning sister series in the UK and elsewhere in California. The artists and bands of a reinvigorated live scene found themselves ready to create new records for a wider audience; Broome and Bulbenko responded by founding BSR. Currently boasting CD and LP releases from a roster of 12 artists from the US, UK, Sweden and Germany and supporting many more through their weekly Digital Singles Series, the label has been hailed by the likes of Don Valentine (I Don’t Hear A Single) as “the best thing to happen to the pop rock scene in ages, and long overdue”.

It was Steven Wilson of Plasticsoul, one of that scene’s leading lights, who first announced that he planned to release his band’s long-awaited third album, Therapy, on Big Stir Records. “There was literally no such entity at the time”, says Rex, “but the record was terrific and it made perfect sense immediately.” Big Stir thus naturally progressed from booking and promoting live shows to releasing albums as a record label. Therapy became BSR’s first release in 2017, received the expected rapturous reviews, and was followed by the first of the label’s widely lauded compilations, The Big Stir Traveling International Roadshow. Fed by the unending parade of stellar artists on the concert series’ live stage, the roster quickly expanded: LA’s garage rock stars The Condors, Fresno’s beloved Blake Jones & the Trike Shop, and Canterbury, England’s brilliant Spygenius (who oversee the Big Stir Britannia live gigs) completed the core “family” with enthusiastically received releases in the first year of the imprint’s existence.

Things moved quickly from there. BSR would expand to release CDs and vinyl LPs from Addison Love of Huntington Beach, CA and Kai Danzberg of Hanover, Germany – who together form the label’s youth brigade – as well as San Francisco’s much-admired Trip Wire, Britpop heroes Amoeba Teen (Stourbridge, UK) and the irresistible In Deed of Uppsala, Sweden, in its second year. Back home, Southern California pop rock luminaries Michael Simmons and Leslie Pereira & the Lazy Heroes joined the lineup with reissued LPs and the promise of new material in the wings.

Musical community remains the cornerstone of the Big Stir ethos, and you can see it in the whimsically collaborative Big Stir Magazine, designed by the brilliant Champniss of London and heading into its fourth print issue. It’s also the spark behind the popular and ambitious weekly Digital Singles Series, presenting A- and B-sides from beyond the label’s core roster and collecting them onto CDs (befitting BSR’s commitment to physical media). An institution in its own right, the series has showcased new tracks from Karla Kane (The Corner Laughers), The Kariannes, Anton Barbeau, Joe Normal & the Anytown’rs, Paula Carino, The Ex Teens, The Brothers Steve (ex-Tsar) and many more. It has also encompassed co-releases with likeminded labels like SpyderPop Records from Texas (Lannie Flowers) and the Canadian imprint The Beautiful Music (Armstrong) alongside noted indie artists.

John Borack (of Goldmine magazine and the definitive Shake Some Action power pop guidebooks) sums up the central drive: “Community, my friends, is what Big Stir is all about. From the always-fun live gigs to their quirky, opinionated (a good thing!) magazine and from their burgeoning record label to the groundbreaking Digital Singles Series, Bulbenko and Broome have fashioned a real, honest-to-pop community. It’s a community where the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free — a.k.a. musicians — share those common attitudes, interests, and goals (and music) with you.”

“It’s all evolved so very quickly, and yet completely organically,” explains Christina, “but Big Stir Records exists today purely as the result of unbelievably great music being made by incredibly wonderful people and our need to share it, and them, with the world… whether it’s through live performances, recordings, or distinctive musings in the magazine. Under the Big Stir umbrella, we all have a voice and we are all stronger together.” That in all its forms the modest enterprise has rapidly become a beloved institution in the pop rock world is a tribute not just to the dedication and and determination of its founders, but also to the vibrant scene from which it sprung and which it continues to nurture. That’s why every missive from the BSR massive ends with the words of Alex Chilton, from whom they borrowed their monicker: “Thank you, friends!”