Deep eklypsis
7 Jan 2009
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
The Kilimanjaro : extinct volcano in Northern Tanzania, the highest peak in Africa.Darkjazz : mysterious, black in shade, liveliness, spirit, excitement.
Ensemble : all the parts of a thing taken together, so that each part is considered only in relation to the whole.
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble is a mutant mix of what has inspired us musically, and especially visually.
TKDE started off as an audiovisual project back in 2000, influenced by old silent movie directors such as Murnau and Lang, but also the animations of Jan Svankmeijer or the films of the Quay Brothers.
Jason Köhnen and Gideon Kiers, started creating soundtracks to old silent movies (Nosferatu, Metropolis) and progressively composed new music inspired by these images which eventually became TKDE.
posted by minimalview at 12:31
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6 Jan 2009
Klimt1918
For ages, the end of a century has been typified by a weird tension, a feeling of renewal, melancholy. When at the end of the 19th century Gustav Klimt set out to become the pioneer of the 'Wiener Sezession,' he integrated parts of everything that surrounded him at that time into his art. If you immerse yourself in his soft-coloured paintings, if you search for the symbolic meaning behind the compositions - then you begin to understand why the Italian act KLIMT 1918 have chosen this artist and his year of death for their moniker.
Their music contains elements of a great similarity to Klimt's art: it features mosaic-like soundscapes and is painted in soft hues - and all the constituted parts are joined to an intense canvas.
"We were inspired by the poetry of neo-realistic cinema, directors such as De Sica, Rossellini, Visconti. We translated all that into our music to convey a feeling of ambiguity to the listeners: salvation and despair at the same time."
The band recorded its first self-produced promo in May 2000 called “Secession makes post-modern music” at The Outer Sound Studios by Novembre’s drummer Giuseppe Orlando. The good feedback allowed them to sign with a music label, a young italian label called “My Kingdom Music”. During the recordings of the first LP they had to recruit a new guitarist, Alessandro Pace filling the place left by Francesco Tumbarello. In 2003 the band finally released the album “Undressed Momento”, a record with a more hybrid sound based on emotional atmospheres, wave/rock/metal guitars and a powerful rhythm session. In 2004 the band signed with a new record label, the german “Prophecy Productions”. Dopoguerra was born and is considered the “symbolic debut album” for Klimt 1918. After the release of Dopoguerra the band made some live appearances and recruited a new guitarist Francesco Conte who co-operated with many local and international artists/bands. Together they gave birth to the new record in June 2008 called Just in case We’ll never meet again (Soundtrack for the Cassette Generation).
posted by minimalview at 15:44
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4 Jan 2009
Monika - Avatar
A 21 year old student from Athens, Greece. At the age of 5 she started playing the piano and at 10 she bought her first guitar. A little later, she joined an orchestra in order to take saxophone lessons that lasted 5 years. She can also play some accordion and drums. She used to be a member of her brother’s band “Serpentine” where she did some basic vocals and played the electric guitar.A year later, she came to Athens to study mathematics and started recording some songs in her computer. At the same time, she became a member of “Relevant Box” where she played the saxophone and did backing vocals. In the summer of 2005, she recorded some stuff for “My Wet Calvin” and in February she recorded a saxophone piece for the band “MENTA”. Her first single “Over the Hill” was released in early May 2008 and her debut album “Avatar” in the 19th of the same month.
All tracks written by MONIKA, recorded & arranged by Ottomo, mixed by Ian Caple (Tindersticks, Tricky, Yann Tiersen ), mastered by Ted Jensen (NY Sterling Sound)
posted by minimalview at 11:35
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