Kostas Skarvelis - I [1999]

Kostas Skarvelis (1880 – 1942) was a Greek composer of popular music, οf the genre of rembetiko (ρεμπέτικο) in particular. He also wrote the lyrics for his songs and was an excellent guitar player, having participated in many recordings.
 Skarvelis composed hundreds of songs (recordings survive of over 200 of them). The voices he collaborated with for the recording of his songs include Giorgos Kavouras, Rita Abatzi, Kostas Roukounas, Stellakis Perpiniadis, Marika Frantzeskopoulou, Kostas Tsanakos, Markos Vamvakaris, Apostolos Chatzichristos. Among those, the lion's share belongs to Kavouras.
As a lyricist, Skarvelis mostly wrote songs about love. The majority belong to the sub-genre of hasapiko (χασάπικο), of which he explored all variations. His musical signature is considered most representative of the Constantinopolitan urban musical tradition.

                                                               Enjoy!

V/A - Apo to dimotiko sto rebetiko (1925-1939) [1998]

This is a compilation, made for Difono magazine by record collector Panayiotis Kounadis,with rare songs rom 78rpm records between the borders of traditional and rembetiko.The recordings made in Athens,New York and Chicago showing the first period of rembetiko where it was played with the use of some 'traditional' instrunents like clarinet and violin.Many of the songs are sung by legendary singer,composer and record company owner Tetos Demitriades.

                                                                               Enjoy!

Babis Papadopoulos - From The Draco's Cave [2010]

  Guitarist of the legendary rock group Trypes and Thanassis Papakonstantionou long time collaborator presents his solo work.

  For this  project,Babis Papadopoulos recruits another three important musicians that, judging by the final result, appear to share his idiosyncrasies and obsessions, Dimitris Vlahomitros on bouzouki, Dionisis Makris on double-bass and Giorgos Christianakis on piano. The music retains a strong foundation on greek folk tradition, since Papadopoulos adds seven greek songs from the distant past to his repertoire, as a way to pay his dues to the rebetiko, a genre that inspired him massively. His work is, without a doubt, an attempt to revive and relive the emotions evoked by these songs when they were released back in the 30s (plus one of 1948), through a genuine orchestral and acoustic prism. The songs share more than just the time they were written, they share the common ground where they were conceived, the beautiful harbour of Peiraus. There's also four improvisational pieces that feature Papadopoulos and Christianakis here.

                                            

                                                               Enjoy!  

Rembetika - Songs Of The Greek Underground 1925-1947

 Rembetika is  originated during the late 19th century in Greece, becoming the folk music of the cities, sung by the social outcast, the criminal and the dispossessed, the so-called "rembetes" and "manges", in the illegal hashish taverns of the urban underground. Hard gut-wrenching songs of passion, drugs, jail, disease and death. The blues of the Greek peninsular.

Rembetika seems to be the Greek cultural equivalent to Spanish Flamenco, Portuguese Fado, to Latin American Tango/Mambo/ChaChaCha/Cumbia or to American Blues.
'Rembetika' means the folkmusic from the suburbs of Greece, the music of the outlaws. This musical phenomenon, performed by people from proletarian background, has its origins in the oppression of subversive thinking of all those people/outlaws and foreigners who moved into Greece during the 30s.

They created their own culture down in the suburbs, near the harbours of Thessaloniki and Pirus. The Rembetes loved to sing about drugs and jail, where the police put them far too often for smoking their pot. Other recurring themes were disease, passion, surviving in the suburbs and of course: dope, that is using/smoking the Arjiles (Greek dope/water pipe). The Rembetes were the true 'dopeheads' long before BeBop-God Charlie Parker or the Beatniks came along.

The story of Rembetika represents the unofficial side of Greek history: It tells the story of how the military government during the dictatorship mistreated and abused the Rembetes and their music.

Most of these wonderful songs on this double CD were recorded during the period between 1926 and 1937 when Rembetika was really 'hip' and 'big'. Then the dictator Metaxa and the Nazis took over: the lovely gais country and the whole Rembetika movement came to a complete standstill until the end of the war.

Rembetika is the music of the Greek underground. Songs about love, dope and survival.

                                            


                                                        Enjoy!    Disk 1   &   Disk 2

ΑΨΙΛΙΕΣ - ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΜΥΣΤΑΚΙΔΗΣ

ΑΨΙΛΙΕΣ - ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΜΥΣΤΑΚΙΔΗΣ

Ένα αφιέρωμα στους Σμυρνιού συνθέτες του Ρεμπέτικου μας παρουσιάζει μέσα από τη νέα του κυκλοφορία ο Δημήτρης Μυστακίδης, που παίζει κιθάρα και τραγουδάει ζητώντας όμως τη συνδρομή φίλων και συναδέλφων του. Έτσι στο πλευρό του συναντάμε τον Ευγένιο Βούλγαρη που παίζει ούτι, λύρα πολίτικη, yaili tanbour, bozuk, τον Απόστολο Τσαρδάκα που παίζει βιολί και κανονάκι και την Θεοδώρα Αθανασίου στο μικρόφωνο αλλά και τον μπαγλαμά. Πρόκειται για μια παρέα σπουδαίοι οργανοπαιχτών και ερμηνευτών που πραγματικά σε εντυπωσιάζουν.

Γιατί να με γελάσεις (Κώστας Σκαρβέλης)
Αρμενίτσα (Κώστας Καρίπης)
Ψεύτισε πλέον ο ντουνιάς (Κώστας Ρούκουνας)
Κατινάκι μου για σένα (Κώστας Καρίπης)
Μα τι να κάνω, σ' αγαπώ ( Κώστας Σκαρβέλης)
Καρδιοκλέφτρα (Γιάννης Δραγάτσης)
Γιατί να κάθεσαι να λες (Σπύρος Περιστέρης - Γιώργος Καμβύσης)
Το μάγκικο (Κώστας Καρίπης - Γιώργος Πετροπουλέας)
Γειά σου Λόλα μερακλού (Δημήτρης Μπαρούσης)
Κατάδικος (Γιοβάν Τσαούς)
Μανώλης ο χασικλής (Γιάννης Δραγάτσης)
Χιτζάζ ζεϊμπέκικο (Ανώνυμου)
Ο ξενιτεμένος (Δημήτρης Σέμσης - Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ)
Άσ' τα λόγια (Γιώργος Πετροπουλέας - Π. Σκοπελίτης)
Αψιλίες (Γρηγόρης Ασίκης)
Η Παγκρατιώτισσα (Παναγιώτης Τούντας)
Η πουλημένη στην ξενιτιά (Παναγιώτης Τούντας)
Δώσ' μου πίσω τα λουλούδια (Ανώνυμου)

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