Fos - Rock

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5...according to our Brian on Thu 15 Jul, 2010.

Philthy of Leeds, a semi-reliable trader in tatty ephemera & knock-off phones, recommended this CD to me. He said it's "brilliant". Not one to dismiss the burbling's of such a learned local celebrity, i've undertaken the "special procedure" for the duration of the course of the listening period for which I am obliged to critically examine the contents of this compact disc. This includes finding a room where there are no other guffawing arm-wrestling colleagues, poorly animals or actual human beings and hiding in the corner whilst placing unsightly headphonicular equipment on your bonce. This is where Katerina Koutouzi's world flows into mine. Ah bliss! 'Rock' consists of truly stirring stuff that reminds me heavily of the later Parisian-flecked Beirut gear, Big Eyes and Hey-O-Hansen. This London dwelling Greek lady infuses her homely traditional instrumentation with gorgeous field recordings taken from a very relaxing sounding coastline - all lashing waves & processed samples of seagulls crawing away! By the time 'With the Seagulls I' drops, an ecstatic, skittering ambient form of electronica barges into the mix which plays beautiful havok with the seagulls. I like the playful beats she deploys on some later tracks, they serve the largely organic nature of her arsenal of instruments incredibly well. This CD has a very natural, calming soul & is wonderfully presented, something a bit home-spun & completely charming about it plus the music is tops. Thanks Katerina!

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Fos is releasing her second album rock on the artist's own label, near the exit music. fos is the music project of London based Greek artist Katerina Koutouzi. The music is mainly acoustic; instruments include a conch, piano, accordion, harmonium, glockenspiel, daouli (traditional Greek drum), pebbles, melodica and vocals.

The music is inspired by the rhythm of the sea; the mythical dimensions of natural sounds, like the striking of pebbles or the sound of waves and the crying of seagulls, the drumming of a daouli and the blowing of a conch (one of the oldest instruments on earth) give the music a very "old" quality. At the same time sampled vocals and minimal piano compositions give this experimental music a very modern edge, while Koutouzi sings songs in English, French and Greek.

About rock: Realizations at sea and emotional states expressed through seagulls.There is a sense of a healing process and in the final song everything turns into water surrounding one like an embryo in "the deepest blue". Katerina Koutouzi comes from Kalymnos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. She spent her childhood years on the island and her teenage years in Athens. She studied Dance Theatre and Music Technology in London where she now lives and works, while she is writing, performing and producing her own work. Koutouzi is inspired by folk and old Greek music, modernists, minimalists, old French music, dance, ambient and experimental music.

Tracklisting

1. Sunset2. Thalassa Platia3. Katharsi4. With The Seagulls I5. Mnimi6. Un Courant7. Wire8. With the Seagulls II9. In Harmony

5...according to Jo.

Love this cd, really chills me out. I live by the sea and this captures its essence - feel like I bring some of it back into my living room when I listen to this after a day out.

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