Lefkosia Loop Festival 2013
- by Louvana Records
- •
- 05 Jan, 2013
Indie record label Louvana Records is organising the “2nd Lefkosia Loop Festival” in Nicosia. The festival will take place at the Melina Merkouri Hall (Famagusta Gate) on the 5th and 6th of January. I’ts main goal is to present a varied range of high-quality musical performances based on the live looping technique. To achieve this, Louvana has invited exceptional musicians from Greece, England and Cyprus, carefully selected for their knowledge and mastery of this technique, both on a technical and aesthetic level. In particular, the artists and bands performing at the festival come from varying musical backgrounds and have a different approach regarding the use of their instruments, which adds to the diversity demanded in these live performances.
From Greece we’ll have Giorgos Kaloudis, a cellist who will perform pieces from his two personal albums, and the brilliant double-bassist/composer Michalis Siganides, in the debut performance of his “doc-fic-o”, a solo act which he will present using tape, double-bass, guitars and vocals. The festival is also hosting, for the second time, the now-known Sancho 003 (Fotis Siotas and Kostas Pantelis), ready to show their beautiful second album called “Muzga”.
Another one of our headliners is Mo Kolours all the way from London, a half Mauritian, half English, half percussionist, half beatmaker who dropped his first EP, “Drum Talking”, in May 2011. His music is a melting pot where English electronica and hip-hop fuse with African percussion, rhythms and vocal stylings.
The festival wouldn’t be complete without the Cypriot acts such as Plain History, Acapella Solo Loop and M.Edo, all three of which are brand new artists, joined by Giannis Koutis who is a veteran on the Cypriot music scene and will be presenting his “Stand Alone Project”.
To enrich the visual aspect of the festival we’ll have a video by Untitled Dualism as well as Raissa Angeli with her live action painting show accompanying some of the acts in real time, and finally Arampas, who will be presenting an audio-visual project called “Robot”.
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Live Looping
The looping technique gives the artist the ability to build, in real time, a complex, multi-layered musical piece. This is achieved by creating melodic and rhythmic phrases (with natural or electronic instruments), that, once structured, can be repeated as recorded samples over which the artist continues to add new lines. More than often, the final result, as well as its parts, can stand as a completed musical piece. The artist can therefore present, through looping to his/her audience, exactly how a song can be build on the spot, and what its major components are, while the listener gets a sense of being a part of the creative process.
-----------------------------------------------------------------5th and 6th of January 2013
Melina Merkouri Hall, Famagusta Gate
Production Manager: Andreas Trachonitis
Artistic Director: Lefteris Moumtzis
Production Assistant: Mikaela Tsangari
Production: Louvana Records
Info Line: 7000 7610
www.facebook.com/LefkosiaLoopFestival
Ticket Prices: €15 for One day, €20 for Both days.
Presale:
Gatapou: 22667741 (Old Nicosia)
Crepaland: 22261000 (Egkomi)
Eleven63 Studio: 22101163 (Palouriotissa)
Schedule:
Day 1
19:30 Opening
20:00 Acapella Solo Loop
21:00 Giannis Koutis
22:00 Giorgos Kaloudis
23:00 Mo Kolours
Day 2
19:30 Opening
20:00 M.Edo
21:00 Plain History
22:00 Michalis Siganidis
23:00 Sancho 003
MICHALIS SIGANIDIS (GR)
Unquestionably one of the most important Greek artists. He is a composer and double-bassist, and a man with a very unique view of the world of music. Siganidis delivers a wide-open, yet coherent mix of jazz, blues, funk, traditional Greek sounds, free improvisation, electronics, poetry, a sharp social outlook and loads of humor. He is also a member of the groups: “Heimerinoi Kolymvites” and “Primavera en Salonico”. He will present for the first time, the solo set called doc-fic-o, using tape and loops along with double bass and guitar.
SANCHO 003 (GR)
It’s the duet of Fotis Siotas (violin, viola, synth, voice) and Kostas Pantelis (guitars). They compose and perform music based on two instruments and two loop stations synced manually. Their work has been characterised as cinematic. We call it brilliant! They will mainly perform pieces from their latest album “Muzga” as well as new material.
YIORGOS KALOUDIS (GR)
He is one of the most important Greek cello players. Through his compositions, personal technique and different timbres of the instrument, he produces a post-modern and ambient, alternative environment, which combines classical, jazz and funk elements, as well as elements from the Greek traditional music. He is also a frequent collaborator of Alkinoos Ioannidis-
MO KOLOURS (UK)
Mo Kolours is a half Mauritian, half English, half percussionist, half beatmaker who’s dropped his first EP Drum Talking in May 2011. His music is a melting pot where English electronica and hip-hop fuse with African percussion, rhythms and vocal stylings. It’s a potent mix that ranges from psychedelic dub to dubstep flavours, always keeping Sega music firmly at its heart.
ACAPELLA SOLO LOOP (CY)
It’s the solo project of Demetris Spyrou, also a member of the band Ιntibah and the theatre group Ypoga. His music is based on a personal research, in progress, on the revolution of the human voice as an autonomous musical instrument, and the use of every-day objects to create musical accompaniment.
GIANNIS KOUTIS (CY)
Koutis, as part of his “stand alone project”, creates and loops electric and acoustic sounds with oud, percussion and voice, using a vast palette of sound effects. His sounds range from classical Arabic to modern western music, with the element of improvisation playing a key role in his performances.
PLAIN HISTORY (CY)
Plain History is a collective of musicians who improvise using analogue synths, bass, flute and loop stations. At the festival they will present the project “Feykos”, which has been prepared for this performance, and includes tape narration and live looping.
M.EDO (CY)
Emiddio Vasquez Hadjilyra music is motivated by the fundamental principles behind audio manipulation in sound design and how they can be attained with a guitar and a few pedals, creating displaced rhythms, folded melodies and accompanying harmonics.
Parallel Action:
ARAMPAS (CY)
Arampas (Giorgos Ioannou and Sofronis Sofroniou), will present their latest audiovisual project titled “Robot”. Their project, which is based on an idea by artist Raissa Angeli, is based on the perplexity of the human mind and some of the different perspectives one can have when "listening" to it. Giorgos Ioannou is also the visual designer of the festival.
Raissa Angeli (CY)
Raissa Angeli is a Cypriot artist who has been trained in sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. She will provide a visual aid for some of the festival's acts, in the form of a live-action painting show. Her performance will be based on improvisation and will have strong ties to the live looping technique, as she will strive, in real time, to take elements from each looping artist she accompanies and use them to build a final piece of art.-Ficus Microcarpa: the void of the distance 01
Τhe video presented at the festival is a part of the collaborative project Untitled Dualism by Lito Kattou and Leontios Toumbouris. The video projects an almost static image of two elements, an empty flower pot and the trunk of a Ficus Microcarpa, a tree, which is frequently found in the centre of Nicosia.
Once in a lifetime, you’ll experience a pandemic. Once in a blue moon, you’ll have a chance to escape to a secluded island. Once on a red Thursday, as the local saying in Cyprus goes, you’ll be in a situation with a group of complete strangers, fully immersed in the sparks of creation flying forth. On A Red Thursday (9 March) is the product of just such a gathering of musicians from a multitude of backgrounds, journeys, skills and preferences. Their first single, ‘ Until We Meet Again’ , performed by Eurotoire team members Panayi and Jolien marks the beginning of sharing their experiences of stepping outside their comfort zones with the world. Following this first offering is alternative RnB number ‘ So Lonely ’ (3 February) performed by Maris Pihlap. ‘ Figures ’ (25 February) is the final single before the album’s release and sees Raveloe and Tamara van Esch punk out in a commentary on obstacles womxn face.
DOUBLE LP, DIGITAL ALBUM -
found.ee/OnARedThursday
In a songwriting programme piloted by Cypriot label, Louvana Records called Eurotoire, songwriters, producers, and session musicians from ten countries were invited to gather in Cyprus to test their limits, trust strangers, and allow their artistry to merge. Their initial week-long meeting began on a Thursday in June at Studio eleven63 in the island’s capital of Nicosia and blossomed into fifteen demos. After another two writing and recording sessions in July and September, the tracks bloomed into the Eurotoire team members’ fully-fledged album. Now they’re using On A Red Thursday to spread the word about the power of surrendering to creative instinct and collaborating with the unknown. On 13 February, the Louvana Records YouTube channel premiered a short documentary created by all eighteen artists with a single camera shared between them. Clips shot by the artists were edited together by videographer Antonis Pouliasis to depict their journey from complete strangers to collaborators as they untie forces to create an album together.