Maybe it’s too much to ask for a moment of your attention. As we grow older and keep diving into this era of information, disinformation, fake news and all that, we also tend to take a step back and listen to the intents of those social media adverts that tell us to slow down, breathe in, breathe out, enjoy everything around you a little bit. So, if it’s not too much to ask, you can press play and start enjoying “D-A-D”. If you’re doing that, you can even stop reading this, because you don’t need further instructions.

It’s the second time in less than two years that we release music from London based Greek musician Tasos Stamou (Athens, 1978). The wordplay of “Musique Con Crète” (CREP54, 2018) was a backdoor to an adventurous and ‘concrete’ experience with sound. “D-A-D” follows up on that. Recorded between 2015-2018 as an homage to both his Dad and the more commonly used tuning on the Greek Bouzouki, D-A-D, Stamou delivers 40 minutes of music that explores ancient and modern languages, while crossing his unique instrumentation with celebrations of new/old folk, field recordings and electronics. In his music, there’s a constant flow of ideas that defy standard tonalities and the conception of “traditional”.

Improvisation was the starting point for the creation of some of the nine pieces Tasos Stamou wrote for “D-A-D”. The electronics often serve to interact with field recordings that are wisely manipulated, while acoustic instruments, like a Bouzouki, build up the connection with the tradition and the necessity to slow down.

With his unique atmospheres, Tasos is whispering some life hacks to build a better life. Nowadays, it’s quite rare for a record to organize the way the listener wants to listen to music, to sounds. “D-A-D” creates a beautiful systematisation between old and new, folk/traditional music and the technology in sound. There’s – still - some boldness in that.