yho16 - tragoudia ...

The sixteenth edition of YHO was subtitled ‘Adventures in Greek Music’.  It was put together to complement a mixtape of vintage Greek sounds, which itself was subtitled ‘The New Wave and Beyond’.   The cover of this issue features a still from a clip posted on YouTube of Aleka Mavilli singing Afto t’agori from a 1967 film.  I love how in this shot the ancient and modern worlds combine perfectly.  This edition features a few attempts at integrating short stories/fictional representation, and contains an admission that I prefer the fiction of thriller writer Alan Furst to works of critical theory.  Make of that what you will.

Among those featured in this edition of YHO are:

Manos Hadjidakis

Mikis Theodorakis

Fleury Dantonaki

Arleta

Popi Asteriadi

Nikos Xylouris

Elpida

George Romanos

Maria Farantouri

Savage Republic

This issue can be found here ...

The mixtape takes as its starting point what in Greek music is known as new wave or ‘neo kyma’. This was a form of pop that in the mid-to-late ‘60s mixed traditional Greek folk song with other elements such as French chanson/pop. The recordings were often acoustic, stark and wonderfully romantic. From the new wave the mixtape wanders into wilder psychedelic territory and also takes in some astonishing performances of songs (tragoudia) by the great composers like Theodorakis and Hadjidakis.  The mix can be found here.