The region of Epirus is famous for it's landscape of mammoth mountains and holy rivers - and now
experimental heavy rock. Villagers Of Ioannina City are deeply influenced by Greek nature and cosmic phenomena and infuse their unique brand of heavy psychedelic rock with folk instruments such as bagpipes, flutes and didgeridoos.
"Villagers of Ioannina City" (or -V.I.C-) it's a folk/psychedelic/rock band from Ioannina City (Greece), is one of the best bands in Greece and they play a unique kind of heavy / psychedelic rock with a
70's attitude by combining it with a healthy dose of Greek folk traditional music from the region of Epirus. The region's musical tradition is characterized by polyphony and the use of clarinet and pentatonic musical scales. They play a kind of post rock with a big dose of Greek folk traditional music from Epirus. The band’s sound fuses traditional music into modern psychedelic forms, creating a unique sound. They have played in a numerous of shows all over Greece in many different venues and festivals.
Simply put, the band fuses traditional music with modern psychedelic forms, creating a unique sound.
In 2010 they released a 6 track promo. After 4 years, in April 2014 they released their debut full length, titled "riza" (meaning root in Greek), available as a no-minimum download on their bandcamp and in physical formats. Most of their tracks are covers of traditional folk songs but they also have some compositions of their own.
Their second album, Age of Aquarius - originally released in September 2019 - will now be reissued by
Napalm Records. Epirus may become the unlikely epicentre of the heavy rock universe: A mantra for the new Age!
Οι "-V.I.C-" (Villagers of Ioannina City) είναι ένα συγκρότημα από τα Ιωάννινα με ελληνόφωνο και αγγλόφωνο στίχο. Παίζουν ένα κράμα ψυχεδελικού rock, stoner και παραδοσιακού ηπειρώτικου. Αυτό
το καταφέρνουν ενσωματώνοντας στην κλασσική ροκ ενορχήστρωση το κλαρίνο καθώς και χρησιμοποιώντας παραδοσιακές πολυφωνίες βγάζοντας σαν αποτέλεσμα έναν πρωτότυπο και ταυτόχρονα σύγχρονο ήχο. Το 2010 κυκλοφόρησαν 6 promo κομμάτια προπομπό της κυκλοφορίας του ολοκληρωμένου τους album.
O πρώτος δίσκος έμελλε να βγει 4 χρόνια αργότερα, Απρίλιο 2014, με τίτλο "riza" .O ήχος τους
αποτελεί συνδυασμό του stoner και ψυχεδελικού rock με την ηπειρώτικη παραδοσιακή μουσική. Οι Villagers of Ioannina City αποτελούνται από τον κιθαρίστα και τραγουδιστή Αλέξη Καραμέτη, τον μπασίστα Άκη Ζώη, τον κιμπορντίστα Αχιλλέα Ράδη, το ντράμερ Άρη Γιαννόπουλο και τον Κωνσταντίνο Πιστιόλη στα πνευστά και τα δεύτερα φωνητικά.
Από το 2009 και έπειτα, συμπεριλήφθηκε στον ήχο τους το κλαρίνο, το οποίο αποτελεί βασικό κομμάτι
και σόλο όργανο του συγκροτήματος. Το 2010 ξεκίνησαν τις ηχογραφήσεις του πρώτου τους άλμπουμ, παράλληλα με τις συνεχείς περιοδείες τους στην Ελλάδα. Τον Μάιο του 2013 έπαιξαν ζωντανά στα Τρίκαλα, στην Λάρισα, στα Ιωάννινα, στην Καβάλα, στο Αγρίνιο και στην Αθήνα, ενώ τον Σεπτέμβριο της ίδιας χρονιάς πραγματοποίησαν τρεις εμφανίσεις στην Αλβανία.
Μέλη
Alex - κιθάρα, φωνητικά
Άκης - μπάσο
Άρης - τύμπανα
Κωνσταντίς - κλαρινέτο, καβάλ, φωνητικά
Κώστας - γκάιντα, άνεμοι
Προηγούμενα μέλη: Γιάννης Χαλδούπης, Αχιλλέας Ράνδης
Villagers Of Ioannina City – Riza
Label: Mantra Records – MAN 001
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered
Country: Greece
Released: Apr 1, 2014
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock
TRAXS
01. Kalesma
02. Echoes
03. Nova
04. Jiannim
05. Tabourla
06. Krasi
07. Ti Kako
08. Perdikomata
09. Chalasia
10. Skaros
11. St. Triad
12. Riza
Edition of 500 hand-numbered copies.
Villagers Of Ioannina City On Urban Aspirines HERE
MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac Size: 487 MB
GREAT, thank you ! As i just saw there is also a documentary about the band on ARTE. Unfortunately the lp/cd is VERY EXPENSIVE. I've found ways and means to get of them. If not today then a little later.
ReplyDeleteJosef, most of the lyrics in this album are in Greek language. Is this okay for you?
DeleteThat's no problem for me. I don't listen to the lyrics anyway, some of which are idiotic. I only care about the music.
DeleteThe most of the songs are covers of old traditional songs of Epirus. (A Greek region)
DeleteI guess I'm in the minority here but I'm generally not impressed by the whole stoner genre. A few groups like Fu Manchu could pull it through but most of the groups sound just ok to me. Anyway, the genre really thrives in Greece during the last few years. When it comes, to VIC, I had heard everyone saying how great the band is, and I guess they are probably great for the genre, but I wasn't too impressed. This thing about incorporating Epirus music never appealed to me since the time Drolapas claimed to pioneer this and it sounded bad to my ears back then and still does today.
DeleteI have also seen similar stoner groups from other countries been compared to rock legends of the past and the comparison looks sacrilegious to me. For me, the whole genre seems just low effort.
Yes you are in the minority. I don't l go mad for the stoner bands, but VIC is something different. They have a lot of psychedelic influences, that's why I like them so much. Everyone can listen the music he desires.
DeleteBeautiful !
ReplyDelete