Baby Guru is a Greek band based in Athens. Their music traverses the wider spectre of rock, with heavy influences from genres such as krautrock and psychedelic rock, while the lyrics of their songs
are almost exclusively written in English. They have released three albums, two of which had an international distribution. The members of the band are King Elephant (Yannis Karras), Prins Obi (Yorgos Dimakis, initially under the name Obi Serotone), who is the singer and main lyricist of the band and Sir Kosmiche (Axios Zafirakos). The three childhood friends started playing music together during the last years of highschool under the name Art.
Baby Guru is an ever-evolving musical organism. Tired of the typical rock band thing, they lay emphasis
on spontaneity and unexpected inspiration, while they cultivate an obsession with the kraut rock legacy, pop melodies, psychedelic music and mama Africa percussion experiments. They remain incurably charmed by the analog warmth of proto-electronica and the raw power of garage punk, while they demonstrate a driving perspective of instinctive grooves and vocal lines that range from meditative to Dadaistic.
Later Karras and Zafirakos were members of the band Duke Abduction for a short period. The three of
them met again in 2009 and begun jamming in their own studio and creating musical tracks by sampling and editing the recordings of their jam sessions. The name of the band was inspired by the krautrock band Guru Guru and Captain Beefheart’s song “Ella Guru” In 2010 they gave a series of live performances in Athens.
They’ve spent 2010 performing live shows in Athens and giving “Yogi Sister” EPs (vol.1 & 2) -a series of primitive recordings- for free download. In 2011, they made a dynamic comeback with their debut album,
“Baby Guru”, which was released on March 8th via Inner Ear. They also wrote the soundtrack for the theatrical play “Why I Killed My Best Friend”, directed by Vasia Attarian. Their sophomore LP, “Pieces”, was released in October 2012. It was distributed throughout Europe via Rough Trade and V2 Records and the band was invited to perform at Eurosonic Noorderslag and Europavox (plus some gigs across the Netherlands).
In September 2015, Baby Guru officially dived into Phase Two, with the release of the mini-album
“Sunshine Special” (an abstract dedication to the eight shades of summer) and the recording of their fourth LP released via Inner Ear.
LINE - UP
Prins Obi (Yorgos Dimakis)
King Elephant (Yannis Karras)
Sir Kosmiche (Axios Zafirakos)
Kon Kon
DISCOGRAPHY
Baby Guru (2011)
Pieces (2012)
Marginalia (2014)
Sunshine Special (2015)
IV (2017)
01. BABY GURU - BABY GURU 2011
Baby Guru is an ever evolving musical organism consisting of the unpredictable trio of: Obi Serotone, King Elephant and Sir Kosmiche. Their homemade debut album, which was recorded at King Elephant’s basement, is entirely produced, arranged and mixed by Baby Guru and is released in vinyl and cd from Inner Ear. Walking in the footsteps of Can, Baby Guru record long improvisational jams, without any
rehearsals, following their instincts and the unexpected inspiration and unlocking their subconscious. Later on they would isolate the best parts and end up with a final result, using editing techniques. Looking for the influences of “Baby Guru”, one comes across psychedelic music, the band’s love for samplers, African percussion, electronic methods (looping, splicing, editing) but also kraut pop. It’s worth mentioning that they used no guitars at all during the recordings of the album. Marilu wears flowers on her forehead, puts on a hippie dress and starts dancing in the fields, defying the warnings of Baby Guru. An old 60’s commercial gets married with a minimal African beat while in the background a freak hits the old piano with a violin stick.
The ghosts of Silver Apples and early Kraftwerk (dressed up in punkish outfits) make their appearance. A sampler comes from the sky and Baby Guru couldn’t help following it. Kraut grooves are transformed into a multi-faceted monster with broken saxophones, disorientating samples and electronica-obsessed bass
lines until the whole thing explodes into a punk’n'bass roller coaster. “Inner Space” keeps building and building until Baby Guru find themselves in a state of ecstasy, driving Hank Moody’s car across a shore in California and an old Rolling Stones song is playing on the radio. 80’s post-punk grooves, with an electro-pop flavour, get interrupted by dreamy, mellow soundscapes. Around 3 a.m. in the morning, on the verge of exhaustion they say goodbye…let all the bright light wash all over the dark corridors of your mind baby… Welcome to Guruland! The circle is full and the ritual begins NOW!
Baby Guru – Baby Guru
Label: Inner Ear – INN035, Inner Ear – 5200347700600
Format: CD, Album
Country: Greece
Released: Mar 2011
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Indie Rock, Leftfield, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Holy Grey 2:30
02. Here Comes The Luliluri 3:10
03. Marilu 2:39
Backing Vocals – Fuck Bunnies, Kon-Kon
04. Bounce 3:18
05. Elf Over Rooftops 4:05
06. I'm Only Spinning 4:14
07. Secondary Angle And Shades Of Infinity 4:43
08. Perfect Make-Up 3:48
09. Navigation 3:18
10. Rainy Day 2:26
11. Kicks With Mary 2:46
12. Ariel (Reprise) 1:43
13. Inner Space 5:02
14. Promenade 2:35
LINE - UP
Prins Obi Serotone (Yorgos Dimakis)
King Elephant (Yannis Karras)
Sir Kosmiche (Axios Zafirakos)
Flac Size: 273 MB
02. BABY GURU - PIECES 2012
Baby Guru's sophomore album, Pieces, was released in October 2012 and it was widely accepted as a
significant step forward compared to ‘’Baby Guru’’. The krautrock influences were still there but this time there were further explorations of the psychedelic rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s, while guitars became a more prominent part of their sound. The album was released in several European countries under distribution by Rough Trade and V2 records, gathering favorable reviews. In the beginning of 2013 the band embarked on a mini tour in the Netherlands to Their third album, titled Marginalia was released in March 2014.
Baby Guru – Pieces
Label: Inner Ear – INN066, Inner Ear – 5200347 7010 4 1
Format: CD, Album
Country: Greece
Released: Oct 2012
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Necessary Voodoo 3:09
02. For Naked Sun 3:00
Vocals – Christina
03. Say Say 2:43
04. The Things You Do 2:15
05. Amaye 4:35
06. Dolomite Jollity 2:34
07. The Letter 1:23
08. Children 3:57
09. The Letter (Reprise) 2:09
10. For Trish 2:26
11. Last Summer 2:33
Vocals – Christina
12. Cyclamen Persicum 2:16
13. Bog 4:15
Vocals – Christina
LINE - UP
Vocals, Synthesizer, Organ, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Sampler, Percussion, Piano [Clavinova] – Prins Obi
Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Percussion, Effects [Ring Modulator] – Sir Kosmiche
Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Saxophone, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Angeltone], Sampler, Programmed By, Engineer, Mixed By – King Elephant
Flac Size: 214 MB
03. BABY GURU - MARGINALIA 2014
Their third album, titled Marginalia was released in March 2014. The references to krautrock and psychedelia remained, while the band expanded further its music by turning towards new wave and
synthpop of the ‘80s. The opening track and first single, "Especially when", was built around guitar riffs, an unusual choice for the band. Also, for the first time they included a song with Greek lyrics, “Exegersis”. Once again critical acceptance was very positive with many considering it as Baby Guru's best release. The band did extensive touring to support the release of the album. In October 2014 they appeared in the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, where they were hailed as one of the 5 top discoveries of the festival.
Highly recomended!
Baby Guru – Marginalia
Label: Inner Ear – INN087, Inner Ear – 5200347701515
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: Mar 24, 2014
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Alternative Rock
TRACKS
01. Especially When 3:54
02. Baby You're So Weird 2:43
Lead Vocals – Christina
03. Exegesis 3:36
04. Marginalia 3:50
Vocals [Additional] – Christina
05. Behaviour 3:24
Vocals [Additional] – Christina
06. Explain 2:13
07. We Need Some Space 3:24
Vocals [Additional] – Christina
08. Two Days Ago 4:13
09. Turtle Hearts 3:47
10. Anticipation 4:39
Vocals [Additional] – Christina
11. Most Of The Times 5:25
Vocals [Additional] – Christina
LINE - UP
Vocals, Synthesizer [Synthesizers], Organ, Keyboards [Casiotone], Harpsichord, Electric Piano, Piano [Clavinova], Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Samples – Prins Obi
Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Sir Kosmiche
Drums, Percussion, Synthesizer [Synthesizers], Organ, Synthesizer [Angeltone], Harpsichord, Piano [Clavinova], Programmed By [Programming] – King Elephant
Thanks for the (of course) unknown Greece band - Josef !
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