The Steams: Wild Ferment 2018 + Mild Conquest 2022

 

The Steams is a Mystical psyche-based rock group from Athens. They started playing music in 2012,

but only released their first official music samples in 2016, with the recording of a two-track single (Feed / Green Fire). In the process the lineup changed and today consists of: Panos Dimitropoulos (vocals), Andreas Kokovikas (guitar, vocals), Gustav Penka (drums, vocals) and Alex Bolpasis (bass, production).
                       

In 2018, after gathering all their musical ideas and coming up with the final form, The Steams entered

the studio to record their first album, entitled Wild Ferment. The production was made by Alexis Bolpasis himself at Unreal Studioz in Athens. The mastering was done in Los Angeles by Dave Cooley, a mastering engineer who has collaborated with artists such as Paramore, Tame Impala, Wolf Alice and Isaac Hayes. It includes nine tracks and has been described as “one of the most interesting debuts we have heard in Greece in the last several years”.
                       

Like other bands in the English-speaking hard rock scene (eg Villagers Of Ioannina City), The Steams

utilize the musical heritage of American psychedelic rock and combine it with traditional Greek music. It is characteristic that in Wild Ferment one can hear instruments such as Cretan lyre or lute. Another key feature of The Steams music is that they tell a complete story with their songs, in which everything plays a role: from the music to the lyrics and the artwork.
                  

Pulling heavily from the American acid rock that crested in the late 60s without going as far as the

screeching solos filled with feedback. Instead they settle for the more mature and mystical influences of early 70s classic psychedelia. Their debut album “Wild Ferment” was released in June 2018, which was shortly sold-out and now re-pressed in white vinyl.
                   

            
2023 found them opening for the Black Angels show in Athens,

kickstarting a long tour with both Greek and EU dates. In June 2022 they released their second album ”Mild Conquest”, a contemporary tragedy that expands their sound beyond the boundaries of “classic” rock by marrying traditional instruments, polyphonics and narratives with groovy rhythms, massive guitars and Dionysian outbursts. They have performed alongside The Cure, The Black Angels, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Khruangbin Lumerians, etc.  
                   

THE STEAMS - WILD FERMENT 2018

                    

Two years after their first single release—"Feed/Green Fire"—The Steams have returned with their first

LP, ‘Wild Ferment.’The title "Wild Ferment" speaks not only to the album’s content, but als" to the evolution of the band since their first release. "Wild Ferment’ is composed of impressionistic and evocative pieces, meandering between sweet melodies, heavy riffs, and dynamic drum beats.
                  

Eastern influences blend with the sound of Californian psychedelia to create a kaleidoscopic

experience. Incorporating collaborations with guest musicians playing traditional Greek instruments—the Cretan lyra, the laouto, and tsabouna (the Greek bagpipe) adds to the albums novelty and takes listeners on a immersive journey beyond the boundaries of the ‘psych rock’ genre.
                  

The Steams – Wild Ferment
Label: Not On Label (The Steams Self-released) – TSWF001
Format: CD-R Limited Edition, Stereo
Country: Greece
Released: Mar 22, 2018
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

TRACKS

                   

01. The Harvest    6:35
02. Ever Lasting    3:43
03. Amdajitr (the odyssey of young)    5:17
04. Fjordian Blue    3:50
05. The Drought    4:38
06. Ephemeral Joys    3:27
07. Perfect Storms from Afar (Featuring – Ψαραντώνης)   5:10
08. The Beautiful    4:59
09. Black Sand    6:10

LINE - UP

                   

Panos Dimitropoulos - Vocals, Guitars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Andrew Kokovikas - Guitars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Simon Esnafides - Bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Gustav Penka - Drums, Percussion (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Psarantonis - Vocals, Cretan Lyra (7)
Dimitris Sideris - Lute (1, 5)
Alexandros Kleidonas - Tsambouna (1, 7, 9)
Kostas Stergiou - Sax (8), Lute (9)

NOTES

Wild Ferment in limited edition of 50 numbered gold CD-R's
All music arranged, deployed and performed by The Steams
All music/lyrics written by Panos Dimitropoulos

Flac Size: 288 MB

THE STEAMS - MILD CONQUEST 2022

             

Four years after their debut album “Wild Ferment”, The Steams have returned with their sophomore

record “Mild Conquest”. With impactful storytelling through thoughtful lyrics and wild charismatic echoes, The Steams paint very layered and etherial landscapes. Lofty melodies with powerful chords, traditional instruments such as the qanun, lute and bagpipe and a surprising cameo by greek pop star George Mazonakis prologuing one of the songs, make Mild Conquest an exploratory album that will penetrate deeper into your memory banks with each listen.

                  

Inspired by the American acid rock that peaked at the end of the 1960s, as well as the more mature,

mystical influences of classic psychedelia of the early 1970s, the four-member band The Steams is currently at the forefront of the Athenian neo-psyche scene.
                

The Steams – Mild Conquest
Label: Not On Label (The Steams Self-released) – none
Format: CD, Album, Stereo
Country: Greece
Released: Jun 10, 2022
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

TRACKS

                

01. Entrance    4:15
02. Lament (prologued By George Mazonakis)    4:18
03. Ladies in the North    4:55
04. The Union    4:09
05. Algerian Eyes    4:17
06. The Horror    5:53
07. Binding Circles    3:26
08. Little Empire    3:41
09. The Crown    7:20

LINE - UP

                    

Panos Dimitropoulos • Vocals, Guitars
Andreas Kokovikas • Guitars
Alex Bolpasis • Bass, Percussion
Gustav Penka • Drums
Vasilis Tafas • Cencer [Algerian Eyes]
Giorgos Stogiorgis • Qanun [Entrance]
Nikos Tsantanis • Lute [Entrance, The Union, The Horror!], Tsampouna
[Entrance, Lament, The Union]

George Mazonakis • Recitation of the “Origin of Tragedy” (by Aristotle), prologuing "Lament", recorded by Kostas Kalimeris at Black Rock Studios, Santorini.

Flac Size: 306 MB

                

THE STEAMS

                    

[Δεν είναι λίγες οι φορές που ανακαλύπτουμε εντυπωσιακές ελληνικές μπάντες και αναρωτιόμαστε πώς

και δεν τις γνωρίζαμε τόσο καιρό. Είναι βέβαιο ότι κάτι τέτοιο θα συμβαίνει και με τους The Steams, σε όποιον ακούει το debut άλμπουμ τους που κυκλοφορησε το 2018. Τα πρώτα χρόνια της ιδέας για τη δημιουργία του συγκροτήματος, ο Πάνος Δημητρόπουλος, δημιουργός των συνθέσεων και του γκρουπ έμενε τους μισούς μήνες του έτους στη Σαντορίνη, με αποτέλεσμα το νησί αυτό να έχει επηρεάσει τον ήχο τους.
                  

Αν θέλαμε να προσδιορίσουμε τη μουσική τους, θα έλεγε κανείς ότι κινείται σε rock μονοπάτια με

στοιχεία ψυχεδέλειας. Πριν κυκλοφορήσουν το πρώτο τους άλμπουμ, το 2016, το συγκρότημα θα κυκλοφορήσει ένα CD με τίτλο Feed/Green Fire, που περιλάμβανε δύο τραγούδια της μπάντας. Για τα δύο κομμάτια ο Πάνος Δημητρόπουλος δήλωσε πως κυκλοφόρησαν μαζί, γιατί λειτουργούν αντιθετικά μεταξύ τους. Συμβολίζουν την αρχή του συγκροτήματος και υπάρχει ένας ρομαντισμός.
                 

Τον Μάρτιο του 2018, δύο χρόνια μετά από το πρώτο single, το συγκρότημα θα παρουσιάσει την

πρώτη ολοκληρωμένη του δουλειά. Το Wild Ferment είναι μια αλληγορία για την «Άγρια Ζύμωση» —ένας βιοχημικός/οινολογικός όρος και αναφέρεται στη μετατροπή του μούστου σε κρασί καθαρά και μόνο από φυσικές ζύμες, μια διαδικασία για την οποία απαιτείται πολύς χρόνος.
                     

Το πρώτο αυτό άλμπουμ, λοιπόν, είναι μια «άγρια ζύμωση» της μουσικής που κράτησε χρόνια και σιγά

σιγά ολοκληρώνεται. Μουσική που «ωρίμασε» στον χρόνο, σε ένα τέλειο μείγμα post-folk, folk, post-rock και ψυχεδέλειας, με εξαιρετική δομή και έχοντας καταφέρει να αξιοποιήσουν τις επιρροές τους (μουσικές και μη) με τέτοιο τρόπο, ώστε να έχουν δημιουργήσει πλέον τον δικό τους χαρακτήρα και αισθητική.
(Του Δημήτρη Σεργάκη)]
                    

[Με το δεύτερο άλμπουμ τους "Mild Conquest" το 2022, οι The Steams διεύρυναν τον ήχο τους με παραδοσιακά όργανα και πολυφωνίες, ενώ αυτό το καλοκαίρι ετοιμάζονται για την κυκλοφορία του

τρίτου δίσκου τους "Vile Wonders" μετά την επιστροφή τους από το πρώτο τους ευρωπαϊκό τουρ. Το ενδιαφέρον και ουσιαστικό με την καλλιτεχνική πρόταση των The Steams είναι ότι δεν χρησιμοποιεί την παράδοση ως εύκολο αισθητικό κόλπο για να ιντριγκάρει, αλλά το ενσωματώνει οργανικά στον retro χαρακτήρα της. Όπως και στο πρώτο δίσκο τους, "Wild Ferment", οι συμμετοχές μουσικών από διαφορετικές μουσικές σκηνές είναι αρκετές.
                

Εδώ μπορεί να μην ακούμε τη λύρα του Ψαραντώνη, έχουμε όμως το κανονάκι του Γιώργου Στογιώργη να απογειώνει μία από τις πιο εντυπωσιακές και πολύχρωμες συνθέσεις του δίσκου, το "Entrance".

Έχουμε, επίσης, την πολυποίκιλη συμμετοχή του Νίκου Τσαντάνη, ο οποίος χρωματίζει ορισμένα κομμάτια με τσαμπούνα και λαούτο, χωρίς να μπαίνει απαραίτητα στο επίκεντρο για μερικά μέτρα σαν ένα βεβιασμένο feature, αλλά γεμίζοντας ηχητικά τα κενά, απόλυτα ενσωματωμένος στις συνθέσεις (όπως στο "Union", που κάτω από την επιθετικότητά του κρύβει ένα μοιρολόι με τσαμπούνα για τους αδικοχαμένους μεταλλωρύχους).
(Από τον Μάνο Κορνηλάκη - Ορφανουδάκη)]

Sonic Youth: Daydream Natiom 1988 (2CD Deluxe Edition 2007) + Dirty 1992 (2CD Deluxe Edition 2003)

 

As they redefined what noise meant within rock & roll -- and what success meant for a band with

experimental roots -- Sonic Youth became one of the most influential, and popular, acts to emerge from the American underground. Their inventive use of alternate tunings, dissonance, and feedback, which they combined with the intensity of hardcore punk and the performance art aesthetic of New York's avant-garde, created a new sonic landscape with an impact that lasted for decades.
                        

While 1983's Confusion Is Sex reflected the height of no wave's harsh yet hypnotic influence on their

music, Sonic Youth soon added more structure and melody without sacrificing any of their edge. Their trio of independent late-'80s records -- 1986's EVOL, 1987's Sister, and 1988's Daydream Nation -- became touchstones for a generation of indie rockers, thanks to their volatile mix of experiments and accessibility.
                       
The band's growing popularity led them to sign to a major label, and with 1990's Goo and 1992's Dirty,

Sonic Youth courted mainstream success (most of their albums from the '90s onward charted within the Top 100 of the Billboard 200) while maintaining their reputation as innovators and tastemakers.
                         

Later in the '90s, creative restlessness led them to make more challenging major-label albums like

1995's Washing Machine and to release overtly experimental works on their own SYR imprint. In the decade that followed, Sonic Youth continued to balance the different sides of their music in ways that felt true to their legacy; from 2002's introspective Murray St. to 2009's hard-hitting swan song The Eternal, they remained a band who always forged their own path.

SONIC YOUTH - DAYDREAM NATION 1988

                                  

Sonic Youth made a major step forward with 1987's Sister, their first album where the songs were as

strong as the group's visionary approach and they rocked with the force and authority they'd clearly sought since the beginning. If 1988's Daydream Nation didn't make as decisive a leap in terms of theory or style, as far as execution was concerned, it was Sonic Youth's first unqualified masterpiece, a triumph that made them one of the most respected bands in indie rock.
                     

Initially released as a two-LP set, the sheer scope of Daydream Nation was ambitious, but the longer tracks worked to Sonic Youth's advantage, allowing them the space to lay down solid melodic

structures and then use them as a framework for extended jams (thankfully, the band made splendid use of their wanderlust without wearing out their welcome). Sonic Youth were playing at the top of their game on the Daydream Nation sessions; the guitar interplay between Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo was stronger and more intuitive than before, and bassist Kim Gordon and drummer Steve Shelley had grown into a powerful rhythm section that cut an impressive groove, giving the band a greater freedom to explore the space around them without getting lost.
                         

Sonic Youth were not simply tighter on Daydream Nation, they were making better and more satisfying use of their arsenal of alternate tunings and bent but elemental song structures, and the final product

fused their love of creatively applied noise and the sound of the electric guitar with song structures that merged elements of punk, prog, boogie, and psychedelia. The journey from the trippy joy of "Teenage Riot" to the hot-rodded choogle of "Eliminator Jr." was a bracing, glorious experience, and Daydream Nation confirmed their status as one of America's best and most original alternative rock bands, and one that had a shot at a future outside the underground -- a pleasant surprise given the alienating air of their earliest work.
                                 

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Label: Geffen Records – B0008992-02
Series: Deluxe Edition
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Compilation, Deluxe Edition, Remastered Jun 12, 2007
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Noise

DISC 1. THE ORIGINAL ALBUM  (RELEASED 1988)       

                                

  
01. Teen Age Riot    6:58
02. Silver Rocket    3:47
03. The Sprawl    7:42
04. 'Cross The Breeze    7:00
05. Eric's Trip    3:48
06. Total Trash    7:33
07. Hey Joni    4:23
08. Providence    2:41
09. Candle    4:59
10. Rain King    4:39
11. Kissability    3:07

Trilogy:       
    
12. A) The Wonder    4:15
13. B) Hyperstation    7:12
14. Z) Eliminator Jr.    2:38

BONUS DEMO TRACK       
    
15. Eric's Trip (Home Demo)  (Recorded By – LR)   2:27

MP3 @ 320 Size: 174 MB
Flac  Size: 390 MB

DISC 2. LIVE DAYDREAM       

                             

01. The Sprawl    8:27
02. 'Cross The Breeze    5:54
03. Hey Joni    3:38
04. Silver Rocket    4:19
05. Kissability    2:19
06. Eric's Trip    3:05
07. Candle  (Recorded By – Aadam Jacobs)   5:04
08. The Wonder    4:02
09. Hyperstation    6:14
10. Eliminator Jr.    2:29
11. Providence    1:47
12. Teen Age Riot    4:37
13. Rain King    4:06
14. Totally Trashed    1:57
15. Total Trash    5:18

Cover Songs   

 
16. Within You Without You  (Written-By – George Harrison)   4:58
17. Touch Me I'm Sick  (Written-By – Peters, McLaughlin, Lukin, Turner)   2:33
18. Computer Age  (Written-By – Neil Young)   5:12
19. Electricity  (Written-By – Don Van Vliet, Herb Bermann)   2:46

MP3 @ 320 Size: 186 MB
Flac  Size: 532 MB

SONIC YOUTH - DIRTY 1992

                        

When DGC Records signed Nirvana in 1991, one of DGC's A&R reps expressed the opinion that, with

plenty of touring and the right promotion, the new act might sell as well as its labelmate and touring partner Sonic Youth. The surprise success of Nevermind upended previous commercial expectations for Sonic Youth (among other established alternative rock bands), and when Dirty was released in 1992, it was seen by many as the band's big move toward the grunge market.
                                   

Which doesn't make a lot of sense if you actually listen to the album; while Butch Vig's clean but full-

bodied production certainly gave Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's guitars greater punch and presence than they had in the past, and many of the songs move in the increasingly tuneful direction the band had been traveling with Daydream Nation and Goo, most of Dirty is good bit more jagged and purposefully discordant than its immediate precursors, lacking the same hallucinatory grace as Daydream Nation or the hard rock sheen of Goo.
                          

If anything, Dirty finds Sonic Youth revisiting the territory the band mapped out on Sister -- merging

the propulsive structures of rock (both punk and otherwise) with the gorgeous chaos of their approach to the electric guitar -- and it shows how much better they'd gotten at it in the past five years, from the curiously beautiful "Wish Fulfillment" and "Theresa's Sound World" to the brutal "Drunken Butterfly" and "Purr."
                        

Dirty was also Sonic Youth's most overtly political album, railing against the abuses of the

Reagan/Bush era on "Youth Against Fascism," "Swimsuit Issue," and "Chapel Hill," a surprising move from a band so often in love with cryptic irony. Heard today, Dirty doesn't sound like a masterpiece (like Daydream Nation) or a gesture toward the mainstream audience (like Goo) -- it just sounds like a damn good rock album, and on those terms it ranks with Sonic Youth's best work.
                     

Sonic Youth – Dirty
Label: Geffen Records – 493 410-2
Series: Deluxe Edition 2003
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue CD All Media, Remastered, Deluxe Edition
Country: UK
Released: 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock

DISC 1. THE ORIGINAL ALBUM (RELEASED 07/21/92)       

                                     

  
01. 100%    2:29
02. Swimsuit Issue    2:59
03. Theresa's Sound World    5:29
04. Drunken Butterfly    3:04
05. Shoot    5:17
06. Wish Fulfillment    3:27
07. Sugar Kane    5:58
08. Orange Rolls, Angels Spit    4:19
09. Youth Against Fascism (Guitar – Ian MacKaye)   3:56
10. Nic Fit    0:59
11. On The Strip    5:42
12. Chapel Hill    4:48
13. JC    4:03
14. Purr    4:21
15. Créme Brulee    2:36

THE B-SIDES       
    
16. Stalker    3:00
17. Genetic    3:35
18. Hendrix Necro    2:49
19. The Destroyed Room    3:21

MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac  Size: 521 MB

DISC 2. ADDITIONAL B-SIDES       

                               

  
01. Is It My Body  (Mixed By – Conrad Uno, Jack Endino)   2:52
02. Personality Crisis  (Mixed By – Wharton Tiers)   3:40
03. The End Of The End Of The Ugly    4:18
04. Tamra    8:34

REHEARSAL RECORDINGS       
    
05. Little Jammy Thing    2:20
06. Lite Damage    5:21
07. Dreamfinger    7:41
08. Barracuda    4:22
09. New White Kross    1:29
10. Guido    3:49
11. Stalker    3:36
12. Moonface    4:44
13. Poet In The Pit    2:40
14. Theoretical Chaos    3:08
15. Youth Against Fascism    5:03
16. Wish Fulfillment    3:51

MP3 @ 320 Size: 159 MB
Flac  Size: 410 MB