Antonis Antoniou
Throisma
Sortie le 30 septembre 2022
Label: Ajabu!
Antonis Antoniou is a Nicosia-based composer, sound artist and producer. He is the founder of the acclaimed music groups Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke and has released eight albums with them. Through his adventurous musical course he has studied and experimented with diverse musical fields, such as Jazz, Folk, Rock, Classical, Experimental and Sound Art in which he holds a PhD. Antoniou has collaborated with choreographers and other artists and has composed music for film, theatre, radio and TV. His love with traditional idioms and musical palletes of the Eastern Mediterranean region has drawn him into an exciting journey of exploration and experimentation, which is currently his main focus.
Novel psychsounds from Cyprus – Global attitude with local pneuma
Following his critically acclaimed debut solo album Kkismettin, Antonis Antoniou, the driving force behind award-winning bands Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, has returned with another unconventional and skillfully produced solo album, expanding his musical language even further towards exhilarating and unmapped territories. With one foot in the East and the other in the West, with one ear in the past and the other in the future, Antonis Antoniou boldly dives deeper into his experimental and often eccentric practice, inventing new methodologies and developing new contexts, wherein various seemingly incompatible ingredients find fertile ground to intertwine. Carrying in his creative luggage his remarkable musical experience, knowledge and craftsmanship, he approaches music composition, arranging and production in a totally idiosyncratic way. Throisma is exactly the intoxicating outcome of this course.
Throisma comprises nine pieces, which exist in a psychedelic/dubby sonic world with a strong Eastern Mediterranean aroma, and enriched with heavily-filtered tzouras (small bouzouki) lines, fuzzy bass riffs, dirty analogue synth tones and hypnotic floor tom grooves. A finely crafted rich and colourful soundscape, bearing the trademark identity of a high-spirited artist and sonic explorer, attempting to marry diverse musical worlds: Eastern qualities with Velvet Underground-ish moods, Anatolian melodic vibes with rocky-psychedelic textures, organic folky flavours with sharp contemporary electronics and musique concrète techniques. All this is delivered with an unparalleled flow, edge and elegance, clean of stereotypes and clichés.
Throisma translates as “rustling”. The lyrics sung in Antoniou’s native Cypriot Greek are characterised by a poetic reflection on existentialism, calling for a spiritual awakening, and a neglect towards the “Skárta dóra” (useless gifts) imposed by capitalist structures and evil bodies that aim to keep our souls in custody. He asks: “What are the things that keep our souls from rustling? Why do we continuously fall into the trap of shutting ourselves, depriving the breeze of love from reaching the depths of our psyche and vibrating its leaves? How deep have we buried our childhood joy, and what’s the price we need to pay in order to unbury it?”
An existential quest, fuelled through Antoniou’s artistic medium, has managed to encode his thoughts and communicate these nuances through these nine songs.
Produced by Antonis Antoniou - Nicosia, Cyprus 2021-22
All music and lyrics written by Antonis Antoniou
Vocals on ‘Achtina 2’: Fotis Siotas
Vocals on ‘Yiorti’: Efthymia Alphas & Antonis Antoniou
Mixed by Sotos Charalambous
Mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Studios, Athens
Artwork & Layout design: Yiorgos Tsangaris
Following his critically acclaimed debut solo album Kkismettin, Antonis Antoniou, the driving force behind award-winning bands Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, has returned with another unconventional and skillfully produced solo album, expanding his musical language even further towards exhilarating and unmapped territories. With one foot in the East and the other in the West, with one ear in the past and the other in the future, Antonis Antoniou boldly dives deeper into his experimental and often eccentric practice, inventing new methodologies and developing new contexts, wherein various seemingly incompatible ingredients find fertile ground to intertwine. Carrying in his creative luggage his remarkable musical experience, knowledge and craftsmanship, he approaches music composition, arranging and production in a totally idiosyncratic way. Throisma is exactly the intoxicating outcome of this course.
Throisma comprises nine pieces, which exist in a psychedelic/dubby sonic world with a strong Eastern Mediterranean aroma, and enriched with heavily-filtered tzouras (small bouzouki) lines, fuzzy bass riffs, dirty analogue synth tones and hypnotic floor tom grooves. A finely crafted rich and colourful soundscape, bearing the trademark identity of a high-spirited artist and sonic explorer, attempting to marry diverse musical worlds: Eastern qualities with Velvet Underground-ish moods, Anatolian melodic vibes with rocky-psychedelic textures, organic folky flavours with sharp contemporary electronics and musique concrète techniques. All this is delivered with an unparalleled flow, edge and elegance, clean of stereotypes and clichés.
Throisma translates as “rustling”. The lyrics sung in Antoniou’s native Cypriot Greek are characterised by a poetic reflection on existentialism, calling for a spiritual awakening, and a neglect towards the “Skárta dóra” (useless gifts) imposed by capitalist structures and evil bodies that aim to keep our souls in custody. He asks: “What are the things that keep our souls from rustling? Why do we continuously fall into the trap of shutting ourselves, depriving the breeze of love from reaching the depths of our psyche and vibrating its leaves? How deep have we buried our childhood joy, and what’s the price we need to pay in order to unbury it?”
An existential quest, fuelled through Antoniou’s artistic medium, has managed to encode his thoughts and communicate these nuances through these nine songs.
Produced by Antonis Antoniou - Nicosia, Cyprus 2021-22
All music and lyrics written by Antonis Antoniou
Vocals on ‘Achtina 2’: Fotis Siotas
Vocals on ‘Yiorti’: Efthymia Alphas & Antonis Antoniou
Mixed by Sotos Charalambous
Mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Studios, Athens
Artwork & Layout design: Yiorgos Tsangaris
