is a hub for experimental music & its by-products. it aims to promote the activities of the greek experimental/underground (or whatever one might call it) music scene, as well as its various links internationally.
“34:13_Ambeliona” is the 13th solo release of Mecha/Orga, the project of sound artist Yiorgis Sakellariou. The album is based on field recordings that Sakellariou made in the mountain village of Ambeliona. The captured sounds, originating from a huge variety of sources, from thunders and heavy rain to church bells and insects, were not digitally processed. Selected fragments and passages from the recordings were used in an audio montage which is divided into four parts.
Contains field recordings made in Ambeliona, Peloponnese during three consecutive summer periods (2010-2012). Composed by Yiorgis Sakellariou at Ambeliona, August 2012
mastering & graphic by Themistoklis Pantelopoulos, October 2012
photo from Ambeliona, April 2011
new Mecha/Orga release, on the beautiful orila label, comprising of field recordings that took place in various countries (Belgium, Greece, Lithuania, England) between 2010 and 2012, and were re-composed for the purposes of this piece. According to the press release, 18:36 is divided in four chapters, through which the combination of industrial sound and sound produced without any human activity is dominant.
the release is on silver cd-r. Designed by bend dot gr and orila, it is an edition of 60.
Mecha/Orga is the project and recording name of Greek sound artist Yiorgis Sakellariou, a self-taught musician working in the arenas of computer music and field recordings. Having a background in classical and folk (Mediterranean) music, he came to develop his personal language during the ’00s. Since then, he has been active internationally being responsible for solo albums, having composed music for short films and theatrical performances, leading workshops and ceaselessly performing his music around the globe.
His practice is founded on the digital manipulation of environmental recordings. His palette of sounds is all-encompassing; from vibrating rail-tracks to refrigerators’ static, and from noisy waterfalls to the humming of insects, all may find their place in his arsenal. He only performs in absolute darkness, fostering an all-inclusive and profoundly submerging sonic experience. Also a member of the Athenian Contemporary Music Research Centre (founded by I. Xenakis) and of the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers’ Association. Since 2004 he runs the label Echomusic.
In April 2012 I was in Rotterdam for a mini-residency at Worm studio, in collaboration with sound artist Roel Meelkop. The “concept” was really simple: We had to compose and perform a piece based on field recordings of Rotterdam, combined with sounds from the analog synthesizers that are available at Worm. We started from the environmental recordings, and since Roel is a Rotterdam resident he already had in mind many interest places to sonically explore.
Among others was the Maastunnel, which is dug under Nieuwe Maas river. The tunnel connects the two sides of the city and it plays a very important part in the transportation network. Regarding the sounds it offered, we were not disappointed at all. On the contrary, we were able to hear and record the tunnel’s static ambience, the squealing of the escalators placed at the end of both sides, distant thumps, people walking by and even the security woman that came at some point and asked for explanations about what the hell we were doing there for such a long time. My apologies but that encounter is omitted from the selected recording that’s uploaded.
Edited sounds from the tunnel were used in the final studio piece we prepared which was also performed live a few days later at concerts in Rotterdam, Den Haag and Nijmegen.
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new online release from Yiorgis Sakellariou’s Mecha/Orga project, out on Impulsive Habitat. The recording employs original source field recordings that took place in Klaipeda, Smiltyne and Nida, in Lithuania. Recordings, manipulation and composition
by Yiorgis Sakellariou.
Greek-born and current Lithuanian resident Yiorgis Sakellariou (a.k.a. Mecha/Orga), will be packing his fields & drones and taking them to the land of the Netherlands in a few days. It’s not his first visit in the region, so it’s safe to say they like him there, so much that he will be collaborating with such eminent gentlemen like Roel Meelkop & Jos Smolders. Right on!
Update: a gig in Brussels, Belgium has been also added
April 26, Rotterdam: Aether: Tones and Talks #12 @ foundationB.a.d (link) April 27, Rotterdam: Implausible Music #1 @ Worm, duet with Roel Meelkop (link) April 28, Den Haag: Stichting Centrum, solo and duet with Roel Meelkop May 03, Nijmegen: Brombron @ Extrapol, trio with Jos Smolders and Roel Meelkop (link) May 04, Brussels: HS63, solo (link)
yiorgis sakellariou, aka mecha/orga, is flying from lithuania, where he currently resides, to the uk next week. You can catch him in performance, thursday and friday, in london and birmingham respectively:
Vasco Alves/Adam Asnan/Louie Rice
Alfredo Costa Monteiro
Juan Matos Capote
Mecha/Orga
Tom Mudd
“ ”[sic]™ Tim Goldie
plus Lee Gamble (DJ set) Limehouse Town Hall, London
by yiorgis sakellariou For the past four months I’ve been living in this rather small (population: 180.00 and decreasing) city in the west of Lithuania, right on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Almost since Day 1, I’ve been exploring and recording my new sound environment and I dare to say that the place is, perhaps surprisingly, a sonic paradise. Forests, beaches, harbors, ferry boats, plus the fact that the city has an extended industrial area, provides me with a great variety of sounds and I still find myself -pretty often I might add- walking around with the recorder at hand. For this post I used the more compositional approach of an audio montage, instead of presenting one recording from a specific location. Nonetheless, the recordings are untreated. The aim is to give a more wide-ranging feeling of Klaipeda’s splendid soundscape.
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Heraclis is a fresh new label from athens, greece. Its first batch of releases (they also organize events, etc) consists of a 7″ and a CS compilation, for all-you-can-eat synth & noise pleasure. Featuring one side from Hiroshi Hasegawa, amongst others
IRA001– 7’’ Vinyl A tribute to Synti AKS SIDE A – Georgios Karamanolakis – Reentry capsule.
SIDE B – Astro (Hiroshi Hasegawa) – Crystal Silver Dream Machine.
Limited to 320 copies.
IRA.C002– Cassette Two days dedicated to electronic sound improvisation. SIDE A – Plink, Adam is, Goosli noise (russia),
SIDE B – Georgios Karamanolakis, Dead Gum, Mecha/Orga, Analog Suicide (Turkey).
Limited to 100 copies.
taking place in October 2011, Field Fest (Brussels, curated by q-o2) brings together many artists /composers / musicians whose work involves various aspects of field recording….this compilation offers you the chance to hear some small elements of that work.
Lousios is located near the village of Karytaina, at the heart of the Peloponnese region. The flow of the river is very powerful and many people visit it for rafting. Unfortunately, some never get to go back home; the monument built near a bridge did not leave any doubts: a poor fellow drowned there. If you don’t intend to go in the water you still need to be careful not to slip on some narrow paths or wet rocks and try to avoid destroying spider webs. The landscape was impressive but of course the main focus was on the sound, an excellent mix of mighty water floating and the singing of cicadas –typical Greek summer “soundtrack”. At several locations, where the water was hitting on stones, the volume was so loud that we had to shout so we could hear each other. Pure noise…
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note: this recording comprises of three seperate parts. track breaks at: 01:21. 03:15
On April 23, 2011 I played a concert in Dresden and the next day I had enough time to explore the city. After walking around in the old town, which is on UNESCO’s world heritage list, I started checking out the new part of the city, and the main pedestrian road led me directly to the train station. I’m totally attracted by the sounds of train stations and as I was approaching the big south station of Dresden I was pretty sure I’d record something interesting. The acoustic environment of the station constantly changes because trains come and go all the time. There is also a more permanent layer of sound, that reverberates everywhere and having a high roof transforms the building into a big speaker.
I just googled it: The old town of Dresden has been deleted from UNESCO’s list. Anyhow, minor detail. The sounds of the station are fascinating nonetheless.
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note: this recording comprises of three seperate parts. track breaks at: 01:34. 03:17
