Kosta Vomvolos is a Greek composer of primarily theater music. From his discography on his web site plus the free albums he has on Jamendo, it appears that he is quite prolific. His influences are ancient and traditional Greek music, classical, jazz and electronic. The nine albums I’ve chosen give a good retrospective of this eclectic composer.
Doxombus may be a good place to start. Written as a soundtrack for the film of the same name directed by Fotos Lambrinos, it relies heavily on Greek folk music and traditional instruments, yet strings play important roles in such tracks as “The Lake” and “Tension”. A four note descending phrase acts as the theme uniting these pieces. This is an interesting example of atmospheric movie music.
A number of his albums are written to accompany ancient Greek drama. Not surprisingly, ancient Greek music is a major influence in these works. Hecuba: Music for Euripides’ Tragedy features a chorus of 16 actresses accompanied by lute, double-bass and drums. The lack of the visual and a translation hinders a full understanding of the work but the interplay between the instruments and monotonic chanting is still quite interesting. Sophocles’ Tragedy: Women From Trachis is much better. Vocalist Elsa Mouratidou and 20 actresses are accompanied by cello, violin, electric guitar and drums in a beautiful theater piece. It is a nice blend of ancient, folk and modern. Euripides ION Actors Touring Company-London is the last of the three works written for ancient Greek drama and it’s my favorite. It is an exotic instrumental piece that works well on its own. Vomvolos has a knack for blending the traditional with the experimental.
Two albums represent music written to accompany later dramas. The Deer’s Curse is a Kurdish tale presented with 30 actors who sing, chant, whisper the traditional story. Again, it is interesting but probably harmed by the fact we get only the aural experience. Kandalis’ Wife fares much better. This is an instrumental work with strong traditional influences. Alternately meditative and percussive, it hold up the best of the previously mentioned albums as a separate composition.
Fake Nightmare is a total different kind of theater music. Written for the National Theater of Northern Greece, this is very modern using elements of jazz, rock, electronic music, European cabaret and, of course, Greek folk music to make a dense and complex musical tapestry. Like the other theater works it still has a mostly dark mood. This is a piece that holds well on its own with “Saturday” and “Funky Finally” being especially compelling.
On My Birthday I Caught a Train to Thessaloniki is a dance piece. It starts out on accordion like a minimalist Reich composition but then moves into rock, jazz and at times an industrial sound. I can’t quite see this as a dance piece but it certainly kept me interested.
Finally, Vomvolos presents a short string quartet of 15 minutes duration titled …And Juliet. As Vomvolos’ other albums tend to be sonorous and dramatic, …And Juliet is light and breezy. The six piece suite is quite classical in feeling but it makes use of a tango in the second track while “Right Walk” has a jazz melody over a striding bass line. This may be the most pleasing and accessible of the albums but all nine will give you a different and worthwhile musical experience.
All nine albums are available in VBR MP3 with an average bitrate of 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artist by buying his CDs.
Download
…And Juliet: String Quartet
Deer’s Curse
Doxombus
Fake nightmare
Hecuba: Music For Euripides’ Tradegy
Euripes ION Actors Touring Company: London
Kandavlis’ Wife
On My Birthday I Caught a Train To Thessaloniki
Sophocles Tragedy: Women From Trachis
Columbian sound artist David Velez aka Lezrod was commissioned to compose a series of works for a Brazilian Sushi bar in Las Vegas. If that idea doesn’t send your mind spinning then consider yourself unspinnable. The compositions are meant to be a soundtrack for videos that would play continuously in the establishment. This probably explaisn why these ten pieces, each being exactly 3 minutes in length, have a tonal quality that is unusual in Lezrod’s music. The artist draws his inspiration from two surrealist works, Hunter S, Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the films of Luis Bunuel. I’m not exactly sure if this is music to eat sushi by but they are some of the most interesting and accessible of Lezrod’s many soundscapes. These tracks are definitely worth a try for your dinner music or just chilling out.
Karhu’s 
French pianist and composer 
The 1920 German silent film
The music of Karhu stands out due to its intense sounds and the ever changing patterns. This is as far from minimalism as you can get. The layers are so complex that you will find new things in each listening. The composer intended this work, of which these seven tracks are only a part of, to be an alternative film score for Fritz Lang’s 
This soundtrack for the French film project titled 
A little disclosure is needed on this review. I saw the original musical, 
Fanzine publisher and film maker David Markey was a constant in the Los Angeles punk scene. He currently runs a web site for his film company 
Doctor Mabuse is described as a “soundtrack for Alvaro Lunas’ reworking of Fritz Lang’s 
