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ANNABOUBOULA
is a
Greek expression meaning a confusing, mixed-up noise-- or
"brou-ha-ha". It was thought up in the late '80s as
a
potential band name by Greek- American producer- turned- anthropologist
CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE, who promptly enlisted Greek singer
ANNA PAIDOUSSI to front a downtown New York-meets-Athens
experimental recording project.
After hearing demos of Anna
backed by a psychedelic trance-rock
band, guitarist/ composer/
producer GEORGE SEMPEPOS came
on board. In 1986 a debut
EP "Hamam" was issued by
Virgin Greece; exported to
the US, France, and England, it became
an underground cult
classic.
In the years that
followed, the project
evolved into a proper band with an
international following especially
in what would come to be
called "World Music" circles.
They appeared at
festivals such as WOMAD, on US and UK network
television, and
their US releases on Shanachie generated reams
of critical
praise and college radio airplay-- even though almost
all of
their material was sung in Greek. In Greece they were
a
well-regarded novelty radio act; their influence continues
to
be heard today in numerous Hellenic dance music and would-be
"World Beat" productions.
Ironically, the group went into hibernation
in
1993 just as the concept it had pioneered-- fusing contemporary
electro-pop and rock with traditional music from so-called
"exotic"
sources-- was becoming an accepted
genre.
Anna, George and Chris
however had already
started recording a third full-length CD,
and some of those tracks
will be part of a forthcoming
ANNABOUBOULA release in
the months ahead.
WHAT ARE THEY?
As mentioned, ANNABOUBOULA means
"noisy confusion"-- and that goes some way in explaining
their decidedly non-purist
approach to traditional music.
Drum machines, funky loops, guitars
and African percussion
underscore Anna's soaring vocals, but
the songs are the real
stars of this Mediterranean sideshow.
Some of their tunes are
covers or radical re-workings of pop
and folk songs; others are
original compositions inspired by
the modes, textures and
rhythms of old
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Annabouboula:
George Sempepos, Anna Paidoussi, Christopher Lawrence
genres.
In some cases, older songs were
"retro-fitted" with
new Greek lyrics that expressed
the irreverent attitude of an
imaginary youth culture that
could create this sort of imaginary
modern Greek pop. (In the
real world, most Greek rock and hip-hop
fans usually ignore
rebetika and traditional Greek music).
For all their modernist attitude, ANNABOUBOULA
members have done their homework and exhaustively researched
the more obscure corners of Greek and neighboring musical cultures.
These include Rebetika--the so-called Greek Blues, originally
the songs of hashish clans and outlaws; and Smyrnaika, the elaborate
oriental cafe music of the refugees from Greek Asia Minor.
ANNABOUBOULA's
noisy confusion has embraced deliciously
vulgar belly-dance tunes,
romantic oriental tangos, pentatonic
dirges from the mountains
of Epirus, crypto-Turkish laments,
proto-feminist rants, sampled
Orthodox clerics, wailing
clarinets and drunken baghlamas, --but
out of a perverse sense
of contrariness, ANNABOUBOULA's
recordings typically
featured NO BOUZOUKIS! (The bouzouki is
the instrument most
closely associated with Greek popular music--
at its worst, as
well as at its best!)
Through
it all, ANNABOUBOULA have
used their position as
Greek-Americans to an odd advantage; unlike
many native Greek
artists, they are not intimidated by generations
of tradition.
If there's something bizarre that can be done to
a nice old
Greek tune to make it less nice and more twisted,
they'll do it
before you can say "ouzo, parakalo!".
Time for
an ouzo. Seeya! yia hara!
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