Damo Suzuki with Savina Yannatou and Stationary Machinery @ Kitaro Club, Athens, November, 3, 2007

For years now, Damo Suzuki (Can's vocalist during their most fruitful period with four classic Kraut-rock albums) has been engaged on a non-stop, never-ending world tour, going from city to city, his "network" of musicians often involving guest locals, sitting in for one unforgettable night only. In his stop to Athens his network comprised of Savina Yannatou, a singer with tremendous vocal abilities, a world music star (currently in the famous world music record company ECM) mostly known for her interpretation of traditional material from Greece, Corsica, Italy, Sicily, Galicia, Palestine, Albania, Israel, Bulgaria, Armenia, Turkey, Moldavia etc. Unfortunately I did not know the group Stationary Machinery that is also part of the Athens network but I read that they are a post-industrial project with members Dimitris Kamarotos (wind-controlled electronics) and Tilemachos Mousas (Brazilian merimbau, electric guitar and theremin). What should someone expect from such blend? Well...

Be warned! You are entering in very dangerous sonic territories. What I saw and recorded yesterday, was a performance of utter improvisation. Both Suzuki and Yannatou offered 90 minutes of unintelligible vocal acrobatics, backed by two musicians in the first part and four in the second that were setting the "framework" for this extreme concert of sonic terrorism. Although Suzuki was definitely the driving force here, it was Yannatou that proved, under the most difficult conditions, that her unique voice has such vast range that reminds sometimes Diamanda Galas, sometimes Elizabeth Fraser and sometimes Maddy Prior.

It is up to you to decide whether this performance is the result of a musical genius, or of an artist that under his despair for his loss of inspiration has been led in a wanking production of uncomfortable noise. I know what I believe, I'm waiting for your comments.

download link: here

P.S. More "conventional" recordings from Suzuki and Yannatou will follow.