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01. MIKHAIL - Ghosts
02. MIKHAIL - Cerberus
03. MIKHAIL - Friend
04. MIKHAIL - Deserter (Zeimbekiko)
05. MIKHAIL - Future
06. MIKHAIL - Soul
07. MIKHAIL - Sounds from Beneath
08. MIKHAIL - Streptocock
09. MIKHAIL - Lullographer
10. MIKHAIL - Orpheas
11. MIKHAIL - Technoprayer
12. MIKHAIL - Fos
ARTIST
TITLE
Xenofonia
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
SR 338CD SR 338CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
7/17/2012

The sound universe of Xenofonia has operatic dimensions and continues Mikhail's exploration of the musical fault-line between Middle Eastern and Western sound. Commenting on his intentions behind the album, Mikhail explains that "until a century ago, all Greek music was folk music with irregular scales and no polyphony. Greece's lengthy enslavement meant that Western musical and cultural developments of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras left the country virtually untouched. I wanted Xenofonia to be about finding a contemporary Greek voice which wakes up to the 'alien' sounds of European instruments; a voice which is at times angry, and split between the West and the East, the past and the present." Citing rembetika, Xenakis and J. P. Rameau's dramatic works as inspirations, on this album, Mikhail's vocals are colored by his Anatolian heritage and meet electronica, avant-garde and baroque music. Xenofonia combines choir, harpsichord, percussion, glitch and environmental recordings. Migrating bird-calls and human voices play a central role heard a cappella or accompanied. Singing often ventures beyond the limits of language. The formidable choral force of ex-miners Snowdown Colliery Male Voice Choir, the intimate voice of Matthias Grübel from German duo Phon°noir, British vocal trio Juice Vocal Ensemble, and background vocals by Elaine Mitchener and Jade Pybus are heard in Mikhail's compositions alongside his wide vocal range of operatic falsetto, bass-baritone, raw shrieks and growls.