Alcalica
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Alcalica is an electro-acoustic vocal project initiated in Berlin in 2003 that uses analogue and digital electronic devices and cabling to fleshy elements such as santoor and kalimba and vocals. Alcalica is a specifically moving project playing in ever changing constellations a broad panel of music-genre inviting to voyage in mind and space.
Alcalica is a dub band remixing the sound output according to settings depending on the place, the guest players and the instruments at hand. The arrangements emphasise on the drums and the bass line, affect own sounds, sound effects, vocals and guest players by adding echo, reverb and effects. These versions are fruits of the creative use of the elements in a constant experiment. The set combines elements from the underground dance scene, breakcore, electro, drum and bass, ska, with elements of southeastern European music, Iranian santoor, Greek roots, illustrating for example the parallels of Greek-island tsifteteli and jamaican Dance Hall. Using feeling beyond the structure Alcalica's songs and instrumental pieces span from evocative film score to jungle punk. The musical competency and the versatility fit a number of venues; nightclub, theater or festival: a PA, and a monitor suffice. Alcalica has produced music for dance-theater (Hattie Worboys, UK), documentary or fictional films (Katharina Bellan, Paris; Alex, Athens) and the theater (Universität der Künste, Berlin).
Alcalica operate a playful discovery of mutated elements in unusual musical frames. Tickling the frontiers between realities the music sparks associations into a manifold of points of junctions and creates a recognised world. The intense production and frequent concerts have set a high turn over of songs, sharing a unique experience with the audience each time, overtaking the most loyal aficionados.
[edit] Members
Leon Danezos coming from Konstruct, a London-based collective from the rough edged squat scene. Enacting the sounds he creates illusions through rhythmic manipulation in an organic choreography between the drum machine, samples, monosynth, effects, Iranian santoor, the Thai mouth-harp or the stylophone, he sound-proves that everything is music.
Julie Loi plays the kalimba, aka finger piano -an instrument of the African nomads- and the vocals in French, Italian and German or English in an unexpectedly deep voice. Half way between spoken word and hip hop, the jeux de mots or poems illustrate multiplicity, emphasize on awareness and call up on positivity.
regulars
- Robb Kunz bangs the skins and processes percussions. Co-founder of the Infernal Noise Brigade (Seattle) and sound engineer for various project such as the music-theatre Degenerate Art Ensemble, he has travelled the continents and released music from Morocco to Mexico for the propagation of one sound (www.postworldindustries.com) (www.infernalnoise.org)
- Stefan Klinker is a video-maker mixing own footage live in the set, sometimes as an instrument fusing the sound of the recording in the music, sometimes providing a counter-current distorting the usual associations.
- Nik Paravatos from the collective Konstruct has played with Leon Danezos for over 20 years. Based in London he juggles movie soundtrack, live theatre music and punk settings. Nik plays the Waldorf monosynth, Mexican harp, baglama: a miniature bouzouki played by Asia Minor emigrants that fits in the jacket, for rebetika was outlawed. (www.konstruct.org)
- Artemios Kangas plays the lyre, lute with effects and the X-tar an own-make instrument descending from the guitar. He plays regularly with Greek bands such as Palyrria.
- Hattie Worboys is a London-based choreographer, the raised cello-player unfolds the set in powerful mid-tones, stretches the music like a dancer her body. (www.hattieworboys.co.uk)
[edit] Releases
Alcalica has released 3 vinyls on Photovoltaic Records.
- La pince-fesse starts off jungle-punk recorded live with two megaphones, goes onto a hip hop tale of a player-princess wandering in the jungle with hilarious field recordings, breackcore is the third track referring to a Sufi say: Musik ist das Knarren der Pforten des Paradieses. Side b starts poignant with cellist Hattie Worboy and an enormous bass from the Dead Chickens then unfolds in a ten minutes track of dreamful 7/8 rhythm recorded live in Athens with Nik Paravatos on the Waldorf.
- Insekt is dedicated to the small fast mutating survivors and starts breakbeat instrumental with guest lyra player Artemios Kangas, goes into a drumNbass Italian song about waiting for the sea to calm down, a cello jewel with Hattie Worboys recorded live at Eschschloraque (Berlin) closes that turn in shivers. On side b a truly experimental breakcore electronic track from London times is followed by a Russian-ska-santoor song about the sky at sunrise, a casio walse recorded live with santoor and kalimba ends in a friendly ear worm.
- The third record, Pou Pai (where is it going), is a sampler together with Direct Connection (www.directconnection.gr) a dub drumNbass 11-men band from Athens with extreme tight sound. side a features Alcalica in a playful reggae with many instruments recalling the many doors and windows of a fairy house, side b is an extended track recoded live at Eschschloraque (Berlin) with guest lyra Artemios Kangas, sound from visuals Stefan Klinker about whisles and herbs, it ends unplugged with Nik Paravatos joining with a baklamas (mini-bouzouki), lyra, kalimba, santoor. The Alcalica tracks provide an imaginative dimension to a clear dub and drumNbass input from Direct Connection.
All records-sleeves are screen-printed white on black with original design. Available at www.toolboxrecords.com.
