Xylouris White come to Heraklion for the first time!
An extraordinary duet, from very different backgrounds, create a new musical universe that has enchanted audiences all around the world. Their album Goats (produced by Guy Picciotto of legendary Fugazi) is at the top of the charts of the famous Billboard (#1 in the category World Music). New Yorker and Pitchfork have written raving reviews for their work. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds chose their piece "Darvish Two" for their anniversary collection created for the internationally-acclaimed music magazine, Mojo.
For more than a year they have performed numerous times all over the world and they have collaborated with some of the top groups in the music world in Europe (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), US (Swans) and Australia (Violent Femmes). They have participated in some of the most popular festivals (ATP, Primavera, Big Ears). In Greece they performed for the first time in Resistance Festival, in the European Music Day of Volos (2014) and then in Plissken Festival and World Music Festival in Tinos (2015).
Giorgos Xylouris (aka Psarogiorgis)
If the talents of singer and lute player George Xylouris seem otherworldly, even god-given, it is hardly surprising. One of the best-loved artists on Crete, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, Xylouris is a member of a clan long-regarded throughout Greece as musical royalty. A clan that hails from Anogeia, a mountain shepherding village down the hill from the Cave of Zeus, that hotspot of ancient mythology.
To hear Xylouris play his long-necked lauto and sing songs of love and liberty in his impassioned, distinctive voice, is to experience tradition at its finest; tradition that this bearded father-of-three grants respect, and crafts into something unique. It’s a sound that has taken him around the world, to festivals and concert venues throughout Europe, North America and Australia – where he lived for eight years in Melbourne, absorbing influences from the city’s thriving live rock scene – and back again to Crete. Teaching and playing at home, in village communities, is his lifeblood – just as it is his family’s.
Jim White
There are drummers and there are drummers. And then there is Jim White. Having first commanded international attention in the mid-1990s with the acclaimed Australian instrumental trio Dirty Three, the New York-based virtuoso is now the go-to guy for alt-A-list vocalists with collaboration in mind. Those who’ve worked with him – and all those he’s mesmerised as he plays - testify to his deft way with a rhythm, a downbeat, a jazz-fuelled wig out.
His is a unique playing style forged in the then isolated Melbourne; a style that can sound like a full band one moment, and something stark and beautiful the next.
PJ Harvey has said there is ballet in White’s light, precise touch;. Will Oldham once remarked on White’s ability to dismantle a song, bit by bit, and rebuild it with his parts incorporated. The likes of Smog, Nick Cave, White Magic, Bonnie Prince Billy and Cat Power all know that there’s more to White’s drumming than mere accompaniment. His intuitive beats and singular approach have complimented the repertoire of the iconic Cretan lyra player, Psarantonis, and created sparks in his collaborations with the Cretan lute player George Xylouris. Whoever White is playing with, he is right there, present in the most inspirational sense.
Giorgos Xylouris and Jim White are two unique musicians, united by their love for music, their creative spirit and a 25 year old friendship. Their joint work is hard to define: could it be jazz, post punk, or traditional music? It does not matter! They have named their music Goatish to express its wild nature and free direction, just like the free goats on the mountains of Crete. The destination is always unknown, but the journey is always breathtaking!