Kristi Stassinopoulou » The Secrets of the Rocks reviews http://krististassinopoulou.com Sat, 17 Jan 2026 17:49:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.7.41 Inside World Music http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-inside-world-music/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-inside-world-music/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2004 11:21:03 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=690 Producer, lyricist and vocalist, Kristi Stassinopoulou, brings us an album of experimental expression inspired by the elements, specifically from the vicinity of the Aegean Sea. Musically, of the songs are characteristically reminiscent of natural forces including water, gusts of wind and seashore taking the brunt of the incoming waves. Similarly, The Secrets Of The Rocks, attempts to recreate the sounds of the Aegean Sea by way of lyrical references that evoke Earthly visualizations, and the musical realizations of the generated images induced. Kristi utilizes contemporary sound arrangements and keyboard washes with traditional saz, bass, bagpipe, flute, lyre, accordion and assorted percussion. All songs are sung in Greek. For the most part, Kristi uses simple, yet clear, vocal stylings, at times strikingly similar to Finland’s female vocal group Varttina, over a somewhat complex and meandering background of instrumental musings that are as unpredictable and fascinating as the Earthly elements themselves. Overall, Kristi Stassinopoulou has created a basically indefinable genre of music. One should unlock and tap into the musical “secrets” of nature and give The Secrets Of The Rocks an intent listen.

Paula E. Kirman

]]> http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-inside-world-music/feed/ 0 Spin the Globe http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-spin-the-globe/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-spin-the-globe/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2003 11:17:30 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=686 If you’ve heard her previous work, you’ll know not to expect traditional Greek music from Kristi Stassinopoulou. On her third release, the Athens-born singer continues her exploration and hybridization of styles. Opening with the CD’s electronica-edged title track, she breathes more than sings over guitar and drum beats. Her multitracked vocals are stronger on the “Strong Winds Blockade” backed by snare drum and bagpipes, sounding a little like a sea shanty sung by Varttina. Indeed, the sea is a major theme throughout, along with love and the passage of time. Lyrics in English and the original Greek help with song meanings. Except for the traditional “Amorgos Passage,” all songs are originals by Stassinopoulou and her collaborator-husband Stathis Kalyviotis. While some of the tracks veer a bit too far into experimental/ambient relams (“Red Adders,” “The Days Go By”), most of Stassinopoulou’s wanderings find her on solid ground and provide engaging listening.

©2003 Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media

]]> http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-spin-the-globe/feed/ 0 World Music Central http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-world-music-central/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-world-music-central/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2003 11:19:40 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=688 Greek multi-media artist Kristi Stassinopoulou possesses a limitless talent and a unique world-view. Kristi’s most recent release, The Secret of the Rocks features Kristi’s vocal and writing talents as well as, giving listeners a peek into her spiritual and mysterious world. The artist published two books in the past, Seven Times in Amorgos (1993) and the mystery novel, The Fiery Sword (1995) along with a collection of CDs as a solo artist and member of the group Selana which she formed with her partner, Stathis Kalyviotis, another multi-talented musician.

The Secret of the Rocks revolves around ocean themes. Everything from seaweed, (Red Adders), the wind mentioned on various tracks, the moon, rocks, sand and mysterious elements surface in Kristi’s poetic lyrics. And in fact, this beautifully packaged CD combines poetry and music in a compelling fashion while reflecting on the life of beach bohemians who eschew television and perfume ads. The music that appears on the CD marries Greek (rembetika) and Balkan folk roots with electronic and psychedelic pop-rock and its easy to see where a drug culture might be attracted to this ethereal music. And others such as myself also find the CD enjoyable. The music which in part is inspired by American and English psychedelic groups from the 1960′s such as Jefferson Airplane can also trace its roots back to Mediterranean, North African and Indian music in which influenced the psychedelic musicians from the past.

Kristi and Stathis create something fresh from their various influences while marrying the past with the future. Similar to their last North American release, Echotropia, Kristi treats her voice like a musical instrument. She whispers, narrates poetry and sings in various modes and scales. On the titular track, her raspy whispers hang lightly over percussion, drone and ambient guitar recalling early Cocteau Twins’ releases. On Waves, she utilizes the Greek scale and oriental modes. For the most part, her vocals embellish synthesizer-guitar-sample mixes, but on the tracks, Strong Wind Blockade, The Fates andCalima, saz (a Turkish pear-shaped string instrument), ney and bagpipes are introduced. And if you listen closely to the collage of instruments that appear on this CD, you will also hear accordion, lyre and various percussion instruments.

The groovy 70′s style Whirlpools with its jazzy guitar and provocative lyrics, “and if you hear the sirens scream at night, it’s my heart’s whirlpools that sigh,” is one of my favorite tracks. The other worldly, The Days Go By, the melancholic Calima with its desert images and the catchy R.E.M-esque verse-chorus-verse Summer Moon are also gems waiting to be unearthed and brushed of their sand.

Any artist that draws on the ocean and moon for inspiration is going to touch my soul. The Secret of the Rocks also delves into contemporary Greek mythology, nature spirits and the unknown without ever losing its musical footing. And it is one of those CDs that grabs a hold of your senses while transporting you into another time and place.

Patricia Herlevi

]]> http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-world-music-central/feed/ 0 RootsWorld http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-rootsworld/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-rootsworld/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2003 16:14:26 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=414 The Secrets of the Rocks establishes Stassinopoulou as the High Priestess and Patron Saint of the venerated tradition of island-hopping, Athens style. This is the process in which, during each summer, all Athenians leave their city to the tourists (mostly over the weekend) and go to sunbathe, swim and sun-worship on one of the hundreds of Aegean islands. There are distinct subgroups and Kristi has aligned herself with the most hardcore of those, the one which is a direct descendent of the Sixties and early Seventies, the “me, my pals, my tent and an empty beach” clan. She is so cool that she even keeps secret the names of three of the beaches that inspired her record to protect them from the unwanted.

Snobbish? Most likely, but when this value system is riding a groove so trippy and yet so distinctly related to the island culture one has to bow down and worship her (or with her).

Kristi Stassinopoulou used the incentive of moving to a new label (the rapidly expanding Hitch-Hyke) to create what is probably the most folk influenced of her four records after Ifantokosmos. This is certainly not as psychedelic or rock-influenced as Echotropia was (her previous record that had severed almost all her ties with folk and tradition).

The Secrets of the Rocks finds her and her partner, Stathis Kaliviotis in a great mood. Occasionally, (as in the triumphant “Strong Winds Blockade” and “Whirlpools” and the reflective “The Islands”) they write some of their best songs ever. It should be noted, however, that this is most of all a concept album (in the original early Seventies meaning of the term) and so every one of the songs plays a role, even though the lyrics usually refer to the same things or even use similar phrases throughout. The music is also very much similar throughout but don’t think for a minute that it becomes boring. This is helped by the inclusion of short but distinctive musical parts: a lyre here, a ney there, a traditional passage elsewhere.

As it is always the case with her, it is the arrangements and the wide use of samples that creates a soundscape that is distinctly Greek, a record that has as many links with the psychedelic Anglo-Saxon Sixties and Seventies as with the Mediterranean musical traditions. I particularly enjoy that in Stassinopoulou’s records those influences act to such a disorientating effect within the context of a Greek record, creating a unique musical result, while for an English or American rock group they would have sounded the epitome of banality. It is also a great idea, as those two musical languages (Greek tradition and psychedelia) go very well together. Even more than on Ifantokosmos, this is a record expresses a feeling and it is very successful in doing it (meaning that it scores high on the scale of visual image creation – always a sign of powerful and visionary music). If you have ever experienced the emotional and sensual environment she sings about, then the memories will instantly flow back to you. You will nod in agreement while she makes a strong statement (as in: ‘strong winds blockade / the ship’s not gonna come / let’s pray that the weather / will stay like that’) and that will create extra layers of value on this record. But if you are unfamiliar with the tradition, this record will act as a door of perception to a tantalizing alternate universe.

Nondas Kitsos

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]]> http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-rootsworld/feed/ 0 Billboard http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-billboard/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-billboard/#comments Fri, 10 Jan 2003 16:11:52 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=412 There haven’t been a lot of Greek singers making a dent in the U.S., but Kristi Stassinopoulou could bridge the language divide. Like fellow Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou, Stassinopoulou works from a base of traditional music, using folk instruments like the saz and lyre. But she brings a different sensibility to the sound, including contemporary instrumentation and gritty, primal production. These elements are then filtered through distortion and unusual song forms. Stassinopoulou has a throaty alto voice that works best in a shamanistic mode, as on “Amorgos Passage” and “The Fates.” The translated lyrics read like haiku, but sung in Greek, they sound like a call to the spirits. Co-composer/producer Stathis Kalyviotis frames the artist’s songs with arrangements that have a very 21st-century folk-music sound. That said, such songs as “Strong Wind Blockade,” with its spirited dance rhythm, might sound familiar to Alexis Zorba (the Greek).—JD

]]> http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-billboard/feed/ 0 BBC http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-bbc/ http://krististassinopoulou.com/the-secrets-of-the-rocks-review-bbc/#comments Fri, 10 Jan 2003 16:09:45 +0000 http://krististassinopoulou.com/wordpress/?p=410 Greek singer Kristi Stassinopoulou grew up in the southern part of Greece where her musical diet consisted of whatever her brother could find on his beloved homemade radios. Crackly sounds from North Africa and right across the Mediterranean eventually mixed with Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Byzantine church music, and classical singing; traditional Greek songs too. And, to cap it all, she sang in the Eurovision song contest back in 1983!

For the last few months she’s been a darling of the World Music charts with her CD The “Secrets of the Rocks”. If you haven’t yet heard her voice, close your eyes and imagine what it might sound like…And then carry on imagining because I don’t think that Kristi’s reached her potential yet. This album is a fine showcase for her gorgeous voice: pure, rich and at the same time, haunting, energising and seductive, but already I’m imagining what she might be doing in ten years time.

Don’t get me wrong, this is one of the strongest world music albums around, and if I simply describe it as an album inspired by the sounds of the Greek islands and the ocean, infused with a mixture of traditional instruments (saz, bagpipes, flutes and accordion), with beats and electronica (oh, and waves crashing against the shore), please don’t run a mile! Maybe it’s because I’ve just done four summer festivals in a row and I can only hear music while sitting on the grass underneath blue skies that I think this is the perfect outdoor CD.

This is a singer, with her band, performing for large crowds. But Kristi has a superb intimacy in her voice which the production on the album captures extremely well. You can almost hear the crowd singing along in ‘Strong Winds Blockade’, yet in ‘Close My Eyes’ she’s singing for one person alone. I like the straining of the upper registers of her voice in ‘Patithraki’ (a rock ledge in the sea you can stand on, apparently) along with the more pulsing rhythms of a typical Northern European idiom.

Someone please tell the band that it’s ok to allow more silence and space into the music, give me a chance to hear Kristi do a gentle acoustic set, and then I’ll love her music even more.

Reviewer: Fiona Talkington

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