Kairos Collective | Ariadne (live EP)
The mythological Labyrinth is where Cretan king Minos kept his infamous, man-eating Minotaur. His daughter Ariadne gave the Athenian prince Theseus a sword to slay the creature and a thread to retrace his steps out of the maze. The modern Cretan Labyrinth is the home Ross Daly created for modal music. The EP Ariadne is a lively excerpt from a concert by Kairos Collective, recorded in the garden of Labyrinth in Houdetsi, Crete, in August 2023. It showcases the more raunchy side of Michiel van der Meulen’s music, both in the selection of pieces and their performance.
Straight to the liner notes ⇲
(info, music and downloads below)
Album information
Tracks / total playing time 0:36:28
- Hebros / Hüseynî karşılama
- Barbanera / Nihâvend evfer
- Propontis / Phrygian metal
- Kilim / Janino
- The Rose and the Nightingale / Phrygian phantasy
- Nazar / Hüseynî mandıra
- Manastırka / Poustséno / Pušteno
Genre
Credits
Musicians
Christos Barbas – ney [1, 2, 3, 5], kaval [4, 6, 7]
Giorgos Papaioannou – violin
Nikos Papaioannou – cello
Michiel van der Meulen – tambura [1, 4, 6, 7]
Taxiarchis Georgoulis – oud
Pavlos Spyropoulos – double bass
Sergios Voulgaris – bendir [1, 3, 4, 6, 7], kudüm [2, 5]
Tracks
All tracks were composed by Michiel van der Meulen. Vangelis Apostolou (Kima Sound) recorded the album live in the garden of Labyrinth Musical Workshop in August 2023, and mixed and mastered it in November 2024. Studio versions of the pieces previously appeared on Európe: [1], [2], [7], and Erato: [4], [5], [7].
Album
Production – Vangelis Apostolou
Artwork and liner notes – Michiel van der Meulen
Album cover image – Martine van der Meulen
Acknowledgements
Many thanks are due to: Ross Daly, Stella Vasilaki and Labyrinth Musical Workshop for organising the concert • The musicians and Vangelis Apostolou for the great time we spent and the great job they did • Kelly Thoma and Jennifer Blanco for flanking Martine, and Martine van der Meulen for being there – this album is for you, of course.
TouMilou #8 / EAN 8714835183204
© 2024 M.J. van der Meulen/TouMilou
Get the album
Ariadne is available on Bandcamp: € 6.00
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Downloads / Terms of use in the footer
Album art (1000 x 1000 px jpg)
Scores / pdf
About the artwork
The album cover image features the rosette of a ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense), which was photographed near the concert location. With its regular structure, the design of the rosette is the very opposite of Ariadne’s labyrinth, but it somehow possesses the same fathomlessness that catches your eye and draws you in. The ghost plant is a succulent, which means that it is able to retain water in order to survive in arid regions. Its resilience reminds me of the photographer, my wife and muse Martine, who attended the concert despite the aftereffects of a COVID infection she contracted more than two years ago. Mostly confined to our house and its immediate surroundings, she developed an interest in photography, focusing on patterns and textures in plants, water, and nature in general. Her symptoms require caution around music and crowds, and since the concert would involve both, her attendance was not a given. She actually trained for the event by listening to music – every day a little more. In the end, she managed to stay throughout the program, sitting on a flimsy beach chair, flanked by two friends, and enjoy it. It was the best part of the whole evening.
The score book and web page cover images are modifications of ‘Ariadne in Naxos’ (1898, oil on canvas, 91 x 133 cm) by Evelyn de Morgan (London, 1855 – London 1919).