ELEKTRIK TEKE, by multi-instrumentalist Kosmos G, presents a bold reimagining of nine classic Greek Rebetika songs. Rebetika, the legendary music of the 1930s Greek underworld, merges exotic scales and rhythms with tales of hashish-smoking tough guys. But in the hands of Kosmos G, a kaleidoscopic array of fragments of genres past cling to the songs as he yanks them up from their pre-war origins, smashing through one decade after another en route to the future. The careful listener will hear rock, jazz, funk, muzak, space age bachelor pad, exotica, electronica, trip hop, new wave, synthwave and much more. Is it the Resident’s scoring an episode of Knight Rider that takes place in Greece? Zorba tripping with Esquivel at Studio 55? Or down tempo electronica for the modern day hash den?
Kosmos G has spent over a decade playing accordion, violin, and baglama in the Disciples of Markos, one of the longest-running traditional Rebetika ensembles in the world, in addition to a lifetime playing jazz, rock, and folk, composing soundtracks, and working as a music educator.
Available on CD and digital download.