Free Level / Blue Grass / Into The Light

Into The Light continue their collaboration with pioneering Greek, New Wave / Avant-Garde musician George Theodorakis. The label included the Cold-wave Funk of Theodorakis` Stou on their inaugural, statement-of-intent, release. The compilation that put Theodorakis, amongst fellow countrymen, and women, and musical “seers”, such as Akis, Vangelis Katsoulis, and Lena Platonos, and gave the imprint its name. Into The Light went on to focus on Theodorakis with the Rules Of The Game collection. Pressing up his archival scores for TV, theatre, and dance. In 2017 they released a double LP of 80s studio experiments carried out by Theodorakis, and Dimitris Papangelidis, under the alias, 2 Katara. Now, Into The Light have a four track E.P. from Free Level, a short-lived, and previously unreleased project from Theodorakis, and multi-instrumentalist, Peter Skoutaris.

Much of the E.P. rests on Skoutaris` guitar. Letting out epic, intricately picked, reverbed, arcs. Like those of Flock Of Seagulls Paul Reynolds. Blue Grass 1 is ex-Soul Boy Post-Punk Jazz-Funk. Pixie-Booted feet jiving on a Top Of The Pops chock-a-block with poseurs in expensive suits, and narrow ties, flicking the fringes of their wedge haircuts. Steve Strange and Rusty Egan`s “Blitz babies”, Animal Nightlife and Spandau Ballet. Psychedelic Furs, Icehouse, and the sophisticated arrangements of The Associates. Heaven 17`s B.E.F. taking Bowie`s Secret Life Of Arabia to the disco. Dancing to slapped bass and dubbed-out brass. Blue Grass 3, similarly, is pre-Breakfast Club, Pre-stadium, Simple Minds meets Miami Vice`s Smugglers Blues.

Sun shone out at me, `cos I`d recently been lost in the neo-acoustic magic of Optic Nerve`s 7” series – the music of East Village and The Pale Fountains – and this is more navel-gazing Pop. Shot from the same Thin White Duke-worshipping canon. Where the influence of Echo And The Bunnymen, once extrapolated and fractured, gives rise to C86, Slowdive`s Shoegaze, and AR Kane`s Dream Pop.

The out-lier though is Little Fox. Where Skoutaris hits a Highlife lick. The flavour of Jimmy The Hoover’s Ego. Jah Wobble`s World music maneuvers. Paul Simon`s trip to Johannesburg. But it also sounds like it could have been made yesterday. Pre-echoing Sinkane, and Dirty Gold`s California Sunrise. Illustrating the impact that West African tradition continues to have on the Western muse.