Saturday 28 February 2009

Depeche Mode - Wrong

The new Depeche Mode video for "Wrong", the first single out of "Sounds Of The Universe".

Friday 27 February 2009

Paleokastritsa: Where Ulysses first met Ariti

You probably all have heard of Paleokastritsa. This picturesque place situated 25 km from Corfu Town (map) is one of the most recognisable places in the island and in the whole Greece. A combination of sharp cliffs, beautiful coves, it is the place that some archeologists believe that this was the place Ulysees met Ariti when he had been washed out by the sea in the mythical island of Scheria. Just off Paleokastritsa, there is a rock sticking out from the sea, which is mythically believed that it is the Ulysses petrified boat or a petrified vessel which tried to pirate the nearby monastery.
The six coves of Paleokastritsa are named Aghia Triada, Platakia, Alipa, Aghios Spyridon, Aghios Petros and Ampelaki. Most coves have caves, in which someone can visit with his own boat and get amazed by the natural beauty of the place.

Let's begin our photografic tour then. Most pictures taken in March of 2005.

The main beach of Paleokastritsa. Note how blue the water is and how impressive are these cliffs.



Climbing up the cliff to the monastery. One can get amazing views of central Paleokastritsa from there.









And finally the monastery! It worths all the walk up the hill. Founded in 1225, Paleokastritsa Monastery is a typical sample of monastery architecture with cloisters.






















There is also a small museum inside which includes a small collection of byzantine and newer ecclesiastical relics and also a huge skeleton of a whale which had been washed out from the sea.




Impressive views can also be offered from the monastery.



Back to the village. You can have a stroll by the sea or lay down and stare at the beautiful scenery which unfolds beyond your eyes.



And the best for the end: the famous Corfiot sunset! The next set of pictures speak for themselves!





Hope you got impressed by the place as I am.

Monday 23 February 2009

New Prodigy album released today! Read my review of the album.




Today is the day I was waiting for so long! "Invaders Must Die" released under Prodigy's "Cooking Vinyl" label. It is their first album after 4 whole years (their last album was "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned". released in 2005). The album has eleven tracks. It is different in sound from the previous one, it is more old skool and ravy, just like their first two albums, "Experience" and "Music for the Jilted Generation". Obviously Liam has learned from his mistakes - most prodigy fans were disatisfied by the different sound of the previous album, we definately needed more phat beats, and voila! here they are at last! Let's move on my commentary on the album's tracks.


Invaders Must Die: The title track, was released as the first single off the album last December. It is rocky, for me it's like listening to Metallica on remix. Somewhere in the middle of the track you can hear the sample "We are the Prodigy!", just to remind us that the biggest electro/rave band is back. I like this track but it's not Prodigy enough.

Omen: The second single of the album. Featuring lyrics sung by Keith and Maxim, it's a dynamic big beat. The song's main melodic line is being played by a triangle too (which is funny but sounds quite childish to my ears.) Overall, it's a descent track, but not the best of the album.

Thunder: Based on an old reggae tune, sounds like "Out Of Space" from the "Experience" album. But it's not sounding as old skool, a huge phat beat is tearing your speakers just after the refrain is introduced in the beginning of the song.

Colours: A crazy rave tune sung by Keith Flint. Sounds like the stuff from the "Fat of the Land", same phat beat, same off-the-tune vocals.

Take Me To The Hospital: One of my favourites! A really soundblasting phat beat is comming off from your speakers which reminds "Narayan" a bit. Keith and Maxim provide their characteristic vocals too. Brilliant!

Warriors Dance: If any track out of the album reminds you of "No Good", that's it! "Warriors Dance" is vocally based on an old house song (Sorry, I don't remember the title of it right now). It would be a huge hit if ever released as a single. It is catchy and it makes you want to dance.

Run With The Wolves: Descent track too, it features Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters on drums. It's quite heavy. Keith and Maxim sing so loud on it!

Omen Reprise: The shortest track of the album, I can't understand why this is included in the album and not in "Omen" single. As the name suggests, it's based on "Omen".

World's On Fire: Great track, quite ravy with Keith and Flint sing "The world, the world, the world's on fire!". It is a typical Prodigy track and the most "Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned" of all.

Piranha: Not a bad song, but also one of the weakest in my opinion.

Stand Up: The closing track is the most weird of the album. Actually it sounds like Primal Scream, too british and 90s sounding. Oh, it's an instrumental too. Sounds fun though, it's something different.

There is a limited deluxe edition of the album which has a bonus CD with four instrumentals: "Black Smoke", "Fighter Beat", "The Big Gun Down" and "Wild West". They are not a reason to buy the slightly overpriced edition, but if you are curious you can download them from the Internet. But: Buy this album, if you love the Prodigy! It worths every penny of it! Indeed, it is better than the previous one and one of their best. Bravo Liam! You didn't let us down this time! 5 out of 5 for you!

Friday 20 February 2009

Betachronic's "Deja Vu" compilation just released



Just click on http://www.betachronic.com/ and visit the releases section. Then download the two parts of the "Deja Vu" compilation! It features ten tracks of the most acknownlodged uplifting/psychedelic artists in Greece, like Dementia, Mervit, Negous, BrainSysteM etc. Enjoy!


Thursday 19 February 2009

New Lost episode for download: "316"


LOST S5E6 -"316"




Password: apohxos


Enjoy!

This is the song that Greece will compete in Eurovision 2009!

Yesterday, greek Eurofans voted for which of the three candidate songs will go to the Eurovision final in Moscow this May. The winner is "This Is Our Night", the most uptempo of the three, performed by Sakis Rouvas. In my opinion, the song is good BUT it lacks the greek element and a more complex choreography that will help the whole performance to compete with the other countries which has an already favoured song. I hope Sakis and choreographer, Fokas Evagelinos find a "gimmick" to promote the potential of the song in a better way.

See the video from the yesterdays perfomance of "This Is Our Night":

Tuesday 17 February 2009

BrainSysteM - Etherovatis

Taken from the forthcoming Betachronic "Deja Vu" compilation. Please visit www.betachronic.com to download for free all the latest releases.

Thursday 12 February 2009

Lost S5E04 - S5E05 download links!

SEASON 5 - EPISODE 04 "The Little Prince":

http://rapidshare.com/files/194085061/Xamenoi.5x4.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/194085076/Xamenoi.5x4.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/194085333/Xamenoi.5x4.part3.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/194085332/Xamenoi.5x4.part4.rar

password for the rar files: apohxos

SEASON 5 - EPISODE 05 "The Place Is Death":

http://rapidshare.com/files/197083626/Xamenoi.5x5.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/197083633/Xamenoi.5x5.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/197087894/Xamenoi.5x5.part3.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/197087896/Xamenoi.5x5.part4.rar

password for the rar files: apohxos

ENJOY :)

Eurovision 2009: The candidate songs!

Today, Eurovision candidate for Greece, Sakis Rouvas and ERT gave a press conference in which the three candidate songs for Eurovision 2009 song contest were presented. On February the 18th we will know which of the three will be voted to be the one which represent Greece in the contest.

Here are the Youtube links of the songs:

Sakis Rouvas - Out Of Control:



Sakis Rouvas - This Is Our Night:



Sakis Rouvas - Right On Time:



I think all of the three are mediocre, but "This Is Our Night" is the most uptempo and interesting of the all - Sakis can show his dancing skills with that song, contrary to "Right On Time", which is a ballad.

What song you think is the best?

Monday 9 February 2009

FORGOTTEN CORFU 1: Dessila's Factory: A part of Corfu's Industrial past

Dessila's Old Factory relics has always been a controversial topic for Corfiots. What is the best way to exploit the vast expanses of the former factory site? Should we demolish the late 19th century industrial buildings and built appalling apartment buildings or turn it into a big parking site that is so desperately needed in Corfu? Or should we restore those old factory buildings and turn them into an entertainment/ cultural complex like Gkazi in Athens and Mylos in Salonica?

Actually, the site had been sold to some foreign developers who dreamed of making a shopping mall there. But they did not know that the whole site sits on the ancient Corfu cemetery, so they had to fully excavate the site first to see if there are any ancient relics which need to be preserved. Archeologists found some ancient tombs but nothing important actually. The real loss was the destruction of some of the old industrial buildings. Although listed as protected, the developers found an illegal way to destroy them! For the time being, work on the site has been halted - I heard that the developers mysteriously decided not to build anything on the site. A victim of credit crunch? An economic scandal? Who knows!

The thing is that this site needs to be preserved in a way that the old industrial buildings should be restored and used as a museum or as cultural venues. In addition, the vast site should be turned into a landscaped park.

To have a rough idea of the site, check some photos I managed to take of the site from an apartment complex's parking in Garitsa - You can see the potential of the site and some of its really interesting buildings:






Some old photos of the factory, when it was in full operation (pictures taken from an interesting article of the site's history (in Greek): http://www.mykerkyra.gr/modules/articles/article.php?id=4)



Tuesday 3 February 2009

NO COMMENT

Piles of uncollected garbage in Pelekas national road, near Koulines. Piles like this are scattered all over the island, as a result of the reaction of Temploni local residents, who want the nearby Temploni landfill site to be relocated.