Thanasis Papakonstantinou - Agrupnia

Artist: Thanasis Papakonstantinou
(Θανάσης Παπακωνσταντίνου)
Album: Agrupnia (Insomnia)
Year: 2002
Genre:Alternative Rock,Experimental
Country:Greece






The artist states that his lyrics are based on the poem "Insomnie" by Tristan Corbière (1845-1875):

"Insomnia, the untouched animal!
Without a trace of caring,
To anyone thirsty for a chimera, you turn
Your cup which is always empty"

This is one pole of this record, the state in which the sleep one seeks becomes elusive, trapping its seeker in the state he is trying to get away from:

"Anyone who sleeps becomes
a child and surrenders himself.
Over the closed eyelids
The wind of time blows furiously"

At the other pole is "Rua da Bella Vista," based on the "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa:

"The tax of logic is paid by insomnia:
it's a wild animal that disguises itself
within the body of an accountant"

Papakonstantinou says, "I like to say that the best 'songs' that have ever been written are personal relationships and that the songs are just substitutes for them."

More than a record, perhaps closer to a philosophy lecture, Agrýpnia refuses to completely give out its secrets. Each listen is a different experience, each time a different song will rise to amaze you, each time a different chord sequence will touch another part of you. Papakonstantinou seems like a sage, the intellectual friend who is smarter than you, but also loves you too deeply to seem pretentious. "One is led to create, " he says, "by the desire to get in touch with everything."

It is this desire that has created a worthy sequel to the most important Greek recordings of the last twenty years, a record that truly seems in touch with everything. ( Interview by Vangelis Perakis in rootsworld)