“Barock” is a collection of ten songs that have long lived inside Nalyssa Green’s head. Eventually the headaches of spiritual birth caught her and gripped by a primal need to express herself, she decided to give substance to these ten musical children. The title of the album is a hybrid combination of the words baroque and rock and was created to set the style of the album as a blend of an emotive atmosphere that has a smell of the past and of dusty palaces and a somewhat more contemporary and rock dynamic. It is a personal version of baroque aesthetics with strong elements of piety, religion, classical beauty and luxury, but in the light of decadence and in harmony with the present moment.
The recordings were made by Spiros Livanis and Nalyssa in Spyros’ student room in Patras and in his warehouse in the exotic Vrachati of Corinth county in the spring and summer of 2010. Their goal was to give flesh to the songs, as these existed as ideas in the mind of their creator, using the simplest tools and the “do it yourself” technique. The procedure was exactly as dreamed by Nalyssa, a game of expression and experimentation, without any knowledge of professional experience and with disregard for it.
The arrangements are simple. Few instruments are accompanying the melodies of the voice, which form the skeleton of the composition. Simple guitars or repeating keyboard riffs, handmade improvised percussion, solid bass and dramatic theremin, sometimes play the role of classical orchestral violins and other times serve as vehicles of emotive-dramatic-aggressive noise.
The artwork of “Barock” was designed and hand made by Kakia Konstantinaki in Chania. The first public presentation of the album took place during Nalyssa’s debut live performance on September 26, 2010 in Athens. Shortly afterwards Lick my kazoo created the site www.nalyssagreen.com, where the record is available for free download.
A year later while Nalyssa Green slowly prepares her second album, “Barock” is born again at Sweetspot studio, with mastering by Apostolis Economou, in order to be released in white vinyl edition with bonus cd from Inner Ear.
