MERZOUGA & DIETMAR BONNEN - ONCE UPON A TIME IN SANTORINI (CD)

Electronic- musician Eva Pöpplein, electric bassist Janko Hanushevsky, and pianist Dietmar Bonnen meet by chance on Santorini - the very island where Apollo, the Greek god of music and divine inspiration, is said to have originated from. Spontaneously, the three of them unpack their microphones and start recording sounds on the island. Together they begin to develop a soundcomposition in a hotel room, and perform it on a summer night in a Greek tavern by the sea. In their composition the three musicians respond to the world of contradictions that 21st century Santorini has become: in the past decades the mythological home of Apollo has been transformed into a temple of consumerism, completely distorted by overtourism and commerce. A place where mythology meets the luxury residences of oil sheiks and influencers. Overpriced restaurants and souvenir shops cater to hordes of tourists that are being spilled out of cruise-ships in regular intervals and flood the island. Crowded coastal towns contrast with deserted mountain landscapes. Beneath it all, a volcano is rumbling. Sounds from an abandoned tomato-can factory. Field-recordings from a crowded promenade. The wind in the withered cacti on a ridge high above the island's capital. The timeless drone of cicadas. Unimpressed by all this, the Mediterranean crashes against the shores and the ears of the listeners in the trio's composition. The longest continuous sound on Earth frames the composition, just as it frames the island. A sensual soundscape in which the three in­struments move in constant energetic and musical exchange.