Album Review Pt 1 - Three singles by Kaiti Garbi

First of all, allow me to say that I have been tempted to post these singles in their entirety, since it’s unlikely that most of you will be willing to spend money in an expensive import single that costs almost as much as an album – but, sadly, I just cannot do it. Sorry. However, I am posting the songs that I thought you’d enjoy the most, so at least you’ll have the opportunity to sample each single separately and, if one day you feel like spending capriciously, you’ll hopefully purchase them. Oh, I almost forgot. If you want to buy any of them, go to Greekmusic.

Second, I would like to mention that this review is an exception, and I will indeed resume posting normally after it. Thus, you can expect a proper album's review later in the month. After these small clarifications, allow me to start! :-)
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Τι Θέλουνε Τα Μάτια Σου; (Ti Theloune Ta Matia Sou?/What Do Your Eyes Want?) [CD single - 2000]



Τι Θέλουνε Τα Μάτια Σου; was the first independent single that La Garbi released in her almost twenty-five-year career, and seems to have been little more than an experiment designed to give her the chance to do something she’d never done before. This could be corroborated by the fact that the song wasn’t paid much attention to by either Kaiti or the record company (at the time, they were still promoting her massively successful album To Kati). Nonetheless, it did become a hit, even if she seldom performed it live and approached the whole affair nonchalantly, as if saying ‘look, this time I just want to enjoy myself’.

The original version of the title track is a laid back, watery acoustic rock song that waves placidly across your mind, only to surprise you in the end with a fierce electric guitar solo that comes out of nowhere! It is one of Kaiti’s most amusing songs, because it is pretty straightforward and lacks the explosive instrumental breaks and passionate delivery that characterizes most of her material.

In addition to the title track, the album boasts two new songs and two remixes. Of the new songs, the impossibly pretty (and surprisingly bare of instrumentation) folk number Kane To Logariasmo/Pay the Bill is as close to pre-Turkic influence as modern Greek music can get. A moderate hit on its own, it has however some sprinkles of bouzouki that shine around the melody, keeping the mental image of a calm sea over which rays of sunlight sparkle in bright, momentary reflections. Both the title track and this song were included in Garbi’s next offer, the massive double album Apla Ta Pragmata/Simple Things, which I shall review soon. However, they are remixed versions that have the slick wall-of-sound production that’s so characteristic of Modern Laika. I have to say that, personally, I prefer the original versions; they are a lot fresher and less overwrought and calculated.

The final new song, Aspro I Mavro, became very popular and received quite a lot of radio airplay, even though it was never formally released as a single. It is an ordinary Middle Eastern pop song with some elements of Northern African raï – exotic to Western ears with its violin progressions and waving organ scales, it sadly doesn’t rise above the thousands of similar songs in that genre, and ends up sounding as clichéd and unoriginal as it is: very much. You can almost imagine a belly dancer waving her hips to this while middle-class families of tourists look on as they eat their kebabs. Ugh, tacky :-(.

The two remixes remain quite faithful to the original structure of the title track, only adding a few electronic touches that turn it into two relaxed, yet somewhat danceable numbers that are closer to chill out music than to proper dance floor stompers.

Άσπρο Ή Μαύρο - Aspro I Mavro/White Or Black

Τι Θέλουνε Τα Μάτια Σου; - Ti Theloune Ta Matia Sou?/What Do You Eyes Want? (Club Mix)
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Μία Καρδιά (Mia Kardia/A Heart) [EP single - 2002]



Mia Kardia is Kaiti’s first (and so far, only) EP single, the purpose of which was to keep the momentum built by the double album Apla Ta Pragmata. Basically a four-plus-one-song journey through all the possible disguises that dance music can adopt, Mia Kardia is fun!!! :-D It opens with the spectacular Middle Eastern folksy dance song Ante Geia, which is presented by redoubling drums only to explode into a furious whirlwind of violins, organ and several layers of percussion. With its impossibly catchy, bright chorus, it starts things with a high note! It is followed by the song Mia Kardia Tin Echo, an impossibly pretty slice of electro-pop that cheerfully bounces its way to your brain with an energetic bass line and all sorts of spiralling musical hooks that will make you lose yourself within the song.

Things are followed by the Banghra experiment To Thelo Toso/I Want It So Much, which combines sitars with distant Arabic chants and some touches of Greek traditional music over a prominent, loud mid-tempo beat. Next we come to the star of the EP, the dark and melodramatic journey across the devastated lands of heartbreak that is M'Echeis Arrostisei!!! This is by far my favourite song in the entire record – it starts as a ominous, harsh-sounding military march, only to then blossom into a fast, obscure dance track that’s constantly being pushed forward by an aggressive, pulsating beat and urgent, almost unnerving violins. The chorus shows its Middle Eastern influence only in the instrumentation, further highlighting the contrast between the simple melody and the elaborate ornamentation surrounding it. I absolutely LOVE this song.

The album is closed, surprisingly, by a folk ballad sung in duet with Giorgos Tsalikis, a traditional Laika star. Tha Meinei Metaxy Mas/It Shall Remain Between The Two Of Us, is a pleasant enough song, even though it is hardly original and, most certainly, it isn’t memorable. Just an exercise of marketing placed there to remind Garbi’s core audience that she isn’t willing to stray too far from Anna Vissi’s tried and tested formula for massive success, and thus lose sales.

Άντε Γειά - Ante Geia/Goodbye

Μία Καρδιά Την Έχω - Mia Kardia Tin Echo/I Have A Heart (80's Club Mix)

Μ'Έχεις Αρρωστήσει - M'Echeis Arrostisei/You've Made Me Become Ill
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Γαλάζιο Και Λευκό (Galazio Kai Lefko/Light Blue And White) [CD single - 2004]



With its addictive faux-R&B title track, which includes an amusing whispered rap, Kaiti Garbi voiced her patriotic feelings during the Spring of 2004 by saying that she wanted to paint the whole world light blue and white, like the Greek flag. The truly nice thing about it is that she did so riding on a heavy stacatto rhythm section and an addictive chorus that stuck to everyone's brain for most of the Summer season - so much so, that the single sold 27,000 copies, and reached number 3 in the charts. The aggressive B-side Katapliktiko! is a Middle Eastern-influenced dance track that includes, among other things, the amusing pairing of baglamas and banjo (!), typical violin ornamentation and an ear-shattering, heavy beat that furiously bashes the listener's eardrums. It is a definite highlight, and surreptitiously found its way to Greek dance floors in spite of never being properly released on its own.

However, I suppose to increase the marketability of the single (as if it needed any help), three remixes of previous hits were included. The fresh-sounding, radio friendly ditties were tailor made to fill the summery airwaves. The most notable of these remixes is the beautiful Summer Dance Mix of the hit Esena Mono which is, in its original form, a dull and instantly forgettable ballad – a true rarity in that it is one of Garbi’s very few missteps. However, thanks to the fact that it was extensively remixed, it managed to become a very sizeable hit. This is one of the best remixes.

Καταπλήκτικό! - Katapliktiko!/Awesome!

Εσένα Μόνο - Esena Mono/Only You (Nikos Terzis Summer Dance Mix)

Γαλάζιο Και Λευκό - Galazio Kai Lefko/Light Blue And White