Music of Greece

The musical legacy of Greece is as diverse as its history. Cypriot music has certain similarities to traditional Greek music, and their modern popular music scenes remain well-integrated.

Greek music history

Greek written history extends far back into Ancient Greece, and was a major part of ancient Greek theater. Later, influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music. In the 19th century, opera composers, like Nikolaos Mantzaros (1795 - 1872), Spyridon Xyndas (1812 - 1896) and Spyridon Samaras (1861 - 1917) and symphonists, like Dimitris Lialios and Dionysios Rodotheatos revitalized Greek art music. However, the diverse history of art music in Greece, which extents from the Cretan Rennaisance and reaches modern times, exceeds the aims of the present article, which is, in general, limited to the presentation of the musical form that the last few decades became synonymous to 'Greek music'. That is the 'Greek song' or, better, the 'song in Greek verse'.

Ancient Greece

Main article: Music of ancient Greece

In ancient greece, mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara.

Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development; Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music.

Greece in the Roman Empire

Due to Rome's reverence for Greek culture, Roman music continued to use the Greek notational system.

Byzantium

Main article: Byzantine music

The tradition of eastern liturgical chant, encompassing the Greek-speaking world, developed in the Byzantine Empire from the establishment of its capital, Constantinople, in 330 until its fall in 1453. It is undeniably of composite origin, drawing on the artistic and technical productions of the classical Greek age, on Jewish music, and inspired by the monophonic vocal music that evolved in the early Greek Christian cities of Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus.

Greece during the Ottoman Empire (Rum music)

See also: Kanto (music)

By the beginning of the 20th century, music-cafés were popular in Constantinople and Smyrna, primarily owned by Greeks, alongside Jews and Armenians. The bands were led by a female vocalist, typically, and included a violin and a sandoúri. The improvised songs typically exclaimed aman aman, which led to the name amanédhes or café-aman. Musicians of this period included Marika Papagika, Agapios Tomboulis, Rosa Eskenazi and Rita Abatzi. This period also brought in the Rempetika movement, which featured in Smyrna (İzmir), and had local Smyrnaic, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences.

Folk music

Main article: Greek folk music

Greek folk traditions are said to derive from the music played by ancient Greeks. There are said to be two musical movements in Greek folk music: Acritic songs and Klephtic songs. Akritic music comes from the 9th century akrites, or border guards of the Byzantine Empire. Following the end of the Byzantine period, klephtic music arose before the Greek Revolution, developed among the kleftes, warriors who fought against the Ottoman Empire. Klephtic music is monophonic and uses no harmonic accompaniment.

Paleá dhimotiká

Paleá dhimotiká ("old traditional (songs)" mainly from Peloponnese and Thessaly) are accompanied by clarinets, guitars, tambourines and violins, and include dance music forms like syrtó, kalamatianó, tsámiko and hasaposérviko,as well as vocal music like kléftiko. Many of the earliest recordings were done by Arvanites like Yiorgia Mittaki and Yiorgios Papasidheris. Instrumentalists include clarinet virtuosos like Tasos Halkias, Yiorgos Yevyelis and Yiannis Vassilopoulos, as well as oud and fiddle players like Nikos Saragoudas and Yiorgos Koros.

Greek folk music is found all throughout Greece, as well as among communities in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. The island of Cyprus and several regions of Turkey are home to long-standing communities of ethnic Greeks with their own unique styles of music.

Nisiótika

Nisiótika is a general term denoting folk songs from the Aegean Islands. Among the most popular types of them is Ikariótiko traghoúdhi "song from Ikaria".

Ikariótiko

Ikariotikos is a traditional type of dance, and also the name of its accompanying type of singing, originating in the Aegean island of Ikaria. At first it was a very slow dance, but today Ikariotikos is a very quick dance. Some specialists say that the traditional Ikariotikos was slow and the quick "version" of it is in fact Ballos. Music and dancing are major forms of entertainment in Ikaria. Throughout the year Ikarians host baptisms, weddings, parties and religious festivals where one can listen and dance to live traditional Ikarian Music.

Cretan Music

Main article: Music of Crete

Crete is an island which is a part of Greece. The lýra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed fiddle similar to the Pontiako kemençe. It is often accompanied by the Cretian lute (laoúto), which is similar to both an oud and a mandolin. Nikos Xylouris, Antonis Xylouris (or Psarantonis), Thanassis Skordalos, and Kostas Moundakis are among the most renowned players of the lýra.

Tabachaniotika

The "tabachaniotika" (sing.: tabachaniotiko - ταμπαχανιώτικο) songs are a Cretan urban musical repertory which belongs to the wide family of musics, like the rebetiko and music of the Café-aman, that merge Greek and Eastern music elements. This genre represents an outcome of the Cretan-Minor Asia's Greek cultural syncretism in East Mediterranean Sea. It developed mainly after the immigration of Smyrna's refugees in 1922, as did the more widespread rebetiko.

Various conjectures are advanced to explain the meaning and origin of the term "tabachaniotika". Kostas Papadakis believes that it comes from tabakaniotikes, which may mean places where hashish was smoked and music performed, as in the tekédes (τεκέδες; pl. of tekés) of Piraeus. But a quarter named Tabahana existed in Smyrna and the name had a Turkish root (Turkish, tabak: tanner; tabakhane: tannery). In Chaniá too, there was a quarter with the same name, where refugees from Smyrna lived after the 1922 diaspora. Tabachaniotiko was also the name of a song of the amané genre, which was popular in Smyrna in the period before 1922, together with some other songs called Minóre, Bournovalió, Galatá, and Tzivaéri (Kounadis 1993: 23). Compare the performance of Greek-Turkish ballos by a Greek ensemble in New York City in 1928, included in the online article on Mediterranean music in America by Karl Signell.

This detail might be critical for the history of Cretan tabachaniotika, since Cretans frequently had contacts with the people and music of Smyrna during the nineteenth century. Cretan musicians believe that the further development of Cretan tabachaniotika took place mainly after 1922, as a consequence of the refugees' resettlement. The genre was popular until the 1950s.

Music

Major features of the tabachaniotika songs are the following:

• Dromoi (sing.: dromos - δρόμος), modal types designated by Turkish names, like rasti, houzam, hijaz, ousak, niaventi, and sabak.
• Instrumental introduction before the song (taximi, pl.:, taximia), where the player explores the dromos.
• Tsiftetéli rhythm, as in the Turkish "belly dance" music example heard in Signell's article.
• Musical instruments like bouzouki, boulgarí (the Cretan version of the Turkish baglama, similar to the earliest forms of the bouzouki), and baglamás.

Poetic text

The rebetiko and "tabachaniotika" often share the political verse, that is, fifteen syllable lines divided into two hemistichs - ημιστίχια (8+7), generally realized as couplets. In Crete such couplets are called mandinades, as are extemporary texts sung to the music of dances, mainly the syrtós, and the kondyliés (οι κοντυλιές).

They focus mainly on the themes of existential grief and lost love, also common to the rebetiko. Songs making fun of Turks, narrative songs, and other songs in dialogue form also belong to this repertory.

Unlike the rebetiko, the "tabachaniotika" did not typify the underground and was only sung, not danced, according to Nikolaos Sarimanolis, the last living performer of this repertory in Chaniá. Only a few musicians played the "tabachaniotika", the most famous being the boulgarí player Stelios Phoustalierakis "Phoustalieris" (1911-1992) from Rethymnon. Stelios Foustalieris bought his first boulgarí in 1924. In 1979, he said that in Rethymnon, the boulgarí had been widespread during the 1920s; in every tavern one could find a boulgarí, and people played and sang lovesongs. He said the boulgarí was then the main accompanying instrument of the lyra, together with the mandola. The laouto began spreading in Rethymnon not before the 1930s. Foustalieris played for years as accompanist to the lyrist Antonis Kareklás (in feasts and weddings) and performed any kind of repertory (syrtós, pendozália, pidichtá kastriná, taximia, kathistiká (lit.: "sitting-down songs", i.e. music for listening, not for dancing), and even rebetiko). Later, he began playing the boulgarí, as a melodic instrument, with the accompaniment of guitar or mandolin. He also played in a group with musicians (refugees from Asia Minor), who played the outi and sandouri. Foustalieris composed also many songs and recorded them in Rethymnon. In the period 1933–1937 he lived in Piraeus and played together with famous rebetes, like Markos Vamvarakis. He may be considered a musician who merged the musics of Crete, Asia Minor, and Piraeus (see Liavas 1988).

Notwithstanding the dearth of performers, "tabachaniotika" songs were widespread and could also be performed at domestic gatherings --according to bouzouki player Nikolaos Sarimanolis (born in Nea Ephesos), Asia Minor, in 1919). Sarimanolis also took part in the group founded by Papadakis in Chaniá in 1945.

Modern Cretan music

The Cretan musical tradition in its pure form is followed today by several modern artists such as the Chainides, Loudovikos ton Anogion, and Giannis Charoulis. Occasionally, it reaches to mainstream popularity through the work of artists such as Etsi De and Manos Pyrovolakis who mix its original form with popular music.

Other folk traditions

Other major regional traditions are the following:

• Music of Epirus
• Music of Macedonia
• Music of Thrace

Popular music

Being largely unaffected by the developments of the European Renaissance, due to the Ottoman occupation taht lasted nearly nearly four centuries, the first liberated Greeks were anxious to catch up with the rest of Europe. The flourishing Greek culture of the Ionian islands, which were under the Italian rule and influence, was in sharp contrast to the Ottoman cultural poverty. It was through these islands that all the major advances of the European music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The songs of the islandsn known as Heptanesian kantádhes "seranades" are based on the popular Italian style music of the early 19th century. Kantádhes became the forerunners of the Greek modern song, influencing its development to a considerable degree. For almost all the next century most later attempts for musical composition had to borrow elements from the Heptanesian style.

Early popular songs

The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian songs, the serenades and the songs performed on the Athenian stage in revues and operettas that dominated the Athenian theatres. Despite the fact that the "Athenian" songs were not autonomous artistic creations (in constrast with the serenades) and despite their original connection with totally (dramatic forms of Art, they eventually became hits as independent songs. Italian opera had a great influence on the musical aesthetics of the Modern Greeks.

After 1930, wavering among American and European musical influences as well as the Greek musical tradition, the Greek composers begin to write music to the tunes of the Tango, the Samba, and the Waltz as well as the melodies that refer to Athenian serenades (Αθηναϊκές καντάδες) and the theatrical revue songs.

Artists

(1910s-1930s) (in these lists the term 'artists' denotes 'performers')

• Attík
• Danai Stratigopoulou

Rebetiko

Further information: Rebetiko

Rebetiko evolved from traditions of the urban poor. Refugees and drug-users, criminals and the itinerant, the earliest rebetiko musicians were scorned by mainstream society. They sang heartrending tales of drug abuse, prison and violence, usually accompanied by the instrument called bouzouki (pl.: bouzoukia) (a sort of lute derived from the Byzantine tambourás and related to the Turkish saz).

In 1923, many ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor fled to Greece as a result of the second Greco-Turkish War. They settled in poor neighborhoods in Piraeus, Thessaloniki, and Athens. Many of these immigrants were highly educated. Songwriter Vangelis Papazoglou, and Panayiotis Toundas, composer and leader of Odeon Records' Greek subsidiary, were among these immigrants.

A Turkish tradition that came ALONG with the Greek migrants was the tekés "opium den", or hashish dens. Groups of men would sit in a circle and smoke hashish from a hookah, and improvised music of various kinds. With the coming of the Metaxas dictatorship, rebetiko was repressed due to the uncompromising lyrics. Hashish dens and bouzoukia were banned. Many songs from this period were composed in prison, where musicians would devise instruments out of scavenged equipment.

After World War II, rebetiko became a calmer form of music. Out of this music scene came out some of the earliest legends of Greek Oriental music, such as the quartet of Markos Vamvakaris, Artémis (pseudonym of Ανέστης or Ανέστος Δελίας), Stratos Payioumtzis, and Batis. Vamvakaris became perhaps the first renowned rebetiko musician after beginning a solo career.

The scene was soon popularized further by stars like Vassilis Tsitsanis. His song Synefiazméni Kyriakí became an anthem for the oppressed Greeks after it was composed in 1943, though it was not recorded until 1948. He was followed by female singers like Marika Ninou, Ioanna Yiorgakopoulou, and Sotiria Bellou. In 1953, Manolis Chiotis added a fourth pair of strings to the bouzouki, which allowed it to be tuned tonally and set the stage for the 'electrification' of rebetiko.

Rebetiko was revived during the 1967–1974 coup, when the Regime of the Colonels banned the genre. After the end of the Junta many revival groups appeared. The most notable of them include Opisthodhromiki Kompania, Rembetiki Kompania, Agathonas Iakovidis, and Ta Pedhia apo tin Patra.

Éntekhno

Drawing on rebetiko's Westernization with Tsitsanis, éntekhno arose in the late 1950s. Éntekhno (lit. meaning "art song") is orchestral music with elements of Greek folk rhythm and melody and its lyrical themes are often political or based on the work of famous Greek poets. Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis were the most popular early performers; however there are also other significant Greek songwriters like Stavros Kouyoumtzis and Manos Loizos. By the 1960s, innovative albums helped éntekhno become close to mainstream, and also led to its appropriation by the film industry for use in soundtracks, often watering-down the music in the process. The music theme which appears in the Hollywood 1964 movie Zorba the Greek remains the most well-known Greek song abroad. A form of éntekhno which is closer to Western Classical music was introduced during the late 1970s and 1980s by Thanos Mikroutsikos.

Laïkó

Further information: Laïkó

Laïkó was the pop music of the 50s and 60s. Laïkó is similar to Turkish Fantezi music. The influence of oriental music on laïkó can be most strongly seen in 1960s indoyíftika, "india]n gypsy (songs)", which is filmi with Greek lyrics. Manolis Angelopoulos was the most popular indoyíftika performer, while pure laïkó was dominated by superstar Stelios Kazantzidis and Stratos Dionysiou. Among the most significant songwriters of this category are maybe Akis Panou, George Zambetas, Apostolos Kaldaras, Giorgos Mitsakis, and Kostas Papaioannou. Many artists have combined éntekhno with laïkó with considerable success, such as the composers Mimis Plessas, Stavros Ksarchakos, and Giorgos Mouzakis, and the lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos.

Artists

Classic laïkó

1950s-1970s

• Giorgos Kinousis
• Giorgos Margaritis
• Keti Grei
• Marinella
• Meri Linda
• Nikos Gounaris
• Rita Sakellariou
• Stelios Kokkotas
• Tolis Voskopoulos
• Yiannis Parios
• Vicky Moscholiou

Modern laïkó

1980s-2000s (also known as Éntekhno laïkó)

• Dimitris Kontolazos
• Dimitris Mitropanos
• George Dalaras
• Giannis Poulopoulos
• Katerina Kouka
• Kostas Makedonas
• Manolis Mitsias
• Marios Tokas (composer only)
• Melina Kana
• Pantelis Thalassinos

Tsiftetéli

Further information: Tsifteteli

Tsiftetéli is a type of music that was brought over by refugees from Asia Minor in the 1920s. Basically, it is Greek belly dance music. The Arabic and Turkish influence on this type of music is very clear, and adds to the cultural similarities Greeks have with the Middle East. This is an extremely popular form of Modern Greek music, and is played almost everywhere in Greece. Some notable modern artists who include tsiftetéli in their music are Katy Garbi, Anna Vissi, Despina Vandi, Eleni Karousaki, and Giorgos Mazonakis.

Laïká

Main article: Laïka

Laïká (not to be confused with Laïkó) is a Greek music-culture. The word "Laïká" means "(songs) of the people" in Greek. This genre is currently the most popular kind of music in Greece.

Renowned songwriters of pop laïká are Nikos Karvelas, Phoebus, and the Pegasos duo (Antonis and Dimitris Paravomvolakis). Renowned lyricists include Giorgos Theofanous and Evi Droutsa.

Due to the considerable influence popular Greek music has from Turkey and the Middle East, there have been exchanges of music and duets with singers from these areas. Greek singers like Sarbel have translated songs from Arabic to Greek and these have become extremely popular. Also, with Greek-Turkish relations warming, there are songs that are the same and sung as a duet in both languages. A good example of a song crossing these three cultures is the song Anavis Foties by Despina Vandi. This song has been made into Arabic by Fadel Shaker and called, Dehket Al-Donya, and a Turkish-Greek duet entitled Aşka Yürek Gerek was done by Mustafa Sandal, a popular singer from Turkey, and Greek singer Natalia Doussopoulos.

Artists

Main article: List of Greek musical artists (1980s-2000s)

• Aggeliki Iliadi
• Aggelos Dionysiou
• Andreas Konstadinidis
• Angela Dimitriou
• Angie Samiou
• Anna Vissi (originally from Cyprus)
• Antique
• Antonis Remos
• Apostolia Zoi
• Valantis
• Basia Riga
• Christina Koletsa
• Christos Antoniadis
• Chryspa
• Costas Charitodiplomenos
• Despina Vandi
• Dionysis Makris
• Dionysis Schoinas
• Dimitris Kokkotas
• Dimtris Kontogiannis
• Efi Sarri
• Efi Thodi
• Eirini Merkouri
• Elena Paparizou
• Elli Kokkinou
• Giorgos Mazonakis
• Giorgos Papadopoulos
• Giannis Ploutarchos
• Giorgos Christou
• Giorgos Lembesis
• Giorgos Sambanis
• Giorgos Tsalikis
• Giorgos Yiannias
• Hristina Anagnostopoulou
• Kostas Imvrios
• Katerina Stanisi
• Kelly Kelekidou
• Katy Garbi
• Konstantina
• Kostantinos Christoforou
• Kostantinos Pantzis
• Kostas Karafotis
• Kostas Martakis
• Labis Livieratos
• Lefteris Pantazis
• Litsa Diamanti
• Litsa Giagousi
• Maria Iakovou
• Marianda Pieridi
• Marina Solonos
• Maro Lytra
• Michalis Emirlis
• Nancy Alexiadi
• Natasa Theodoridou
• Natalia Doussopoulos
• Nino
• Nikolas Hatzopoulos
• Nikos Kourkoulis
• Nikos Oikonomopoulos
• Nikos Portokaloglou
• Nikos Vertis
• Notis Sfakianakis
• Notis Xristodoulou
• Paschalis Terzis
• Peggy Zina
• Periklis Stergianoudis
• Sabrina
• Sarbel
• Sofia Strati
• Stamatis Gonidis
• Stefanos Antypas
• Stella Georgiadou
• Stratos Dionysiou
• Ta Kaka Koritsia (Girl band)
• Thanos Petrelis
• Triantafyllos
• Vanessa Adamopoulou
• Vasilis Karras
• Vasilis Terlegas
• Victoria Halkiti
• Yiannis Beckas

Skiladiko

Further information: Skiladiko

Skiladiko (or Skyladika) is the byname of the Greek variation of Arabesque music.

Artists

• Sotis Volanis
• Babis Papadopoulos
• Giannis Floriniotis
• Stamatis Gonidis
• Kostas Kafasis
• Antonis Kardamilis
• Andreas Konstantinopoulos
• Sakis Tolias
• Lefteris Pantazis
• Notis Volanakis

Similarities

Laïká and Skiladiko are similar to the Serbian Turbo-folk, since they have the same sort of Ethnic Dance-melodies, but the genre Laïká differs from Turbo-folk, since a large part of it originates in Rebetiko.

Other popular trends

Folk singer-songwriters first appeared in the 1960s after Dionysis Savvopoulos' 1966 breakthrough album Fortighó. Many of these musicians started out playing Néo kýma, "New wave" (not to be confused with New Wave Rick), a mixture of éntekhno and chansons from France. Savvopoulos mixed American musicians like Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa with Macedonian folk music and politically incisive lyrics. In his wake came more folk-influenced performers like Arletta, Mariza Koch and Kostas Hatzis. Nikos Xydakis, one of Savvopoulos' pupils, was among the people who revolutionized laïkó by using orientalized instrumentation. His most successful album was 1987's Kondá sti Dhóxa miá Stigmí, recorded with Eleftheria Arvanitaki.

Nowadays, a notable composer inspired by éntekhno and writing songs for éntekhno singers is Dimitris Papadimitriou.

There are however other contemporary composers of instrumental music (soundtracks included), whose work cannot be easily classified, such as Stamatis Spanoudakis, Giannis Spanos, Nikos Kypourgos, Eleni Karaindrou, and Evanthia Remboutsika. Another composer that is hardly classifiable is Thanasis Polykandriotis, a bouzouki composer, renowned for his composition "Concert for Bouzouki and Orchestra No. 1" (1996).

A popular trend since the late 1980s has been the mixture of éntekhno with pop and rock music. The most renowned éntekhno pop lyricist is considered to be Lina Nikolakopoulou.

Regarding "purely" non-oriental Pop music, despite the fact that it has never reached the popularity of laïkó or laïká, it had always a considerable amount of listeners supporting it, under a wide variety of forms, throughout the history of recent (post 1960s) Greek music.

Artists

The following classifications are conventional and categories may occasionally overlap:

Néo Kýma (éntekhno)

1960s-1970s

• Arletta
• Maria Farantouri
• Kostas Hatzis
• Mariza Koch
• Nana Mouschouri

Modern éntekhno

1980s-2000s (partial overlap with modern laïkó and éntekhno pop)

• Afroditi Manou
• Alkinoos Ioannidis (Cypriot singer)
• Christos Thiveos
• Dionysis Tsaknis
• Eleftheria Arvanitaki
• Eleni Vitali
• Glykeria
• Katsimihas brothers
• Lavrentis Mahairitsas
• Lefteris Kazoulis
• Manolis Rasoulis
• Manos Ksydous
• Militiadis Paschalidis
• Nikos Papazoglou
• Orfeas Peridis
• Popi Tsanaklidou
• Sokratis Malamas
• Stamatis Kraounakis
• Thanassis Papakonstantinou
• Vasilis Lekkas

Éntekhno pop

1980s-2000s

• Alkisti Protopsalti
• Dimitra Galani
• Ekeinos + Ekeinos (IPA: [e.'ci.nos.ce.'ci.nos])
• Giannis Kotsiras
• Giorgos Perris
• Efstathia
• Eleni Dimou
• Eleni Tsaligopoulou
• Evridiki
• Fivos Delivorias
• Haris Alexiou
• Michalis Hadzigiannis
• Mironas Stratis
• Filippos Pliatsikas
• Pyx Lax
• Zak Stefanou
• Zig Zag

Classic pop

1960s-1970s (songs from this period of Greek pop were mainly Pop ballads)

• Dakis
• Demis Roussos
• Loukianos Kelaidonis
• The Olympians
• Vicky Leandros
• Vlassis Bonatsos (as member of the Pelóma Bokioú band)

Modern pop

1980-1990s

• Alexia (Cypriot singer)
• Annet Artani (Blue-eyed soul)
• Christos Dantis (Pop rock)
• Lia Vissi (Cypriot singer)
• Kostas Bigalis (Pop rock, Pop laïká)
• Mando (Pop rock, Pop ballad)
• Michalis Rakintzis (Disco music)
• Polina Polina (Disco)
• Sakis Rouvas (Dance-pop)
• Sophia Vossou (Pop ballad)
• Stephanos Korkolis (Piano rock in the early 90s)
• Yhanos Kalliris (occasionally Latin pop)

Teen pop

2000s

• 4play (Boy band)
• Dimitris Korgialas
• Hi-5
• Kalomira
• Katerina Moutsatsou
• One (band) (Cypriot Boy band)
• Tamta

Pop rock

1990s-2000s

• Ble (band)
• C:Real (band)
• Dytikés Synoikíes (band)
• Kostas Tournas (Classic rock)
• Kore. Ydro. (mainly an Indie rock band)
• Locomondo (mainly a Reggae and Ska band)
• Lakis Papadopoulos (Classic rock)
• Manolis Famellos (Indie rock)
• Matisse (Glam rock revival, Indie pop)
• Nikos Mihas (Pop punk)
• Raining Pleasure (anglophone Indie rock band)
• ONAR (band)
• Stelios Roccos
• Stigma 90 (band)
• Ypogeia Revmata (Éntekhno rock band)

Pop rap

1990s-2000s crews

• Goin' Through
• Imiskoúmbria
• NEVMA
• Stavento
• Stereo Mike (solo artist)

Independent music scenes

Since the late '70s various independent scenes of "marginal" musical genres have appeared in Greece (mainly in Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki). Most of them were short-lived and never gained mainstream popularity but the most prominent artists/bands of these scenes are critically acclaimed today and are considered among the pioneers of independent Greek music (each one for their own genre).

Genres

• Greek Jazz (70s: Sphinx (band), Sakis Papadimitriou, Floros Floridis)
• Blues-rock / Art rock (70s-80s: Socrates Drank the Conium (band), Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Spyridoula (band), Nikolas Asimos, Vasilis Papakonstantinou, Zorz Pilali (blues guitarist), Dimitris Poulikakos)
• New Wave music (80s bands: Metro Decay, Film Noir, Villa 21, Anti Troppau Council)
• Greek Punk (80s-90s bands: Adiexodo, Genia Tou Chaous, Deus ex Machina, Panx Romana)
• Greek rock (80s-90s bands: Trypes, Diafana Krina, Endelekheia, Ksýlina Spathiá - Ξύλινα Σπαθιά, Morá Sti Fotiá)
• Heavy metal music (Firewind) / Extreme metal (Rotting Christ, Nightfall) / Folk metal (Ancient Greek music revival project Daemonia Nymphe - Δαιμόνια Νύμφη)
• Parody music / Underground music (80s-00s: Tzimis Panousis, Aéra Patéra (band), Amóla Kaloúband)
• Low Bap (Active Member, Sadahzinia, Babylona - Βαβυλώνα) / Greek hip hop (FF.C, Terror ex Crew, DJ ALX, Sifu VERSUS, Eisvoleas - Εισβολέας, ZN MCs - Ζήτα Νι MCs, Vita Pis - Βήτα Πεις, Razastarr)
• Nitzhonot / Uplifting Trance (90s: Cyan, Cherouvim, Darma, Star Children)
• Acid house / Techno / Electronica (90s-00s: Stereo Nova, Mikro)

See also

• Heptanese School, the first major school (style) of Greek classical music
• Manolis Kalomiris, founder of the style of classical music called Greek National School of Music
• List of Greek folk musicians
• List of notable bouzouki players
• List of Greek musical artists
• List of Greek singers by genre
• Music of Cyprus

References

• Dubin, Marc and Pissalides, George. "Songs of the Near East". 2000.
• Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp. 126-142. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

External links

• Helleniccomserve: Short History of Greek Music
• ANA.com: The Music of Greece
• Kithara.vu: A collection of some 11,000 Greek songs, with lyrics and chords (in Greek)
• Klika: A site about Greek rebetiko, Laïkó, and traditional music (in Greek)
• Rembetiko Forum A forum about Greek rebetiko, Laïkó and Traditional music (in Greek)
• Traditional Greek folk music downloads
• Tabachaniotika (Magrini)
• Mediterranean musicians in America (Signell)
• Greek Clarinet Music
• Folk dances of the Greek regions