Throisma

This is the second solo album from Monsieur Doumani’s Antonis Antoniou, and like the previous Kkismettin it’s a corker. It has all the hallmark driving rhythms and electronics with a distinctly Cypriot vibe of its predecessor, here taken even further.

There seems to be a more experimental approach to this album, with tracks such as ‘Syntagi’ and ‘Potte’ built around persistent repetition, which is then disrupted to provide a change of texture and keep the interest. I particularly liked the funky bass on ‘Ksorkisma’ and ‘Skarta Dora’; the latter underlies unexpected staccato vocals, a great effect, and the album as a whole has a sort of industrial funk feel. ‘Engata’ takes this industrial element a bit further with the opening percussion leading to more staccato vocals over electronics, which are then all combined. By the time you get to the more traditional-sounding dance ‘Zeybek Anark’ you have been on quite the musical journey, but one which never quite loses sight of its roots. The unexpected coda to all this is the contemplative ‘Achtina 2’ with chant-like vocals over increasingly prominent electronics which blend with white noise towards the end.