Music Escapades: In Orbit v.3 - Εικόνα

On Friday the 7th, Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of October, the modern Athenian music scene is keeping its standing appointment for a third year in a row, at the Dome of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), for Music Escapades: In Orbit v.3, a three-day festival answering the question, “what sort of music is currently produced in Athens?” Greek- and English-language lyrics, guitars, rhymes and samples, the sound of western metropolises and the winking of an eye to the East — all this in three days that map out the city’s music scene, satisfying all tastes and calling upon the Athenian public to reconnect with bands it “missed” during the past two difficult years, or get to know some new ones.

On Friday, October 7, the evening is dedicated to hip hop, featuring Negros tou Moria, Moose, Ofili, and Kareem Kalokoh. Saturday, October 8, is a versatile evening with a common basis and starting point in the electronica of Sworr., Mononome, Ιota Phi, and Vassilina. On Sunday, October 9, before the curtain falls on the three-day event, guitars are hooked up to amplifiers and Athenian rock unfolds in a gamut of propositions offered by The Bonnie Nettles, Godsleep, XOAN, and Odysseas Phone Orchestra. 

The Music Escapades: In Orbit v.3 is staged with free admission, thanks to a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

The festival’s program is as follows:

Friday, October 7, 20.00 | Hip Hop

Kareem Kalokoh
A founding member of the ATH KIDS collective, which marked the Athenian 2010s, Kareem Kalokoh got in the game of music before turning 18, releasing his first tracks on Soundcloud. Together with his valued partner Valentin Rivera, they renewed the Athenian urban culture scene, representing the new face of a multicultural capital. His music has travelled all over Europe, while even the legendary New York record label Def Jam took interest in him. 

Watch videos of Kareem Kalokoh here.

Ofili
With a highly diversified sound and a last name that has reached the top of the world, Francis “Ofili” Adetokunbo offers a very different proposition in Athens-emanating hip hop. The oldest brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo enriches his sound with various different elements, such as afrobeat and dancehall and even flirting with trap music, while he just released his EP Rise, which contains the song from the film of the same name that talks about his family’s fairy-tale story of glory.    

Watch videos of Ofili here.

Moose
Born in Nigeria and raised in Athens, Moose (né Mamus) is one of the “blue chips” of the new Athenian rap scene, his stunning flow being his strong suit. He has teamed up with many of his great peers, including Negros tou Moria and Ofili in “Like Giannis,” a track heard all around the world as an ode to Giannis Antetokounmpo, and has just released his second personal album, titled Street Talk.

Watch videos of Moose here.

Negros tou Moria
He was born in Ampelokipoi, is of Ghanaian descent, and grew up in Kypseli. He is equally fond of Snoop Dogg and Stelios Kazantzidis, Markos Vamvakaris and Bob Marley. He is also known as NTM57, calls himself a “Mavros Ellinaras” [proud Black Greek], and also answers to the Greek equivalent of “naughty Kofi.” He is an idiosyncratic African-Greek, a rebetiko-rapper, who has been leaving his mark on Greek hip hop for the past ten years. 

Watch videos of Negros tou Moria here.

Saturday, October 8, 20.00 | Electronica

Vassilina
Vassilina has gone through various experimentations before settling down, for the past five years, in electronica with a pop aesthetic and hints of darkness, somewhere “between chaos and the dance music scene.” And this is quite palpable in her album Fragments, which was released last year to great acclaim. 

Watch videos of Vassilina here.

IOTA PHI
Electronic music as a narrative tool, framed by the sounds of strings, santur and analog keyboard, in sync with video projections that add a visual punch to the whole atmosphere. This is Iota Phi's original anthropocentric performance/proposition that we will be witnessing at this year's In Orbit. 

Watch videos of IOTA PHI here.

Mononome
Based in Thessaloniki, Mononome has managed to make a name for himself in the European beat-making scene over the past ten years. Always using sampling as his starting point, blurring the boundaries between future and old school, he has played music for radio productions on both sides of the Atlantic and has shared the stage with big names, such as Wax Tailor, Thievery Corporation, Nightmares on Wax, DJ Krush, et al. 

Watch videos of Mononome here.

Sworr. 
Sworr. is a band of the alternative scene, featuring the greatest crossover in recent years. They now are a duo that creates a different breed of pop music, at times leaning towards electronica and at other times towards darker audio paths. Building on the central themes of their second album, Honest, they will be showcasing tracks from both their albums, framed in a unique light show that complements their aesthetic proposition.

Watch videos of Sworr. here.

Sunday, October 9, 20.00 | Rock

Odysseas Phone Orchestra
Odysseas Tziritas's debut album, Gonzo Bliss, made two things perfectly clear: the solid rock’n’roll chutzpah and the freshness of this young creator. Odysseas Phone Orchestra is the band created by Tziritas during the quarantine, in the hope that he would soon be back on stage in concert. That time has come, the tracks have taken on a different live dimension performed by the four-member band, and new material is already being rehearsed in the recording studio. 

Watch videos of Odysseas Tziritas here.

XOAN
Their debut album was released during the “pandemic fever,” as they call it, to reveal a group that moves “between slacker rock and indie punk,” as they define themselves. With a new member, a new attitude and new material that “playfully alludes to the golden age of MTV,” XOAN is certainly a band to keep an eye on, as we look forward to their next steps.

Watch videos of XOAN here.

Godsleep
During a break from recording their third album, which will be released in 2023, the Athenian heavy/psychedelic rock quartet is back for one of those thundering live performances that have earned them a place in the lineup of many major European festivals. With the addition of Amy in vocals and featuring the same core of fuzzy guitars and dense basslines, Godsleep are poised to rock the stage of In Orbit with their revamped energy.

Watch videos of Godsleep here.

The Bonnie Nettles
Ever since the group formed in 2016, we are having a hard time making up our minds about whether we like them so much because they remind us of the ’60s or the Manchester bands we've all loved (as have they). In any case, The Bonnie Nettles offer one of the most gripping indie propositions of our time, and have shared the stage with big names such as Motorama and The Myrrors. At this year's In Orbit, they will also be presenting samples from their new record that is due to be released in the coming months, opening up new paths to their signature guitar sound.

Watch videos of The Bonnie Nettles here.

Dome

Free admission

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