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Jupiter Fungus (Greece) for Eclectic Prog
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Starshiper View Drop Down
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    Posted: November 07 2024 at 00:27
Jupiter Fungus comes from Piraeus—Athens, Greece. It's a duo consisting of Ares Papatriantafillou (keyboards, vocals) and Fotis Xenikoudakis (flute, whistle). They started working together as a prog-rock duo in 2022.

On November 1, 2024, Sound Effect Records released the duo's debut album, "Garden Electric." It has four lengthy tracks that range in length from about 10 to more than 13 minutes.

"Garden Electric" mixes subgenres into stuff that is clearly influenced by the 1970s yet keeps a modern vibe. On this album, the above-mentioned Ares and Fotis are accompanied by George Emmanuel (electric guitar), George Papageorgiou (acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspiel), and Nick Vell (drums).

With "Garden Electric," Jupiter Fungus is creating one of the best new records on Athens' progressive music scene, which is indeed vibrant these days. The album is available on download, CD, and gatefold LP with astonishing artwork.




Garden Electric (2024)









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yam yam View Drop Down
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Points: 6357 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote yam yam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2024 at 07:44
Listening now, and this is indeed a damn fine album!

I added the remaining supported links to the album on Awesome Prog, where the artist can be found at: https://awesomeprog.com/artists/24689.

I'm getting a strong Jethro Tull vibe from the music - especially in the first two tracks due to the extensive use of flute - and we have that particular band in Prog Folk - but any vocals in this album are few and far between apart from in the first half of the final track 'Thoughts of Revenge', and the lush keyboards that are prominent for a good proportion of the album certainly give much of the music a symphonic feel to my own ears.

I guess there's the one somewhat heavier passage towards the end of track three 'Past Ground', and 'Thoughts of Revenge' has a Deep Purple/Uriah Heep feel to it to begin with since the flute is nowhere near as prominent in the mix until the second half of the track. The digital album is a steal on Bandcamp at €1 EUR or more, since it's worth far, far more than that. A tremendous debut I must say! Clap

Edit: The digital album is €5 EUR or more on Bandcamp now...But that's still a bargain for music of this quality.


Edited by yam yam - November 08 2024 at 18:08
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 28029 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 16 2024 at 23:07
I only listened to this yesterday for the first time and Ken Golden at Laser Edge (and also regular contributor to Peter Pardo's yt channel) is getting behind this. It's a very fine album. There is a lot of flute and it's very warm and welcoming. I would have liked more hammond personally so I don't think it ever goes into the realms of heavier symphonc prog for instance. There are no ELP or Yes vibes but certainly some Tull vibes and I would even slightly compare it to the Agusa Album Prima Materia that was released last year. It's quite 'informal' and a fun listen that doesn't demand too much from the listener. My only surprise is that it's coming from Greece and not from one of the Norwegian 'Retro bands'!
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Starshiper View Drop Down
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Points: 577 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Starshiper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 17 2024 at 05:21
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

I only listened to this yesterday for the first time and Ken Golden at Laser Edge (and also regular contributor to Peter Pardo's yt channel) is getting behind this.
Regrettably, I am not acquainted with who Ken Golden is, but I am aware that Sound Effect Records, which officially released "Garden Electric," is a Greek label devoted to contemporary music. It has been established for over twenty years and boasts a charming record store in the heart of Athens: https://www.facebook.com/SoundEffectRecords/?locale=en_GB
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mathman0806 View Drop Down
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Points: 6408 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mathman0806 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 17 2024 at 05:22
Yeah. Cool retro prog/proto-prog vibe withe organ and flute, in particular withe opener. Nice psych/space grooves. I agree that one would think this would be from a Nordic band.
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Stoneburner View Drop Down
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Points: 7 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stoneburner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 17 2024 at 19:24
This is a great record… better than the most of the list of the 100 best from 2024
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 28029 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 17 2024 at 21:38
Originally posted by Starshiper Starshiper wrote:

Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

I only listened to this yesterday for the first time and Ken Golden at Laser Edge (and also regular contributor to Peter Pardo's yt channel) is getting behind this.
Regrettably, I am not acquainted with who Ken Golden is, but I am aware that Sound Effect Records, which officially released "Garden Electric," is a Greek label devoted to contemporary music. It has been established for over twenty years and boasts a charming record store in the heart of Athens: https://www.facebook.com/SoundEffectRecords/?locale=en_GB



Lasers Edge is a large distributor of prog in the states. Ken Golden (''The Professor of Prog'') has a very good deep knowledge of prog and an expert on the RPI scene especially. Here is the show I am referring to where he talks about Jupiter Fungus 12 minutes and 40 seconds into the video.




Edited by richardh - November 17 2024 at 21:41
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