Kostas Koukoutaras & the atziteisons- Apo pou kai pou(from where and where),LP,1974,Greece

Here's one of the rarest Greek 70's records,fetching up many hundreds of Euros in the collector's market.Kostas Koukoutaras was one of the leading figures in the rock scene of the greek town Larisa ,in the early 70s.He recorded this LP backed by the band Atziteisons(i guess they wanted to ba called Agitations in a more greekish way) and released it privately in a handful of copies only.Musically the LP is late 60's/early 70s psych/folk inspired.Unlikely other greek bands of the period, Atziteitions were much inspired of the British freakbeat/psych scene(hints of the Yardbirds influence can be found in the 3 first songs),interpreting it in a more "primitive" way,fact that is enforced by the very poor production.After the 3rd song inspirations are changing in a more artistic way ,British/French psych folk and early 70s prog/psych(Dr. Strangely Strange, some Uriah Heep influences from their quiter moments),along with US Boston sound psych,not forgetting the much similar sound to Pearls before Swine/Tom Rapp folkish psych.Concluding ,musically the album is very interesting and an excellent example of what was happening in the Greek rock scene during this period, beyondthe popish sounding known bands.Keep in mind how difficult was for greeks to attend a rockish attitude this period due to the Junta. Concerning lyrics they are much childish but not totally uninspired and of course in the spirit of the age (flower power ,hippie culture,etc).Koukoutara's excellent baritonish voice with this physical tremolo takes music off creating a wonderful atmosphere(especially for non greek speaking listeners). Very weak point is the totally uninspired sleeve of the record with this redicoulous pink satin balloon shirt appearance of Koukoutaras.With a much better sleeve (a Roger Dean-ish or Hypnosis-ish one ) this could have been one of the legends of world psych.The LP was re-released in 2006 by the greek label Anazitisi Records in a very limited edition of just 100 copies(i guess sold out right now but give it a try at the linked address).

get it here