Klik Records has been an influential Greek label that pushed the boundaries of Greek electronic dance music. The first five years of the label (2003 - 2008) were extremely productive with the solid releases composed by the best Greek producers of that era, such as Nikos Diamantopoulos, Ioannis Douskos (aka Dousk) and George Pallikaris (aka G-Pal). However, my favorite Klik release is undoubtedly Mindscapes, the seminal studio album by B.I.G.
B.I.G. (Believe In God) is the music project of brothers Dimos & Michalis Siavelis. The Siavelis bros were raised in Aigio, a town in Achaea, West Greece and they had been involved in music studies (including classical music) for more than 10 years. The turning point in their music journey was Dimos' attendance in Yamaha Music School and Michalis' DJing in summer clubs, both under the apprentice of prolific house producer & DJ Nikos Diamantopoulos.
Dimos and Michalis have been influenced from various music artists, spanning different genres, such as rock (Dire Straits, Pink Floyd), ambient (Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis) and progressive house & trance (Yoogie Van Bellen, Faithless, Bill Hamel). The progressive sound era of the 90's inspired them to a great extent, which can be easily recognized in Mindscapes.
The studio album has been one of Klik Records' earliest releases (seventh), aligned with the company's ethos to publish timeless and classy productions. It was released in 2004 in a double CD format and it features 16 tracks, which are an eclectic blend of progressive house & ambient.
One of the album's highlights is certainly the well-known track A Promise, which has been included in several mix CDs and supported by famous DJs (Armin Van Buuren, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren). However, the current post will present another personal favorite; the soothing Autumn Waves (which also features the mesmerizing words of Giota Nikolaou as per the former track):
B.I.G. - AUTUMN WAVES
B.I.G. should return to music production to provide us with gems like Mindscapes!
