Triple Bath: Happy Birthday
Next to Christmas and New Year’s Eve, there was yet another reason for Greek label Triple Bath to celebrate: The brainchild of Themis Pantelopoulos turned exactly 1 in November and completed the first twelve months of its existence with a moment of silence before preparing for yet another busy year in 2008. In this short time, Triple Bath has released nine albums of the most diverse music and established itself as a pluralistic force to be reckoned with in the otherwise strongly segmented market for experimental releases. Right from the very beginning, it was Themis Pantelopoulos’ idea to bring together various styles under a single roof. Up until now, Triple Bath has featured heavy noise, progressive soundscapes, drones, spacey dark ambient, improvised jazz, contemporary composition and cutup electroacoustics. The eclectic melange has been held together by a recognisable kind of ambition and seriousness inherent to all Triple Bath artists, while always striving for clarity in expression. No wonder, then that the Triple Bath influences include classic artists such as John Cage, Iannis Xenakis and Alfred Schnittke as well as young talents like Pawel Grabowski or David Behrman – as well as label boss Themis Pantelopoulos himself.
In fact, it was “Ocean of Inexistence”, which Themis Pantelopoulos published under his Nokalypse moniker, which got a lot of heads reared towards Athens. Here, all the genres his outfit actively propagates, came together on a single, daring effort filled with dark moods, impenetrable arrangements and philosophic allusions. Just like many other entries in the Triple Bath catalogue, it was anything but easy, but offered plenty of reward for those willing to invest some time in it.
The flood of sometimes confused, but mostly positive reviews from both sides of the Atlantic proved the concept right. The same can be said about the return to the true essentials. Triple Bath CDs come packaged inside a single heavy cardboard sleeve with Themis Pantelopoulos’ own designs printed on them, but without the usual optical and haptical extravaganza. Instead, they emphasis is firmly on the music, with each CD being mastered to perfection. This policy has allowed Triple Bath to sell its items at the low price of three Euros, allowing the interested to take a chance on music they will never previously have heard.
Triple Bath has also made a name for itself as an artist-friendly label. All Triple Bath albums come in small print runs of 96 copies, of which 24 are given to the artist, thus helping him or her to support his art. About half of the discography has already sold out.
Themis Pantelopoulos’ release schedule for Triple Bath is still packed. So the label looks set to build on the strong basis of its first year.
Homepage: Triple Bath
Homepage: Triple Bath at MySpace
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