Genre: Folk 

01 Intro (Condensed Tango Version Of "Idalina")
02 Sorrow In Your Bliss "Spaghetti Western Take"
03 Straight Line Blues "The Straight Version"
04 Every March The 3rd At Idalina's
05 Diminishing Scene

Burgundy Grapes, while being an unknown band to the most of us, have been around since 1994. Perhaps not under the same name, but high-school friends Alexandros Miaoulis and Alexis Papaioannou were making music together with George Kolyvas at that time already. In 1997, however, Papaioannou was forced to stop because of leukemia, of which he died five short years later. Throughout the years, Miaoulis and Kolyvas joined up with various musician to create several home recordings. In 2005 this led to the selfnamed release on he Greek label Outlandish Recordings, an independent label focused on post-rock, acid folk and other alternative and innovative forms of songwriting. While touring, Burgundy Grapes have been joined on stage consistently by Yiorgos Tsiatsoulis, but also at times by Julia Kent (Anthony And The Johnsons) or Carole Zweifel (In Gowan Ring).

Lagero is an EP, only 17 and a half minutes in length. It hold and intro and four tracks, all instrumental and mostly acoustic. The intro sounds like a old vinyl record is being played, with all the authentic cracks and noises that accompany it. It's a minute long accordion solo, played by Tsiatsoulis. Then lush played acoustic guitars come in from track two. It's a wonderful track with a strong melancholic feel to it. That's exactly the atmosphere this EP creates; melancholy. The music sounds timeless, from the days of yore but fresh. It sounds like Mediterranean tunes which feel so natural they just have to be timeless. You can imagine yourself sitting in a comfortable chair in the middle of a hot day, listening to this music. The wind blows softly, the sounds of the sea are softly passing by, and the musicians are enjoying themselves with their music.

My favorite track on this album, though hard to pick, is "Every March The 3rd At Idalina's", because of the melody and the differences between the two guitars that are playing throughout the track. One plays the melody on higher notes, the other the rhythm on the lower notes. As the song continues, the accordion joins in as well, completing the track.

I fully recommend this EP to everyone who enjoys acoustic and instrumental music, especially if you like Mediterranean sounds. Be fast though, it's limited to a mere 128 copies and it costs only five measly euro's, including shipping. For that money, you'll get over 15 minutes of wonderful music, a CDr in a cardsleeve with artwork that fits the music perfectly. It's well worth your money.