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NOTHING IN THE SKY

by PNDC&housework

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1.
Go Quiet (free) 03:19
GO QUIET /lyrics by housework/ drink all I can, touch all I can and then go quiet f*** all I can, forget who I am and then go quiet I’m not a man and I can’t give a damn I’m not alive enough to care I’m not a man may you all be damned I’m not alive enough to care steal all I can, pretend to have a heart and then go quiet give into your demands, act a little sad and then go quiet cause I’m not a man, may you all be damned.. And not alive enough to care
2.
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Her Special Art (free) 03:12
5.
European Day of You (free) 03:25
6.
Touch of Mad (free) 04:59
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Gentleman /One equals/ (free) 07:42
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about

If you are interested in buying this CD feel free to contact Listen Loudest records at: franticz@gmail.com

or trough FB page - www.facebook.com/Slu%C5%A1aj-Najglasnije-Listen-Loudest-103211269773002/

credits

released April 20, 2012

REVIEWS

Disagreement Net 8/10
It’s been two years since I last heard a collaborative effort by PNDC&housework. The two musicians from Serbia and Greece, who for all I know may never have met in the flesh, once again got together to record one of their albums by communicating musical ideas and fragments by the Internet. The last album was “only” a sort of rarities compilation, and furthermore I have never heard them on a record shorter than one hour, so I was intrigued how things would work out on Nothing In The Sky which by a hair’s breadth just doesn’t make it to forty minutes. While the opener Tight Rope, which features a vocal sample by Shadowlike and some acoustic guitars by Scottish artist Harold Nono, is still quite an abstract piece of music, the following tracks show the duo from their most melodic and consequently accessible side yet. If I didn’t know any better, I occasionally would have guessed to be in the presence of a lost Bowie album from the late Seventies or early Eighties. Other images that float to mind are David Sylvian and even Nick Cage. The regular instruments (guitar, bass and keyboards) take a major role in the songwriting, and the dark, slightly hushed vocals are simply exquisite. Apart from the last regular track Gentleman (One Equals), which is nearly eight minute long, the remaining songs all have quite normal lengths. This may rob the band of some of their experimental edge, but what remains is a perfect revival of the heydays of clinically cold dark wave pop from about thirty years ago. The duo may call their music “neu pop”, but in the end it does have an undeniable retro pop appeal. In the past I was always quite fond of PNDC&housework’s albums, but Nothing In The Sky is even more enjoyable than anything else they have come up with so far. And best of all, they offer this record, and everything else they did together, for free on their Bandcamp page. Fans of slickly done neu pop therefore shouldn’t hesitate a single second to check out their rewarding music!

Vital Weekly
Although I'm not sure, I probably reviewed most of the work carried out by PNDC from Serbia and Thanos Vavaroutas from Greece. It's a most strange duo, with PNDC responsible for all the music and Vavaroutas, as Housework, for the vocals, all generated through mail exchange. But it all sounds remarkable coherent in terms of pop music. In the past I compared it with Depeche Mode and New Order, but perhaps a bit darker. This new album with nine tracks is once again an album of great pop music, with a fine dark edge. Unlike Depeche Mode, guitars play an important role in this music, more than before it seems (although I am not entirely sure), which buzz, hiss and sustain over the loops of real drums. Electronics seem to play a somewhat smaller part here than before, making this less electropop, but then I guess the word 'pop' maybe implies something else anyone - something quirky, pleasant, youthful, all of which this is not (really). This is the kind of 'pop' I like, perhaps because it reminds me of so many things from years past, music that makes up the majority of my Ipod actually, and to which I sometimes recent discoveries. This one could be easily another addition to that ipop I have. Its another strong work from this duo. (FdW)

Leonard's Lair
For all those who wanted to know what sweaty electro dance performed by a Serbian/Greek act sounded like, PNDC and housework (AKA Predrag Nedic and Athanassios Vavaroutas) have consistently provided the answer. Make no mistake though, this is as far removed as possible from trashy European music and is chiefly noteworthy for tight rhythms and housework’s breathless vocals. ‘Nothing In The Sky’ is further proof that you don’t need to be in the same room together to make music work (infact the two protagonists have never even met). That said, the start is a little awkward. ‘Tight Rope’ takes up the challenge with some disorientating organ swirls, distorted production and general air of confusion. Then housework brings out the ever faithful croon for the snail-paced ‘Go Quiet’ but it’s another song which quietly seethes rather than stirs the emotions. Patently, this is not pop music. The title track redresses the balances and is definitely one of the most mesmeric offerings. Against a backdrop of subtle atmospherics, the duo create a track that is intelligent, unsettling and romantic all at once. ‘Sunset Over Empty Towns’ is another piece which favours the less is more approach whereas the emotive ‘Gentleman’ brings back memories of Japan’s ‘Ghosts’. Elsewhere, ‘European Day Of You’ even boasts something approaching a happy chorus and ‘Touch Of Mad’ is like a revival of the twosome’s unique twist on club music. PNDC and housework have always operated on the experimental end of electronic music but here they sound more eerie and adventurous than ever. At times, the icy surface can serve to alienate the listener but the further one gets into the album, the better it becomes.

Muzika.hr 4/5
Predrag Nedić i Athanassios Vavaroutas složili su novi, tko zna već koji po redu album pod imenima PNDC&housework imena “Nothing in the Sky” koji čine osam skladbi plus jedan bonus. PNDC&housework vrlo su inspirirani momci, pa tako svako malo dobijemo neko njihovo novo izdanje. Osim spomenutog projekta vode i neke popratne, ali PNDC&housework ipak je ‘ono pravo’, tu pružaju najviše. Nakon nekog vremena, ponovno se ujedinila ‘balkanska veza’, pa su tako Srbin i Grk izdali kod našeg Zdenka Franjića. I dobro da je tako jer je “Nothing in the Sky” još jedna porcija slatkasto-mračnog elektronskog zvuka koji svojim laganim, a opet vrlo upečatljivim melodijama oduševljava slušatelja. Nakon prvog preslušavanja naslovna “Nothing in the Sky” najviše upada u uho, a zvuči kao da je David Bowie gostovao kod Depeche Modea i tada su zajedno dodali pregršt sanjivosti u pjesmu što u konačnici donosi odličan elektropop komad. “Sunset Over Empty Towns” nešto je brža psihodelična skladba s izvrsno ubačenim orkestralnim dionicama, “Her Special Art” balansira od Joy Divisiona do space rocka, dok “European Day of You” pokazuje kako se može osvježiti new wave/post punk zvuk. Album “Nothing in the Sky” još je jedan od albuma koji malo po malo podiže tenziju i gdje sve ono najbolje nije sažeto na samom početku. Koncepcija albuma složena je tako da je sredina najdojmljivija, dok uvod i kraj služe kao malo upoznavanje i oproštaj sa slušateljem.
Za razliku od drugih albuma koji su izdani pod ovim pseudonimima, “Nothing in the Sky” zvuči kao pop ploča spremna za veliku eksploataciju, kao da su dečki u ovih nekoliko godina shvatili i naučili što bi moglo proći kod publike, a da pri tome ostanu svoji, zanimljivi, inovativni i prije svega da nisu pokleknuli pred komercijalizacijom. Tako će ponovno “Nothing in the Sky” postati jedan od dražih albuma alternativne publike u ovoj godini jer očito nema još hrabrosti u našim krajevima da se jače podupre nešto kreativno što nije prepuno raznih skandala što pune naslovnice tabloida. Svakim novim albumom PNDC&housework guraju prema naprijed, a “Nothing in the Sky” još je jedan dokaz tome. Lagano, opuštajuće, zavodljivo, upečatljivo, prava milina za uši. Da vas još dodatno zaintrigiram, reći ću vam da ovaj album možete i legalno besplatno skinuti s njihove bandcamp stranice jer oni to rade zbog vas, a ne zbog svoje zarade.


Terapija. net 9/10
Unatoč krize u Grčkoj i nestabilne situacije u Srbiji, ovaj dvojac je 'odlepio' i pokazao onu drugu stranu života - onog u kome još uvijek ima senzibilnosti i romantike. Nastavljajući dobitnu formulu prethodnog odličnog EP-ija "Numbers On My Skin" (2011, Bearsuit Records) koji je bio potpisan kao projekt Hospital Neon, ovaj puta dvojac Predrag Nedić (PNDC) i Athanassios Vavaroutas (Housework) izlaze sa kompletnim albumom pod svojim uobičajenim imenima. Sa 8 novih pjesama nadovezuju se na započeti uglavnom analogni rad gdje su gitare i synthovi u kooperaciji sa fino ugođenim ritam mašinama nalik na živi bubanj dosegnule rang profinjene indie-rock/pop glazbe u kojoj se osjeti svašta. Od Can-ovskog kraut-rocka, psihodelije, lepršavih i senzibilnih dream-pop melodija, sve do natruha post-punka, gothica, pa i elemenata The Notwist, Joy Division i stanovitog djelića shoegaze patetike. Slobodno se može steći dojam da je ona čista elektronika gotovo potisnuta na marginu i koristi se doduše u svakoj pjesmi, no ona ovaj puta nije primarni čimbenik kompletnog opusa. Gitare su uglavnom izbačene u prvi plan sa različitim tretmanima (solo melodije, staccato, sitni riffovi, ambijentalni psycho vezovi), a iznimno ugodan šaputavi i sneni Vavaroutasov vokal beskrajno šara po poljima mašte i levitirajućeg sanjarenja. Odnosno, da budem precizniji, odnos elektronike i analognog zvuka je otprilike 40:60, ali to nikako ne treba zbuniti. Sve ove pjesme su uredno dotjerane i nabijene ugodnim romantičnim senzibilitetom s ponešto mračnog ugođaja koji se kod ovog dvojca redovito reflektira u opsegu od art-rocka, new romanticsa, new-wavea sve do najnovijih stilizacija pod paskom indie, pa i americana. Kako god kome odgovara, to je sve 'tu negdje'. U uvodnom laganom Sylvianskom instrumentalu "Tight rope" im gostuju Harold Nono (znate ga, ne?) i Shadowlike koji su priskočili sa ambijentalnim elektronskim tretmanom i samplovima, a onda kreće serijal profinjenih pjesama od kojih se ne zna koja je bolja od koje. Prvo dolazi iznimno mračan psihodeličan komad "Go quiet" s folk motivima prekrasnih violinskih samplova, akustičnom legato gitarom, kao i noiserskim tretmanima koji lebde u pozadini, a onda naslovna "Nothing in the sky" (ponovno sa Harold Nonom) u umjerenom plesnom tempu s vozećim basovima, delay efektima gitara i raznolikim elektronskim ambijentalnim koloritom koji po performansima podsjete na album "New Gold Dream '81'82'83'84" Simple Minds. Prekrasna sanjarska "Sunset over empty towns" doslovce tjera na plesni podij sa bogatim synth-drivingom i trebala bi biti hitčina, barem onom auditoriju koji neizmjerno štuje Arcade Fire i The National. Jedina je šteta što pjesma završava sa dugotrajnim fade-outom koji 'pojede' gotovo pola minute. S akustičnim folkom ponovno se susreću u još jednoj plesno tempiranoj "Her special art" koja eksplodira s odličnim solom i psihodeličnim adaptacijama, pa se prebace u tipičan post-punk/kraut-rock "European day of you" s rasplesanim ritmom koji finišira dinamičkim krešendom distorzirane space-rock/punk gitare. "Touch of mad" je jedna od rijetkih u kojoj nema gitare u onoj osnovnoj bazi (pojavljuje se tek kao lajt-motiv u završnici), no sve je nadomješteno ugodno ispunjenim synthovima i prilično ekscentričnim Vavaroutasovim vokalom koji, na svoj ugodan, mondensko-darkerski način 'poludi' sa izuzetnim šmekom. Ima u tom njegovom vokalu mnogo originalnosti, momak je izgradio vlastiti bastion koji ne nalikuje na nikoga, no tek samo da spomenem - ima onu crtu Bryan Ferryijevog i David Sylvianovog senzibiliteta. Najkompleksnija i najdulja skladba (gotovo 8 minuta) je "Gentleman (one equals)", lagana elektronska mini simfonija vođena snenim tremolima syntha, te melodikom, ksilofonom i ambijentalnim ugođajem kao da se sam Sylvian uključio u ove gradacije. A kao bonus, mada nije navedena na omotu, dobije se "I see live people", odličan plesni funk u umjerenom tempu kakvog bi i zagrebačka Boa na svojem posljednjem albumu "VII" poželjela imati. Ovdje su gitare odigrale glavnu riječ i da vam netko kaže da su ih odsvirali Slavko Remenarić i Robert Fripp, mogli bi povjerovati. Kroz sve ove moje pridjeve 'ugodno, senzibilno, sneno, rasplesano, bogato, psihodelično, romantično...' nalazi se srž ovog albuma. Stilizacija koju stalno spominjem je također bitan dio opusa ovog dvojca kojeg slobodno možemo nazvati grupom, projektom ili duet-bendom, a oni čega god da se prihvate, ostvare sjajan rezultat u umjetničkom pogledu. Ovo što su napravili na ovom albumu, unatoč sve ove strke i krize financijskog kraha Grčke, te nestabilne situacije u Srbiji, uspjeli su bar na trenutak pobjeći od surove stvarnosti (doduše, ima nekih momenata na albumu gdje su itekako pokazali da ih se tiče sve što se dešava), te su podarili čudesan rad za kojeg ne treba zaboraviti stih iz pjesme "Touch of mad" - 'I always feel'. Upravo tako. Kad se osjeća, a oni osjećaju prije svega one intenzivne senzualne umjetničke strasti koje umiju kanalizirati u jezgrovite pjesme i kompletno dorađenu suvremenu pop-rock glazbu, dobije se ovakav prekrasan album koji jednostavno očarava sa svime što u glazbi jest najljepše - podražaji na ljudsko osjetilo i emocije.

Uistinu prekrasno.

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