thealternativekind's Podcast

Blues Wire are a band from Thessaloniki, Greece fronted by Guitarist/Vocalist Elias Zaikos who formed the band under the Blues Gang moniker in 1983. They were the 1st band in Greece to play blues music in the style of classic blues legends such as Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and T-Bone Walker. Blues Wire are one of the best kept secrets of the European Blues scene and need to be heard by a much wider audience than what they currently are. With 11 albums to their credit plus another 5 from leader Elias Zaikos (the most recent one having been released late in 2019) this playlist showcases the acoustic and improvisational side of the bands sound. Made up of 7 songs with the shortest one clocking in at just under 6 1/2 minutes. Hit the play button on this playlist to hear what the blues fans of Greece have known for almost 40 years now, namely: Blues Wire may just be one of the greatest European Blues acts ever.

You won't catch me readily admitting to it but every so often if I'm in just the right mood I like listening to mellow Lo-Fi/Trip-Hop type of tunes, so this mix is a bit of a guilty pleasure. It was inspired by the song no. 3 on this playlity Don't You Lie To Me which lead me down a rabbit hole I thoroughly enjoyed going down but one which I perhaps won't be exploring again for a while. Starting off in a more Syth-Pop style before getting into the Jazzy Beats associated with Trip-Hop and finally ending on the uptempo psych beats of Los Tre and then getting downright funky at the tail end.

As mentioned countless times in the past the music scene in Greece is more than just what is spoon-fed to us by mainstream radio and media in general. In previous playlists I have tried to highlight individual genres such as Jazz, Blues, Metal etc but only the Open Jam Καφενειο/Kafenio playlist has tried to touch on multiple genres within the 60 minutes each episode runs for. My aim with this playlist is to get someone who perhaps isn't a fan of Hip-Hop or Rock or Jazz to listen and realise that there are songs within all genres of music that you can listen to and enjoy. As a wise Greek-Cypriot once said "listen without prejudice"