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In 2017, at Documenta Kassel (but in Athens), I invited José Jiménez Bobote, a remarkable gitano artist from the Tres Mil Viviendas neighbourhood in Seville, to record a series of actions in specific locations in the Greek capital. Ancient Greece and modern Greece. I wanted him to draw sound from the city, to strike it as only a flamenco artist can, with his feet. To hit the ground and make it moan, ring out with noises evoking significant moments in history: from Diogenes the Cynic and the Apostle Paul's sermon at the Areopagus to Rosa Eskenazi's resistance to the Nazi-German occupation, and the ups and downs of police Inspector Costas Haritos's survival at the European Bank during the PIGS crisis. Bobote struck the ground and Athens responded, sending back echoes of the past, in an exceptional anachronistic exercise. In flamenco it is possible for several times to sound simultaneously.

We took seventeen hours of footage, and water from many wells.

I then shut away producer, musician, and friend Raül Refree with this material so that he could take the long titles and use them as scores, turning them into mere songs. It was very important to think in terms of songs. The tracks had to have the capacity to be songs, the kind of thing one whistles while absent-mindedly walking down the street. Generally speaking, the scores—that is, the texts—defended the use and abuse of the loose coins that people carry around in their pockets. Loose change as a kind of everyday fetishism against big financial capital. Pistis! Refree managed to coax that distinctive unity of songs, their bright catchiness, from the amalgamation of sounds that would, in other hands, end up being labelled concrete music. Peter Szendy would be pleased and grateful. Being able to sing under one's breath something that others consider simply noise.

Seven songs, yes. And if you get the chance, take a stroll through Athens with them: the locations are clearly defined. If not, then let Athens fill your home with all its ancient wisdom, boring into your ears like worms, making holes in history.

Listen, and, as people used to say, turn up the volume!

Pedro G. Romero, Santa Marta, Colombia, November 2025

Comes with booklet with song lyrics written by Pedro G. Romero. Limited edition of 250 vinyl records.[info sheet from distr.]

Enthält ein Booklet mit den von Pedro G. Romero verfassten Songtexten. Limitierte Auflage von 250 Vinyl-Schallplatten.

2017 lud ich José Jiménez Bobote, einen bemerkenswerten Gitano-Künstler aus dem Stadtteil Tres Mil Viviendas in Sevilla, zur Documenta Kassel (aber in Athen) ein, um eine Reihe von Aktionen an bestimmten Orten in der griechischen Hauptstadt aufzunehmen. Das antike Griechenland und das moderne Griechenland. Ich wollte, dass er der Stadt Klänge entlockt, dass er sie mit seinen Füßen anschlägt, wie es nur ein Flamenco-Künstler kann. Er sollte auf den Boden schlagen und ihn zum Stöhnen bringen, ihn mit Geräuschen zum Klingen bringen, die an bedeutende Momente der Geschichte erinnern: von Diogenes dem Zyniker und der Predigt des Apostels Paulus auf dem Areopag über Rosa Eskenazis Widerstand gegen die nationalsozialistische Besatzung bis hin zu den Höhen und Tiefen des Überlebens von Polizeikommissar Costas Haritos in der Europäischen Bank während der PIGS-Krise. Bobote schlug auf den Boden und Athen antwortete und sandte Echos der Vergangenheit zurück, in einer außergewöhnlichen anachronistischen Übung. Im Flamenco ist es möglich, dass mehrere Zeiten gleichzeitig erklingen.[info sheet from distr.]