- 1. Various Artists O Ponos Tu Prezakia 03:23
- 1. Marika Papagika Mandelena 04:04
- 2. Various Artists Ime Presakias 03:21
- 2. Achilleas Poulos Chakiji Zeibek 03:24
- 3. Various Artists Efumernam' Ena Vradi 03:08
- 3. El. Melemenlis Tsifte Telli 03:12
- 4. Various Artists Htes to Vradi Sto Teke Mas 03:10
- 4. Andonios Dhiamandidhis Huseini Manes 03:12
- 5. Various Artists Paraponiunde I Manges Mas 03:21
- 5. E. "Vaggelakis" Sophroniou Ballos Smyrneikos Me Mane 03:15
- 6. Various Artists O Tekedsis 03:07
- 6. Marika Papagika Aidhinikos Xoros (Dance From Aydin) 04:11
- 7. Various Artists Argile Mu Jiati Svinis 03:16
- 7. And. Dalgas Zeimbekiko Melemenio 03:21
- 8. Various Artists Zembekano Spaniolo 03:22
- 8. Leopold Gad Piran Ta Frygana Fotia (The Neighborhood's Ablaze) 03:04
- 9. Kostas Karipis Minore Manes, S'Afino Tin Kali Nychtia 03:16
- 9. Various Artists Nei Hassiklides 03:16
- 10. Various Artists Htes to Vradi Stu Karipi 04:25
- 10. Andonis Dalgas Sousta Politiki 03:15
- 11. Various Artists O Masturas 03:09
- 11. Popular Orchestra Bournovalio 03:27
- 12. Marika Politissa Melachrinoula (Dark Skinned Girl) 03:02
- 12. Various Artists Manolis O Hassiklis 02:41
- 13. Various Artists Mes' Ton Teke Tis Marigos 02:59
- 13. Marika Politissa Rast Zergile 03:28
- 14. Rita Abadzi ZI Markopouliotissa (The Girl From Markopoulo) 03:15
- 14. Various Artists Mes' Tu Zambikou Ton Teke 03:08
- 15. Various Artists O Buffedsis 03:15
- 15. Róza Eskenázi Dzerkeza (The Circassian Girl) 03:21
- 16. Various Artists O Argiles 03:07
- 16. Róza Eskenázi Gazeli Sabach, Sti Mavri Yi Chrosto Kormi (I Owe My Body to The ...) 03:19
- 17. Various Artists Kandone Stavro Kandone 03:15
- 17. Efstrátios Payiomidizís San Eyriz' Ap' Tin Pylo (As I Returned From Pulos) 04:28
- 18. Róza Eskenázi Mes' To Vathi Skotadhi (In the Deep Darkness) 03:19
- 18. Various Artists Hanumakia 03:16
- 19. And. Kalyvopoulos O Prezakis [The Junkie] 03:05
- 19. Various Artists Panda Me Gliko Hassissi 03:15
- 20. And. Kalyvopoulos Yiovan Tsaous 03:23
- 20. Various Artists Mes' Tu Manthou Ton Teke 03:18
- 21. And. Kalyvopoulos Paraponiounde I Manges Mas (Our Manges Are Complaining) 03:11
- 21. Various Artists Sura Ke Mastura 03:26
- 22. Stellákis Perpiniádhis Ego Thelo Prigipessa (I Want a Princess) 03:17
- 22. Various Artists O Seretis 02:58
- 23. Various Artists O Prezakias 03:01
Flamenco, fado and tango are firm fixtures on the world music jukebox, but their close cultural equivalent, Greek rembetika, is overdue on the playlist. In Greece itself, roots artists and audiences are rediscovering the tradition in a big way, and a new generation of singers and instrumentalists is emerging to take the music forward. The rest of the world is sure to pick up on the unruly magic sooner or later.
Rembetika began on the margins of society—specifically in illegal but more or less tolerated hashish cafes—in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki in the mid 1920s, as migrants, seamen and traders from the east (in particular from Turkey and Lebanon) brought their customs with them. It was made by and for the manges, men and women who scorned straight society and its laws and conventions. A manga never wore a collar or tie, hated the police, smoked dope constantly, and avoided legitimate work whenever possible. Way to go.
Like its Latin cousins, rembetika is the blues in another form: music for the oppressed, the outlaw and the bohemian. It’s visceral, rough-edged, percussive, and rhythmically off-kilter; it possesses great melodic variety and charm, and amidst all the passion and pain, it’s capable of tenderness too. On the wonderfully atmospheric, time-travelling double CD Rembetika: Songs Of The Greek Underground 1925-1947—subtitled, just so there’s no misunderstanding, Manges, Passion, Drugs, Jail, Disease, Death—it’s sung by often untutored voices, who make up in feeling and depth of experience for what they lack in technique and polish. Accompanying instruments are mostly the bouzouki, the lauto and the tsuras, double string lutes of different sizes and sonorities, and the sanduri, a close relation of the north Indian santoor.
The first CD is devoted to the chief recreational pursuits of the manges, which were drugs, music and drugs. The overwhelming majority of the lyrics concern hashish (check the track titles for flavour). The remainder deal with heroin and cocaine, which were by the early 1930s making their unwelcome presence felt. The second CD is a relentless cold reality call, its songs portraying the downsides of manga life: prison, petty criminality and early death.
By the late 1930s, the manges and their culture were being harassed and driven further underground by the dictator Metaxas, and rembetika went almost completely off radar until its recent rediscovery. Time to raise a glass, or whatever, to its turbulent rebirth. – Chris May