Now Playing: July 2025
In June, I flew to Greece for my cousin’s private wedding and was blown away by the variety of classic and modern music Greece has to offer. From Greek folk and prog rock to nu jazz and electronica, below are some gems you should definitely get your hands on.
Thanks to my (family) connections, I was able to snag some highly limited Alchemist records as well. For those in the hip-hop space, The Alchemist is one of the most well-respected hip-hop producers in the game. His knack for sampling vinyl is second to none, and I’m so thankful to have my hands on some of his recent releases.
Year Released: 1972
Country: Greece
Format: 2x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Favourite Tracks: The Four Horsemen, Aegean Sea, Break
This record blew my mind after the first listen. I discovered the track, “Aegean Sea” when discovering classic Greek records to hunt for.
It’s a Greek prog-psych odyssey inspired by the Book of Revelation that can be described as avant-garde, theatrical, hypnotic and had some controversial elements to it.
My favourite track has to be Aegean Sea, an instrumental departure from the harder psych rock into more of a calm and serene break that leads into a hypnotic guitar solo with background narration.
During my recent visit to Athens, I managed to pick up the Greek pressing at Rock and Roll Circus, a quintessential record shop in Athens. This version is more raw, punchy, and closer to what the band intended. And while this version isn’t as easy to get, it’s totally worth the hunt.
Year Released: 2018
Country: Greece
Format: Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, Stereo, 180 gr.
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock, Funk / Soul, Blues
Style: Funk, Disco, Electro, Acoustic, Ambient, Avantgarde, Downtempo
Favourite Tracks: Making The Distance, Pt. I, II & III, Decision is Made, My Job Is Done
Cayetano has had an extensive career, but has struggled to pierce through the mainstream, which baffles me. His production style fuses genres such as jazz, hip-hop, electronica and so many more, making him a versatile producer.
Melanie is what I consider his magnum opus, as it fuses a multitude of genres so cohesively, creating a cinematic experience.
Year Released: 2020
Country: Greece
Format: Vinyl, EP, Limited Edition, Stereo, 180 gr.
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Contemporary Jazz
Favourite Tracks: Habitable Zone, Juno
When discovering modern Greek jazz on Spotify, the algorithm led me to Kepler is Free’s Teegarden. Unfortunately, the record isn’t available online anymore and limited to 200 copies. So I figured I’d DM the band to see if it was possible to get my hands on it. Fast forward to a meeting with the drummer, Nik, and I was able to secure the record.
This predominantly instrumental album is reminiscent of BADBADNOTGOOD, in that it honours jazz from the 20th century while infusing a modern, hip-hop-like groove.
Year Released: 2022
Country: Greece
Format: Vinyl, LP
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop
Style: Downtempo, Trip Hop, Experimental
Favourite Tracks: Broken Glasses, Fragile, When We Say Goodbye
If Radiohead, Tame Impala and Portishead made a record together, it would probably sound something like Saturation by Magenta Flaws.
This genre-blurring album fuses art rock, electronica, and ambient soul into a deeply immersive experience, and hails all the way from Greece.
It’s packed with warm synths, gloomy aesthetics, melancholic vocals, and hypnotic grooves.
I ordered this record as a double bundle, together with Melanie by Cayetano, who happened to produce Saturation, and was an absolute steal of a buy because I know I’ll be playing these records on repeat.
Year Released: 2025
Country: US
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Stereo, OBI
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Instrumental, Jazzy Hip-Hop
Favourite Tracks: The Sun Shines Thru, You Cry, What Comes From Earth Shall Return, Falling Deeper and Deeper
For a producer as seasoned as The Alchemist, he sure knows how to pump out high-quality music at unmatched quantities. It seems like he’s spitting out an album almost every month.
This record was released exclusively in vinyl from on his website and boy, is it great to play for the summer. The beats are warm, nostalgic and soulful. If Dole and Fruit of the Loom had a baby, this record cover is probably what would come out. While not printed in Japan, the OBI strip is an homage to the vinyl-dominant culture in Japan, where he recently toured.
Year Released: 2023
Country: US
Format: Vinyl, EP, Limited Edition, Numbered, Magenta
Genre: Hip-Hop
Favourite Tracks: Vertigo, Paint Different
While the follow up to the acclaimed Flying High didn’t see the same success, we saw The Alchemist pick up the pen again to spit some bars on each track. The B-side is simply an instrumental version of the EP on side A, but allows The Alchemist shine solo.
The album features the bar-heavy artists Conway The Machine, Action Bronson, Gangrene and Curren$y, all of whom have been blessed with Al’s beats and surely worthy of this tight, yet hard-hitting EP.
Year Released: 1974
Country: Greece
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Stereo, Gatefold
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Favourite Tracks: Vertigo, Paint Different
This is quite possibly the most iconic Greek record of all time. It was composed by Mikis Theodorakis, a legendary composer who’s written thousands of works. To Axion Esti is a powerful, choral-orchestral work from 1964 that blends traditional Greek folk music with classical composition and poetry.
It’s a musical rendition of the renowned poem from Nobel laureate Odysseas Elytis, touching on themes of suffering, resistance, spirituality, and rebirth — all rooted in modern Greek identity and Christian themes such as the Genesis of the world, and the symbolic suffering and resurrection of Christ.
Delivered by the main vocalist, Grigoris Bithikotsis, an icon in Greek music, this album is a quintessential musical body of work but also a socially, politically and culturally significant Greek album.
This pressing is primarily written in Greek, which fascinates me because I’ll be dissecting this album for a while. This album was a recommendation from a guy working at To Diskadiko, a record shop in Athens I can highly recommend, as they serve a wide variety of LPs and CDs, with a generous selection of Greek music. He made it clear that this was THE album to get, and I’m glad I was able to come home with this cultural masterpiece.
