K NOT K♚

︎ danceable︎ trippy ︎ oriental ︎ electro︎

:LABELS:
Disco Halal / Warner Music (UK); MusicForDreams (DK);
PolychromeSounds (DE); FleetingWax (CH);
KarakterRecords (NL); Fiver'sHouse (RO)

♛ LIVE SHOW OPTIONS :

(1) FULL BAND CONCERT

(live drums, live synths, performers/dancers)

(2) DANCE PARTY

(live electronics + drum machines)

(3) MUSICAL CHESS

(live soundtrack for a live game of chess
played by the audience)

(4) CINE-CONCERT

(live soundtrack for a silent film projection)

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♚ PRESS :

“ROMANIAN DAFT PUNK”
(Stereoleto)

(BBC.co.uk)

“AN ELECTRO JOURNEY
TO THE TIME
OF THE GRANDMASTERS"
(3vor12.nl)

“THE BEST KIND
OF PLAYFUL ELECTRONIC
YOU’LL HEAR”
(RollingStone.in)

(Scena9.ro)

“SUPERBES AMBIANCES
PSYCHEDELIQUES”
(Tsugi.fr)

“WACKY BRILLIANCE”
(Quietus.co.uk)

“BEST ROMANIAN ALBUM
OF ITS GENRE
IN THE LAST 30 YEARS”
(Muzici&Faze.ro)

“PIONEERING MUSIC,
ARTFULLY DELIVERED”
(Gigwise.uk)

“WITH THE FOLKLORE
IN THE BLOOD”
(LaNazione.it)

“TANZEN
OHNE LAPTOP”
(Vice.de)

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♛ MUSIC VIDEOS :

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♞ BIO :

♚ One of Eastern Europe’s most exciting musical exports,
K not K (formally known as Karpov not Kasparov) makes optimistic-electronic music inspired by the game of chess.
♚During the past 8 years, the band played in 38 out of 44 European countries on club or cultural stages, museums, art galleries
but also for important festivals sharing the stage with great bands like GusGus, Underworld, AltinGun, Poni Hoax etc
♚ Debut LP "Soundtrack for a Game of Chess" has been nominated 'album of the month' by Vice Magazine,
declared ‘one of the most valuable releases of the year’ by Radio Romania Cultural.
♚ The Vocal Edits (2016) was declared Best Romanian Electronic Release of 2016 by Scena9.ro
and stamped "probably the best Romanian album of its genre in the last 30 years"
by the journalists of musical blog Muzici&Faze.
♚ Memory EP (2021) was featured on BBC 6 .
EP announced for winter 2024.

CONTACT:

+40722541717

VALERIUUU@GMAIL.COM

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“Influences from Eastern folk music are mixed with jazz and electro-sounds from the 80s. The whole strongly reminds of the pioneers of electronic music such as Jean Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze.”

Heyta Melssen - 3vor12 (NL)

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“The fidgety intensity of early Hot Chip. Swiss electro-dance oddballs Yello’s take on the dancefloor. The mesmerising, bloopy pulse of year-zero Acid House. Exotic melodies suggesting Turkey as much as Japan.”

Kieron Tyler - Mojo & Guardian journalist (UK)

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“Chess is math and that’s why Karpov not Kasparov’s sound is a mathematical fusion of electronic music, an early 80’s sound and some jazzy-oriental flavours. Like in chess, the drum machine and the vintage synths take turns on the offensive, wrapping around one another in a psychedelic waltz. Every move the instruments make nudges the track towards a new direction and changes the course of the game. The result is danceable, fluid and favourably inclined towards out-of-consciousness experiences.”

Matei Barbulescu - Europavox (FR)

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“This is how Daft Punk would have sounded if they were born in Bukarest, grew beards and watched Soviet films while playing their old analog synthesisers.”

Ilya Bortnyuk - director Stereoleto Festival, St Petersburg (RU)

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