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Music is Vast: A Tribute to the Music and Legacy of Vangelis

by Castles in Space

supported by
Trevor Lewis
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Trevor Lewis This, of course, is a must have on all levels. So many great artists. Must be 20 favorites here and Polypores is one of them. Always transported to another realm. Favorite track: All That Is, Or Ever Was.
Chap-A
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Chap-A This is a HUGE album, the amount of tracks you get for your money is amazing. The quality of the tracks is a fitting tribute to Vangelis. If you even only have a passing interest in his music or ambient music in general this is really worthy of your time. Favorite track: Bladerunner 2149.
Tim Burdsey
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Tim Burdsey An exquisitely-crafted tribute, sensitively and lovingly curated and executed. Such a great selection of tracks, all of them influenced in profound but different ways by the great man’s work. Tune in and float away in ecstatic memoriam.
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about

When Vangelis died on 17 May 2022 (aged 79), it hit harder than I could have imagined. Coming only weeks after the death of Klaus Schulze, I found myself in a fug of unproductive thoughts about mortality and what we really leave behind when we depart. It's probably my age.

I was thrown a lifeline by @KidNarco over on Twitter who DMd me to say, "Vangelis tribute compilation? I appear to be ready." I slept on it and in the cold light of day I realised that it had to be done. For Vangelis, for me, for Kid Narco. For all of us. I went back to him. "I’ve been thinking that this is a pretty fucking great idea." I told him. It was on.

So the call went out and as happened with my previous compilation adventure, "The Isolation Tapes" I was inundated with music of astounding range and quality. And quantity. It took me too long to realise that the magic in this one would be greatly diminished by taking a tiny selection of the tracks, constrained as we would be by the length of the sides of a vinyl album. As the project is essentially to raise money for The Trussell Trust, I also ruled out double albums, triple albums and box sets as being too expensive. Eventually.

The whole process has been pretty slow, but the time taken is rewarded in this brilliant collection. Not everything made it through, but this final selection of music inspired by the great man is a wonderful thing. It's great that we got representations of music from across his vast range of styles, but when compiling, I tried to select things which caught his essence. That indefinable thing that always made a Vangelis track a Vangelis track - that's what I went went looking for. I think I found it.
And now you have too.

Colin, Castles in Space, March 2023



We shouldn't need The Trussell Trust, but while we do, their essential work supporting a nationwide network of food banks and providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. ALL profits from this album will go to support their campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. Visit them at trusselltrust.org



Here are some submissions from the artists about how they first encountered the music of Vangelis and what it means to them, .This is work in progress so please revisit over the next few days as we compile additional texts.

"With the news of his passing still raw, there was something cathartic about channeling my sense of the man’s life into music. His music is vast, but his quiet, intimate works are the most enduring mark of it."
Emlyn Addison

"The first Vangelis music I ever heard was the album Spiral. I particularly liked the title track, Spiral and Dervish D. Sometime later I went to see Blade Runner and became quite obsessed with it. The film looked and sounded amazing. But for me it was the Blade Runner End Titles piece that stayed with me. Many years later in the very wee hours of the morning I was in a club dancing away to something I have no recollection of, when suddenly out of the blue the DJ played the Blade Runner End Titles. Everyone stayed on the dance floor. It sounded amazing through the club's PA. I spent the rest of the night and early morning informing everyone how much I liked the track and how it really was the most amazing thing to come out of the PA that night. It definitely was."
Keith Seatman

"My introduction to Vangelis came via a mixtape that someone made for me in about 91/92 when I was still at school. It was such an ear opening eclectic tape, featuring bits of the Terminator soundtrack, The Shamen, The Orb, New Order and about 5 Vangelis tracks. It was so well crafted. The artists and tracks were listed but for a long time I didn't really know who or what 'Vangelis' was, I thought it was a band name and I used to pronounce it 'Van-Glass' - being an ill-educated Geordie teenager! In those pre-internet days it took some years to learn more about this Vangelis. I played that tape to death.. I don't remember what happened to it but wish i could have the track listing again to recreate it!"
Neil Stringfellow, Audio Obscura.

"I remember watching Blade Runner for the first time in sixth grade on VHS. Coming from a small place in Norway, Hamar (where not much was happening) it really was a revelation. It literally was like catching a glimpse into the future. Like entering an unknown world for a kid my age. It was so fascinating but also very scary and somewhat sad. And today I'm convinced the soundtrack played a big part in that. The film made a huge impact on me, both visually and musically. I was especially moved by the emotional side of the music. Tracks like "Blade Runner Blues", "Memories of Green" and "Tears In Rain" really resonated within me. In fact they made me cry and to this day still do. Of course, I still have the soundtrack in my collection. So this experience made me go in search for Vangelis vast catalogue of music. I'm 100% positive that I wouldn't have gone into making music without the inspiration from him. And I believe Papathanassiou opened up the impact that instrumental has had on me (and millions of people) ever since. For this I am (or should I say we are) very grateful."
Benjamin Finger

"My first encounter with Vangelis was a vinyl edition of "L'Apocalypse des animaux" in the mid-1980s. A friend of mine obtained it when he moved from the bleak north of our town in Aberdeenshire to the bohemian hub of 80s Edinburgh. We played it incessantly during my visits south, mesmerised by its atmospheric qualities and the sombre elegance of its unique tones. This album remains for me a soundtrack of Auld Reekie in the summer months, when the buildings are aglow with shadows and amber, and the streets are awash with the smell of breweries and the promise of cold beer. I see music as a search for atmosphere, and there are few better explorers than Vangelis. I don't think there's anything I've created musically that hasn't been influenced by him. He's in everything I do."
Ruptured World

I get goose bumps every time I hear "Chariots of Fire". From that first introduction I made the decision to make music.
Liam White

"My first memory of Vangelis is not about the music itself but rather the Spiral-LP sleeve artwork. As a child I spent a lot of time listening to compilation albums my parents would occasionally buy to keep me occupied. I used to listen to them hours on end examining every detail of the sleeve. I suppose there must have been an inner sleeve or an insert to one of those compilations where all sorts of popular artists’ albums where advertised, and among those, Vangelis’ Spiral-album. That wire kind of pointing towards me immediately captured my attention and evoked all kinds of questions. It took me quite some time to figure out that in the clouds at the other end of that wire there might be headphones. Needless to say that all the while I had been listening with headphones on. What an intriguing and somewhat psychedelic experience!"
Perrache

credits

released March 29, 2023

A huge thanks to all the artists who have given their time and work freely in support of this project. Planetary sized gratitude to Antony Ryan at RedRedPaw who mastered this collection. Thanks Antony. ❤️

Thanks to Phil Heeks for support, enthusiasm and the cover artwork.
Thanks to Nathan Brenville for the Vangelis Portrait included in the download. and big thanks to Emlyn for suggesting the Vangelis quote which became the title of the album.

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Castles In Space UK

An independent record label releasing beautiful editions of the finest electronic music.

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