1989 (vinyl)

Description

The years follow one another, sometimes with an electrocardiogram close to zero, sometimes inhabited by a violent breath of freedom and rage mixed together. A breath so powerful that it lifts in its wake the cloud of ordinary and precious events that cement our own lives. Gran Kino is made up of 4 members who are as much musicians as globe-trotters. Rock, electro, hip-hop, traditional music, Gran Kino has chosen not to limit its musical identity to any one genre. As their encounters unfold, they let influences, rhythms, melodies and songs combine, merge and thus create their own DNA. Sara, Charlie, Morgan and Robin came together around an original project, which allowed them to work with other talented artists, beyond French-speaking borders. A strong theme, which brought back to each of them an inspiration that is both personal and universal. 1989. The youngest of the 80s, it is one of those electric years that saw the Wall of Shame collapse and pushed a young Chinese student to defy the tanks. One of those years when Vaclav Havel was elected after yet another stay in prison, when Madonna said prayers that were not very Catholic and when the Gameboy took over the playgrounds. 1989, a dense and intense year, at once formidable and tragic, where everyone can find an emotion, a sensation, a hope. For some it is also and above all an intimate evocation. For others, who did not yet have their feet on the ground, 1989 is an infinite field of possibilities, with no other form of nostalgia. A year gone by, but eternal, finished, but inexhaustible because it continues today to make the echo of its memories resonate, like so many seismic aftershocks. This is how Gran Kino chose to bring 1989 back to life, evoking in no particular order planetary upheavals and the heartbeats of a generation. The group therefore called on several artists, met during previous tours or simply contacted on the internet. It was their bold creativity but also this almost candor that made such an adventure possible, with only one constraint: to evoke something from 1989 and perform it in its native language. Gran Kino took care of the composition and arrangements. The final result is surprising, alternately moving or funny. Juan Hevos from North Carolina recalls this improbable spoon-fed service that led Chang to victory at Roland-Garros on “I Love Tennis,” Senegalese rapper Matador tells in Wolof about his beginnings in Hip-Hop(e) with Tambours du Bronx, Akiko Ando evokes the death of Hiro Hito, Calexico’s Arizona sings the praises of Sergio Leone. France, Canada, the Netherlands, New York complete the picture, but one of the most evocative tracks is undoubtedly “Sopron” where Arpad Bella, a Hungarian border guard, recounts how on August 19, 1989, he let hundreds of Hungarians cross the border into Austria. And you then, where were you in “1989”?