Stranded Particles Y-R

STRANDED PARTICLES Y-R is no other than Spyros Anagnostou, songwriter/guitarist - multi-instrumentalist for a number of punk, new wave & psychedelic groups in Athens, Greece since the early 80s. Spyros has been going 'solo' since 1980, when he cut his first ever recording, "The sun falls down", in June of that year. On a par with his NOT 2 WITHOUT 3 days (1983-86), he continued to record psych folk material on a 'solo mode', as well as dark / new wave material destined to become part of NOT 2 WITHOUT 3's repertoire. "Trying hard" falls into that latter category. For Spyros, other than his RED ELECTRONS psychedelic guise of 2006 onwards, there had been no other strictly solo release. That is up until now, that STRANDED PARTICLES Y-R's "Trying hard" marks the first ever release of Spyros' solo material from the mid 80s, penned while he was still writing and performing with NOT 2 WITHOUT 3. Indeed, "Trying hard" was one of his earliest new wave efforts, meant for his group's repertoire. Ultimately though, Spyros chose not to use the song. A 1984 demo, featuring just vocals and nylon-stringed guitar, lurks in Spyros' archive, while a later version of the tune has been resurrected for the "Βιων εν Ειρκτη" comp. "Trying hard" was first conceived on 24 July 1984 and was first put to tape on 11 January 1985. The "Βιων εν Ειρκτη" comp features a version that was cut on 18 February 1995, at Spyros' F25 studio. For the most part, it was meant as an experimental take, where his trademark all-black Fender Musicmaster guitar - purchased at Chappell in London's Bond Street, 1979 - was fed to a Peavey Studio Pro 40 amp / Peavey Basic 40 amp / Peavey Backstage Plus 35 amp (both are vintage instruments used in most of the performances/rehearsals with NOT 2 WITHOUT 3), then captured with a stereo mic which in turn was positioned next to the narrow end of a folded paper cone! Hence the tearing-paper effect of the fuzz guitar sound! Rhythm section was programmed on a late 80s Casio synth and features gloriously on this recording. Needless to say that the vocals and guitar are one take - no overdubs, no editing at all