Ethos II - Ethos II

''Balearic... LO-FI private lost recordings from 1983''

Sometimes, the better (or best) novels and movies come in pairs or series. Some stories are too good to be contained in one volume. If you are reading these lines, then you have already become familiar with the newest unearthed project in the RSU series: the band Ethos, formed in 1974 in Iași (in the eastern part of Romania), which continued its odyssey in Oradea (in the western part of the country).

While a student band in Iași, Ethos enjoyed considerable success at students’ festivals and concert halls across Romania. Radio stations and the national TV broadcast hosted their recordings, and several of the band’s performers made headlines in several cultural magazines all the way from Iași to Bucharest and beyond. Normally for those times, the story should have ended with the students’ graduation from the Iași Conservatory. Thanks to flutist Vasile Foica, the band carried on, in the city of Oradea, with a mix of old and new members. By 1983 the line-up consisted of Cornel Cristei (keyboards, vocals), Vasile Foica (flute, vocals), Felix Șipoș (guitar and vocals), Iosif Trendler (percussion), joined by none other than Claudiu Frunză on the bass guitar, coming from the band Modal Q (where he played keyboards).

Long story short, that year, the band made a series of recordings, on its own, in the hope of entering the radio and TV studios once again. Because of reasons which have to do with grim moments and times, Ethos never recovered and the band ultimately split.

The snippets you hear now are puzzle pieces in Ethos’ last stand with the changing times of the 1980s. While sonically not exactly on par with the band’s professional radio recordings, they more than make up, from a musical point of view: the band had mustered several years of performing and recording, and this is prominent on what you hear. Prog, jazz, and even pop come together in a series of instrumental and vocal pieces that remain progressive in spirit and execution, at a time when most Western peers (and originators) had called it quits.
Even more so, the DIY attitude that characterizes these recordings is reminiscent of those made by other underground progressive acts at that time, albeit in more forgiving political and cultural conditions. From this point of view, Ethos II actually has some of the “samizdat” vibe that was the norm among the underground culture of socialist times.

As with Ethos I, the artwork to vividly match the sonic power of such music is provided by visual artist Barna Fazakas.
The project is unearthed by Claudiu Oancea (curator, historical research, liner notes) and Remus Miron (producer, audio restoration and remastering).

(promotional text by Claudiu Oancea)

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Romanian Sounds Unearthed – 6
180gr. DMM (Direct Metal Mastering)
Made in France
MSRP €21