Born in Buenos Aires, Axel Krygier first studied flute, piano and sax and went on to become a member of several leading bands of the Argentine rock scene. He’s released three albums locally, set up his own experimental combo as well as a sound system with which he made club ...
World Music/Contemporary | World Music/Traditional | Latin
The brilliant musician/composer/singer from Buenos Aires tells us the fantastic and hilarious story of a Bigfoot from the Stone Age, who travels through the history of mankind, from its early days to the 2.0 era. A delirious road movie about the paradoxes of civilization.
A devoted practicioner of cultural mashup and an adept of chaos theory, Argentine maverick Axel Krygier presents his fifth album Hombre de Piedra («Man of Stone»), a real turning point in the path he’s been following: unlike his previous records, which were assembled with a collage-like technique, his new one is a concept album, a delirious journey inspired by the French documentary ‘Lascaux: Le Ciel des Premiers Hommes’ (about the famous paleolithic cave paintings).
To tell the story of this caveman who speeds through the entire history of mankind in fast motion, Axel Krygier has explored new sonic and musical territories. Including his talent as a singer: his confident, captivating vocal performances occupy center stage as they never had before and, even if one doesn’t understand Spanish, his voice has a narrative quality which irresistibly carries the listener away.
Recorded in Buenos Aires, the album is a kaleidoscopic soundtrack which encompasses B movie lounge music (as in the title track) and bluesy dubstep (Invitame). Axel also settles old debts with rockabilly music (Tiempo y Tierra), spaghetti western (Mosquito), Balkanic rapture (Changarín) and even funky disco (Lo tendré que adivinar). In addition to Axel Krygier’s usual musical partners (see below), Hombre de Piedra also features his compatriot Daniel Melingo, and French artist Judah Warsky (who was part of Axel’s band several years ago).
Axel Krygier is definitely one of the central yet most atypical figures of the Argentine music scene. A multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, producer, songwriter, activist and iconoclast militant, he is firmly rooted in Latin-American music but has a universal outlook. Axel Kygier is also a film soun- dtrack composer, and has written music for many plays, musicals and dance performances. It should also be noted that Axel designs his own record sleeves and directs his own music videos.
On his upcoming tours, Axel will be appearing with the Argentine musicians who have backed him on the album. Aside from guitarist Juan Ravioli, who has been working closely with Axel since 2010, and renowned for his talents as an arranger (a.o. for Melingo), the band includes drummer Diego Arcaute (who also tours with Juana Molina), bassist Seca Cutaïa (the son Argentine rock legend Carlos Cutaïa) and Manuel Schaller (a member of Sexteto Irreal and a close associate of Axel’s since 2005) on theremin and synths.