User:Almansoglasnost/Glasnost (band)

Glasnost (band)

2004-2006: The Beginning - Community
Sophia Doskori was in Thessaloniki, Greece. Alejo Parella was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The band started in 2004 thanks to Community-A NewOrderOnline Tribute To New Order. They were participating on the contest with their own bands (The Minus One and almanso). They became good friends and started chatting about making a virtual band through the internet. Their first song was New Order's Crystal that was mixed by Chris Bentley and edited on the CommunityEP under the name of Nemesis. Later on they started making their own tracks and played together live on August 6th of that same year on the Community Launch Party in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On 2005 they changed the name to Glasnost and continued developing their own material through FTP.

2006-2008: Community 2
In 2006 they participated on the second edition of Community contest with a version of New Order's Turn and ended up in 2nd place between 102 bands. This album was edited later that year with the addition of “Les Artistes de la Communauté”, a compilation of own songs made by the winners that featured Glasnost's False.

2008-2012: Mirror recording years
They played live one more time on February 7th 2008 at La Brasserie in Heraklion, Greece. This time they had Labster Project's help on keyboards and programming and played a full 17-track setlist including own material and cover versions of Primal Scream's Miss Lucifer, New Order's Paradise, The Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale, PJ Harvey's Big Exit and Labster Project's Ki Omos Eimai Edo.

After that they focused on releasing their first album so they started recording and producing all the songs they wrote through all those early years.

2012-2013: Mirror
In 2012 they digitally released their debut album "Mirror", and that was enough to catch the attention of the argentinian label Twilight Records. The album was finally released in CD format (limited 300 units) on August 29th 2013. "Mirror" is a collection of 11 songs that show the band's taste for Electronic music, 80's New wave music and Indie rock, blending dance beats with guitars. The album has a complex mix of sounds, with dark ballads, pop melodies and rock attitude. Sophia's vocals move into the music soundscapes bringing a variety of emotions to Alejo's compositions.

Later that year the band was asked to be the opening act of The Frozen Autumn's show at The Roxy Live Bar in Buenos Aires. Sophia couldn't fly because her recent motherhood so Glasnost played with Cosaquitos en Globo's Maru Pardo Saguier on vocals, Lastrax's Tecnoman SF and Alejo on guitars and vocals.

2014: Mirror remixes
During 2014 the band started selecting and recording songs for their second album. In the meantime they released through NullRepublik Records netlabel an EP called "Mirror remixes" on October 22nd, containing three remixes of the song Alors by Hernán Casella (Dossiers Secrets), Tecnoman SF (Lastrax) and Looperfunk, and three of the song Nuštar by Dave Algeo (Flight), Patrick Mills (Lastrax) and C Bentley.

2015-2019: Maesltrom
Later on Sophia decided to leave the band and Alejo continued producing and recording Glasnost's second album "Maelstrom", which features songs written as a duo and new material. "Maelstrom" was released in August 16th 2019 and it features 8 songs that sound darker and rockier than "Mirror". Alejo produced all the songs, played all instruments and took care of the vocals, which brings a new twist to the classic sound of the band.

2020: The Lockdown Sessions, Half and The Other Half remixes
On 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced musicians all over the world to stop playing live, also in Argentina. Glasnost was no exception so Alejo decided to invite fellow musicians to make versions of all the songs from "Maelstrom" remotely and released them on YouTube under the name "The Lockdown Sessions". It featured different guest vocalists and musicians : Patrick Mills and Tecnoman SF (Lastrax) vocals and keyboards on "Maesltrom"; Carolina Chocrón, vocals on "Behind Your Eyes"; Mika & Dave Algeo (Flight), keyboards and vocals on "Better In The Dark"; Tracey DiLascio-Martinuk (Sunrise Before Dawn/Antidote For Annie), vocals and cello on "Pieces"; Zenitram (Richter (electro rock)), vocals on "Half"; Fernando Diéguez (Kutna Hora), vocals on "X"; and Maru Pardo Saguier (Cosaquitos en Globo), vocals on "Spring".

Later on that year two remix EPs were released. "Half" was released on September 18th and included 7 remixes of the single "Half" by Looperfunk, Melmoth, Julián Murias, The Junta, Sintex Bortexx & Javier Richarte (Periodic Table of Synthpop) plus one of Just Don't by Hidden Souls. "The Other Half" was released on October 23rd and included 8 remixes of other "Maelstrom" songs by People Theatre ("Spring"), Tech Heresy ("X"), 18 Slashes ("X"), Luis Marte ("Anguish"), The Tape Recorders ("Maelstrom"), Tecnoman SF (Lastrax) ("Pieces") & Dave Algeo (Flight) ("Better In The Dark"). Plus a new remix by Chris Bentley of the New Order's cover "Turn" that was originally featured on the Community 2 project.

A new album is expected for 2021.

Studio albums

 * Mirror (2013);
 * Maesltrom (2019)

EPs and singles

 * Mirror Remixes (2014);
 * Alors (2015);
 * Half (2020);
 * The Other Half (2020)

Music videos

 * Nuštar (2013);
 * Alors (2014);
 * X (2019);
 * Half (2019)