Dann M Torres - oud, textural guitar, middle eastern strings, ambient distress, world percussion
Influences
Bill Laswell, Mogwai, Tabla Beat Science, Dead Can Dance, Sigur Ros, Hamza El-Din, Steve Tibbetts, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Arvo Part, Mick Harris, Hilliard Ensemble, Harold Budd, Djivan Gasparyan, Matmos, Durutti Column, Naked City, Fennesz, Bill Frisell, Slowdive, Munir Bashir, Cocteau Twins, Don Caballero, Morton Feldman, DJ Cheb I Sabbah, Low, Barry Guy, Savath & Savalas, The Cure, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Lackluster, David Sylvian, Cranes, Richard Devine, Red House Painters, David Darling, Early Day Miners, Robert Fripp, Arc Lab, Madredeus, Glen Velez, Arab Strap, Jonas Hellborg, Stars of the Lid, Gavin Bryars, Ganger, David Torn, Rachel's, Eberhard Weber, Boards of Canada, Meredith Monk, Talip Ozkan, DJ Spooky, John Dowland, Giya Kancheli, Proem, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Russell Mills, the sound of viols, and the catalogue of ECM Records.
Sounds Like
The music of Knossos traces an instrumental excursion into the heart of world fusion; assembling post-rock sensibility with the complexity of IDM, D&B and Abstract electronica. Featuring a myriad of eastern instruments in an environment of ambient guitar clusters, electronic glitch, and dense rhythmic intensity.
..visit the Knossos website at www.ambientoud.com for more information...
Dann M Torres is a multi-instrumentalist with an affection for acoustic experimentation and electronic manipulation. Well versed in a variety of musical styles and idioms, from world fusion to post-rock, experimental to ambient jazz, Dann’s divergent approach to sound design seeks to deconstruct genres into a sound that is compelling and unique. His current project, Knossos, is a unusual blend of middle-eastern instrumentation with dense percussive layers of organic sounds and textured beats. Truly electro-acoustic in nature, the premise of the Knossos sound centers around the manipulation of eastern acoustic instruments with signal processing and ambient distress. Dann lives in the LA area and has worked with Solace, Eventide, Naked Rhythm, Suzanne Teng, Azam Ali, and a variety of other diverse musicians in the studio, and in improvised performance.
Thank you for accepting me as your myspace friend. Oud is a very popular instrument in my country, but nobody had made this kind of music you did. Best wishes from Greece :)
I agree with Ray. Your tracks, especially "The Hour Before Sleep" are so beautifully crafted, with such rich space and performance that they indeed seem timeless and "never get old". We should be hearing you everywhere. Randy
Just wanted to let you know I recently added "The Hour Before Sleep" as my profile song. I appreciate the meditative lines you are playing in that song.
The Oud is a beautiful bleeder, a deep thinker... what a tremendous instrument! I love its faraway yet intimate sound, its sage voice... And I value your like appreciation for the instrument too.
