One of Eastern Europe’s most exciting musical exports, K not K (formally known as Karpov not Kasparov) began making music based on the rules and strategies of chess. It might seem complicated but the output is always a very danceable tune. There are some classical allusions and plenty of Oriental flavours (because chess is an Oriental game) and there’s always a powerful dance-floor bass-driven sound that makes you jump and shout.
Chances are you’ll also see ballet dancers on the stage or maybe some sort of theatrical performance. Sometimes the music becomes a live soundtrack for avant-garde silent films or even for chess games played by the audience.
During the past 8 years, the band played in 38 out of 44 European countries on club or cultural stages, and also for festivals like
Nuits Sonores, Printemps de Bourges, Fusion, Amsterdam Dance Event, Electric Castle, Untold, Jazz in the Park, Electronic Beats, Eurosonic, Tallin Music Week, Stereoleto etc Some of these stages were shared with great bands like GusGus, Underworld, AltinGun, Poni Hoax etc
Debut LP “Soundtrack for a Game of Chess” has been nominated ‘album of the month’ by Vice Magazine, declared ‘one of the most valuable releases of the year’ by Radio Romania Cultural.
The Vocal Edits (2016) was declared Best Romanian Electronic Release of 2016 by Scena9.ro and stamped “probably the best Romanian album of its genre in the last 30 years” by the journalists of the musical blog Muzici&Faze.
Memory EP (2021) was featured on BBC 6, full album announced for spring 2023
Links:
http://www.knotk.com/
http://www.facebook.com/karpovnotkasparov
http://www.instagram.com/k.not.k
https://open.spotify.com/artist/44cbEMJmNNTtS1kgMYoQx5
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/karpov-not-kasparov/784382121
https://karpovnotkasparov.bandcamp.com/
http://www.soundcloud.com/knotk
