Dacianos (Dublin, Ireland)
www.dacianos.com

The music of Dacianos began to appear in 1999 on various artists' compilations. The following year their CD-only album Mis-showbusiness was released. This very atmospheric recording was mostly recorded live in the studio. Violins, piano and guitar provided the backing for sad, idealistic songs. Since then, they have developed a more uplifting kind of music and have utilized a wider range of instrumentation, including some programming, as their forthcoming second CD will attest. The two permanent members of the band are Barry Kavanagh and Eamon Hannan. Check out www.dacianos.com for MP3's and Real Audio.

Barry Kavanagh writes:

I initially came to the music of Talk Talk not as a musician but as a music listener, as a teenager in fact. Regardless of the originality they possessed in terms of composition, technique, recording process and so on, the music has an immediate impact on the listener and it was this impact that made an impression on me, above and beyond what I was to learn later on about the method behind the music.

Spirit of Eden fulfilled the goal of Impressionism insofar as it conjures up images in the mind. I was drawn to the references to the natural world and the 'natural' ambience of the recordings: the opening of "The Rainbow" is like sitting down at a brook in the countryside and immersing yourself in the surroundings. I was also drawn to the acceptance of extreme forms of existence in the lyrics, in "I Believe In You" for example. Honest, spirited lyrics that don't hide or sanitize anything have always been important to me.

As to whether Talk Talk have influenced Dacianos, I don't know. The most similar we've been is on the yet-to-be-released song "Section 20", with its penchant for cymbals and clean electric guitar. However, to compare it to Talk Talk is a total contradiction, as that song is based around programmed beats, while Talk Talk's music was one hundred per cent performance based. Actually, when we haven't used programming we've tended to go for live takes, vocals included, which Talk Talk couldn't have done.