The whole strongly reminds of the pioneers of electronic music such as Jean Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze.”

Heyta Melssen - 3vor12 (NL)

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“The fidgety intensity of early Hot Chip. Swiss electro-dance oddballs Yello’s take on the dancefloor. The mesmerising, bloopy pulse of year-zero Acid House. Exotic melodies suggesting Turkey as much as Japan.”

Kieron Tyler - Mojo & Guardian journalist (UK)

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“BEST ROMANIAN ALBUM 2016” (SCENA 9)
http://www.scena9.ro/article/karpov-not-kasparov

“PROBABLY BEST ROMANIAN ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE LAST 30 YEARS” (MUZICI SI FAZE)
http://www.muzicisifaze.com/alt_articol.php?id=45

“PIONEERING MUSIC, ARTFULLY DELIVERED” (GIGWISE UK)
https://www.gigwise.com/features/3311348/meet-karpov-not-kasparov--the-pioneering-chess-themed-band-from-bucharest

“WITH THE FOLKLORE IN THE BLOOD” (LA NAZIONE.IT)
http://www.lanazione.it/firenze/cosa%20fare/karpov-not-kasparov-1.3070328

“WACKY BRILLIANCE” (QUIETUS MAGAZINE)
http://thequietus.com/articles/24038-things-learned-at-ment-festival-shortparis-mart-avi-glintshake

“DANCEABLE, FLUID… PSYCHEDELIC WALZ” (EUROPAVOX)
http://www.europavox.com/bands/karpov-not-kasparov/

“SUPERBES AMBIANCES PSYCHEDELIQUES” (TSUGI MAGAZINE)
https://www.tsugi.fr/karpov-not-kasparov-duo-synthebatterie-roumain-se-met-a-la-pop-avec-kaissa/

“BEST BANDS OF EUROPE 2017” (EUROPAVOX)
https://www.europavox.com/news/top-of-europe-2017/

“DES TUBES POP ORIGINAUX, ULTRA-EFFICACES “(TSUGI MAGAZINE)
https://www.tsugi.fr/exclu-les-roumains-de-karpov-not-kasparov-continuent-leur-exploration-pop-des-echecs/

“CLAVIERS ET PERCUSSIONS HYPNOTIQUES” (INDIE MUSIC)
http://www.indiemusic.fr/2016/12/05/karpov-not-kasparov-soundtrack-for-a-game-of-chess/

“DISCO FEVERISH” (GROOVE.DE)
http://groove.de/2017/03/21/karpov-not-kasparov-choose-your-color-gipsy-dark-khidja-remix-trackpremiere-fleeting-wax/

EUROPE’S PROFESSIONAL’S CHOICE 2018 (EUROPAVOX)
https://www.europavox.com/news/mid-2018-top-5-best-bands-europavox-com/

“ONE OF THE MOST ORIGINAL MUSICAL PROJECTS” (APROPO.TV)
https://vimeo.com/223751425

“TANZEN OHNE LAPTOP”( VICE.DE)
https://thump.vice.com/de/article/karpov-not-kasparov-bringen-dich-auch-ohne-laptop-zum-tanzen

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/karpovnotkasparov
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/k.not.k
WEB: www.knotk.com
SOUNDCLOUD: www.soundcloud.com/knotk
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/44cbEMJmNNTtS1kgMYoQx5
APPLE MUSIC: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/karpov-not-kasparov/784382121
BANDCAMP: https://karpovnotkasparov.bandcamp.com/

BIO: 

One of Eastern Europe’s most exciting musical exports, 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) but always there is this powerful dance-floor bass-driven sound that makes you jump and shout.
And wait! There's more to it than just the music. Chances are you’ll see also 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 five years, the duo played their very energetic live set on club or cultural stages all over Europe, and also for festivals like Nuits Sonores, Printemps de Bourges, Fusion Festival, Electric Castle, Untold, Electronic Beats, Europalia, Eurosonic, Tallin Music Week, Ment, Revolution, Sinsal, Stereoleto etc The band played in 38 out of 44 European countries + Russia and Israel.

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 and Radio Europa Libera and aired online on New York radio WFMU. In 2015 this LP was pressed on vinyl at the boutique label PolychromeSounds (Berlin).

The Vocal Edits 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 musical blog Muzici&Faze.

Matei Barbulescu - Europavox:

“Chess is math and that’s why Karpov not Kasparov’s sound is a mathematical fusion of electronic music, an early 80’s sound and some jazzy-oriental flavours. Like in chess, the drum machine and the vintage synths take turns on the offensive, wrapping around one another in a psychedelic waltz. Every move the instruments make nudges the track towards a new direction and changes the course of the game. The result is danceable, fluid and favourably inclined towards out-of-consciousness experiences.”

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Kieron Tyler - Mojo & Guardian journalist :  
                     
“The fidgety intensity of early Hot Chip. Swiss electro-dance oddballs Yello’s take on the dancefloor. The mesmerising, bloopy pulse of year-zero Acid House. Exotic melodies suggesting Turkey as much as Japan.” Yet what comes to mind when seeing Romania’s Karpov not Kasparov are fragments of the whole, kaleidoscopic, picture: touchstones.

With songs structured to reflect the rules of chess and the strategies of the masters which give them their name, Karpov not Kasparov are driven by real drums and real keyboards in a psychedelic game of action and reaction between drums and synthesizers.  

Approaching live performance with an outlook taking concerts into the realm of unpredictable happenings – dancers! interventions into the audience!! live chess!!! – ensures the duo always leaves an indelible impression. Only one thing can happen when encountering Bucharest natives Valeriu Borcos and Eduard Gabia, what has happened to audiences in Berlin, London and Paris: total surrender.”

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