Gueorgui Linev known professionally as Kan Wakan, is a Bulgarian-born, Los Angeles and UK-based

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

producer, composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Linev has released two studio albums under the name Kan Wakan (''Moving On'' and ''Phantasmagoria Vol. 1''). He is currently signed to the Bristol-based labe
3tone Records
He has done collaborations with

Moses Sumney Moses Sumney is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, ''Mid-City Island'', was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled ''Lamentations''. His first full-length album, ''Aromanticism'', was released ...

, Thundercat, and toured with

Lianne La Havas Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 1989), known professionally as Lianne La Havas ( ), is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for who ...

, and

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...

, just to name a few. Well-known for his cinematic approach, Linev wrote the music for Brian Klemesrud's 2016 crime thriller ''Dead Draw''.

Musical style

Gueorgui Linev incorporates both electronic and acoustic instruments into his compositions, often featuring instrumental solos such as his use of

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

on "Molasses." With Kan Wakan, Linev often uses live orchestras in compliment to

Analog Synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...

Electric Guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

and Bass, and various other instruments. His music is described as "touching the borders of

trip-hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos ...

, acoustic balladry, and

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

" according to ''The Fader''. ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

s Jeff Weiss described his music as "Striking a smooth, sinister balance between crepuscular

and experimental minimalism, Kan Wakan’s debut artfully recalls

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

and Portishead,

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal. Mazzy Star ...

and

The Cinematic Orchestra The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. The Cinematic Orchestra have produced four studio albums, ''Motion'' (1999) ...

Career

Kan Wakan

Kan Wakan formed in 2010 and began putting out songs two years later. In 2013, Kan Wakan released its debut EP, produced by Linev and engineered by Grammy Award-winning engineer

Darrell Thorp Darrell is a given name derived from an English surname, which was derived from Norman-French , originally denoting one who came from Airelle in France. There are no longer any towns in France called Airelle, but is the French word for huckleber ...

. Those entrancing early tracks quickly earned him airplay on Los Angeles'

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

radio station, a publisher, management and a contract with Universal's sub-publisher

Verve Music Group Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

. The EP featured orchestra performances via the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra led by Linev's uncle, Bulgarian Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra conductor Stefan Linev. In 2014, Kan Wakan returned with his debut full-length album, ''Moving On''. Upon release, 'Moving On' peaked at #37 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Yahoo! Music listed Kan Wakan as one of the "11 Best New Artists of 2014" and the success of 'Moving On' lead to Gueorgui Linev being named one of "The 10 Best Young L.A. Songwriters" by LA Weekly in 2014. In August 2016, Kan Wakan released 'Molasses,' which was named "Today's Top Tune" by Los Angeles based radio station KCRW, and premiered in Nylon Magazine. Followed by positive reviews from notable music blogs, including Indie Shuffle, the track hit #2 on Hype Machine. Following the successful momentum of 'Molasses,' Phantasmagoria's second single 'I Would' reached #2 on Hype Machine after Clash Magazine premiered the track, calling it "Absorbing" and was later placed in Indie Shuffle's "Best of October" Playlist.

''Phantasmagoria Vol. 1''

In 2018, Kan Wakan released his second studio album ''Phantasmagoria Vol. 1''. His song ''Molasses'' (ft. Elle Olsun) was used on season 1 of the American drama

Queen Sugar Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

Discography

References

External links

Kan Wakan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linev, Gueorgui Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Electro musicians Trip hop musicians Experimental musicians Psychedelic musicians