absent without leave is the solo project of George Mastrokostas, based in Athens, Greece.
Recording everything himself in his home-studio, he produces a sound that has at times been described as a mix of shoegaze, post-rock, ambient and electronica.
To date, he has released his music on labels such as distant noise (uk), unlabel (uk), chat blanc (canada), duotone (japan), bsbta (denmark), fuzzy panda (usa), symbolic interaction (japan), october man (uk), friend of mine (japan) and also on his own label sound in silence (greece) and has collaborated for split releases and remixes with artists like port-royal, yellow6, kimonophonic, televise (ex-slowdive) and millimetrik, amongst others.
He has played several gigs in Greece at various venues, including synch festival 2007 (alongside mum, !!!, front 242, fischerspooner and alexander hacke, amongst others) and has shared the stage, most of the times after being personally invited by the artists themselves, with piano magic, god is an astronaut, 65daysofstatic, port-royal, jeniferever, manyfingers (ex-movietone, collaborator of matt elliott / third eye foundation and hood), millimetrik, section 25 (from legendary factory records), sigmatropic and many others.
He has composed the soundtrack of the short film the crossroads (directed by Petros Sofikitis) and his music has been played on some of the best radio stations worldwide like BBC 6 Music, Resonance FM and others too.
George Mastrokostas - electric & acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, programming, loopers, e-bow, glockenspiel, bells, music boxes, melodica, harmonica, sampler, field recordings
with assistance from friends:
Charalambos Theocharis - electric guitars, bass, cellos, loopers, glockenspiel, bells
Olafur Josephsson - electric & acoustic guitars, bass, programming, bells, melodica, banjo, harp, shaker, maracas
Richard Adams - acoustic guitars, melodica
Attilio Bruzzone - keyboards
Ettore Di Roberto - keyboards, bells, sampler
Emilio Pozzolini - programming
Ben Holton - electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards, drums, programming
Rob Glover - bass, sampler
Clara Kebabian - violins, glockenspiel, hammered dulcimer
Alexandr Vatagin - cellos
Pascal Asselin - drums, programming, sampler
Eftychia Ramantza - visuals, videos, photography
Maria Vitsa - lyrics, vocals
last fm
Artist – Absent Without Leave - ‘Neath The Tumbling Stars [ * * * * * ]
Release Date – 2011
Genre – Ambient, Post-rock, Instrumental [ GET IT GET IT GET IT ]
Tracklist
01. Absent Without Leave – ‘neath The Tumbling Stars
02. Absent Without Leave – As The Leaves Fall From Trees
03. Absent Without Leave – Calm Of The Sea
download
Artist – Absent Without Leave – Faded Photographs
Release Date – 2011
Genre – Instrumental, Post-rock, Ambient
Tracklist
1 How the Winter Comes
2 Old Memory Tapes
3 Dreams and Hopes
4 Faded Photographs
5 Balloons in the Sky
6 Where the Birds Fly in Winter
7 Daydream Lullaby
8 Above the Trees
Artist – Absent Without Leave – Resound
Release Date – 2008
Genre – Instrumental, Ambient, Post-rock
Tracklist
1 Blue Vitriol 7:56
2 Aerolite 7:59
3 Pale Yellow 5:05
Artist – Absent Without Leave - Bon Voyage
Release Date – 2006
Genre – Instrumental, Ambient, Post-rock
Tracklist
1 Valentine
2 Film the Silence
3 Clouds
4 Blind
5 Love Dissolves
6 Just Like Then
7 Memories
8 Magic Box
Artist – Absent Without Leave – Postcards From Nowhere
Release Date – 2008
Genre – Instrumental, Ambient, Post-rock
Tracklist
1 Before the First Rain
2 These Days Are Cold
3 End of July
4 The Same Mistake
5 Sudden Change
6 25 Years
7 Following a Trembling Star
8 The First Rain