"Need a vacation? Listen to the Hipsters as they evoke distant lands and eras and take you far, far away from Calgary. Named in honour of a style of music dating from around the turn of the last century, sometimes referred to as the "Greek Blues", the Hipsters also add gypsy-esque sounds, jazzy touches, Eastern rhythms, and the occasional irreverent pop reference as they put their indelible, original stamp on sensual Mediterranean music. ..."

-Christa O'Keefe,
Calgary Magazine Summer 2003

"Last Month, the Rembetika Hipsters celebrated the release of their long-awaited debut CD, Architects of Narghilé, in true hipster style with a belly dancer-festooned gig at the Night Gallery. ... the musicians came to refer to themselves as "mangas", which transtlates as dudes or hipsters. "We didn't like the sound of 'The Rembetika Dudes'", says Nick Diochnos. ... Group members recently made a musical pilgrimage to Greece, joining Nick and his family on a trip to his home village in the mountains where he went to baptize his baby girl. The band jammed with other (Greek) musicians and came back with an enlarged musical and Greek vocabulary."

- Christa O'Keefe,
Calgary Magazine Winter 2001

"The Rembetika Hipsters sure know how to play the "Greek Blues". The music is played in snaky time signatures, which makes for more polyrhythmic blues than its distant American relative. ... This is the real deal in rembetika, but features other touches that suggest blues, country and jazz influences that enhance the whole. There's a definite hurtin' feeling to Allen Baekeland's guitar work and Brigitte Dajczer's expressive violin work. ...they play with soul."

Architects of Narghilé review by David Dacks,
Exclaim magazine 2001.