Reviews of Releases
on or by Polish labels/ artists
All of these reviews concern releases on Polish labels or by Polish artists (or both, in certain cases). If interested in having anything reviewed, please note that we only accept physical format releases (vinyl, CD, CDR and cassette). We are interested in material from or by artists and labels based in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Slowakia, Lithuania, Latvia and other such countries only. We are open to all kinds of music and hope that more people will be contributing to this section shortly.
By: Richard Johnson
GAAP KVLT untitled 3” CDr
(BDTA, 2013)
Following, I believe, a now sold out cassette release by this Polish artist, this is the second such release on Poland’s rapidly rising BDTA label, which is operated by Michal Turowski in Wroclaw and remains mostly dedicated to low-fi electronics, dronework, field recording and sound art releases; usually on carefully packaged very low run CDrs or cassettes. This release is no exception and houses four short untitled pieces in a metallic bronze paper sleeve. 39 copies exist, whilst another 30 were packaged in a copper sleeve. The music itself is not so far removed from what Goem once chewed over, yet there’s something more contemporary and forward-looking here, with mighty rhythms and micro-beats binding the electronic wisps and general splurge together. The second and third cuts in particular delve into such territory, proffering as they do some industrial clanging, ghostly rattling, a steady bulldozer beat, and the kind of polyrhythmic undercurrents Plastikman once chiselled so well. So typical for such music, this is as much designed to get the mind dancing as well as feet. I look forward to hearing more.
WIEZEL.FABRYK Cel I Szwiato CD
(Oficyna Biedota, 2013)
Before the BDTA label was founded in mid-2013, Michal Turowski operated the Oficyna Biedota imprint between 2010 and its evolving into BDTA. This was dedicated to more in the way of Polish punk, post-rock and suchlike releases, with this particular album being one of the last to have appeared. Something like the third or fourth album by Wiezel Fabryk, who have themselves existed for at least 7 years now, this recalls a sprightly and energised time during the early ‘80s when punk moved into more progressive areas. Reminiscent of both Xmal Deutschland and The Chameleons, only the far better production really betrays the fact that this isn’t likewise some nugget from long gone times. Although arriving from music realms I personally barely dabble with now, it is hard not to feel swayed by the energy evident here. I would put my money on them cutting it live, too.
CHARLES-ERIC CHARRIER C6 GIG CD
(Monotype, 2013)
Spanning a couple of minutes short of fifty in total, this album amounts to one piece by this French artist who used to be in post-rock duo, The Man, and has subsequently embarked on a solo career under his own name. With occasional swells of deep bass furnishing the undercurrent throughout, C6 GIG picks its way through pockets of teased microscopic tones, sparse and random percussive sounds, barely audible atmospherics and a general mapping of the space between contemporary composition and improvisation via digital means. Tending to veer towards the sterile at times, I’m sure it would prove more captivating live and in a space where the details would not be overlooked. As it stands, however, it is perhaps a tad too measured, with little to snag the listener’s attention that it so clearly desires.
MICROMELANCOLIE #p st-m d rn_summertime CDr (BDTA, 2013)
Recent release by the prolific Robert SkrzynskI, who records under different guises and has been active for several years now. This CDr was released in an edition of 73, arrives in a screen-printed sleeve package also including an exclusive photograph inside, and collects four pieces melding field recordings, loops, wavering drones and ghostly textures together. The lengthy fourth piece, ‘In the Sun…’, is especially delectable as it appears to transport us through a network of subterranean tunnels permeated by a pervasive alien fog. Altogether, it both serves up some highly agreeable music and, true to form for the label, adds up to something far more than just this. I look forward to hearing more of Robert’s music.
BOLESLAW WAWRZYN II CDr
(BDTA, 2013)
Second edition of this CDr, released in an edition of 44 and contained in a package that also includes an exclusive photo as well as inserts, comprising of seven tracks. Each of these is a field recording, lasting anywhere between 5 and 12 minutes, sourced from various sites where past atrocities (conducted in WWII, I understand) were conducted and remain almost forgotten about by most. Birdsong, distant traffic noise, insects, wind and suchlike all converge to make for a suitably contemplative listen that’s as effective as set out to be, whilst the artwork, depicting various memorials, makes for appropriate accompaniment. Another worthwhile addition, for sure, to the ever-growing BDTA canon.
DWUTYSIECZNY Jedwabnik CD
(Bocian/Sangoplasmo, 2013)
I can say very little about what is behind this release beyond its being the result of four people including the incredible Gdansk-based improv clarinet player, Jerzy Mazzoll and Wojciech Kucharczyk, a.k.a. The Complainer. The fact the former’s presence is stamped all over this is in itself a seal of approval as far as I’m concerned, even though the music here is very much a departure from what we’d normally expect of him. Bringing, as it does, a selection of atmospheric droneworks spread over six tasty cuts, Jedwabnik, meaning ‘silkworm’ in English, is a largely soft-focus merging of textures, electronic rhythms and nicely treated clarinet. Everything hangs together beautifully, poised to charm one with an ebullient array of textures, sweeps and swerves that never once get snagged in the crevices so much similarly attired music often does. Possibly one of my favourite releases of recent months, for what it’s worth.
requiem@requiem.serpent.pl
NEMEZIS vs. MYKIETYN eponymous CD (Requiem, 2013)
The last album I heard of Nemezis’ was their Whispers Behind the Window, which was released by the now defunct but highly influential Polish Vivo label back in 2001. Since then, this duo of Lukasz Pawlak and Maciej Staniecki has at least had another album released and undergone some sonic surgery whereby the psycho-ambience and now redundant but so-called ‘illbient’ leanings of yore have lumbered towards even more contemporary new music settings; helped themselves no end by modern composer Pawel Mykietyn’s collaborative efforts on this collection of five pieces. Whilst oscillating textures and rolling banks of miasmic frah remain very much part of the fray, the classical slant adds welcome drama to the proceedings and is thankfully kept well away from those areas various post-industrial artists forage in order to try and sound mature and sophisticated as they attempt to disguise their limitations with orchestral samples. Following a few songs where it appears Nemezis’ presence is more pronounced than Mykietyn’s, both the fourth cut, ‘Echoes’ (nothing to do with Pink Floyd’s piece of the same name…) and the fifth, ‘A Couple With Their Heads Full of Clouds’, enter soundtrack-ish soundworlds, instrumentally rich and suitably contoured. It is on these pieces especially that the collaboration excels, but the whole album is one that commands repeat listens by simple virtue of all the ideas visibly bubbling away. It exudes confidence as it brazenly tackles all kinds of music and sews it together with a deserved professionalism. An accomplishment indeed.
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