... którędy pójdą dzicy święci

VA - Exploratory Music From Poland Vol.1 (2009)

2013-05-23T14:54:00.000+02:00

Płyta "Exploratory Music From Poland" została nagrana przy współpracy AudioTong Foundation i Instytutu Adama Mickiewicza dla uczczenia Roku Polskiego, w czasie którego zaplanowano ponad 200 wydarzeń kulturalnych na terenie całej Wielkiej Brytanii prezentujących współczesną kulturę polską. Płyta prezentuje całe spektrum współczesnej, polskiej muzyki eksperymentalnej, można na niej usłyszeć takie gatunki jak eksperymentalna elektronika czy avant-jazz. Komilacja została dołączona do magazynu The Wire z czerwca 2009 roku.

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The CD is an exclusive compilation of new Polish music, put together by AudioTong Foundation and Adam Mickiewicz Institute to mark Polska! Year 2009 - more than 200 events taking place in the UK throughout 2009 showcasing contemporary culture from Poland.

The CD is given away to all The Wire’s subscribers with copies of the June 2009 issue (#304).

From free improvisation to experimental electronics, noise to avant garde jazz and electronica, Exploratory Music From Poland Vol 1 gives a full spectrum insight into the vibrant state of contemporary Polish sound art. (thewire)

Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974)

2013-05-22T13:59:00.000+02:00

Adolph Gottlieb (ur. 14 marca 1903, zm. 3 marca 1974) – amerykański malarz, przedstawiciel ekspresjonizmu abstrakcyjnego.

Urodził się w Nowym Jorku. Studiował w Nowym Jorku (m.in. pod kierunkiem Johna Sloana) oraz w Paryżu.

W 1935 współzakładał grupę The Ten (Dziesiątka), zajmującą się malarstwem abstrakcyjnym i ekspresjonistycznym. Rok później poprzez organizację Works Progress Administration, zajmującą się zatrudnianiem bezrobotnych, zaangażował się w tzw. Federal Art Project (projekt wykorzystujący bezrobotnych artystów do tworzenia tzw. sztuki publicznej - plakatów, malowideł ściennych i obrazów mających ozdabiać miejsca publiczne). Zajmował się tam malarstwem sztalugowym.

W 1939 wygrał krajowy konkurs na malowidło ścienne mające zdobić budynek poczty w Yerrington w stanie Nevada. Dwa lata później rozpoczął pracę nad cyklem "Piktogramy". Pierwszy z obrazów został wystawiony w 1942 na drugiej dorocznej wystawie Federacji Malarzy i Rzeźbiarzy Nowoczesnych w galerii Wildenstein w Nowym Jorku. Pierwsza indywidualna wystawa Gottlieba została otwarta w nowojorskiej Artists Gallery 28 grudnia tego samego roku.

W 1943 Gottlieb wraz z innymi malarzami abstrakcyjnymi, jak m.in. Mark Rothko, John Graham i George Constant, założył stowarzyszenie New York Artist Painters. Wspólnie z M. Rothko wystosował list - manifest twórczy abstrakcyjnych ekspresjonistów opublikowany 13 czerwca w New York Times.

W 1944 został prezesem Federacji Malarzy i Rzeźbiarzy Nowoczesnych - piastował tę funkcję do następnego roku. W 1945 Muzeum Guggenheima kupiło 11 obrazów i jeden gwasz Gottlieba.

W kolejnych latach prace Gottlieba wystawiano wielokrotnie m.in. w Nowym Jorku i Paryżu. Nagradzano go też za osiągnięcia artystyczne.

W 1966 w pożarze zostało doszczętnie zniszczone jego studio. W 1970 po wylewie został lewostronnie sparaliżowany i skazany na życie na wózku inwalidzkim - kontynuował jednak malowanie. Zmarł w Nowym Jorku. (wikipedia)

Born in New York City in 1903. From 1920-1921 he studied at the Art Students League of New York, after which he traveled in France and Germany for a year. Before his skills had fully developed he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. When he returned, he was one of the most traveled New York Artists. In the mid-1930’s, he became a teacher using his acquired technical and art history knowledge to teach while he painted. In 1935 he was a founding member of The Ten, a group devoted to abstract art, and he became a major exponent of Abstract Expressionism whose painting style is linked to Marc Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnet Newman. A major theme in his painting was the challenge to humans to resolve dualities within the universe, the pressure of opposites: male and female, chaos and order, creation and destruction, order and chaos.

He was a WPA mural artist and from 1937 to 1939 was in Arizona, which influenced his subsequent "pictograph" series that occupied him the remainder of his life. The pictographs involved grid divisions of the canvas, primitive iconography, and imaginary landscapes. For him, the time in the Arizona desert was a time of transition from expressionist landscapes to highly personal still lifes of simple desert items such as gourds and peppers.

During World War II, Gottlieb encountered exiled Surrealists in New York and they added to and reaffirmed his belief in the subconscious as the well for evocative and universal art. This belief led him to experiment with basic and elemental symbols. The results of his experiments manifested themselves in his series “Pictographs” which spanned from 1941-1950. In his painting Voyager’s Return, he juxtaposes these symbols in compartmentalized spaces. His symbols reflect those of indigenous populations of North America and the Ancient Near East. However, once he found out one of his symbols was not original, he no longer used it. He wanted his symbols to have the same impact on all his viewers, striking a chord not because they had seen it before, but because it was so basic and elemental that it resounded within them.

In the 1950 he began his new series Imaginary Landscapes he retained his usage of a ‘pseudo-language,’ but added the new element of space. He was not painting landscapes in the traditional sense, rather he modified that genre to match his own style of painting. He painted simple figures in the foreground, and simple figures in the background, and the viewer can read the depth.

In his last series Burst which started in 1957, he simplifies his representation down to two shapes discs and winding masses. His paintings are variations with these elements arranged in different ways. This series, unlike the Imaginary Landscape series, suggests a basic landscape with a sun and a ground. On another level, the shapes are so rudimentary; they are not limited to this one interpretation. Gottlieb was a masterful colorist as well and in the Burst series his use of color is particularly crucial. He is considered one of the first color field painters and is one of the forerunners of Lyrical Abstraction.

Gottlieb’s career was marked by the evolution of space and universality. Gottlieb had a stroke in 1970, but continued on with his painting and worked on the Burst series until his death in 1974. In 1976 the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was formed, offering grants to visual artists. (rogallery)

Foa Hoka - Nievidomist’ 1997

2013-05-21T14:42:00.000+02:00

Foa hoka to jedna z najbardziej ekstrawaganckich eksperymentalnych formacji jak ukraińska scena kiedykolwiek miała. Debiutowali jako kapela post industrial neo folk w 1991 roku w składzie Dmytro Kurovsky [vocals/synth/flute] i Vladyslav Dikhtyarenko [synth/guitars]. W 1994 dołączył do nich znany jako DJ Derbastler Ivan Moskalenko [bass]. W miarę upływu lat, trasach po Ukrainie, Polsce i Niemczech, licznych wydawnictwach w 2002 Foa Hoaka stała się projektem otwartym dla wszystkich artystów nadających na tych samych falach. Między nagraniami z różnymi muzykami tak muzyki jak i video koncertowali w Niemczech, Rosji, Ukrainie, Austrii. Pośród ich ulubionych instrumentów znajdziemy gitary, skrzypce, flet, instrumenty dęte jak też wszelkiej maści efekty zniekształcające dźwięk oraz analogowe syntezatory. Ich muzyka jest określana jako eksperymentalny rock z elementami post-industrialu,minimal techno, psychodelicznego ambientu oraz new- i cold-wave. (independent)

Foa Hoka is a legendary Ukrainian band, who since 1991 set themselves up on the scene of experimental and avant-garde music. One of their latest compositions is called “Freak Veteran”, the title which describes their current status well: loads of experience, years of hard work, and yet they keep on pushing further, challenging and seeking new means of expression. All these years they sought to combine various styles and mold together different genres. In their efforts they always moved off the beaten tracks and strove toward innovation. The band builds their compositions out of large arsenal of samples, analog synthesizers, live instruments, psychedelic noises and computer generated sounds. Accordingly, primeval electronics merge with drive and energy of rock band, hypnotic rhythms are laid over with samples, sound effects, guitar riffs and saxophone, next comes along easy-listening hurly-burly mixed with the surfing music, then a deep bass leads into space and psychedelic rock music. Add here various elements of the world music, funk and dub, and you get the picture.

Foa Hoka’s vocal is not traditional singing but rather reminds one of charm mantras, primeval exclamations and functions as shaman’s murmurs. Tribal sound colors are enhanced by a laid-back, rusty and simultaneously spacey, rumbling sound which combines all the various stylistic licks.

Their musical eclecticism is defined by the human factor. Foa Hoka musicians are people of polar energy charge which leads to the unexpected musical ideas. Current line-up consists of: Dmytro Kurovsky (flute, vocals); former leader of the famous Kazma-Kazma Evgen Hodosh (guitar, Moog, percussion); and Serge Protsenko (saxophone, clarinet). The band performs live, multi-media shows, which were presented at various venues in the Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Poland and Russia. Colorful program, solid concert reputation and eccentric image have well earned Foa Hoka a special place inside the Ukrainian indie music scene. (foahoka)

VA - Back-Stage Pass (1986 Pronit)

2013-05-20T23:01:00.002+02:00

Kompilacja Back Stage Pass ukazała się oryginalnie w 1980 roku nakładem brytyjskiej firmy Supermusic Co. i zawierała utwory ówczesnej czołówki tamtejszych kapel punkowych jak UK Subs , Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects , Anti Pasti i wielu innych. Podejrzewam że płyta nie wzbudziła większych emocji ponieważ tego typu składanek wychodziło tam wtedy sporo. Sześć lat później płyta ukazała się w naszym kraju i to jest właśnie pierwszy powód dlaczego jest to dla wielu płyta „kultowa”. Drugi powód jest taki, że w latach 80- tych żyjąc w „obozie wiecznego szczęścia” w cieniu wszechobecnego Wielkiego Brata ze wschodu i co za tym idzie tzw. blokady kulturowej to obok wspomnianej ukazały się jeszcze dwie duże płyty z zachodnim punkiem – w 1985 koncertówka Exploited "On Stage" oraz w 1987 debiutancki lp Dead Kennedys "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables".I tak mieliśmy w owym czasie lepiej w porównaniu z naszymi sąsiadami jak Niemcy (ooops chciałem napisać NRD) czy Czechosłowacja gdzie za „fanaberie” bycia punkiem można było trafić do więzienia. (źródło)

Back to some old stuff to what every punk out there already knows. Released by Rossil Records in Portugal originally in 1980 and i have here the Polish pressing on Pronit Records from 1986 and i don't know if there's a UK release. Anyway, on it the Créme of early UK Punkrock and i think the makers use the current singles from that time to put it together and bring them closer to the scene outside the UK. Maybe a unofficial release. There is sadly no info inside. Worth mentioning are the tracks by Manufactured Romance with a female singer and i have never heard anything before and do not known the band to date. Who takes a look at the tracklist will find out that only hits are represented and you have when listening a lot of fun & maybe many nice memories as i. (source)

Jakob Olausson - Moonlight Farm (2006)

2013-05-20T14:13:00.000+02:00

Jakob Olausson is best known, if at all, for his sub-radar activities with Sweden’s Joshua Jugband 5 (check yr Slippytown back catalogue for more of that brand of boo) but this, his first solo LP, is a whole other bucket of flesh. Moonlight Farm is one of the most beautifully nocturnal and disconcertingly intimate broadcasts to make it out of the heart of the wood since Joshua’s Gold Cosmos. The overall atmosphere has the same kind of early electric feel as MV’s Maximum Arousal recordings, while Olausson’s evocatively double-tracked vocals move from a weighted down Skip Spence/Ben Chasny hybrid to a pro-denim and leather Leonard Cohen (or does that make him Jim Morrison?). His songs cross endless tranced dirges with drones that are so lunar they illuminate the entire horizon and huge distorto-smears of backing vox that sound like tiny fists crushing the light from stars. Some of the instrumentals here are so evocatively conceived – beautifully reconciling handmade DIY traditions and higher-minded bliss – that they sound positively Japanese, with a track like “The Wind Combs Her Hair” almost passing for early Ché-SHIZU. But it’s the songs you’ll keep coming back too, elegiac teleports to the fringes of a whole other evocatively conceived universe, where every breath births reverberant shadows and the map of yr desires reads like a mirror of the constellations. From one loner to another, this is everything that the phrase ‘private press’ conjures up and more. A modern classic. Comes with full-colour stuck on cover in the patented De Stijl manner. Limited to 800 copies and already sold out at source. Highest recommendation. (destijlrecs)

Tundra - Anekumena (2012)

2013-05-19T15:58:00.001+02:00

Anekumena by Tundra

Dawid Adrjanczyk i Krzysztof Joczyn, to muzycy eksperymentujący, tworzący muzykę na bazie etnologicznych poszukiwań. Ich wspólny projekt, zatytułowany Tundra, prowadzi nas do świata dźwięków inspirowanych mroźnym klimatem północy. Obok generowanych elektronicznie dźwięków, sampli i fragmentów mówionych, mamy tu przestrzenne brzmienia fletów, malujące piękne i groźne pejzaże.

Kompozycja "Krzyki drzew" rzeczywiście rozbrzmiewa brzmieniami, które mogą kojarzyć się z rozdzierającym lamentem. "Myszy harcują we wrzosach", to o wiele krótszy i skromniejszy w formie utwór, mający jednak w sobie coś z muzyki dawnej. Ten tradycyjny wątek, wyczuwalny podskórnie w prezentowanych dźwiękach powraca w "Podróży", której niepokojący wstęp przeradza się w narastające poczucie obcowania z bezkresem. Dopiero końcowe wyciszenie uspokaja słuchacza i sprowadza na właściwą drogę.

Mimo że muzyka projektu Tundra zawarta na płycie "Anekumena", to zaledwie trzy utwory, całość trwa jednak nieco ponad 20 minut i pozwala zorientować się o co mniej więcej w tym projekcie chodzi. Gdańscy muzycy nie tylko eksperymentują, ale mają również dość klarowną wizję tego, co chcą osiągnąć. Największym atutem muzyki prezentowanej na płycie projektu Tundra jest ogromny potencjał tej muzyki, rozpalającej wyobraźnię i zapraszającej do podróży w nieznane. Muzycy są jednak dobrymi przewodnikami, pozwalają nam więc wrócić po tych 20 minutach. Możemy poczuć, że jesteśmy bogatsi o interesujące, niecodzienne przeżycie. (folkowa)

Il Baletto Di Bronzo - Sirio 2222 (1970)

2013-05-18T16:23:00.001+02:00

Il Balletto di Bronzo - włoski zespół, powstały w 1966 roku w Neapolu, grający rock progresywny i psychodeliczny. Początkowo zespół tworzyli Marco Cecioni (śpiew, gitara), Lino Ajello (gitara), Michele Cupaiuolo (gitara basowa) oraz Giancarlo Stinga (perkusja). Jednak już w 1971 roku Cecioni i Cupaiuolo opuścili zespół, a ich miejsce zajęli Gianni Leone (śpiew, instrumenty klawiszowe) oraz Vito Manzari (gitara basowa).

Il Balletto di Bronzo formed in Naples in the late sixties with a line-up consisting of Lino Ajello (guitar), Giancarlo Stinga (drums), Marco Cecioni (guitar/vocals) and Michele Cupaiuolo (bass) using initially the name BATTITORI SELVAGGI. Despite avoiding the fate of many other Italian progressive bands of releasing one album and splitting up (they managed two) they still suffered from a lack of interest, the reason cited by some that they were too advanced for the time, which ultimately led to a split in 1973.

Their recording career started with the single "Neve Calda" in 1969 followed the following year by the album "Sirio 2222". Not really displaying much in the way of progressive rock at this stage the album was more in the psychedelic/blues rock vein with one foot still firmly in the sixties. 1971 saw a change of line-up with Cecione and Cupaiuolo leaving. They were replaced by on keyboards/vocals, Gianni Leone, who was in the original line-up of CITTA FRONTALE and bassist Vito Manzari, formerly of QUELLE STRANE COSE CHE, a band from Rome who despite doing some recording for RCA never managed to release anything. The addition of keyboards to the band's sound was to prove an inspired move and change the dynamics of their sound drastically. Their second album "Ys", which over time has become to be regarded as a classic by many RPI fans, was a much more sophisticated affair. Bearing no resemblance to "Sirio 2222" it saw a move towards symphonic prog with a very busy playing style containing elements of jazz and classical influences. An English language version was also prepared but didn't see a release until 1992.

After the split in 1973 one more release in the form of a single titled "La Tua Casa Comoda" saw the light of day, but only featured Stinga and Leone from the "Ys" line-up. Leone went on to a solo career as LEO NERO and released two albums. Many years later he returned with a new line-up of IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO where he was the only member of the seventies incarnation. He was joined by bassist Romolo Amichi and drummer Ugo Vantini and they released the live album "Trys" in 1999. More live shows with yet another rhythm section featuring drummer Adolfo Ramundo and bassist Marco Capozi later resulted in a DVD being released in 2008 titled "Live In Rome."

On the strength of "Ys" alone IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO are regarded as one of the more important and pioneering bands of the Italian prog scene. While it won't necessarily be to every RPI fans taste, it should be at least heard. - Paul Fowler/Nightfly

Ossian (1975)

2013-05-17T13:37:00.000+02:00

Pierwszy publiczny występ grupy Ossian miał miejsce wiosną 1971 roku w krakowskiej Piwnicy pod Baranami.

Od tamtej pory zespół występował na terenie całego kraju a także we Włoszech, Danii i Szwecji. Koncertował w filharmoniach, klubach studenckich, największych salach widowiskowych kraju a także w tak osobliwych miejscach jak szwedzkie więzienie, kościół San Francesco al Corso czy grób Romea i Julii w Weronie.

Zespół przyciąga bardzo różną publiczność i wzbudza ogromnie zróżnicowane opinie od oburzenia po entuzjazm. Muzyka grupy Ossian jest spokojna, pełna zadumy lecz czuje się w niej ukrytą żywiołowość. Brzmią w niej echa muzyki orientalnej. Muzycy grają na prostych instrumentach, nie używają aparatury nagłaśniającej.

Sposób w jaki muzycy zachowują się na scenie jest jak ich muzyka - spontaniczny, prosty i sugestywny. Toteż każdorazowy występ grupy jest zarazem spektaklem. Na tym chyba polega oryginalność zespołu i tajemnica jego oddziaływania.

Ossian made their first public appearance in the Spring of 1971 at the Piwnica pod Baranami, a well-known cabaret club in Cracow.

Since then the group has performed throughout the country and also in Italy, Denmark and Sweden. They have given concerts in music halls, students clubs and the country's largest concert-halls as well as in such unusual places as a Swedish prison, San Francesco al Corso Church and Romeo and Juliet's grave in Verona.

The group attracts a wide and much varied audience; opinions about its performances differ from indignation to enthusiasm. Ossian play peaceful, meditative music, echoing oriental influences and revealing a hidden spontaneity within. The musicians play on simple instruments without the use of amplifying equipment. The group's orginality stems from their behaviour on stage which is similar to their music - spontaneous, simple and suggestive; because of this each performance is also a visual experience. This is the secret of their influential appeal.

VA - Anthology: Rare Jazz/Fusion Gems from Hungarian Vaults, Vol. 1 (2005)

2013-05-15T15:05:00.000+02:00

Amazing jazz from the Hungarian scene of the 60s and early 70s – some of the most obscure work from Eastern Europe at the time, as the Hungarian labels never got out to the west as well as those from other nations! Theoretically, the Cold War should have stopped jazz exports to the rest of Europe – but nations like Poland and Czechoslovakia managed to get their artists some good western exposure at the time. But Hungary was another story – and although Budapest is less than an hour from Vienna, most of this work has never made it out to the west before! This volume is a delightful treasure throughout – filled with jazzy modal tunes that share a lot with the Saba/MPS work of the time – all hand-picked by Tom Weiland of Les Gammas, with an ear for the same sort of jazzy grooves as his own work! The set's especially great for piano-driven tunes – which are often pushed along with some excellent warm, round, acoustic basstones – leaping along soulfully on the set's more extended numbers. CD features a total of 11 tracks that include "Theme Of Ahmad Jamal" by Studio 11, "Dalia" by Pege Trio, "Night & Day" by Qualiton Jazz Ensemble, "Afro Cubano" by Balint Ensemble, "Hungarian Folksongs" by LDL Ensemble, "Song For My Father" by Csaba Deseo Ensemble, "Jarom Az Utam" by Grencso Kollektiva, and "Baby Car" by Pege Quintet.

Andrzej Dobrowolski (1921-1990)

2013-05-14T13:29:00.000+02:00

Kompozytor i pedagog. Urodzony 9 września 1921 we Lwowie, zmarł 8 sierpnia 1990 w Grazu.

W okresie okupacji studiował grę na organach u Bronisława Rutkowskiego, na klarnecie u Ludwika Kurkiewicza i śpiew u Stefana Belina-Skupiewskiego w Konserwatorium Warszawskim. W latach 1945-51 kontynuował naukę w Państwowej Wyższej Szkole Muzycznej w Krakowie pod kierunkiem Stefanii Łobaczewskiej w zakresie teorii oraz u Artura Malawskiego - kompozycji. Od 1947 do 1954 wykładał przedmioty teoretyczne w Państwowym Liceum Muzycznym i Państwowej Wyższej Szkole Muzycznej w Krakowie. Następnie, w latach 1954-76, był wykładowcą teorii (na stanowisku docenta) w Państwowej Wyższej Szkole Muzycznej w Warszawie, gdzie od 1964 prowadził także klasę kompozycji. Od 1976, mianowany profesorem zwyczajnym, wykładał w Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst w Grazu. Był tam profesorem klas kompozycji i muzyki elektronicznej. Od 1979 pełnił również funkcję dziekana Wydziału Kompozycji, Teorii i Dyrygentury tejże uczelni. Współpracował ponadto ze Studiem Eksperymentalnym Polskiego Radia w Warszawie oraz z Institut für Elektronische Musik przy Hochschule für Musik w Grazu. W 1969 został odznaczony Złotym Krzyżem Zasługi. W 1971 otrzymał nagrodę Ministra Kultury i Sztuki, w 1972 - nagrodę Związku Kompozytorów Polskich za całokształt działalności artystycznej, a w 1990 - Nagrodę Muzyczną Rządu Styrii im. Johanna Josepha Fuxa.

Andrzej Dobrowolski jest autorem pracy teoretycznej pt. Metodyka nauczania harmonii w szkołach muzycznych II stopnia (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, Kraków 1967).

Kiedy w 1958 roku powstało w Warszawie jedno z pierwszych na świecie studiów muzyki na taśmę - Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia - Andrzej Dobrowolski był jednym z pierwszych jego użytkowników. On też, wraz z Włodzimierzem Kotońskim, Zbigniewem Wiszniewskim i Bogusławem Schaefferem, odegrał w dziejach polskiej muzyki na taśmę czołową rolę, wytyczając kierunki jej rozwoju aż do lat siedemdziesiątych XX wieku. Pierwszym utworem Andrzeja Dobrowolskiego wykorzystującym nową technologię elektroakustyczną była zrealizowana w Studiu Eksperymentalnym Polskiego Radia w roku 1962 Muzyka na taśmę nr 1. Kompozytor wykorzystał jako materiał wyjściowy dźwięki różnego pochodzenia, co było przedsięwzięciem nowym, bowiem utwory zrealizowane dotychczas w warszawskim Studiu oparte były na materiale dźwiękowo jednorodnym. Dobrowolski użył wielotonów uzyskanych z generatorów, akordów fortepianu, głosów i dźwięków rezonansowych pudła fortepianu, do którego wykrzykiwane były pojedyncze samogłoski. Mimo tak różnorodnego materiału Muzykę na taśmę nr 1 cechuje jednolitość brzmienia, i to o wyraźnie "elektronicznym" charakterze, kompozytor poddał bowiem tym samym zabiegom strukturyzującym wszystkie nagromadzone na taśmie dźwięki. Niezwykłym wydarzeniem było wydanie partytury utworu Andrzeja Dobrowolskiego przez Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne. Utwory na taśmę istnieją zazwyczaj w formie zapisu jednorazowej realizacji studyjnej i właściwie nie zdarza się, aby były wydawane w postaci partytur.

Muzyka na taśmę nr 1 została wykonana, należałoby raczej powiedzieć: odtworzona, na festiwalu "Warszawska Jesień" dwukrotnie: w roku 1962 i 1963. Potem niemal każdy elektroniczny utwór Andrzeja Dobrowolskiego trafiał do programu kolejnych festiwali, stając się z reguły ważnym wydarzeniem. W 1966 zaprezentowana została Muzyka na taśmę magnetofonową i obój solo, która rozpoczęła całą serię utworów łączących "żywego" wykonawcę z muzyką z głośników. Będą to potem Muzyka na smyczki, dwie grupy instrumentów dętych i dwa głośniki skomponowana w roku 1967, Muzyka na taśmę i fortepian (1971), muzyka na taśmę i kontrabas (1977) oraz Muzyka na taśmę i klarnet basowy (1980). Czystą muzyką elektroniczną był utwór S For S, muzyka elektroniczna (1973), wreszcie w 1988 powstała Passacaglia für TX, w której blisko siedemdziesięcioletni kompozytor użył komputerów.

Twórczość elektroakustyczna nie była dominującą formą artystycznej wypowiedzi Andrzeja Dobrowolskiego. Przez całe życie uprawiał różne gatunki muzyczne, ale nawet na terenie czystej muzyki symfonicznej odnaleźć można brzmienia "elektroniczne", uzyskane poprzez zabiegi odkonwencjonalizujące tradycyjną strukturę dźwiękową orkiestry. (culture)

Andrzej Dobrowolski, composer and teacher, b. 9th September 1921 in Lwów (Lvov), d. 8th August 1990 in Graz. During the war he studied organ with Bronisław Rutkowski, clarinet with Ludwik Kurkiewicz and singing with Stefan Belina-Skupiewski at the Warsaw Conservatoire. In 1945-51 he continued his studies with Stefania Łobaczewska (theory) and Artur Malawski (composition) at the State Higher School of Music in Cracow. From 1947 to 1954 he taught theory at the State Secondary Music School and at the State Higher School of Music in Cracow. Subsequently, in 1954-76, he was associate professor of theory at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, where (from 1964) he also taught his own composition class. From 1976, after his state nomination to the academic title of professor, he was a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz, where he taught classes in composition and electronic music. From 1979 he also held the post of dean at the Department of Composition, Theory and Conducting at that academy. Dobrowolski was also engaged in the activity of the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio in Warsaw as well as the Institut für Elektronische Musik at the Hochschule für Musik in Graz. In 1969 he was decorated with the Gold Cross of Merit. In 1971 he received the Minister of Culture and Arts Award, in 1972 - the Award of the Polish Composers' Union for all his artistic achievements, and in 1990 - the Johann Joseph Fux Music Award of the Government of Styria. Dobrowolski wrote a theoretical study entitled Metodyka nauczania harmonii w szkołach muzycznych II stopnia [Methodology of teaching harmony in secondary music schools] (PWM, Cracow 1967).

When in 1958 one of the world’s first studios of music for tape - the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio - was founded in Warsaw, Andrzej Dobrowolski was one of its first users. Together with Włodzimierz Kotoński, Zbigniew Wiszniewski and Bogusław Schaeffer, he played a key role in the history of Polish music for tape, determining the directions in which it developed until the 1970s. Andrzej Dobrowolski’s first work in which he applied the new electro-acoustic technology was Music for Tape No. 1 recorded in the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio in 1962. The input sound material was derived from a variety of sources, which was a new idea, as the earlier pieces from the Warsaw Studio had been based on homogeneous sound material. Dobrowolski used polytones from generators, piano chords, voices and the sounds of the piano resonating box into which individual vowels were exclaimed. Despite such heterogeneous sources, Music for Tape No. 1 is characterised by a unity and integrity of sound, which is distinctly “electronic” in character. This is due to the identical structuring processes to which the composer submitted all the sounds collected on the tape. The publication of the score of this piece by PWM Edition was an extraordinary event: works for tape usually exist only as a unique studio recording and are virtually never published as a score. Music for Tape No. 1 was performed, or rather - played back - twice at the “Warsaw Autumn” festival (in 1962 and 1963). Virtually each subsequent electronic piece by Andrzej Dobrowolski was later presented at that festival, almost invariably becoming a major event in the programme. In 1966, Music for Magnetic Tape and Solo Oboe inaugurated a series of pieces which combined a “live” performer with music from loudspeakers. This work was followed by Music for Strings, Two Groups of Wind Instruments and Two Loudspeakers (1967), Music for Tape and Piano (1971), Music for Tape and Double-Bass (1977), Music for Tape and Bass Clarinet (1980). S for S, Electronic Music from 1973 was purely electronic; finally, in 1988, Dobrowolski wrote Passacaglia für TX in which the almost 70-year-old composer applied computers. Electro-acoustic works were by no means the dominant of artistic expression for Andrzej Dobrowolski. Throughout his life, he made use of various musical genres, but even in the field of purely symphonic music one can hear in his works “electronic” sound which he created by breaking the conventions related to the traditional sound structure of the orchestra. (polmic)

Frankie Dymon Jr. - Let it Out (1971)

2013-05-13T13:49:00.000+02:00

Frankie Dymon Jr. was a kind of 'project' led by Frank Dostal and Achim Reichel, previously members of The Rattles, one of the most well-known German beat groups, and Wonderland. Under the name Frankie Dymon Jr. they recorded one album in 1971, titled Let It Out, for which Reichel wrote most of the songs and produced the album (engineering was by Konrad Plank).

The album is a fantastic and rare German psych Kraut LP. Many of the tracks have very unusual arrangements. The psychedelic cover art is also notable. (progarchives)

New York Noise. Dance Music From The New York Underground 1978-1982 (box set)

2013-05-12T11:45:00.001+02:00

Working as a companion compilation to, Soul Jazz Records equally great UK focused, In The Beginning There Was Rhythm this disc brings together a collection of hard to find gems from New York based post-punk bands.

The compilation covers sounds which range from the nihilistic chaos of original No-Wave bands such as Mars and DNA, through the detuned sonic symphonies of Theoretical Girls and Glenn Branca and onto the Punk - Funk sound of bands like the Bloods and The Bush Tetras.

On the way the disc features many standout tracks. These include the stripped down minimal bass heavy sound of ESG, on the track You Make No Sense At All, and the turbulent saxophone spasms of James Chance and the Contortions Contort Yourself.

While presenting an impressive cross-section of the groups which were around at this particular point in time the compilation does omit some important acts from the story. Notable omissions include Lydia Lunch's group Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, James 'Blood' Ulmer, Y Pants and Ut. However what is here provides an impressive overview of the Lower Eastside sound in the early eighties and late seventies. Highlighting the convergence and cross-pollination of a myriad of musical genres that took place at this particular point in time.

I'm not in the habit of reviewing compilations but this one is so good, it deserves an exception.

Over the years, there have been countless music 'scenes', some alive and kicking to this day. One of my favourites was the short-lived "disco not disco" scene which came to life in downtown NYC between the end of the '70s and the early '80s.

In truth `Disco not disco' is just one of the many names used to describe a style that was about genre-bending, mixing punk, funk, disco and, above all, a no-wave sensibility which clearly marks the music as a product of Downtown NYC.

`Punk-funk' is another label which has some currency, just like `Mutant Disco' (incidentally, this is the title of another excellent compilation devoted to the same scene and published by Ze Records, which was sort of the `flaghsip label' for the genre).

What makes this short period of time so fascinaning is the 'scene' element: artists mingling with musicians (in fact, many bands were started by artists, one notable example being Gray, founded by Basquiat and Vincent Gallo), fashion, zines, shops and places (the legendary Mudd club, for one)... In short, many elements and people from different fields collaborating and adhering to the same (or at least, similar) aesthetics and lifestyle.

But I don't mean to take away the focus from the music, which is excellent. Here you have the cream of the crop, the artists that really defined the genre: Liquid Liquid, ESG (still active), the impossibly-cool James Chance, Bush Tetras, Glen Branca (Lesson no. 1, which came before his magmum opus `The Ascension' is perhaps my favourite track here although different from the rest as the disco element is completely absent), DNA (which are closer to the original no wave genre but still manage to be included in the selection), etc.

Many tracks here have a danceable feel, although this is not what the mainstream-dancefloor was having at the time. Singing is reduced to nervous yelps, there is a lot of dissonance (no wave, anyone?) and the use of the bass, something I'm very fond of, is best described as `frantic'.

Lovely compiled by Soul Jazz Records, perhaps the best reissue label out there, New York Noise is an outstanding testament to a fantastic music scene, echoes of which are still influencing people, ranging from Liars to The Rapture. (Amazon)

Johnny Moped - Cycledelic (1978)

2013-05-11T23:23:00.000+02:00

Johnny Moped were a mid-1970s English punk rock group from south London, who once had Chrissie Hynde (later of The Pretenders) and Captain Sensible (later of The Damned) within their ranks.

Formed in Croydon in May 1974, the band were a proto-punk band. Initially calling themselves Johnny Moped and the 5 Arrogant Superstars, by August they changed their moniker to Assault and Buggery, then the Commercial Band, before reverting to just Johnny Moped by January 1975.

Johnny Moped became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of London’s now-legendary Roxy Club. They played two gigs in February 1977, one supporting Eater and one backing The Damned. Again, in March, they played another two gigs, one supporting Slaughter & The Dogs and the other backing The Damned. In April, they were on a bill that included Wire, X-Ray Spex and the Buzzcocks.

Johnny Moped’s "Hard Lovin’ Man" appeared on the hit various artists album Live at the Roxy WC2 (Harvest Records, 1977). "Incendiary Device" made number 15 in BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel’s ‘Festive Fifty’, the so-called ‘lost list’ of 1977.They signed for Chiswick Records and released three singles, including "Little Queenie" (a cover of the Chuck Berry song), and one album before splitting up. "No-One" featured on the Chiswick various artists sampler album Long Shots, Dead Certs and Odds On Favourite (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume Two) in 1978.

Sixteen years after its release, the publishers of The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, named Cycledelic as one of the best fifty punk albums of all-time.

The Cycledelic LP was cut in such a way as to have a "hidden track" within the opening track. (wikipedia)

Basically, it’s better that being hit round the head with a mace…

The pride of Croydon’s one and only album has long been among the most defining artefacts of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it era that spawned the full-on punk explosion. Johnny Moped - both the band, and their chummily eponymous frontman – were and still are the epitome of what was at the vanguard of early punk. Along with two Berks and a Slimy Toad, JM purveyed a skewed stance on cranked-up R&B that made him and his colleagues heroes of the early punk elite and also of quite a few pub rock fans who didn’t much like the hardcore 1-2-3-4 stuff but would, depending on how many pints you got inside them, grudgingly admit to liking the Mopeds and others of their fairly unique ilk.

Not all of the best punk-era bands were recorded, but through the farsightedness of Ace’s precursor Chiswick Records, Johnny Moped happily were. Thirty years on, “Cycledelic” wears its dumb brilliance well, from the castrato attack on Mr Berry’s Little Queenie to the shoulda-beena-smash singalong stupefaction of Darling, Let’s Have Another Baby. Johnny Moped’s era ended all too abruptly when his missus wouldn’t let him go out and play with his mates anymore, but we’ll always have “Cycledelic” – handily preserved in its entirety in this new super duper Hip Pocket edition – to fight their corner in the battleground that was, is and forever will be punk rock.--- Tony Rounce

Electric Sound Show. Rare & Obscure Sounds From The Psychedelic Era [box set] (2011)

2013-05-10T18:07:00.000+02:00

Jedna z najlepszych składanek psychedelicznych jakie się ukazały na rynku. Wydana w 2011 roku przez wytwórnię Particles. Zaawiera ponad sto nagrań przeróżnych, mało znanych grup, które nagrały singla - może dwa - albo nic nie nagrały w postaci winylowej - i zniknęły. Na uwagę zwraca fakt, że wydawcy uwzględnili również zespoły zza wschodniej granicy np. Czechosłowacki - Blue Effect czy naszych rodzimych Czerwono Czarnych.

"A beautiful magic box of aural pleasures for the musical connoisseur, this box-set has absolutely nailed the psychedelic compilation and defined it as a genre in itself” Ed Marsh, Balls magazine

Electric Sound Show collects in one limited edition (of 1000) 5 CDs which are based on the original vinyl LPs in the Incredible Sound Show Stories series. It is very similar to projects from Past & Present but this collection is on the Particles label and is designated PARTBOX1 indicating the first offering in this series. There is no information about the sources for the material or who compiled and mastered the recordings, but there is extensive detail about each track written by the Psychomaniac. As with the Past & Present collections the sound quality varies from track to track and the vinyl sources are evident - but collectors will be pleased to hear these 121 rare popsike tracks on CD.

If you have any of the vinyl you will probably want to add this set to your collection as it should sound better. This is one for collectors really but represents good value for what the compilers have achieved and may well be collectable in its own right in years to come - but its no "Nuggets"!! Five stars for its intended market - casual purchasers may not be so impressed! (Amazon )

Doug Jerebine - Doug Jerebine is Jesse Harper (2012)

2013-05-10T14:50:00.000+02:00

Who is Jesse Harper? Doug Jerebine is Jesse Harper. And who is Doug Jerebine? Born on New Zealand's North Island in rural Tangowahine, he cut his teeth on guitar from the age of 12, instructed first by a half- Maori, half-Greek guitarist who introduced him to everything from George Van Eps to Hank Marvin. Then one day, he found Doug teaching him. Even when he was only in high school, Doug was ready to play out. Throughout the early 1960s, he was hopping around in Auckland bands, including The Embers and The Brew. At the same time, Doug dove deeply into the virtuosic sitar sounds of Vilayat Kahn and Ravi Shankar, learning to play that instrument as well. Drag City proudly presents the first official release of his remarkable album, 'Is Jesse Harper', transferred to tape from one of three existing original acetates. Doug Jerebine 'Is Jesse Harper' is an archival release sure to resonate with fans of Jimi Hendrix, 10 Years After, Randy Holden, Merrell Fankhauser and the HMS Bounty, Spirit and other heavy sounds not truly heard and felt since the days of Gary Yoder and Kak. The mystery of the Jesse Harper album, long rumoured and gossiped about, is finally brought to light for all to hear and enjoy, with thrilling liner notes openly revealing the man behind the myth.

The Cortinas - Singles & True Romances (1977-1978)

2013-05-09T20:57:00.003+02:00

Oto kolejny sympatyczny zespół z okresu początków punk rocka - z Bristolu - The Cortinas. Na przykładzie ich któtkiego żywota możemy doskonale przestudiować jaki wpływ na muzykę ma chęć komercyjnego sukcesu, albo też młodzieńcze wplątanie się w machinę show biznesu. Pierwsze dwa single są po prostu świetne - czuć w nich świeżość, energię - ale nagrany dla CBS w niedługim odstępie czasu album to cień debiutu.

The Cortinas are a 1970s Bristol-based punk rock band. Guitarist Nick Sheppard went on to play with The Clash. In 2001, the band’s debut single, "Fascist Dictator" (originally released in June 1977), was included in a leading British music magazine’s list of the best punk-rock singles of all-time.

Named after a car, the Ford Cortina, the band moved from R&B towards covering songs by punk forerunners like the New York Dolls and The Stooges. "In retrospect, I suppose we were very hip," Sheppard says. "We were listening to the right records, as we were right there at the right time."

The band developed a large and enthusiastic following in their hometown. Unfortunately, their growing popularity began to attract a great deal of crowd trouble.

The band were also frequent visitors to London and became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of the now-legendary Roxy Club. They supported The Stranglers in January 1977 and then headlined twice the following month. The Cortinas headlined the Roxy again in March and April, supported by The Models on both occasions. In June 1977 they had their first headlining show at the Marquee Club. Later they played as support act for Blondie and Chelsea.

The Cortinas' first two singles both appeared on Step Forward, the label run by Police manager Miles Copeland and Mark Perry.

On 16 July 1977, a few weeks after releasing "Fascist Dictator", the band recorded a session at Maida Vale 4 studio, for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. The tracklisting was "Defiant Pose", "Television Families", "Having It", and "Further Education".

Later the Cortinas signed for CBS Records and released one album, True Romances. One critic described the album as “disappointing” but rescued from “bland oblivion” by “cheeky tracks such as ‘Ask Mr. Waverly’ and ‘I Trust Valerie Singleton’. Another called it a mix of “rock’n’roll, R&B and pop-rock” and therefore “much more mainstream in style and delivery” than the Step Forward singles. This was a view echoed by Wilson Neate of Allmusic: “Having begun life under the spell of '60s R&B and garage rock, the Cortinas soon emerged as Bristol's premiere punk band, injecting a speedy, shouty, confrontational edge into their sound for their first two singles ("Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose"). By the time of their 1978 debut album for CBS, however, they had re-embraced their formative influences and added a more pop-friendly dimension... True Romances sounds more befitting of a bunch of middle-aged pub rockers than five teenage punk rockers”.

The band split up in September 1978 but have recently been confirmed as an act at Rebellion Punk Festival in 2012.

Dan Kaufman - Force of Light (2007)

2013-05-09T14:26:00.000+02:00

Niniejszy tytuł jest poruszającym hołdem muzycznym dla Paula Celana, żydowskiego poety urodzonego w Rumunii - jednego z największych w XX wieku - którego twórczość naznaczona została osobistą tragedią z czasów II Wojny Światowej. John Zorn, również zafascynowany poezją Celana, zaprosił Kaufmana i jego zespół Barbez do zrealizowania w wydawnictwie Tzadik albumu dedykowanego temu poecie.

Grupa Barbez od ponad dekady szczyciła się wysoką pozycją w kręgach progresywnej sceny nowojorskiej. Wyraziste recytacje wierszy Celana powierzono szkockiej poetce Fionie Templeton, której udało się uwypuklić wszelkie osobliwości poetyckiego języka: grę słów, abstrakcyjne myślenie, wielowarstwowość i wieloznaczność tekstów. Głos Templeton okazał się być na tyle mocnym, że stał się niemal równoważnym elementem dialogu dla towarzyszącej orkiestry (gitara, klarnet, syntezator theremin, wibrafon lub marimba, bas, perkusja, oraz sekcja smyczkowa). Wyciszony klimat muzyczny został zbudowany z elementów muzyki klezmerskiej, starodawnego tańca francuskiego musette, argentyńskiego tanga, współczesnej kameralistyki, cool jazzu i art rocka. Na tym eklektyczym tle uwypukliła się tragiczna wymowa poezji Celana. W delikatne frazy gitary wplotły się deklamacje Templeton. Dodano kilka utworów, stanowiących tylko instrumentalną impresję poezji Celana w tonie melancholijnym, posępnym, niekiedy prowokującym, innym razem nawet wzruszającym, tak jak poezja Celana - opierająca się jednoznacznej interpretacji. (audio)

The notion of creating a musical album around the works of a poet, any poet, is a contentious one, whether the music is composed by the writer, or, as it is here, a posthumous homage and affirmative response to one of the most enigmatic, mysterious, and brilliant poets of the 20th century, Paul Celan. Guitarist Dan Kaufman and his collaborators have undertaken a mighty effort because Celan's body of work, though emotionally loaded with images of separation, death, and an unnameable, even unspeakable loneliness and anguish, is a quiet one. His poems speak slowly, deliberately, and more often than not, indirectly. They are, nonetheless, razor sharp at getting through to the small root that opens into a vast abyss at the center of language; where it doesn't hold meaning captive any longer. In Celan's work, it breaks down instead, allowing the reader to fall headlong into the space generated by its broken bits and pieces; it leaves nothing to hold onto, even though his lines are taut, spare, skeletal. They leave no room for the reader escape from what they reveal, and draw tears from the pit of the belly.

Born in Romania, Celan was a Jew who, along with his parents, was rounded up by the Nazis and sent into the labor and concentration camps. Both his parents died there: his father contracted typhus; his mother was executed. Almost in direct response to Theodor Adorno's notion that there can be no poetry after Auschwitz, Celan wrote the most beautiful and haunting poetry from the very root pot of that poisonous plant. Celan and Edmond Jabes (another Jewish poet, in this case exiled from Cairo during the Suez crisis) wrote consistently and totally from the place of the wound caused by the Holocaust and historical exile of the Jew, and neither was didactic. In Celan's case, that wound was so great that it finally consumed him; he committed suicide. While literary critics debate the deconstruction of meaning in Celan's (and Jabes') work, the rest of us have merely to open the book and consider it, to allow it in and to let it change our worlds.

Kaufman has done just that. Far from stringing along musical phrases to underscore poignant points in the writer's text, he understands that every pause is poignant. His job lies elsewhere, to reveal the ready meaning in these poems, to allow the listener to hear the way a human voice can utter them, and with his music, accompany them along into the depths of the human heart and its own mystery. Kaufman plays both electric and nylon-string guitar and, on occasion, lap steel. His collaborators include Pamelia Kurstin on theremin, Danny Tunick on vibes and marimba, Peter Hess on clarinets, Dan Coates and Peter Lettre on basses, and drummer John Bollinger. Other musical guests include Julia Kent on cello and Catherine McRae and Sarah Bernstein on violins. The voice reading these poems is no less than Fiona Templeton's. On the first track, Kaufman offers up one of Celan's most famous works, "Shibboleth." His nylon-string guitar fills the space very carefully as Templeton reads: "Together with my stones/Grown big with weeping/Behind the bars/They dragged me out into the middle of the market/That place where the flag unfurls/To which I swore no kind of allegiance/Flute, double flute of night/Remember the dark twin redness of the enemy and Madrid/Set your flag at half mast, memory/At half mast today and forever/Heart, here too reveal what you are/Here in the midst of the market/Calling Shibboleth/Call it out into your alien homeland...."

Kaufman's dramatic tension rises even as Templeton's voice remains steady, the music revealing the calling out of "Shibboleth" into the "alien homeland," where both speaker and spoken ring incessantly in the hollows of history. It may have been Madrid, invoked by the excruciating memory of the author, but it rings inside all of us and without us, forgotten but ever a reminder in our world, shown almost daily on television; when passively agreed to, this place approaches the same possibility as the former Yugoslavia, or Darfur. Kaufman is no autodidact. In the music of Celan's skeletal poems, he hears that there can be no symphonies to adorn them, only sonic appendages to his "Force of Light." The title track that follows this opening is loaded and no words ever come from the mouth of the reader. The terrain where "force" happens -- painted by electric guitars, cello, vibes, marimba, an electric bass, and drum kit -- is a fragile one, so one must approach cautiously. And this band does -- slowly, every slowly at first but gaining ground and momentum even as this field of sound is broken -- wrangling itself through counterpoint and dynamic changes with angles not measured so much as simply manifested, almost to shake off the meaning of the previous poem, but instead underscore what it means. Consequently, the tune doesn't end; it just ceases a frame at a time.

Kaufman follows no formula on this album. Some pieces have poems within them and some are purely instrumental tracks, such as "The Black Forest," in which off-kilter marimba and guitars call out for the violins and drums to answer. Basslines point a way into the tangle, but Kaufman's indirect, emotionally taut composition digs ever deeper into the mass of sound for 14 minutes, allowing listeners to experience glimpses of sunlight through the shadows. There is a repetitive theme, but it's the pulse of itself, insistent on its existence as the instruments engage one another and give way from one thematic concern to the next, always with klezmer and Yiddish folk music in equal tension with jazz and modern classical music; they are in turns quizzical, ambiguous, humorous, and nearly aggressive. The solos by theremin and bass clarinet to this restated theme are some of the more remarkable moments on this already quite stunning record. Elsewhere, "Voice in the Mountains" is an extended meditation on what it means to be a Jew: the other to others, to oneself, and to other Jews, who are united so deeply under the skin by history yet wholly other to the cultures of the world -- and as spoken of in the world, even in the mountains, where one "Jew recognizes another Jew." There is that space of acknowledgement through thousands of years, and that space of aloneness and singularity lying in the heart that cannot be answered in earthly tones. The text opens by itself, is drawn in and out by a composition that takes into account ambient soundscapes, jazz, folk themes, and klezmer, and then fades out, in, and out again, drawn in ever widening circles by Kaufman's varied and brilliant harmonic interplay, accents, colors, and textures, which feel lush but with hidden sharp edges.

Celan gave a speech to a German audience in the '50s, speaking to them in their native tongue, and likened the poem to starting a dialogue, but knew not with whom, as "a message in a bottle, sent out in the -- not always greatly hopeful -- belief that somewhere and sometime it could wash up on land." Kaufman writes in his liner notes that "these are songs washed up on land." This is the response to that opening dialogue, set in song no less, one that carries on with volume and vibration long after silence appears to have overtaken it. Kaufman's Force of Light is among the most profound settings for poetry in music. It is musically so rich, varied, and poetic in its own right that it can not be separated from the poems -- nor can it contain them, and he understands this implicitly. Nor can the language in the poems contain this music; it speaks out from the land not into the sea, but into those mountains where not only does "Jew recognize Jew," but anyone human being can, should he or she desire it, see another. Kaufman's recording is among the best of 2007; it is sophisticated yet accessible to anyone, heartbreaking in its articulation, and provocative in its assertions because its speaks gently enough for the moral authority of both spoken and musical text to be not only heard and assented to, but grasped for its context in history and in this present future moment. (allmusic)

Biocord - High Skies (1995)

2013-05-07T14:41:00.000+02:00

Spośród zespołów zaliczanych do nurtu eksperymentalnego należy zwrócić uwagę na Biocord, który wykonywał gitarowy art‑rock z elementami psychodelii. Założycielem grupy był Mykoła Bykow – z wykształcenia architekt posiadający niestandardowe podejście kompozytorskie. Na wydanej w 1995 płycie „Wysoki nebesa” znajdują się najbardziej popularne utworu Biocordu. Ciekawym jest fakt, że liczne stacje radiowe do dzisiaj wykorzystują muzykę zespołu, jako tło muzyczne dla różnych audycji. (kulturaenter)

Biocord, which played guitar art-rock with elements of psychedelic left a notable imprint among the bands of the experimental wing. Mykola Bykov was the initiator of the group – a certified architect with a non-standard composer way of thinking. The album Vysoki Nebesa released in 1995 contains the best works by the group. It is interesting that numerous radio stations are still actively using the group’s music as background for various programs. (kulturaenter)

El Jesus de Magico - Just Deserts (2012)

2013-05-06T13:25:00.000+02:00

So few bands ever make a truly great record that the scrutiny for those that do becomes far greater. Why can’t they do it again? Such was the case for El Jesus De Magico’s “Unclean Ghost” 7” from a few years back, two sides capturing a band that was mastering the moment, the dishwater-brown lo-fi muddle from which raised a Velvets-bred spectre that held all the other facets of that particular sound-creep in sway. Listen to it sometime and see if you can tell how they did it. Maybe they couldn’t figure it out, as sporadic recordings released since have found the band in somewhat of a holding pattern, mistaking improvised noise beds for the good night’s rest that rarely comes after such an adventure. Just Deserts is said to have been cobbled together from leftover recording sessions, but it’s the best release by EJDM since that single. It’s more of a mishmash of ideas from various times and places than anything cohesive, as the longer songs tend to stay put (“Good U.F.O./Bad U.F.O. Experience” in particular weighs this record down with a creepy crawly Birthday Party kinda debaucherous vibe that would have fit better at the end of the record than as the second track), but the ideas present in the band’s finest work are all here. It’s a power sprint through GBV tapes melted and stretched out to their breaking point, to the sandy-eyed, morning after tar pit of the Grifters’ earliest works, gleaning the elements that work into an unstable and occasionally brilliant product. EJDM simply decided not to put in any particular order, which is a bit maddening, but which will probably reveal its reasons several listens in. Silkscreened sleeve, 500 copies, first 100 on purple vinyl. (still-single)

The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around - Compilation (1977)

2013-05-05T18:33:00.001+02:00

Wiosenna energia naszła mnie na przypomnienie początków punk rocka. Przez kilka następnych postów będę Was nękał tym zapomnianym brzmieniem. Na początek - The Zeros - grupa z tak zwanego nurtu "short living". Okazuje się, że nie tylko New York Dolls - wylansowani przez sprytnego McLarena - grali muzykę, którą poruszała ówczesną "nudę". Posłuchajcie - warto !

The Zeros are an American punk rock band, formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. The band were originally composed of Javier Escovedo (younger brother of Alejandro Escovedo, older brother of Mario Escovedo of The Dragons) on vocals/guitar and Robert Lopez (later known as El Vez) on guitar, who were both attending Chula Vista High School; Hector Penalosa, (bass), and Baba Chenelle, (drums), who attended Sweetwater High School.

In 1977, The Zeros played their first major gig in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theater. Opening the show was the first performance by The Germs, followed by The Zeros and then The Weirdos. The gig was promoted by Peter Case of The Nerves who later served as the frontman of The Breakaways and The Plimsouls. The Zeros' first single release, "Wimp" b/w "Don't Push Me Around" was released in 1977 on Bomp! Records.

In 1978, Penalosa left the band briefly to live and play in Los Angeles, and was replaced by Guy Lopez, Robert Lopez's brother. Soon after, Robert left to live in Los Angeles as well and his brother quit the Zeros. Penalosa rejoined the band and they continued as a trio, and eventually relocated to San Francisco. In March 1979, the UK music magazine, NME, reported that "punk riots had come to the U.S., when Los Angeles police broke up a Zeros' gig at Elks Hall." In 1980, the band recorded a new single, including the songs "They Say That (Everything's Alright)," "Girl on the Block" and "Getting Nowhere Fast." After more touring that led to Austin, Texas and New York, the band fizzled out.

The band is infamous for playing an entire set consisting of 8 replays of "Beat Your Heart Out" in San Francisco.

More recently, the Zeros reunited to tour in Spain in early 2007. All four members reunited again for a short West Coast tour that began in San Diego in June 2009. In October 2010, the Zeros embarked on a short U.S. tour of the East Coast.

Cover versions of songs by The Zeros were released by The Hoodoo Gurus (Wimp), Los Angeles' bands, Wednesday Week ("They Say That Everything's Alright") and The Muffs ("Beat Your Heart Out").

Naythen Wilson - This is a Death Dream (2012)

2013-05-04T12:53:00.001+02:00

Naythen Wilson is from Augusta, Maine. A spontaneous and hyper-prolific musician, his eclectic and compulsive approach has been evident on over 70 solo albums and in countless bands. This album is a tribute to another extremely prolific and spontaneous artist, the legendary Jandek.

Previous attempts to cover Jandek material have often avoided the characteristic dissonance of the originals, setting the lyrics amid more conventional song forms. Naythen however retains the songs' obtuse contours, while subtly rendering them more 'musical'. Many of the covers are surprisingly faithful recreations. Others take the source material in a different direction, while staying true to the Jandek style.

All the material covered here predates Jandek's recent live performances, and is drawn albums from 1978's Ready for the House to 2001's Worthless Recluse. It's a diverse selection - the ghostly blues of Naked in the Afternoon and Down in a Mirror, the free-rock racket of Ace of Diamonds, the vocal drones of Om, and the whimsical Janky.

The album is released with the permission of Corwood Industries. We believe that it's the first Jandek-related release on cassette format. Includes a download code for the full album plus the 17-minute bonus track, Worthless Recluse. (fortevilfruit)

Hati - Ka (2009)

2013-05-02T15:03:00.000+02:00

HATI „KA” to zapis studyjny z 2008 r. - nieustannie ewoluującej muzyki i orientacji artystycznej grupy, nagrany tradycyjnie – na żywo, w naturalnym środowisku akustycznym (tym razem to jedna z sal Muzeum Etnograficznego w Toruniu), przy użyciu instrumentów akustycznych i łączący odległe echa industrialu z elementami swobodnej improwizacji oraz wpływami dronowej minimal music. HATI wydobywa z głębin muzykę tajemniczą i całkowicie instrumentalną, świadomie używając dźwięku jako narzędzia komunikacji. Nie tracąc swoistej, medytacyjno-rytualnej aury, muzyka HATI nabrała na „KA” cech nieco awanturniczej „freely improvised trance drone music”, pełnej nieoczekiwanych zwrotów akcji i dynamicznej dramaturgii, nieprzewidywalnej dźwiękowej opowieści.

Muzycy i instrumenty na płycie “KA”:

Rafał Iwański: chinese gongs, thailanese gong, tam-tam, steel barrel, metal disc, spin spark shaker, sleigh bells, guiro shaker, shell, rattles, chains, indian bells, steel lid, cymbal, wooden pipe

Rafał Kołacki: chinese gong, steel gongs, tam-tam, steel barrel, bass drum, spin spark shaker, caxixi, rainstick, rattles, aluminium plate, spring drum, chains, friction, wooden pipe

Dariusz Brzostek (utwory 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7): harmonium, rainstick, singing bowls, wah-wah tube, chinese gong, rattles, chain (serpent)

If you ever saw HATI live you know how intelligently contrived their compositions are - their vast array of ethnic instruments (mainly gongs & other metallic ones, but not solely) is controlled by them in a very professional way; and the dynamics between between softer and more spheric gong or metal parts and more rhythmic & ecstatic ones are perfectly set. These are studio-recordings made in August in Torun, Poland, their hometown. On eight pieces their totally handmade instrumental sound is spread far to create very versatile material. Seen as contemplative ritual music or focusing just on the beautiful sounds of real instruments, this is a perfect start to enter the HATI-universe if you don't know them yet!! (dronerecords)

Paris to Kyiv - Fragmenti (2005)

2013-05-01T14:54:00.000+02:00

Fragmenti to najnowszy, czwarty album kanadyjskiego projektu Paris To Kyiv. Jego inicjatorką i główną postacią jest wokalistka i producentka Alexis Kochan.

Od wielu lat konsekwentnie Alexis odkrywa i za pomocą współczesnych brzmień rewitalizuje dawne ukraińskie pieśni. Te pieśni są kanwą repertuaru Paris To Kyiv. Zarazem stanowią punkt odniesienia i inspirację dla wielowymiarowych, nasyconych cytatami z różnych kultur i tradycji muzycznych – od muzyki dawnej po współczesną - aranżacji. Na ‘Fragmentach’ ukraiński zaśpiew swobodnie przeplata się raz to z gorącym chilijskim rytmem, raz to z dalekowschodnią alikwotową mantrą; naturalnie sąsiaduje z prostym bluesowym riffem czy rozbudowaną art-rockową ornamentyką. Całość utrzymana jest w przestrzennych, wyważonych i stonowanych klimatach. Mimo przewagi brzmień akustycznych i kontemplacyjnej poetyki tytuł płyty wiernie oddaje jego bogatą i różnorodną materię.

W jej poszukiwaniach stale towarzyszy Alexis dwoje bardów wywodzących się z różnych tradycji kulturowych: Richard Moody, skrzypek/gitarzysta/wokalista i autor, producent albumu oraz nowojorczyk ukraińskiego pochodzenia kobziarz/bandurzysta, uczestnik wielu międzynarodowych projektów (grał m.in. z Johnem Zornem) Julian Kytasty. Ich doświadczenie i wrażliwość nadają muzyce Paris To Kyiv dystyngowanego smaku plasując ją wśród szlachetniejszych odmian ‘muzyki świata’.

Album wydał label Alexis Olesia Records z Winnipegu. W Polsce ukazało się licencyjne wydanie nakładem KOKA Records. (serpent)

***

Alexis Kochan was born and lives in Canada, but for already a lot of years she has been studying, creatively comprehending the musical culture of Ukrainians. The issue is, actually, authentic music, folk singing. Her first solo album was released in 1982, and afterwards the international project Paris to Kyiv was formed around Alexis. The album "Fragments" is the fourth one in discography of the project – and its first international release. What could I say – from the first minute you start regretting that the previous works by the group were not released in Ukraine... It is just extraordinarily beautiful music – deep, transparent, illuminating meditation of sound. In it, there harmoniously revolve round Ukrainian melodies and lyrics – the Asiatic guttural singing, Southern percussion, bells and electric guitars. Although the violin, and pan-pipe, and bandura also live here – but their sounding also, starting from the Ukrainian root, leads us either to Latin America, or to Central Europe. However, these trips and transitions are easy, and hints are almost conditional, that is why all mentions about any kind of geography also become conditional. There is a mainline, all the rest are petals, patterns, semi-real dreams... The music of "Fragments" is as though green noise of an unhurried life, in which the voice of water and the voice of light matter not less than singing of the wind, and the sound with which grass grows is the same as sounding of your smile, the flow of a quiet look... You listen – and understand: strange is this world, and its wonders are – joyous. (umka)

Bill Orcutt - A New Way To Pay Old Debts (2009)

2013-05-01T00:17:00.002+02:00

Grający w noisowej grupie o wdzięcznej nazwie Harry Pussy. Z dwójką towarzyszących mu kompanów tworzył obskurną, trashowo-punkową nie-muzykę. Od pewnego czasu z zapałem bada brzmieniowe możliwości oraz materialną wytrzymałość gitary akustycznej.

Orcutt należy do grona twórców improwizujących na najpopularniejszym strunowym instrumencie, stosujących niekonwencjonalną artykulację. Wydawałoby się, że po Dereku Bailey’u trudno wykrzesać z gitary coś więcej. Jednak Amerykanin zbacza ze szlaku wytyczonego przez brytyjskiego innowatora, zapuszcza się na nieuczęszczane przez niego tereny.

Osią utworów jest bez wątpienia blues – tradycja wywodząca się z Delty Missisipi czy Luizjany pobrzmiewa w każdym akordzie, jednak gubi się w kakofonii gwałtownie pobudzanych strun. Żywiołowa, niepohamowana ekspresja kojarzy się z muzyką zwierząt: Orcutt szarpie struny jak niedźwiedź, do tego wyje jak gibon a sapie jak knur. Nic dziwnego, że doczekał się grona hejterów: „WHAT A FUCKIN IDIOT BILL IS” – komentuje ktoś na youtubie?. „This man is either an idiot or a genius. Just kidding of course he’s a fucking genius” – konkluduje trzeźwo inna osoba. --- Michał Fundowicz

Guitarists can be a romantic bunch: Eric Clapton had Blackie, B.B. King his many Lucilles, and Willie Nelson’s played for decades with Trigger, a guitar so loved that he’s threatened to retire when it’s finally rendered unplayable. Bill Orcutt has his own long-term relationship: he’s owned a Kay acoustic since college, and when he returned to playing guitar in 2008, it was this instrument to which he turned. Orcutt’s said that the Kay was a practical choice, easy to play at a moment’s notice and less likely to bother the neighbors (this from the man who once shredded eardrums in Harry Pussy!). The decades-old companion has been repaired and modified, but while Orcutt has treated it with care (he has it detuned as not to damage a previously broken neck), when he plays, it’s as if the man and his instrument are endlessly at odds. His style sounds as much like wrestling with the guitar as playing it, and it’s tempting to imagine that Orcutt’s occasional vocal yelps are evidence that the Kay fights back.

Having played guitar in Harry Pussy, Orcutt’s already plied plenty of unnatural musical acts, having torn rock’s spine from its body and electrified the corpse to the delight of the hardiest of listeners from 1992 to 1997. On A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Orcutt is at it again with a four-string guitar, this time bending blues and folk in ways they weren’t originally meant to go. Wrinkled riffs twist like wayward roots, punctured by thorny protrusions and unexpected potholes. Notes are warped and strangled, rhythms bruised and battered, all resulting in a sound at the outer edges of the Americana family tree, residing on the gnarled, out of the way branches reserved for the inbred and the eccentric. This is primal music, but not in any stripped-to-its-essence kind of way. This is the American guitar tradition, left as an infant to fend for itself, surviving by instinct for decades in an increasingly hostile, polluted and inhospitable world. It’s the progeny of numerous traditions sent to the sewers and emerging years later, mutated, appendages in the wrong spots, familiar phonemes rendered incomprehensible in a language all its own. The traditions informing Orcutt’s playing, from those of pioneering bluesmen to John Fahey and other forward-thinking folk, are referenced in fleeting fragments, like images distorted and barely visible in a broken mirror.

A New Way to Pay Old Debts is recorded as rawly as it is performed. An old DeArmond pickup and closely-stationed microphone combine to give Orcutt’s guitar acoustic a jagged edge, blending the electric and acoustic output from the Kay. There’s no attempt to hide that this is the most unpolished sort of home recording; along with the distortion of the music’s highs and lows comes a series of intermittent accompaniments from Orcutt’s surroundings. A police siren, ringing telephone, some indistinct voices, and the sounds of nearby traffic are charming additions to the record’s rustic tone.

Originally self-released in an edition of 500 LPs, A New Way to Pay Old Debts has been given the ones-and-zeroes treatment and augmented with two songs from an earlier 7” and a quartet of previously unreleased tracks. A New Way... didn’t need reinforcements, and taking in all 14 tracks in succession can be tough going, but a little bit of overkill doesn’t dull the bracing energy of Orcutt’s kinetic, four-string idioglossia. --- Adam Strohm

Ahmed Abdul-Malik - East Meets West (1959)

2013-04-30T14:43:00.000+02:00

Abdul-Malik Ahmed (1927-1993), amerykański kontrabasista jazzowy. Debiutował w Nowym Jorku pod koniec lat 40. współpracował z A. Blakeyem, później także z: R. Westonem, Th. Monkiem, H. Mannem i E. Hinesem. Uczestniczył w licznych festiwalach, w latach 50. i 70. popularyzował jazz w Afryce. Od 1970 prowadził z sukcesami działalność pedagogiczną. Wybrana dyskografia: Jazz Sahara, The Music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Ahmed Abdul-Malik/Sounds of Afric, East meets west.

Ahmed Abdul-Malik was one of the first musicians to integrate non-Western musical elements into jazz. In addition to being a hard bop bassist of some distinction, he also played the oud, a double-stringed, unfretted Middle Eastern lute, played with a plectrum. Abdul-Malik recorded on the instrument in the '50s with Johnny Griffin and in 1961 with John Coltrane, contributing to one of the several albums that resulted from the latter's Live at the Village Vanguard sessions.

Abdul-Malik was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. In his twenties and thirties, he worked as a bassist with Art Blakey, Randy Weston, and Thelonious Monk, among others. He played the oud on a tour of South America under the aegis of the U.S. State Department, and performed at one of the first major African jazz festivals in Morocco in 1972. Beginning in 1970, he taught at New York University and later, Brooklyn College. In 1984, he received BMI's Pioneer in Jazz Award in recognition of his work in melding Middle Eastern musics and jazz. (Chris Kelsey)