Jacaszek - Treny

Jacaszek – Treny

Fog curls around your face as you breathe steadily, trying not to singe your throat on the bitter morning air. The grass is frozen solid, unmoved by the harsh bite that the wind deals anything which dares venture out. The trees, infrequent as they might be, are stripped of all but the most foolhardy leaves. You look out into the distance but see nothing more than the harsh earth and unforgiving block flats in the distance.

That is my personal vision I get listening to the first 15 or so seconds of Rytm To Niesmiertelnosc, the opening track on Jacaszek’s absolute masterpiece of an album that goes by the name of Treny. Yesterday it would have been a different impression, tomorrow undoubtedly changed as well. I’ve had visions of putting a camera in an old subway car, filming down from high up for an entire day of some overgrown city’s flow and ebb of people and then fast forwarding it played to the entirety of this album. It has helped me to no end in focusing on study at 2am when I’m due to hand work in that same morning. Its music has made me feel safe in a very unfamiliar place where otherwise I’ve felt anything but.



I’ll get one thing straight first, this is NOT an album you crank out when you’re entertaining. Far from it, unless you share some very specific tastes with someone, this album should undoubtedly be played to a solo listener. I’m fortunate to own this on vinyl and the experience I get from listening to it is beyond any other record I have, and again effects me different to when played through headphones whilst walking or computer speakers whilst studying.
Jacaszek is essentially at core Michal Jacaszek, starting his music ‘adventure’, as his bio put it, around 1998 but progressing rapidly to the point of producing an project or album once a year from 2003-2006. For 2008's Treny, however, 2 years were taken and the line-up increased to include Stefan Wesołowski on violin and strings arrangement, Ania Śmiszek Wesołowska behind the cello and Maja Siemiłska providing the haunting and mesmerising vocals.

The combination of those 4 artists make for Jacaszek’s 6th album and one of the most beautiful, haunting, desperate, lonely, complete, mesmerising, dark, strangely uplifting, atmospheric, and incredibly complete works I’ve ever had the pleasure of opening my ears to. In its entirety it works as gripping novel where you can’t put it down after you’ve experienced even a taste of page 1. The tracks all relate to each other in an over-arching voice that can be nothing but Jacaszek but don’t feel out of place when played out of order or on a continuous loop. The only thing Treny doesn’t have is a standout track, which is a fantastic thing because it means that there is no high or low quality side to this album, it is simply phenomenal throughout. A single gem of a track would undoubtedly mean that the quality of all others would suffer by virtue of being worse than 'that other one', and to have that happen to this album would be nothing short of a tragedy.

I won’t go through the tracks listing pros and cons of each one because the list would be very one sided and ultimately pointless as this record is meant for personal reflection and introspection, you have to make your own mind up about each track. All I can possibly recommend from here is that you find a copy somewhere, anywhere, and indulge yourself in it. It’s taken me exactly the length of this album to write this review, and all I want now is to put it back to the start and fall into the darkness all over again. So that's what I'll do. Easily one of the best albums of the new millennium. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Emancipator - Safe in the Steep Cliffs

Emancipator - Safe in the Steep Cliffs


Fans of Emancipator will be well aware of this evolution from the first album, but for those of you who are new to his music altogether, please allow me to introduce him. Doug Appling was a 19 year old college student who decided to make a full length album of symphonic trip-hop music in his spare time. All sounds were created through his own hands and computer, with the exception of several vocals and Cindy Kao on violin, putting together an incredibly cohesive album that belied his age. Soon it will be Cold Enough was initially released by Doug himself in 2006, limited to only 500 copies. Nujabes discovered the album and stepped in, signing it to his Hydeout Productions label and remastering and re-releasing it in 2008. 5000 copies were sold within the first 6 months, an incredible achievement considering the humble beginnings.

After years of accolades for his debut album, we fast forward to 2010 to find the now 23 Emancipator’s sophomore album Safe in the Steep Cliffs. A serene symphony of notes washes over the listener on the opening track, Greenland, and we find ourselves in familiar territory of a sound that is categorically Emancipator’s own. The track quickly picks up into produced beats overlaid with unique noises and beautiful violin, creating a musical aura that doesn’t depart from the rest of the album.

Two of the three tracks that follow are rife with evidence of Uyama Hiroto, a jazz musician from Japan, and this guest star’s new genre provides a brilliant new addition to the arsenal of unique elements in Emancipator’s music. Soon thereafter we find Old Devil, which dares to introduce banjo to an album that two tracks ago was knee-deep in jazz influence. And it works, better than almost any other album I’ve ever heard. Old Devil is not only banjo though, laced throughout the track are familiar and not-quite so easy to place instruments that create a deliciously discordant and yet oh so competent sound.


Emancipator - Nevergreen

Nevergreen, the track that follows, returns to the simplicity of piano and a light beat with an incredible highlight of overlapping string instruments before introducing an unexpected and yet entirely plausible distorted electric guitar sample that intertwines with a cello. It’s this seamless integration of instruments and styles that makes Emancipator one of the most accomplished artists in the industry in 4 short years and 2 incredible albums. Safe in the Steep Cliffs is a record where the listener is engulfed in a stunning aural vacation for the entire album’s length, with great variety in the individual songs and yet an over-arching sound that links the entire album into one cohesive and beautiful listen.

The ninth track to appear on this new album, Rattlesnakes, provides yet another surprise, with a seemingly traditional Japanese instrumental integrated into the track, evident through a number of traditional instruments that are not regularly experienced in trip-hop. Nujabes’ influence, and consequently Uyama Hiroto’s style becomes apparent once again on tracks such as Hill Sighed, which reintroduces jazz elements but also the familiar string instruments and beats that Emancipator is synonymous with.

The final two tracks, Siren and the title track, Safe in the Steep Cliffs, see the album shift back to the traditional Emancipator format, but both do so in a refreshing manner that makes the two tracks as enjoyable to listen to as any of the more experimental songs. Final notes of the last track fade away into silence where the listener sits in awe at the preceding 14 tracks, punctuating the incredible achievement that this album is. It cannot come highly recommended enough. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Arms and Sleepers - Matador

Arms and Sleepers - Matador

Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic are without a doubt Arms and Sleepers, a duo from North America who have profusely spouted fantastic music since their first knocking of heads in 2006. In no particular order, Bliss was it in that Dawn to be Alive EP, Black Paris 86, Cinematique, Lautlos EP, Milkweed EP,  From the Inland Sea EP, The Motorist and of course this release, Matador (with a bside special edition release just out). Not bad for a 4 year run.

Matador is a special album, 10 tracks (11 if you’re from Europe/Japan) of trip-hop fused with ambient post-rock, a sprinkle of IDM and dripping with guest stars who all seem to have voices fit for indie pop music. The great thing about it, though, is that these voices are put to brilliant use on this album by taking a somewhat indie/folk specific voice and dropping it into a glitch-driven track with soft piano in the back, like in the case of The Architekt. This vocal treatment sets it apart from the rest of the Arms and Sleepers albums and EPs, which generally have little to no vocal participation. In a sense it makes Matador depart from the ‘traditional’ A&S sound, but thankfully not in a bad manner. 

Arms and Sleepers - Matador

The album is introduced by a calm track in Orly that sets up beautifully for the title track, Matador,  which is unmistakably trip-hop the second the beat starts. The Architekt follows, which seems to be the generally regarded ‘hit’ of the album, with vocals from Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham (Uzi & Ari) who’s voices almost seem better suited to this style of music better than their own. Twentynine Palms follows, which is a much slower but no less fantastic track. It’s at this point you realise that every track has its own voice and is telling its own story, but no single song subtracts from any other.

The album is an entity that can be listened to any way you like, starting anywhere and finishing anywhere and you still feel as if you’ve listened to a whole soundscape of crafted beats, unique analogue instruments and layered vocals. The final tracks, especially Simone and Kino give off an airy ambiance fitting to movie soundtracks, the potential visuals flash before your eyes whilst listening.

The final track, The Paramour reminds of the title track again, with a chilled beat complemented by piano mixed together expertly with a voice used as an instrument rather than a vocal tool. Horns and other instruments permeate the track towards the end, and it’s a beautiful note to leave the album on, wanting more of the same but satisfied with what you got. - Last.fm - Myspace -