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 -

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 -

Younger Brother - A Flock of Bleeps

"Oh goody,

Let's pump ourselves full of magic monkey juice and take a trip to space land"

In anticipation to the imminent release of Younger Brother's third studio album, "Vaccine", here is a quick look back at the first two albums.

Younger Brother - A Flock of Bleeps

Starting off the album is Weird on a Monday Night, an aural masterpiece that starts with distorted vocal intro that only Simon Posford can be responsible for. The tone for the album is set from this brilliant opener on, with a surprisingly organic mix of electronic elements all meshed together to form a stunningly creative album. Each track can be singled out as a highlight, yet no one song over-powers any of the others, which is something that plagues plenty of other albums.

Crumblenaut is arguably the album's best known track, which blends the down-tempo album start with Posford's infamous vocal adjustments of Michele Adamson's beautiful voice. The later part of the song leads into a somewhat faster mood which perfectly lines up the following tracks.

As a debut album, forgetting for a second the pedigree that Mr. Posford (Shpongle, Hallucinogen) and Mr. Vaughan (Prometheus) bring to the table, this is a phenomenal start to what started out as a side project. A Flock of Bleeps has now reached something of a cult status in electronica circles after its release in 2003, an album that takes music in a completely new direction that is almost unclassifiable.

The mid-section is oft regarded as the trance equivalent of the album, and thus has reached a slightly broader audience but this should by no means put off listeners from listening to the outlying tracks.

There are fantastic vocals and vocal samples throughout, some laid straight over the track but most manipulated expertly by Posford to create some breathtakingly unique sounds which become music of their own accord.

Younger Brother - Weird on a Monday Night

The finish of the album comes through two tracks; Safety Zone, a seemingly dub influenced track that blends perfectly into Bedtime Story, an utterly chill track with predominantly acoustic guitar picking laid over ambient sounds. The track would not be out of place on a toddler's bedtime tape, and yet it book-ends A Flock of Bleeps so perfectly, finishing on such a peaceful note that leaves the listener in the best possible way relaxed. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity

Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity

Happy Pills, the opening track on The Last Days of Gravity is almost fitting to be listened to directly after the closer of A Flock of Bleeps, such is the peaceful introduction to the sophomore Younger Brother release.

Far from replicating their debut album, however, Simon and Benji have combined their original sound with something more acoustic, almost band like for Last Days. Although not evident by traditional sounds, instruments can be identified throughout, mixed within the modified sound scape that is the electronic base. Some songs have glitch elements and vocal distortions in them, whilst others have simple guitar riffs and drum beats, and yet it all blends together to create a listening pleasure that is yet again somewhat unclassifiable.

The growing up would have attracted more fans that relate this album to more well known works, with a stronger commercial psychedelic link musically. Yet somehow it manages to maintain the beauty of the first album, it still appeals to the audience that A Flock of Bleeps was made for.

This hashing of two worlds is what has made this album so compelling and appealing, setting yet another musical benchmark for the two producers.

Going back and forth between the acoustic-like (Your Friends are Scary) and almost entirely manufactured (I am a Freak) and to a complete blend of the two (Psychic Gibbon) means that this album does have a slight err in identity. It simply doesn't flow together as well as A Flock of Bleeps did, and has some clearer stand-out tracks as highlights.

Apart from this minor detraction, The Last Days of Gravity is an album that is absolutely essential to have in a library that appreciates unique and colourful music.

The final moments of Psychic Gibbon end with a heartbeat, again an ideal book-end to a brilliant album. - Last.fm - Myspace -

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I'll leave you with a slight preview of the upcoming album in the form of a video of Younger Brother recording some claps and stomps. If this doesn't get your juices flowing for the new release, then nothing will.