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 -

The Evpatoria Report - Golevka

The Evpatoria Report – Golevka

Despite their label of post-rock, The Evpatoria Report is a genre-crossing band that mixes the elements of post-rock with modern classical in an almost cinematic manner, with epic sweeping songs. The shortest song on the album is 8:34...

Above all, Golevka is an album that needs attention, which can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because if you give this album the time that it deserves, a world of music becomes apparent, and one of the most stunning aural experiences can be had with just a good pair of headphones and closed eyes. A curse because the album doesn’t allow for a quick listen in between a task, or putting on a song in the background whilst performing other tasks. The attention it demands is simply too great.

Don’t get me wrong, the songs are phenomenal, each song tells a story. Instead of trying to cram an entire story in a 3 minute radio song, they’re all given the time they need, to grow and mature in each individual song. That brings me to another slight downfall, unfortunately, and that’s that this album doesn’t flow. Each song in itself feels like an album, whereas they should feel like individual chapters of an all-encompassing book. Thankfully this doesn’t detract too much because the songs are long enough to gain their own footing and impress individually. You also feel like you want more after a song finishes, so there is great incentive to keep listening, because you’ll hear more of that beautiful music.

The Evpatoria Report - Taijin Kyofusho

Individual songs are hard to review because of their complexity in the stories they tell, so I’ll refrain from spoiling that for any potential listeners. Suffice it to say that each song plays an important part in the album, and the album is one that is not to be missed.

Their 2003 EP and the first track from this 2005 Golevka album are available for free download from their website, so if you wish to have a sample this is the perfect place to start. The Evpatoria Report also have a second full length album out, called Maar. - Last.fm - Myspace -