Polish Music, brought to you by Yac
 

I've been toying with this idea to bring the music of my home country to you guys. Not the pop crap, or the traditional folk music, nor polka (which is Czech, btw) - but good contemporary music that I enjoy listening to.
Since I am not a fan of any single genre, after I came up with the idea, I was overwhelmed by the amount of work this would require, if I wanted the whole thing to be representative. Partially because there is a lot of great music I could recommend, partially because I don't know just how universal much of it is. Polish is a difficult language, much of the music I would like to show to you is not only sang in Polish, it also needs context to be appreciated. Translating everything would be a chore (and I'm lazy), giving everyone a lesson in history/politics would also be a chore, and I seriously doubt most of you would find it interesting. So instead of preparing a massive analysis full of links, photos and whatnot, I decided to try doing this in smaller chunks. Seems obvious, duh, but hey, I never claimed to be a smart man ;)


Episode 1: Maciej Maleńczuk


Aaanyway, for no particular reason, the 1st episode will be about the music of mr Maleńczuk - one of the more controversial figures on the Polish music stage. I'm not specifying a genre, as he's one of those artists that can't be defined or categorized by labels like this. He has strong political views, a history with all kinds of drugs, homelesness etc. Described as a bard and a poet by his fans, I enjoy his voice and the texts equally.
Here is a small sample of his recent, solo works:






As a leader of the band "Homo Twist"




And with another band - "Pudelsi"






I realize I'm not providing too much of a context here, but that's on purpose at this point - I have no way of judging just how hermetic this is, what the impact this music can have on folks from other countries/cultures.
What do you think ?

Good stuff, Yac. That first track is great. Looks like I have my playlist for this afternoon.

Let me know after you've heard them all, there is quite a bit of variation among them... and then I'll tell you, what the fu*k he was singing about :D

I do like hearing music I'm unlikely to come across otherwise. Not knowing the language is a slight hindrance but many of my favourite artists sing in languages I don't understand so it's not a complete deterrence. Of the songs you posted the Pudelsi probably appealed most sonically.

Hey, Yac, welcome to Journaltown! We're honoured to have you here! :thumb: :bowdown:

Decided not to take up room in Yac's new Journal (good idea Yac!), so I'm posting over in Trollheart's "Open Journal."

Thanks for all the kind words. I'd like to be able to give you all regular updates, but .. well, it would feel like a job then ;)
Anyway, for the next part I prepared something a bit more.. well, not pop, but more popular.

This is something somewhat unique. "Męskie granie" (which roughly translates to "manly notes") is a series of promotional concerts and events sponsored by a particular brand of beer (thus the silly name). They feature some of the most interesting polish artists working together - like for example here, well known musicians and 2 vocalists, come together to create something imo brilliant. What makes this even more interesting is that both Dawid Podsiadło and Ewelina Brodka (the duo doing all the singing) are both winners/runners up (don't really know, I don't follow reality shows, but that's how they got on the music scene) of the polish Idol. And both since then showed they can create great music.



I have to admit I don't know much about her, other than it's one of t he few sogs I heard on the radio that I actually liked. I know she is a part of those "Męskie granie" events.


Mr Organek also is a part of this group, he only released a single cd so far, seems to take inspiration from the black keys and the like, which is good in my book. I'm more a fan of what he can become as an artist eventually, than of what he is right now, though I have to say this song is catchy and the first time I heard it along the video, I thought to myself "hey, if they ever do a polish "True Detective", this could be the theme".



And to end, something a lot older, from 1969.

The band is called Breakout and it's something my parents used to listen to when they were teens. Unfortunately they are not as widely known as they, imo should be.

I think I posted these somewhere on MB several years ago, but maybe not. Regardless, it's some great music from one of polands most appreciated Rock/Grunge bands - Hey.
They released 11 studio albums since 1991 when they appeared on the music stage, the vocalist Kasia Nosowska has a great voice, perfect for grunge.
This is one of the most recognizable bands in Poland still, even though they were most popular during the 90's.

That singer makes me want to plug my ears with cement and the band sucks too.

The geese in Poland are grungeheads? Say what? (I liked this one).