SLP #5: Teraz Polska by Grzywa - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Grzywa

Gender: Male
Location: Polska

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SLP#5 by Grzywa

1. Lao Che Zrzuty
2. Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet Bombtrack
3. Maanam Nocny Patrol
4. ATOM String Quartet Obercology
5. Pustki Koniec Kryzysu
6. Leszek Możdżer Svantetic
7. Skalpel Transit
8. Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa Leeeć feat. Mercedes Peón
9. Klaus Mittfoch Strzeż się tych miejsc
10. Alameda 5 d u c h

My turn now, and I thought I’d use the opportunity to tell you a thing or two about the country of mine: Poland.
2 tracks are from 1980s, 2 from 2000s and 6 from 2010s. There are a few history tales in the background and some folk music references as well. There are two covers plus one re-working of a song by a well-known post-punk English band (wonder if you find out, I guess it’s REALLY re-worked Smile

Here’s the link to Spotify playlist for your convenience:
https://open.spotify.com/user/grzywa80/...8kLMdZnYgO

I’ve also created YouTube playlist for the Unspotified:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P...RXTf2x_mFZ

though this one is less convenient for two reasons:

- Track 4 is currently only available in “studio live” version, which kind of breaks the flow consistency a bit,
- Track 10 is unavailable as a single film, but since this is fortunately (1) track 1 on the original band album and (2) the last track on my playlist, I decided to include the entire album by Alameda 5 on SLP#5 playlist. So, once you get to Alameda 5, you should turn it off at 2:45 to get the actual Grzywa experience Wink

I thought a lot about the order and flow, so it’s important and hopefully successful. Hope you enjoy it !
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Tap
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Gender: Female
Age: 38

Hey, solid mix dude! Very cool approach focusing in on the home country. Maanam had a sorta dubby thing going on that was really cool, I especially enjoyed when things ramp up at the end. The mix had an interesting flow to it, like there would be some kinda big leaps in instrumentation/style, but there would be these similar sort of melodic sensibilities that kept it from ever being jarring. Like something about ATOM String Quartet into Pustki made a lot of sense even though they were so different. That Pustki song was pretty cool in general too, Skalpel too, kinda reminds me of some Luke Vibert. That bit in the middle where the drums get totally rigid and then start filling in the gaps was a highlight. I think the thing I most need to check out is Alameda 5 tho (did I hear this song in Plug or somewhere?), maybe it's just because it's night time and I'm sleepy but this seems like some good stuff to chill out to.

But yeah good stuff! Thanks for putting it together, very cool to get an extended look at the Polish artists here.

meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

This looks awesome. Glad to see you focus on a bunch of music I am totally unfamiliar with.

Finally gonna start checking out out all the SLP's.
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Grzywa

Gender: Male
Location: Polska

Tap wrote:

But yeah good stuff! Thanks for putting it together, very cool to get an extended look at the Polish artists here.

Thanks for checking out Smile

Just a few comments on the artists you highlighted:

Tap wrote:

Skalpel too, kinda reminds me of some Luke Vibert. That bit in the middle where the drums get totally rigid and then start filling in the gaps was a highlight.

Skalpel used to be signed with Ninja Tune. They released three pretty consistent albums, that is the combination of 60/70s jazz samples with electronic beats, so if you liked this one track, I'm sure you would find more to enjoy on their other releases.

Tap wrote:

That Pustki song was pretty cool in general too,

That Pustki song is in fact a re-make of a song by a well-known post-punk English band... Any guesses ? Smile

Anyway, they're possibly the most interesting 'indie' band from Poland these days, combining relatively simple songs (often including male/female harmonies) with some deeper textures, even up to post-rock sensibility.

Tap wrote:

I think the thing I most need to check out is Alameda 5 tho (did I hear this song in Plug or somewhere?), maybe it's just because it's night time and I'm sleepy but this seems like some good stuff to chill out to.

From what I've seen on Taplog, I would say you should definitely try out their entire album "Duch Tornada", although "d u c h" (which is the opening track there) does not actually represent the album very well, so I'm not sure if you're able to chill out to this. It's much more complex and experimental, there's a lot of psychedelic and noise elements. Give it a go !
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Bombtrack! hahah, that was awesome.

1. 8/10 (what is this saying... probably the song I was most lyrically interested in)
2. 8/10
3. 7/10
4. 8/10
5. 10/10
6. 9/10
7. 9/10
8. 8/10 (traditional or no?)
9. 7/10 (I think this is the post punk track... wanna guess Joy Division... but don't know)
10. 8/10

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Also, I haven't said this before, but your English if PHENOMENAL. I studied German seriously for 6 years (2 years in Germany and 4 years at university) and definitely can't write that well. If you didn't say otherwise I would have mistaken you for any Yank!

Grzywa

Gender: Male
Location: Polska

sethmadsen wrote:

1. 8/10 (what is this saying... probably the song I was most lyrically interested in)

@sethmadsen, quite a challenge to describe it briefly, but I'll try:

Zrzuty ("Airdrops") is the third track off the album Powstanie Warszawskie by Lao Che (2005), which tells the story of tragic Warsaw Uprising of 1944 (I won't go into details here, but if you're interested, here's the Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising). That was when the modern history of Poland actually began and this is why I wanted to start the playlist with Lao Che.

Now for the lyrics. The title (Airdrops) refers to supplies from Western Allies that were supposed to be provided by means of aircrafts. For many different reasons (German anti-aircraft warfare, political hesitations of western countries, Soviet reluctance to provide airports, poor visibility over Warsaw) it never went the way it should have, and so the partisans of Warsaw generally felt they were left on their own.

It's an interplay between different voices of the Uprising participants

Polish General (?) talking on the radio
Jako lotnicy okryci chwałą w dywizjonach lotniczych i bombardujących
As pilots covered with glory in aircraft and bombarding squadrons
>>> Trying to motivate soldiers

Polish partisans responding in male/female chorus
Nie nasza rzecz, nasza rzecz - naszą robić rzecz
It's not our thing. Our thing is to do our thing
>>> We don't give a damn about general's pompous words, we're here to fight as we were told to.

German soldiers commenting on Polish partisans
Verfluchten polnischen, polnischen
partisanen, banditen, banditen.
Damned Polish partisans, bandits.
>>> The partisans were officially announced as "bandits" by German authorities.

Radio broadcast from London countered by a voice from the streets of Warsaw
Halo, halo, tutaj Londyn, tutaj Londyn
Ona czarna, a on blondyn, a on blondyn
Hello, hello, it's London,
She's dark-haired and he's blonde
>>> My word, this one's tough Smile

Warsaw partisans expected material and military help from the Western Europe (particularly from London, where the Polish government resided during World War II), but what they mostly got was radio broadcasts from London. Not coincidentally (?) a nod towards London Calling by The Clash as well Wink

So, since the words London and blonde guy rhyme in Polish, this one's a surreal mocking response of partisans to the fact of getting another radio broadcast instead of supplies... Hope it makes sense.

Polish partisan
Myślę sobie, zważ robaczku w czym się moczysz
Trach, pif, paf, bum i do Bozi i do Bozi
I think to myself - look, worm, how little you are,
Crash, bang, bang, boom ! And on your way to god
>>> This is obviously a partisan reflecting on his own fragility during the uprising. One shot and you're dead. Between 150,000-200,000 Polish civilians and 10,000-16,000 partisans were killed over 2 months of the Uprising.
The words on your way to god are then repeated a number of times against a descending power chord progression which sounds much more like going to hell, actually.

The middle part:
Voice reading a secret telegram
Bardzo pilne... Bardzo tajne... Do Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej wysyła Łubieński. Początek.
Very urgent... Very secret... To the President of the Republic of Poland, sent by Łubieński. The Beginning.
>>> Telegram informing the President of Poland residing in London that the Uprising has begun.

The second part repeats a number of lines, on to:

Collective voice of Polish partisans
Słuchaj Londyn, nam nie trzeba audycji
My żądamy amunicji, amunicji!
Listen London, we want no broadcasts,
What we need is ammunition !
>>> This is self-explanatory, I guess.

and the ending goes:

Dialogue between partisans
Jak tam u was? - jest spokojnie jak na wojnie
tu pierdolnie, tam pierdolnie znów spokojnie
Jeb, jeb, jeb!
How are things ? As quiet as a war,
BOOM here, BANG there and quiet again - BANG, BANG, BANG !!!
>>> Just a lively, sound-imitating description of everyday reality of the Uprising - explosions, gunshots... and all quiet again. "Alright" says a voice with British accent, and the song is over.
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SquishypuffDave

Gender: Male
Age: 33

This is super great. Feels like a journey of some kind, all expansive and unfurling. I'll echo Tap's comment about that breakdown in the Skalpel track.

Grzywa

Gender: Male
Location: Polska

sethmadsen wrote:

Bombtrack! hahah, that was awesome.

Glad you liked it. I thought it would be a good counterpoint for Lao Che war song Smile

sethmadsen wrote:

8/10 (traditional or no?)

Yeah, this one and no. 4 are based on Polish folk melodies.

sethmadsen wrote:

9. 7/10 (I think this is the post punk track... wanna guess Joy Division... but don't know)

Indeed, this is a post-punk track from 1985, but not the re-make I mentioned. Joy Division is the right guess, but... not for this track Razz

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Grzywa

Gender: Male
Location: Polska

SquishypuffDave wrote:

This is super great. Feels like a journey of some kind, all expansive and unfurling. I'll echo Tap's comment about that breakdown in the Skalpel track.

Thanks mate ! The entire Skalpel output is available on Spotify, if you want to check them out further Wink

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