M.A.B. - Words Never Told -1986- (Cassette, Anti-Musik Der Landsh, AML 5), Poland

 

Here's another relic from behind the iron curtain on the great Polish cassette label Anti-Musik Der Landsh that was founded by Mariusz Blachowicz in the small town of Łańcut. The label is another prime example of the hidden counter cultural expressions that were going on in the underground during the socialist times in Eastern Europe in the last century. In a nutshell, first there was state controlled cultural propaganda, then there were examples of youth culture expressions in music that were somehow allowed and then there were things like this, done by a handful of people somewhere deeply hidden in their small towns and basements with some recording equipment solely driven by their own need for expression and a need for artistic freedom. Usually also not really fond of the political circumstances, though never explicitly political. Just a feeling of being stuck, no where out and in need for something to do. Even if by the late 80's the situation had already somewhat softened, not being able to be properly classified by the authorities was potentially enough to somehow incriminate you.

Anti-Musik Der Landsh published a range of incredible Polish underground acts like R-27, Hiena, Reportaż, Rafael and KSU. Most of the music was free improvisation driven, a Polish signature that was also very apparent in the second half of the twentieth century in Polish jazz and contemporary composed music. But the other sonic side of the spectrum was already infused by punk and even more marginally so by industrial outings. Maybe some of those abstract sounds went along fine against the backdrop of some of the bleaker Polish urban landscapes.

M.A.B. was a project by Mariusz Blachowicz himself that was dedicated to his own experiments with tape loops, radio sounds, the manipulation of instruments and free improvisation. Three M.A.B. cassettes were released on AML and all three sound very different from each other. Words Never Told is a lo-fi primitive recording of cassette experimentation colliding with homemade anti-folk-rock; basically the sound of escapism and freedom against the weight of the last decade of a repressive political system that had Eastern Europe in its grip until the hopeful moment of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the gradual collapse of the Soviet Union. But unfortunately, whenever old problems dissolve, new problems rise. Or maybe the problems were never solved. Maybe it's time to grab that old tape recorder and that broken guitar again from the basement... Who knows. Te zabawki robią trochę hałasu i szkód. A ta była naprawdę prymitywna.

Get Words Never Told HERE

R-27 - Activity 1987-1988 -1989- (Cassette, Anti-Musik Der Landsh), Poland

R-27 (initially Fragments of R-27) was an underground improvisational and experimental avant-garde music group from Kraków that was active during the second half of the 80's. They were comprised of Rafael Kozub (keyboards and percussion instruments, singing, compositions), Damian Kozub (drums, voice, piano, compositions), Rafał " Walek "Walczowski (bass), Piotr" Buzer "Łabuzek (trumpet, voice, synthesizer) and Pawel" Rudy "Ochel (guitar, voice). The band gave many concerts in their native Kraków (Klub Podwawelski, Nowohuckie Centrum Kultury, Klub Wola Zoo, Dworek Białoprądnicki etc..) as well as some concerts in other Polish cities.

The Polish underground from the 80's was generally influenced by two traditions. One side was the jazz tradition that was very developed in Poland after the Second World War during the communist period. There was a large output of Polish jazz and international jazz artists came to play many annual festivals. From there on jazz-rock and prog-rock cross-overs opened the doors for even more abstract and stranger forms of music that due to their nature were not banned and identified as clear political revolt. Towards the 80's the jazz and improvisation traditions kept evolving in the underground with bands like Reportaż, Kirkut Koncept or 13 -11. 

The other side of the spectrum consisted of new music influences that gradually had found their (secret) way into the Polish underground. The improvisational groups were now also accompanied by new wave bands, punks, industrial noise makers and everything in-between. Quite a strong grey and bleak accent was being put in the music, reflecting the last bleak decade of communist totalitarian repression. Obviously some small cracks in the totalitarian regime were already showing and there was a bit of a decrease of cultural repression to be felt, but nevertheless general society was still rough and gloomy during late 80's Poland. A series like Dekalog by director Krzysztof Kieślowski gives an interesting insight in the depressing existential crisis of Polish society at the time. A feeling that in a way was commonly felt in different countries behind the iron curtain. The musical underground can largely be regarded as non-existent compared to that dominant society, that's how marginal things were.

To return to R-27 we can hear some of this existential crisis in the music. The band was formed by amateur musicians that combined different elements of free-jazz, electronics and poetry based on their own subtleties, feelings and expressions. The mood, the state of mind and inspiration came from their own environment: the underground community of Kraków. R-27 released a couple of cassettes in very limited quantities. Most of the recordings are very primitive and lo-fi in quality reflecting their technical means at the time. 

Activity 1987-1988 was released on the legendary Polish underground cassette label Anti-Musik Der Landsh in the limited quantity of 30 copies and was dedicated to Charlie Mingus.

I'm living Still
At once time, I come
here, but I didn't know,
where I went
At once time I came
here, in order to take
a rest in the shadows
of the trees
And now we ask
What for I'm living
still
And that only I'm
living still,
although my soul
chose the shadow
And so, how can it be
so... - Buzer

Get it HERE