Andrjanczyk/ Banasik/ Krychowiak — Nowa Ziemia 2
Each track works as a duet with one of the other featured musicians. The album opens with a fifteen minute improv track featuring Krychowiak and Michal Banasik of experimental pop band Tranquilizer, and closes with a thirty two minute improv featuring Krychowiak and Dawid Adrjanczyk of minimalist experimental dronelords Akpatok. All three musicians involved in this project have a background in creating unconventional music and the album mixes beautifully Avant Garde electronics and acoustic elements.
The opener starts off slowly gradually building as it goes. A basic electronic drone provides the anchor for which everything else is tied to. Various found sounds and synth squeals are sparingly used to add atmosphere to the proceedings whilst the occasional line of guitar add a little extra flourish. Over the track’s near sixteen minutes the electronic drone grows in intensity and the sense of menace grows as the track moves towards its culmination. There is also an almost tribal aspect that comes into play during the second half of the track, which coupled with the greater intensity of the drone gives the feel of a shamanistic mantra. Some fantastic liquid guitar adds a psychedelic touch and reminds me somewhat of Ashra Tempel. The track finally peters out with just the found sounds used to represent a sort of weird almost proto-drum track playing out as it merges straight into track 2.
Track two begins with the continuation of those found sounds, the strange creaking, and scraping eventually making way for some icy sounding drones. Various other drones wash around the main drone, and represent the sense of movement, but at a glacial pace. A steel strung acoustic guitar adds a further dimension to the sound, subtle in tone but used to great effect and with great frequency. The track can afford to build even more slowly than its predecessor as there is much more space for the artists to stretch out and really expand on what they are doing at their own pace. Like painting on a large canvas can allow for greater experimentation with themes and aspects. As it grows to its conclusion the sense of intensity grows before fading away at the finale to leave some plucked acoustic strings to essentially close down the album, almost like the after effects of a storm that has been brewing through the second half of the track.
The perfect album to sink into and just switch off, but also an album that has more to offer if you feel like you want more from it. There is a sense of storytelling that comes from the music and that is something rare and wonderful, when it works and it happens as it does here, it is a glorious thing to behold. Beautiful, stark and complex, this album is a joy, and one I shall be returning to again and again over the coming months. The album was released in a strictly limited edition of 250 CD copies, and if still available are worth picking up not just for the music but for the lovely 3 panel ecopak packaging. A lovely experience for anyone who likes their music to do something a little different.