Chore IA — Postscriptum / Neogolizmowa

Chore IA is the brainchild of philosopher, bassist and avant garde rock enthusiast, Jacek Wanat.  Originally releasing material as far back as 1995, Wanat spent many of the intervening years making music with Radek Dziubek, Tomek Maliński and Waldek Paziewski in the band Blimp before eventually returning to his earlier project in 2018 with the album Schizophrenia. Spread across two CDs the latest Chore IA album, Postscriptum / Neogolizmowa is an unabashed festival of weird ambient electronica. The first disc, Postscriptum, is made up of 5 long pieces of psychedelic ambient drone, whilst the second disc, Neogolizmowa, is made up of previously released material, including tracks from the two cassettes that were released on OBUH records, as well as other material taken from that same period.

The opener on disc one is I’m Waiting for Nothing to Happen, an experimental psychedelic experience featuring drones and some spoken words. It’s a great opener and really hammers home the wyrd electronic aspect of the albums sonic core.  I Die/ Respirateur is an epic 17-minute drone piece that features a plethora of creaky atmospheric found sounds that give the whole piece an unsettling, creepy vibe. The shorter Revers is at times prettier in feel, however there remains something slightly unsettling about the track that you just can’t pin down. They Say Nothing/ Ils Son Morts follows and takes us further down the wyrd experimental pathway that started with the album opener. Intense, with a sinister vibe, there is a lot more going on here that will keep the listener hooked on future plays as thing start to unravel and you start to pick out the different instrumentation that is going on. The final track on disc one is I’m Raining, it sounds almost like a partner piece to the album opener, bookending what is pretty much an intense musical experience.

Disc two features sixteen tracks and sounds quite different to the first. Firmly rooted in rock music, as opposed to electronic drone, this disc is best described as avant-garde rock weirdness, with a little bit of experimentation with drones and electronics. The key is that there is much greater emphasis on traditional rock instruments, drums, guitars, and keyboards as well as a greater emphasis on melody. It does however, make a really interesting accompanying disc as it hints at Wanat’s musical roots prior to releasing Postscriptum. 

Overall, this is a really nicely presented set of interesting experimental music that spans Jacek wanat’s career, acting something like a compilation highlighting the evolution of his music. Disc One is my favourite, featuring some really strong psychedelic drones, peppered with found sounds and smothered in general weirdness. It’s a far darker affair than disc two, but it has to be said they both complement one another well, despite representing different sides of the same artist. This release from Zoharum also looks fabulous with some rather lovely digipak artwork housing the two CDs.  This is a great slab of weird electronic drone that should find favour with fans of creepy atmospheric horror drones as well as fans of avant garde rock.