| |
|
 |
Previews: New Polish Music Tour in the USA
[17-03-2002]
NEW MUSIC POLAND USA TOUR - April 2002
4/07 Sun Beachland, Cleveland
4/08 Mon Empty Bottle, Chicago
4/11 Thu Velvet Lounge, Wash. DC
4/12 Fri Warsaw, Greenpoint NYC
4/13 Sat Cricket Club, Irvington NJ
4/14 Sun NYC (TBA)
NEW POLISH MUSIC TOUR in the USA
In cooperation with the Polish label and magazine Antena Krzyku, Tamizdat brings excellent bands Something Like Elvis, Robotobibok, Happy Pills and Program to the USA on tour. This very same tour was booked including a major CMJ Showcase last fall, but was aborted on September 11th, when these artists boarded planes to cross the atlantic, but were turned around mid flight and sent back home. New Polish Music represents the cream of the extensive crop of exciting new music bubbling up in Poland these days. The tour heads to Cleveland, Chicago, Washington DC, New York City and Brooklyn, and New Jersey. If you are interested in promo materials for radio play or press, please contact us: heather@tamizdat.org. Find information about the artists right here....
HAPPY PILLS
Agi Morawska - vocals, Mariusz Szypura - guitar, Jacek Kakolewski - bass, Krzystof Kochanowski - guitar, Tomasz Mackowiak - drums
http://www.happypills.art.pl/
Listening to the euphoric, post-punk-pop-rock of Happy Pills you'd never guess that the band are from Poznan, Poland. You'd place them in Portland circa 93. Cynical texts over driving guitar rock, exploding with jubilance and youthful verve, Happy Pills use the past as launchpad to shine a revitalizing new light on indierock. Since 1993 Happy Pills have been playing, touring and recording in Poland, opening for foreign bands in Poland (including every Dischord band who've played there, and HP even cover a Lungfish track.) Their successes have drawn major attention from the press and also from labels indie to major, and singer Agnieszka has won awards in Poland for her unique sound. However Pixies-to-Madder-Rose their sound may wane, the Pills share politics more with the international DIY hard-core scene. And although the Polish press has tried to make them their darlings, The Pills couldn't give a damn. With their incisive English lyrics, Happy Pills refresh USA post-indie-pop ears this fall with their recent albumSmile out on import in the USA (Tamizdat, Revolver, Southern retail) and with tour dates on the East Coast.
SOMETHING LIKE ELVIS
Jakub Kapsa - bass & vocals, Slawek Szudrowicz - guitar, Maciej 'Szymbor' Szymborski - accordeon, Artur Mackowiak - guitar, Bartek Kapsa - drums
Something Like Elvis was formed in 1994 in Szubin, West-central Poland. SLE's motivations come not only from the love of music, but also from the quest to embue their lives with meaning.Their music is driving hardcore of the most addictively melodic Polish kind, propelled by searing accordion noise. SLE is unforgettable live, delivering a power-packed show. SLE's early influences stem from local and foriegn noise and punk bands and can be heard on their first CD, Personal Vertigo (1997). The success of this album brought them international recognition and lead to an invitation from the legendary Canadian art-punk band, No Means No, to tour with them in Germany in October 1998. This successful tour brough about distribution for the CD in the US, Japan, and Western Europe through the Dutch firm, Konkurrent. SLE's 1999 release Shape shows the band's sound developing and maturing, so succesful that legendary DC band, Fugazi, invited Something Like Elvis to tour with them in Germany and the Czech Republic. Musically, SLE continues to grow, as does their international popularity. A USA tour and new CD is in the works for release at the end of 2001.
ROBOTOBIBOK
Artur Majewski - drums, Adam Pindur - sax & moog, Marcin Ozog - doublebass, and Jakub Suchar - drums
Robotic grooves set against electric and acoustic instrumental looping, hence the name 'Robotobibok' which combines the mechanical word robot with the Polish word 'obibok', which translates to drone. Hailing from Wroclaw's underground scene- a historic hotbed of noise and independent music- Robotobibok musicians are well-heeled young jazz musicians handy with electronics. The band got started when asked to play an art exhibition in Wroclaw, and have been growing in popularity ever since. Mixing sounds by saxophonist Adam Pindur and trumpet player Artur Majewski with those of an acquired Moog synthesiser, Robot's sound combines exquisite horn themes, spacey guitarscapes and the overwhelming drive of their rhythm section. Their recently release recording Jogging was produced by Tomasz Gwincinski, a prominent figure of the Polish avant-guard jazz scene and a friend to Robotobibok. Jogging received high critical acclaim from Polish jazz and rock press, and generated the interest of foreign press and festivals. Robotobibok's live concerts have been known to bring people into almost a trance-like state. Their combines elements of seventies and eighties funk, jazz sensibility, jungle and techno accumulate to make the music of Robotobibok a bridge between the past, the present and the form of music to come. And most importantly, Robotobibok's inventiveness encourages listeners not only to feel but also to think.
PROGRAM
Kostas Georgakopulos - vocals, Tomasz Borkowski - bass, Marcin Witkowski - drums, Wojciech Dobrowolski - guitar, Tomasz Gimbut - guitar http://www.program.art.pl/
One of Poland's most establish underground bands since the late 80's, Program and their uncompromising exerimental punk have developed a widely ranging fanbase in and outside of Poland. Dissing heavy effects or standard melodies or cadence, Program's splintery, jagged guitar and bass lines clunk against churning bassy clusters, and polyrhythmic sections between strings and drums make for a Big Black meets Galloping Corroners blast. Program are legendary in the Polish underground, yet have been doing it long enough to make it on TV and into art and music magazines for their unique sound. More to the point, Program have a fan in Jello Biafra, who claims that Program's sound rivals that of the band's American peers.
CHECK OUT THESE CDS by Polish Music Tour artists on Tamizdat's website: www.tamizdat.org/rpm
(These CDs are for sale either retail or wholesale, just write us an email: heather@tamizdat.org)
AGD 'Echolocator' (VOR-2) Electronics w/members of Robotobibok
Robotobibok 'Jogging' (VOR-1) Fiesty mad beats and electro jazz
Happy Pills 'Smile' (ANT-2003) A swift-hitting indie pop delight
Program 'Blackmeat of W.B.' (TOI-1) Bone crunching noise rock
Something Like Elvis 'Personal Vertigo' (ANT-31) SLE's debut of sonic, melodic hard core
Something Like Elvis 'Shape' (ANT-150) Intense, accordion-driven post-hard-core
Metamorphosis (self-titled) (RAC-18) Contaminated chamber music
Tour booking contact: matthew@tamizdat.org
Press contacts coordinator: heather@tamizdat.org
Ninja Tune website: http://www.ninjatune.net/press
|
|
|
|
