Record Reviews

BABADAG ~ BABADAG LADO ABC B/18 (Barcode: 5907709922471) ~ POLAND ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the debut album by Polish ensemble BabadagFind albums by this artist, a quartet fronted by vocalist / lyricist / composer Ola BilinskaFind albums by this artist with guitarist Maciej CieslakFind albums by this artist, bassist Szymon TarkowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Hubert ZemlerFind albums by this artist. The quartet members play a plethora of instruments among themselves and a few guest musicians also appear on selected tracks. The album presents ten original songs, all written and composed by Bilinska, nine of which have lyrics in English and one in Polish. The music is immediately strikingly as highly original, and therefore difficult to be easily categorized. The atmosphere is mostly somewhere in the neighborhood of Progressive Folk-Rock, but with instrumental work that borders on the Avant Progressive with touches of Jazzy influences. Although focused on Bilinska´s vocal explorations, this is obviously a team effort, as this highly emotional and complex music involves close cooperation between the Artists than usually found in such efforts. Bilinska displays extraordinary talent both as a composer of atmospheric, expressive and fully developed highly original compositions and as a unique performer. Although she sings lyrics, her delivery is more instrumental than text oriented and she uses a very diverse palette of vocal approaches. I usually detest Polish vocalists singing in English, but in this context the theatrical and artistic delivery of the vocals hide the "improper" accent and pronunciation to such extent, that it is completely acceptable. The other musicians involved in this project display their respective abilities as multi-instrumentalists, playing many exotic and unusual sounds, always perfectly matching the music. The arrangements of the material are credited to the entire ensemble, and rightly so, as this is obviously a result of close cooperation and common goal, as already mentioned above. As far as I know this album received very little exposure so far, which is not surprising considering how original, different and artistic it is. Perhaps the fact that it floats somewhere between the straightforward genre definitions has something to do with it. Also the fact that it was released on a small independent Polish label, Lado ABCFind albums on this label, associated with the Polish Avant Garde scene, did not help to gain popularity. Nevertheless the album definitely does deserve exposure, as it is a solid piece of heartwarming music, searching, exploring and aesthetically pleasing, not to mention being a superb debut effort.

Updated: 17/12/2018Posted:

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OLA BILINSKA ~ BERJOZKELE NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2014 Released: 2014 This is the debut solo album by Polish vocalist / multi-instrumentalist / composer Ola BilinskaFind albums by this artist, who also leads the group BabadagFind albums by this artist, which released a debut album in 2012. On this album she is accompanied by bassist Michal MoniuszkoFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Kacper SzroederFind albums by this artist and two veterans of the Polish Jewish revival: clarinetist Mikolaj TrzaskaFind albums by this artist and guitarist Raphael RoginskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten renewed and rearranged Yiddish lullabies, which were created by Jewish poets and composers or are of unknown traditional Jewish origins. Bilinska presents a fresh and unconventional approach to this material, which usually is treated in a very traditional way. She delivers these songs in the Yiddish language, as originally created, but her clearly non-Yiddish accent, the strong and clear timbre of her voice and the ambient instrumental arrangements take these songs to a completely new platform, which is fresh and surprisingly invigorated. The overall effect of this approach gives a new life to these songs, transforming them, as if in a time machine, a century or so forward in time. Of course the Yiddish language is not exactly thriving today, but an effort is made to preserve its cultural treasures, which are vast indeed, and this project is one of such noteworthy efforts. This album is just one of the many manifestations of the renaissance of the Jewish culture in Poland, which is enjoying an immense popularity. Since Bilinska managed to create a valid contemporary interpretation of these songs, which have been a part of the pre-WWII Jewish reality, which is sadly no longer with us, she deserves our appreciation and gratitude, both for her talent and her courage to undertake such difficult task. This is definitely worth investigation!

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