Release Notes
- Artwork by : Pau Torres
- Tools : Percussion and Microphone Placements
- Composed, performed and recorded by: Tomasz Krakowiak
Listen a fragment of La ciutat ets tu
EtudeRecords
ABOUT LA CIUTAT ETS TU
: percussion and microphone placement /track 5 by & . All music performed and recorded by
Tomasz Krakowiak 2007.
To listen to the first record, I had to clear my mind. It wasn't just a cup of java that I needed - I was searching for a secluded spot. I loaded the CD into my
portable player and headed for the basement. After the kids were put to sleep was the best time to attempt any decent analysis of the music at hand.
What exactly has percussionist [multi instrumentalist really - as he's played laptop, junk, even piano] cooked up this time around? Without a doubt, the
sounds on "La Ciutat Ets Tu" are alien, even eerie. Not once do I get an impression that they're cold or in any way removed from the human element.
claims that his tools on the record were percussion and microphone placements. That's all. So how do you explain the vibrating sounds
on "Aigua per A"? Did Krakowiak place old screws and nails on top of an old window air-conditioning unit and let the microphones pick up gyrations? Is that
a fan that I'm hearing or are my ears being tricked into false sense of reality? "Drgacze" features light tickling of cymbals and possibly chains that are rattled
in a subtly pleasing way, while "Sink" is a mystery piece altogether. Is the composer rubbing against a metal object or is he scraping nails on a chalkboard?
The whole lot ends on a high note with "Diners per N". It's full of gentle trickling of water on a steel pan or perhaps fingers tapped in succession on the
cymbals or perhaps something else altogether. The record's greatest merit is the guesswork that goes into the listening session. Would one even hazard
to guess that this is the work of a percussionist or was it really made by somebody who understands the aesthetic qualities of his surroundings to the fullest.
Listener is left alone with no clues as to source of the sounds at hand. Audio soundtrack to a movie that has yet to be produced, "La Ciutat Ets Tu" is perfectly
satisfying and conducive to praise every minute of its duration.
- (Gaz-eta)
REVIEWS
Tricky once commented that he enjoyed listening to lyrics he couldn't quite understand: The missing parts made you zoom in even more attentively,
enhancing the experience. While I see the point in defining the concept or technical procedure behind a particular recording, I have likewise always felt a
preference for artists who did not feel the need to explain every single detail. "La Ciutat Ets Tu", too, profits from its non-disclosing policy.
Nothing but two short sentences provide scant information on the equipment used for the album: „All music performed and recorded by
2007. Tools: Percussion and Microphone Placements.“ When the album opens with the wobbling undulations of "bal", that is hard to believe. A question rises
from the ashes of this stuttering, stumbling tribal tour de force: How did he do it? Even after several spins, it remains hard to say. Krakowiak appears to make
use of a vast array of metal objects and drums, from concrete sources such as cymbals and toms to bowed blades, gyrating discs, loose objects inside
cannisters and grinding machines. The big mystery is whether or not overdubs were used in the performance process, as individual tracks seem to both
play against each other at times and to be continually transformed over the duration of a piece.In the absence of a fully convincing rationale, the music itself
gains the upper hand. Krakowiak is not a deconstructionist, he may (or not) use his percussive instruments in uncoventional ways, but he still does so to
create a new sense of rhythm, which either manifests itself as grating steps (the title piece), as rippling movement ("drgacze") or as a sawing sensation,
which gradually melts into a high-pitched shreek ("sink"). The odd exception to the rule is the dark ambient texture of "o_vbrdub", but it is quickly replaced
by the harsh noise perturbations of "aigua per A".There is an immense concentration behind all tracks, a notion of complete control even in moments when
things seem to adhere to the logic of chaos. This turns "La Ciutat Ets Tu" into an almost meditative affair, despite its occasional dynamic outbursts and
eclectic diversity. Whatever may be doing here, he is surely doing it according to plan.
- Tokafi
Tub-clobbering Polish muso elects to condense his name into a tight packet of consonants on the cover of his La Ciutat ets tu (ETUDE015). Seven tracks of radically reworked recordings of drumming and percussion will be your portion should you purchase this demon, sounding in places so alien as to make you feel quite vomitous
- The Sound Projector