“We need to talk”. I receive this message on Sunday morning in late October, and I’m at a loss as to what it’s about. Raphael Rogiński, whose concert I’ve co-organised for the same day at noon, is writing to me. Mystified, wondering if there’s something I’ve forgotten, I ask him what about. “We need to talk about music from Central and Eastern Europe. It’s important to talk about it now,” he says.
A few hours later, we’re sitting in the center of Wrzeszcz in Gdańsk, one of the oldest districts in town. After the concert, based on the music from his Talan album and performed in an intimate space, we talk about where this music came from, and why the Black Sea inspires him. Rogiński likes to talk. He speaks at length and exhaustively, and the strangers who have come to hide here on a sunny day are listening in with non-committal interest. Everyone laughs when he says that the best option to make prepared guitar is to use the tickets from the Warsaw subway.
Rogiński is one of the symbols of this year’s Central and Eastern European music – a musician apart, a bit of a hippie. At another meeting on a summer’s day, he looks like a member of the mafia, wearing sunglasses and an all-black outfit. Still, he’s always been consistently brilliant as a musician, whether playing Bach, Jewish nigunim, the music of Coltrane, Lithuanian folksong, or his own music inspired by the Black Sea. A person who has played a seemingly infinite number of festivals this past year, from Le Guess Who to Rewire, New Bristol Sound, Madeiradig, concerts in Minorca, and Unsound in both its Krakow and New York editions, I’m glad that what he’s doing has been recognised in the last few months. As well as touring and creating more projects, he will be releasing a series of albums via Instant Classic next year, each with musicians from Serbia, Georgia, and more.
Later, when we are sitting in a bar run by Crimean Tatar women in Wrzeszcz, pop songs from Crimea are playing on the giant TV screen, songs that Rogiński says he’s played. He mentions his idea for a Tatar Songs project, and that this kind of setting would be the perfect place to play them. On the one hand, his music fits well into such specific contexts but on the other it can also be taken out of those contexts and placed into others; it will still have power should he process the music through his electric guitar and amplifier. Later he compiles a playlist with music from Central and Eastern Europe. Give it a try.
The other musician who defined this year for me is Vojtěch Havel, who unexpectedly passed away aged 62 in October. I saw him at a concert with his wife Irena two years ago in Gdańsk and again a few months after that in Utrecht. He was both distinctive and consistent, exploring his aesthetic over the course of decades – after all, a track featured on Four Hands and released this year also closed his 1990 debut album. Who would have thought that over so many years, one could think all the time about revisiting a single composition? That he has left us is an unspeakable loss.
I am glad that Miloš Hroch penned a piece about his work with his wife Irena, because it is important to remind us of the exceptional, inspiring artists coming from Central and Eastern Europe. The Havlovi inspired, among others, Sufjan Stevens and Bryce Dresner of The National, worked on the margins of the music scene yet created exceptional, groundbreaking, distinctive things. Havel and Rogiński are homegrown artists who are creating a unique language in Central and Eastern Europe, and part of a whole list like Cukor Bila Smert, Svitlana Nianio, Księżyc, Rəhman Məmmədli, Piotr Gwadera, Lumpek and Širom. There is no room for stardom here, only the here and now.
I’m glad we can focus directly on this scene through tQ every year. Below are my 10 favourite releases from the last 12 months, and five reissues worth noting.
Irena & Vojtěch HavloviFour HandsAnimal Music
For me, this is the most emotional album of the year. Not only because it was created by a couple who played together for 40 years but also because of the unexpected passing of Vojtěch Havel. It sums up how austerity in today’s world brings brilliant results; when using piano and organ in the most minimalist way, musicians can offer poignant, meditative compositions that can sometimes move you to tears and stop time through their simplicity. Most importantly, it also shows that the Havels have been consistent since their earliest work. Their debut album, Háta H., also closed with a four-hand piano piece (a format also explored on this record), which they developed over nearly 70 minutes in various, surprising variations. There are no overdubs, no post-production, just the two of them playing.
Michaela Turcerováalene etMappa
Michaela Turcerová explores various acoustic spaces, and her first solo album is a study of the saxophone. Taking inspiration from percussive traditions, she electrifies its sound, amplifies it, creates abstract forms, wheezes and rustles, and applies various modifications, showing the instrument as being full of unexpected textures. The saxophone doesn’t sound like a saxophone at all here – these miniatures are a kind of case study in the instrument, developing its possibilities and boundaries. It’s saxophone reversed putting what might sound like errors, ornaments, or breaks at the centre, making this exploration a fantastic adventure. One acoustic instrument, with the help of amplification and extended techniques, is brought to a whole other level.
Antonina NowackaSylphine SoporiferaMondoj
Antonina Nowacka’s album Sylphine Soporifera is a mesmerising exploration of ethereal soundscapes, created through a distinctive blend of instruments like zithers, ocarinas, bamboo flutes and whistles. The centerpiece of the work is Nowacka’s voice, which she employs as a tool for crafting meditative, chant-like melodies rather than conventional singing. The compositions evoke a profound connection to nature and the cosmos, offering listeners a transcendent journey into spiritual realms. The album is notable for its innovative approach to structure and sound, suggesting a bridge to “otherworldly” dimensions. With its minimalism and introspective depth, Sylphine Soporifera provides an emotionally powerful auditory experience, combining simplicity with a profound resonance that captivates the imagination.
Simina OprescuSound Of MatterHallow Ground
Simina Oprescu took a childhood fascination with church bells in Transylvania to create contemporary material. She recorded 15 historic bells in Berlin, which she presented as a multi-channel installation and later transformed into an album with the help of electronics and contemporary instrumentation. It’s pointless, however, to look for the standard ecclesiastical rumble; instead, we’re dealing with such intensive processing of the bells that we hear a glimpse of their afterimage, a harmonic reconstruction in which the drone is in the centre, and the reverberations emphasise both the unusual timbre of these old instruments, and also the possibilities for their transformation.
E/IExplicit IsolationMappa
The latest album from E/I, led by Szymon Gąsiorek, aka Pimpon, and featuring an expanded line-up of musicians including Kaja Draksler and Samo Kutin of Širom, is a striking exploration of minimalist, orchestral sound with microtonal influences. Following the dark, droning tone of E/I’s debut and the reverb-drenched, conceptual nature of their second album, this release presents a stately, single-minded sound that recalls the works of Kali Malone and Marta Forsberg. The album also features polyphonic brass variations in the style of Lea Bertucci, with a dramatic shift in the finale, introducing light glitches, noise, and electronic beats reminiscent of Ben Frost. This is the first studio album where each musician recorded separately, with Gąsiorek weaving the pieces together, showing he’s also quite the producer.
MeropeVėjulaStroom / Granvat
For over a decade, Merope have theoretically taken Lithuanian folklore as their starting point, but they move so smoothly between styles that they effectively blur these boundaries. Singer Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė plays the kanklės, a Baltic variety of zither, and Bert Cools complements with a variety of instruments on Vėjula alongside a host of guests: Laraaji, Bill Frisell, Shahzad Ismaily and Toma Gouband. The result is music that is dreamlike, a little spiritualistic, and light as a fairy tale, in which seductive voices and musical clouds emerge from ambient backgrounds and subtly painted melodies. Jurgelevičiūtė sings in Lithuanian, weaving traditional songs like the final ‘Rana’ into dense synth chords, fractiously gaining contemporary context and emotional overtones as they emerge from silence to an electronic wave.
Ana Kravanja / Iztok Koren / Samo KutinSpacesTapes
Spaces is a series of live recordings – just one musician plays in an abandoned, isolated, or hidden space, with the acoustics offering them another layer of sound. This year, three members of the band Širom recorded solos in different spaces in Slovenia. When combined, their conglomerate of sounds is utterly unique (their show at this year’s Odysseys festival was fantastic), and here, you can hear their sound split into three, each offering amazing, meditative, primarily acoustic music. I like Ana Karvanja’s sounds for voice and violin, how Samo Kutin plays in a cave and interacts with frogs and birds, and most of all when Iztok Koren plays banjos, percussion and kalimba, among others, creating moving and meditative compositions.
GordanGordanGlitterbeat
The second album by the Serbian-German-Austrian trio explores indigenous sounds originating from the Baltic village trail, combining them with electronics, feedback, and a pulsating bass. In addition to the mantric and rootsy trance of drums and electronics, Svetlana Spajić’s vocals catch attention. She is one of the most committed scholars in the field of orally transmitted vocal traditions in the Balkans, working on the technique and ornamentation of microtonal a capella singing, having learned it from the oldest Vuej singers, also operating in the form of the Svetlana Spajić Group. As well as working in traditional music, she’s also collaborated with the likes of Stella Chiweshe, Anohni and William Basinski.
Gary GwaderaFar, far in Chicago. Footberk SuitePointless Geometry
What does oberek, a traditional Polish dance, have in common with the beats created on the Roland TR-808 by Chicago footworkers? Piotr Gwadera, after hearing the compilation Bangs & Works, found there to be a lot. The musician is heavily immersed in the Lodz indie scene, exploring different facets of the contemporary view of traditional music in the group Radical Polish Ansambl, and in Odpoczno where he plays the dżaz. This simplified drumkit conquered the Polish countryside after the Second World War, and in Footberk Suite he combines his experience of the instrument’s sound with archival traditional recordings and electronic pads. As a result, oberek and footwork inspirations intertwine to such an extent that it’s sometimes hard to tell whether you’re driving through the Polish countryside or on the dance floor in the Windy City. ‘Gary’, the name he’s using on this release coming from Polish slang from drums.
E.U.E.R.P.I.IntuitionSelf-Released
Mirian Kolev creates electro-acoustic music at the intersection of ambience and improvisation. His latest album explores intuitive music – improvisation when creators do not necessarily follow strict rules or traditional notation. Kolev recorded this album with children on the autism spectrum, and the result is light-hearted and poignant music that also dispels stereotypes, encouraging the children to develop their unique skills by offering them new ways of expression in the form of playing music with a variety of instruments in a group format.
Reissues
Radical Din CalSunete Din Casă (1996-1998)New Romanian Weird
A deep dive into Romanian post punk and new wave in the mid-1990s after social and political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. This short-lived band was formed away from the capital, in Timișoara, and sounded as crazy and psychedelic as you can imagine, an abstracted and genre juggling sound which somehow sums up the turmoil of Romanian politics in that era. There are primitive sounds, echoing and metallic drums, cabaret-like piano repetitions, lo fi noise and guitar riffs, non-conventional usage of guitar, chanting, singing in the weirdest way mixed with noise and garage rock, and acid primitive synth lines. I do believe there will be further focus in the future on the heritage of this group, and more detailed studies.
Rəhman MəmmədliAzerbaijani Gitara, Vol. 2Bongo Joe
The reissue of Rəhman Məmmədli’s Azerbaijani Gitara Volume 2 highlights the extraordinary versatility of the Azerbaijani guitar tradition, blending Eastern modal music with Western jazz and rock influences, and shedding a light on the history of the Jolana guitar company. This music is a cascade of virtuosity, where frenetic rhythms meet synth textures, sometimes channeling singular energy with intricate, jazz-inflected guitar solos. The most significant element is the expressive, distorted phrases that transform the instrument’s timbre, evoking a unique sonic character. Traditional Azerbaijani songs are reinterpreted with vibrant arrangements, bridging the past and present through innovative guitar work. This compilation celebrates the dynamic artistry of Məmmədli, cementing his place as a pioneer who seamlessly merges cultural heritage with experimental sounds.
Raphael RoginskiPlays John Coltrane And Langston HughesUnsound
As Raphael Rogiński gets more and more attention, 2024 sees the reissue of one of his most beautiful albums, 2015’s Plays John Coltrane And Langston Hughes, recorded with singer Natalia Przybysz, which has been sold out and unavailable on streaming services for the past nine years. Here, Rogiński’s dry-sounding, delicate guitar serves as a vehicle for Coltrane’s spirituality. For the reissue, thanks to the Unsound label, he added four new songs – recorded this summer – which he hopes add what he had not shown when the release first came out: hope.
Cukor Bila SmertRecordings 1990-1993Shukai
A unique group on the Ukrainian scene have seen a comprehensive review thanks to the indispensable Shukai label. This compilation showcases a unique fusion of surrealism, cabaret and experimental soundscapes, reflecting the social and political anxieties of the time. Cukor Bila Smert represents a mosaic of moods, oscillating between paranoia and dark humor, resonating with this transitional period. Their music stands out for its theatricality and avant-garde spirit, making it a vital document of a cultural undercurrent that resisted conformity. Recordings 1990-1993 should be celebrated for shedding light on an obscure but artistically rich chapter of Eastern European music history, made during the turmoil in Ukraine’s underground music scene during the late Soviet era.
Oldřich JanotaSladká Holka Z Venkova / Rumové Rachejtle / Mariánský TanecRepublika Nového Měsíce
When I was lying sick at home last winter, Miloš Hroch prepared an overview of the most interesting recordings by Oldřich Janota, a regular collaborator with The Havlovi, who passed away a few months later in July. I can safely say that his records were a lifesaver for me at the time; I listened alternately and endlessly to Žlutě, Mezi Vlnami, and High Fidelity. It is therefore gratifying that the end of this year has brought this selection of recordings by the musician. Rumové Rachejtle his most recent work, and Sladká Holka Z Venkova returns to his oldest songs from the 1970s and 1980s, which he performed anew. Meanwhile, Mariánský Time is a set of spiritual songs partly dedicated to the Marian tradition. It is a unique opportunity to recall the work of a musician who was wildly active until the end.
