Aleksandra Chciuk / Paweł Maciak: minor civilization by Antenna Non Grata

 

Another outing by Antenna Non Grata in a form of a download. 

Another duo which I am glad as duos seem to be working excellent in the class of experimental, improvisational genre.

This time joined forces of Aleksandra Chciuk and  Paweł Maciak. 

Paweł provides steady base of guitar textures and Aleksandra leads with her abstract vocals and operates on a little gallery of different instruments like prepared piano, percussion of all sorts and contact microphones.

The melancholic droning of guitar themes together with the female vocals that get the best of any experimental vocal studies and schools. 

Minor civilization doesn't hit you or sting you in terms of invasiveness and the aggressive quality of the material. It works on subtle tones and undertones. Rich with textures of all the instruments combined gives a sure shot outlet for Ola's vocals - transparent sometimes like a lace, dispersed over different tones, sad and neurotic at times, child-like in its play that you think of a human development process - process of learning and reaching certain points and landmarks in terms of how it gets there.

There is a strong post-rock sensitivity in Paweł's play and his approach towards guitar with its reverberated sound enhanced through production. 

A good album for the end of the year when everything everywhere seems to fall apart but hey we have some artists who just tread patiently through differences, compromises and obstacles - slowly towards the goals they have set themselves up for.

Artists' bios:

  Both artists are visual and sound creators. They deal with the area of the audiosphere between trance and improvised music. They create musical forms for which musical and sound intuition, contemporary music, underlying and extensive roots of folk culture, raw sounds of electric guitar, or old techniques of sound recordings seem to be equally important. Such a sound space like this is natural and close to them, but also intriguing and full of unknowns.

Aleksandra Chciuk. Interdisciplinary artist, improviser, composer. Plays prepared piano, sound objects, and percussion instruments. With their help she builds separate, deep narratives. The immersiveness and organic nature of the acousmatic reception environment are the distinguishing features of her multimedia, audiovisual works. She values and initiates collective activities (Fullness Collective, Kobro’s Snakes). For her, the collective is one organism where both intellectual and intuitive exchange is important. She is a graduate of the Lodz’s Film School. She runs the Audiosphere Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz. On Minor Civilization she made her first recordings with voice.

"A year ago, at the 07. Spontaneous Music Festival, while playing with Vasco Trilla, Miquel Petruccelli, and Marcin Bożek, I felt the desire to use my voice. I did it. Since then, it has become a new instrument for me and a constant companion. I have become aware of its presence in everyday life".

Paweł Maciak. Visual and sound artist. Painter and graphic artist by education, photographer and musician by choice. Guitar and bass player. Music documentarian. For over a decade, he has been collaborating with artists from the ethnic, improvised, experimental and contemporary music scenes. Producer of many video sessions and recordings, including songs from Rafael’s Rogiński “Talan”. He recorded four albums with authorial project Blady Jeleń. Doctor in the field of arts. For many years he has been working as a teacher of photography and film.

Aleksandra Chciuk - voice, prepared piano, small instruments, percussion instruments, contact microphones

Paweł Maciak - electric guitar, recording, mastering

Artwork and photo – Bartłomiej Talaga

Recorded in July and August, 2024 at the Library of the University in Lodz

https://antennanongrata.bandcamp.com/album/aleksandra-chciuk-pawe-maciak-minor-civilization