R. IWANSKI - Transformations II by X-NAVI:ET

 

             Whenever I hear about a new album that is composed and produced by Rafal Iwanski - be it a solo or collaboration or part of the constellation that he is in ( and trust me - there are many ), I am always more than sure to receive a quality product that is somewhat larger than life. Embedded with years of his experience as a musician, esoteric, yet transparent, understandable to a wider audience and possessing clear and easy-accessible form, I am more than prone to listen to it and find some sort of relief in knowing that he is flexible as ever and working hard to provide the listener with somewhat poetic and yet groovy contents. 

 Rafał Iwański has been a percussionist, sound artist and ethnologist, involved in such projects as  ||ALA|MEDA||, HATI, Voices of the Cosmos. 

His latest albums is on one hand an ethno-trip rooted in usage of African instruments such as lamellophones such as sanza, kalimba and sanzula, also a range of small percussion instruments and aerophones. 

This album is a continuation of ''Transformations I'' You can more or less clearly see and hear his  fascination with the ethnic music of sub-Saharan Africa and the recordings of icons such as Stella Chiweshe (Zimbabwe), Francis Bebey (Cameroon) and Victor Gama (Angola), among others,  American minimalists and folk primitivists, as well as artists from New Age and Fourth World Music circles, whose main representatives are Laraaji and Jon Hassell.

But the contents of this album can charm you with a tight and clear tracks' structure. A deep sense of groove - however it is built, or what instruments and electronic preparations he is using. 

It is a rare form of music that is not only musicians' music but gives a listener to get involved and see and admire the transparent and diverse beauty of influences and experience them first hand. It's a rare and difficult to obtain experience in a world where everything is mediated through cultural chaos that is both deeply disturbing and mind-numbing. Iwanski gives you a chance to alter this experience and find your own way towards it. 

CD by Antenna Non Grata & Eter Records /// Release date: 24/01/2025

Instrumentation: sanzas, kalimbas, sanzula, rattles, rain sticks, bells, metal objects, spring tubes, wah-wah tube, frame drum, ocarina, flutes, pipes, drum machine, effects (soma laboratory, electro harmonix, strymon, hard wire, boss), field recordings.

Contact, dynamic and condenser microphones were used to capture the sound of acoustic instruments.

Composed, recorded and mixed by Rafał Iwański at Studio Eter, Toruń, Poland, July - November 2024

Mastering: Szymon Szwarc | szszwarc.pl

Artwork and photo: Ewa Bińczyk | ewabinczyk.pl

Layout: Wojciech Zięba | info@beastofprey.com

Contact Rafał Iwański a.k.a. X-Navi:Et | itah@o2.pl

The project is co-financed by the Scholarship of the Marshal of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship.

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