Gandobendy by MACIEK SZYMCZUK

 

Inexhaustible Zoharum label who has its hands in many pods has released the newest cd by Maciek Szymczuk which is quite a treat, bearing in mind that it’s one of his first outings in the last 9 years. 

There isn’t any form of formula or a particular genre that you can assign to Maciek’s work too tightly so let me guide you through the tracks one by one.

First track on the album ‘’Ompek’’ is a nice combination of some cinematic ambient pads with slowly elevating beat that is dissolved by dub delays and a bit of glitchy processing towards the end. You could probably risk calling it ‘’post-techno’’ which wouldn’t be that far from the actual truth. It’s a nice opening track. The atmosphere and the tension is slowly accumulating and rising up to the certain degree and then nicely breaks down. 

Second track is quite a surprise – in terms of arrangements it solidifies the contents of the album, and in terms of the actual sound – it has to do more with the classic synth sound – it sounds more sci fi and vintage but done in a way that has nothing to do with any pastiche, and nicely edited, meaning that there are no sounds here that are unnecessary – everything is fit for purpose – glitches, experimentation, nice synth edge.

Are you ready for a proper groove and a dub punch? Third track provides it. This excellent Hundangola just vibes through and through with a groovy bass and spacey background bits. But everything is driving forward through this excellent beat with  a bass that would even move a Haitian zombie. Nice and classy with a unexpected beautiful  ethnic ending.

Track 4 is one of those tracks that sound both cinematic and ethereal. This is the ambient at its best – carefully arranged and blended together with the rest of the tracks. It has this unique quality that just takes you places. But it’s not trippy for the sake of the trip – it’s more poetic and just playing on the frequencies that make you feel, if you’re a sonic bibliophile of course, that you are taken out of the quotation mark towards the understanding of the very core that ambient music has facilitated over the last 40-50 years of its evolution. Maciek knows his ambient excellently. 

Next one – Gangobendy is coming through with a different quality. Percussive elements sound very dub-like and the bass hits the right notes. But the main musical theme is nothing short of melancholic excellence with space in the background. Another track here that is magically driving the listener into the type of frequencies and arrangements that have a steady framework in terms of drums and bass but have something deeper to it. A transporting quality. 

Elektronytek starts beautifully in a clicks and cuts manner but with thoroughly deep bass and delayed reverberation of the drums. And… again – the musical theme that transports you somewhere unreal – an abstract trip that is embellished beautifully. Maciek is a highly skilled craftsman so he knows exactly how to blend different elements together so they sound both transparent and sophisticated at the same time.

Nerłon – the last and the longest starts with field recorded sounds of nature processed and moved to the psychedelic realm that reminds me of 1960’s electronic electroacoustic music experiments and musique concrete. Fair enough, Maciek uses it to almost immediately elevate and shift towards properly modern arrangements that are far from oblique yet you have the feeling that all sounding familiar and fresh, sounds more like a little trip of self discovery. Obviously if your dig and turn towards music has a mark of treating it seriously. Not too seriously though. Well, seriously enough. 

This track is a nice ending to the whole little trip that this album has been. It’s like an epic summary of the whole bunch of ideas that Maciek has presented us with here. And definitely something to ponder on. 

What is important – the set list of the album is taking you both by surprise and is taking you somewhere deeply. With lots of different and diversified traits, cues and hints – it is a rich musical material that definitely needs revisiting on and on. Just an excellent comeback of knowledgeable and excellently skilled musician.

 

Bandcamp Link