Our meeting appeared to be the right idea. In short, the music for The Night is a combination of two extreme worlds my romantic, mawkish debauchery and tender, minimal analogue sounds of Wirkus machinery and enriched with economical drum structures. (Mikolaj Trzaska)
Trzaska / Wirkus Noc
Label: Kilogram Records 2005 Catalogue No: KG 10 Format: CD
Our meeting appeared to be the right idea. In short, the music for The Night is a combination of two extreme worlds my romantic, mawkish debauchery and tender, minimal analogue sounds of Wirkus machinery and enriched with economical drum structures. Mikolaj Trzaska
Our imaginary, as well as authentic travels between the East and the West besides the play by Andrzej Stasiuk, are the source of inspiration for The Night. We bravely move among minimal electronic avant garde, free jazz and folklore, the elements of which we use here with economy and great respect, thus avoiding junky world music. Paul Wirkus
1. morpho 2. dawno dawno temu 3. kölnerstr. 4. nie mogli w to uwierzyc 5. der wagen ist weg 6. maczuga 7. die liebenden vom schrott 8. odessa 9. miekko 10. nacht 11. deutsche vita 12. nie ruszam sie
all compositions by Mikolaj Trzaska and Paul Wirkus
by Paul Wirkus at studio a, Cologne on December 2004 mixed by Jarogniew Milewski, Gdansk mastered by Joseph Suchy, Cologne
Reviews:
The next album published by Kilogram - "Noc" by duo Trzaska-Wirkus is also in a way related to literature. It is music to theatre performance based on Andrzej Stasiuk's drama under the same title. The German premiere of the performance was welcomed with standing ovation. Before we start listening - as it was in the case of previous album - the tasteful cover draws attention. Its wove paper will make all musical fetishists feel as if they were in heaven; the label aims its offer at gourmets and connoisseurs. The actual content of the album also evokes positive esthetic impressions. It captivates with subdued atmosphere with Trzaska in the foreground. Wirkus seems to stay a little bit in the background, generating rustling, dark textures in which metallic but subtle squeaks and murmurs glitter just like stars in the sky. In the aura of such thick atmosphere sound short phrases of wind instruments - bass clarinet, alt saxophone, flute and harmonica. All of this creates enchanting, really nocturnal atmosphere. Michal Nierobisz (Fluid)
*****
After acquainting myself with information about the latest offer of "Kilogram Records" I came to the conclusion that as the album includes music inspired by text it would be good to get to know both "Noc" to fully appreciate it. So I bought in the nearby bookshop both mentioned works and started to absorb both of them at the same time. Unfortunately I have to say that the album "Noc" doesn't prove to be the musical wallpaper serving as a background to reading. Already after a few minutes I stopped following the text - which, as it later turned out is worth to spend a few moments alone with - and my attention was drawn by the sounds coming from the loudspeakers nearby. I stopped reading and concentrated only on listening (which I don't regret). Here are some comments I would like to share with possible readers. "East Meets West" or something like that was the slogan I came across, I don't remember where exactly, looking for before-possible-shopping advice. "East" - in this case is probably Mikolaj Trzaska, his flute, clarinet, harmonica, and maybe even saxophone as Trzaska plays "Polish jazz". "West" are Paul Wirkus and his electronic and drums. East and West are personally represented by Poland and Germany and musically combining middle European, folk cheerlessness with rough big city post-techno chill, bantering with each other, teasing, deluding and seducing. Surprisingly they can also cooperate and complete each other. And so the electronic snap counterpoints the longing melody of the clarinet; spots, clicking bits, murmurs, hums covering everything with dark, electric smoke, deeply bites' into the acoustic tissue of improvisation. But the shaky balance is maintained as somewhere else dominate Trzaska's acoustic parts, a bit more plastic, more liberated because they are not tied up by cable they can freely glide and because of that they have much less repetitive character than these of Wirkus. Is it so that greater freedom is the domain of East? Perhaps the intention of musicians was to combine somewhat static, only a bit modulated "electronic" with freedom of so called human factor; effort to dehumanize improvisation or maybe on the contrary - humanize electronic music. Whatever it is supposed to be, first of all the result counts for the listener and I think it is pretty successful. Maybe even more than successful. "Noc" by Wirkus and Trzaska is a piece of very good music, quite original and personal; own music, allowing to recognize both musicians in it as well as germs of something else, new, some kind of Trzaska-Wirkus hybrid. "Noc" includes music - quite modern one that should satisfy the hunger for novelty on one hand and on the other hand traditional enough to make us want to come back to it with pleasure. And probably only after coming back to it we will be able to fully appreciate it because although it seems simple, in reality there is a lot happening in it, there are many details to be discovered, understood or experienced. I highly recommend this album because I think that it is worth and necessary to know it as it is probably one of the most interesting in Trzaska's and Wirkus' output. I will put it on the shelf next to "Fudo", "Mimikr", "3/5/1", "Danziger Strassenmusi", "Andruchoida" and "Mikro Muzik". And I think I will come back to it quite often. It is also worth to read Stasiuk's "Noc" although its atmosphere is different from the music. The play was described by the author as a tragifarce and there are really many comical elements which are not present on the album (maybe they are and I simply can't find them) as the music is muffled, atmospheric and despite a certain roughness and expression of some of the solo parts almost climatic. It is not a reproach but only presenting the actual state - preparing those who already know Stasiuk's text and would like to know the music. I also encourage people who didn't read the book and don't have such an intention to listen to the album as the music speaks for itself. Tadeusz Kosiek (Diapazon.pl)
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