Review : Magic Carpathians

MAGIC CARPATHIANS played live at "PVHF" Radio Centraal studio's at 5-5-2004

Some live pictures from the latest European tour mid 2004 :

press info :

The Magic Carpathians Project, established in 1998 by Anna Nacher and Marek Styczynski (previously the leader of the psychedelic/acid folk group known worldwide as ATMAN) mournful vocals, eerie woodwinds, hypnotic drones, primal rythms, noise collages, rich sonic tapestries. Singer/guitarist Anna Nacher with a voice that soars like Renate Knaupt, whispers like Gilli Smyth, or screams like Lydia Lunch.

Styczynski and Nacher use a plethora of ethnic instruments from Asia and Europe. Performing also as a duo, Nacher and Styczynski enhance the sonic spectrum of their music with didgeridoo, bass guitar, tabla or electric guitar.

Hailing from Carpathian mountains, the Magic Carpathians Project is known for skilful improvisation built around the patterns of traditional music of Central and Eastern Europe.

Released 10 albums (one on American label Drunken Fish Records), present on many compilations released in the UK (compilation "New Music from Central and eastern Europe" released by The Wire), Sweden, the U.S, Italy, toured USA (from Knitting Factory, NYC through SXSW, Austin to Bottom of the Hill, SF) and Europe (Germany, Sweden, Italy, Central Europe). Listed in All Music Guide. Reviewed in Magnet, The Wire, Downbeat, San Francisco Weekly, Brainwashed.com, FakeJazz.com, Dream Magazine, Ptolemaic Terrascope, The Broken Face (Sweden), Skug (Austria), Rockerilla (Italy). Regularly played at numerous radio stations: WFMU (Heavy Airplay), WNYU , KSPC (in World Top 10 chart for April, the 10th, 2001) KFJC, WCBN, WMBR, WXYC, KDVS, KZSU, Freies Radio Kassel (Germany), Radio Undo D'Orta (Italy), Radio Centraal (Belgium), Radio Ciutat Vella (Spain) Radio 100, Radio Caroline (the Netherlands), DeutschesRadio, Borderlines, Multi Kulti (Germany), Resonance FM (UK), Radio Akropolis (Czech Republic).

http://www.drunkenfishrecords/carps

http://www.karpatymagiczne.vivo.pl

Selected press-kit:

For the last five years, The Magic Carpathians Project have released a handful of superlative but criminally ignored albums of ethno-psychedelia. () Their sublime Ethnocore trilogy impressed me with its haunting melodies and deep psychedelic drones, based on cross-germinations of traditional folk of their native Poland together with indigenous music and instruments from around the globe. The Magic Carpathians utilize transcendental combinations of harmonium, hurdy-gurdy, accordion, guitar, violin, sitar and Carpathian woodwinds harmonized with more modern conceits such as vintage synthesizers, tape loops and field recordings. () The ghostly "Lavender, Satin & Gingerbread" features the fragile vocals of Anna Nacher, recalling Bjork's intimate delivery on Vespertine. ()With Euscorpius Carpathicus, The Magic Carpathians have expanded their already impressive musical scope even further, without losing that essential spark of creative intuition that consistently impregnates their music with its uniquely spectral beauty.

Jonathan Dean, Brainwashed.com, Feb. 2004

What we get is possibly the most direct and straightforward Magic Carpathians album to date, but this doesn't by any means suggest that it's any less interesting. () The epic stunner "Fat Moon" is probably the ultimate example as it seems to be inspired by traditional American folk/country and as odd as it might seem it's one of the most contemplative things I've heard all year.

Mats Gustafsson, The Broken Face # 17, 2003

"Something You Can Hide In" leads off with a harmonium drone, and operatic vocals from guitarist Anna Nacher, suddenly giving way half through its' 13-minute length, into what can only be described as a funky raga, at which point Nacher's voice shoots into the stratosphere, as eerily witchy as the best of Gilli Smyth, less space-whisper than space-scream (like an only slightly subdued Diamanda Galas), and ends with pleasently melodic figures from guest violinist Patrycja Kujawska. Very spooky and ambient, probably appealing to fans of Current 93.

Doug Pearson, Aural Innovations #23 (April 2003)

Anna Nacher, Vocal Goddess of Poland. Bassgitarren schleichen drohend langsam und selbst diesmal spärlich verwendete Ethnoinstrumente wie eine Karpatenharmonica züngeln wie gefährliche Giftschlangen. Kalte Schauer rinnen über den Buckel, als ob Lydia Lunch und Diamanda Galas gleichzeitig losgelassen wären. Anna Nacher hat sich von indischen Frauenritualen inspirieren lassen - Vak ist eine Hindugöttin, die Musik verkörpert - und muss ob dieser aufwühlenden, bluestriefenden Platte zu Frau mit der ausdrucksstärksten Stimme des Jahres 2002 verklärt werden. Abgrundtief magic!

Alfred Pranzl, Skug 2003,

This third instalment in Polish group The Magic Carpathians' Ethnocore series sees their sound stripped down even further to mostly acoustic fretless bass and vocals. The Resulting freed up space only serves to heighten the music's ritualistic overtones, with vocalist Anne Nacher sounding particularly inspired.

The Wire, Issue 222, August 2002

The Magic Carpathians "Ethnocore 3 Vak" (FLY Music, Dist: Vivo) Anna Nacher and Marek Styczynski of Poland have perhaps delivered their finest recorded work with this collection of ten explorations of their genetic and spiritual identities. (...) It seems the sound of The Magic Carpathians is growing progressively independent of their folk roots and becoming it's own hybrid of improv, jazz, art music, opera, Brigitte Fontaine, free noise, Stockhausen, Sun Ra. (...)

George Parsons Dream Magazine #3

The Magic Carpathians use beside samples and other modern techniques also traditional instruments like guitars, piano, percussion etc. but also many folkloristic instruments and the soft voice of Anna. Classic, folklore and techniques goes perfect together and deliver original music that is this time not to heavy or bombastic.

Tom Wilms, L'Entrepot (Belgium), January 2002 on Dënega" CD.

Magic Carpathians are much closer to the ground than, say, Dead Can Dance.

Bruce Miller, Magnet # 51, Sept.-Oct.2001

On its first U.S. release Ethnocore II: nytu" the Project occupies a free-floating dimension somwhere bewteen an extraterrestrial temple ritual, the reneissance goth recordings of Dead Can Dance and the Eastern ambience of experimental artist Rapoon. Invoking an intoxicating blend of opium-den hypnotica, the band mostly avoids cringe-inducing world beat clichés (...).

San Francisco Weekly, March 21-27, 2001

Self-styled purveyors of "ethno-core", Poland's Magic Carpathians combine mournful vocals, tribal percussion, eerie woodwinds, and noise collages into a hypnotic mega-drone; something akin to the Art Ensemble of Chicago transplanted to Eastern Europe.

Nashville Scene, March 2001

The second album from Poland's Magic Carpathians Project is every bit as dazzling as their debut Ethnocore, even as they have since traded in that album's electric space jamming for more primal earth rhytms and acoustic mantras.

David Keenan, The Wire, March 2001

Atman's swansong before resuming full-time work as The Magic Carpathians Project is a fantastic showcase for vocalist/conjouror Anna Nacher. As a cumbersome riffs seesaws back and forth beneath psych FX, Nacher screeches witch chants like Diamanda Galas before subsiding into delays and hymn calls.

David Keenan, The Wire, October 1999

Go back to the first Atman page

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Fly Music The Magic Carpathians & Zygmunt Staniak : Water / Dreams (2002)***°

This is already the 7th release of The Magic Carpathians so far, and it surely is the most convincing.

At a certain point Atman ceased to exist. The magic of trees and forest rituals, the raga drenched acid trance psych folk was left behind, to look for other ways of expression.

From the point of view of my humble opinion, it took until this release to find a full matured new sound and expression.

Still expressing with their "Carpathian" roots -founded in nature, natural sounds and moods- this music became their personalized ritual with acoustic improvisation as one of the fundaments.

The voice, singing and mixing of Anna Nacher's voice matured as well, starting from mystic talk, she also often sings with a more full expression / with animal like environmental sounds, as within Dead Can Dance like areas of singing, until soft ethnic screams.

The ritual smoothness created in the music became a strong pleasant expression providing a perfect listening pleasure. The first two tracks, cover styles (without belonging to them) of ethnic trance and ritual music (-recorded live-), with modern sounds (-programming-), and with even some psychedelic (effects), dance (rhythmic paterns). Track 3, "So Transparant" and 4, "Triple Portrait" are a bit a combination of free jazz elements through use of a jazzy bass and sax in a ethno ritual perspective. Track 5, "A story part III", has in a minimal way (with Indian percussion, zither, electric bass, voice) an ethnotrance psychedelic effect. Track 6,"Response" is a very filmic track with lots of field recordings, perfectly mixed with musical instruments improvisations and with a violin connecting the complete score, was made with Cerberus Shoal, a group which I remember for its interesting experimental mostly acoustic work "Crash my moon yacht" (Pand.rec.,1999)****°. This track precedes a forthcoming album on Northeast Indie Records of a cooperation between both groups. Last track, "Continuum", like "A story..", is minimal Indian ethnotrance, somewhat hypnotic in its effect.

The CD is in fact a cooperation with an artist called Zygmunt Stenwak, a photographer who made "painted" photostudiowork pictures. A small booklet with nice and colourful abstract pictures is included.

Website of The Magic Carpathians : http://www.karpatymagiczne.vivo.pl/karpatymagiczne/

& http://karpaty.terra.pl/ Contact The Magic Carpathians at : info@vivo.pl

Introduction on Magic Carpathians : http://citypaper.net/articles/030801/cw.sixpick5.shtml

Review of other release with soundfiles : http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/brainv06i42.html

Review and info with other release : http://www.drunkenfishrecords.com/carps.html

Obuh Rec. The Magic Carpathians Project : Euscorpius Carpathicus (POL,2003)**°'

The first track “Fishifish” immediately reveals a mythical (here sea-creature) nature-related world with vibraphone, gongs, flutes, electronic effects, only slowly vibrating. All tracks of Magic Carpathians Project depend on such vibrating pulses. “Lavender, satin & gingerbread” has an improvisational semi-song text, in some way on another level could also be about the improvisation vibrations itself (“wherever you go she’s been inside you, she’s been moving, did you ever listen to’ ?”...). "Pawpaw girl" continues in this vein, instrumentally similar as the first track, with a minimal soundscape-like accompaniment of a wind instrument, electronica, some kind of chimes. "Fat Moon" starts with a guitar improvisation, whales like wind instruments, and distant wave-like movements. As a matter of speaking they are building up a mood nicely in harmony with various elements (sea, wind, earth), but once there without further movement, like an image of a natural phenomenon, but caught in a loop of time. (Strangely enough this coincided as I was listening, simultaneously, to one e-mail I received a second time, and another one I received back too, in a slightly changed direction -strange loop !-). “Ampas” after this is much more experimental, with amplified guitar effects, percussion and other instruments, and some echo, slightly more destructive in its nature, but still somewhere as a balanced natural phenomenon, and very naturally, like waves breaking down on wood in water or so. “Water on the hill ultimate” breaks out its barriers, with the brooding tension of electric bass, acoustic guitar strumming, small high pitched moog pitches, and echoed sax, short and more powerful. This is followed by "Water on the hill (1st part & 2nd part)", as a kind of ritual conclusion, with bass repetition and electronica, with words in Polish, and with tempered but calmly loosening and strengthening at least some energy in the singing. The last 23 seconds long traditional, "Polski Konik Alternatywny”, accentuates a semi-ritual aspect in the music.

On this release I experience much more than ever before in The Magic Carpathians repertoire, -since Atman- a renewed contact of the group with nature and inspiration from nature, which gives the free improvisation style direction which MC started after disbanding Atman, a balancing structure.

My favourite MC release so far. It was released on CD and in limited edition on LP.

More on Magic Carpathians Project : http://karpaty.terra.pl/band.html

Other review : http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/brainv06i42.html

For sale here : http://sklep.terra.pl/opis.php?lang=en&id=4316

& here : http://www.lollipopshop.de/kurzliste.html

& (with small review) here : http://www.tonevendor.com/item/8902

& here : http://www.midheaven.com/bin/search.cgi/datedartist=magic%20carpathians