“Myśl eko, żyj eko – don’t just think but live ecologically” -  says the slogan of the “green festival” that has been on in Wroclaw since the beginning of April. To live more ecologically, you can start off by turning off the tap when brushing your teeth, say our eco guests, Marcelo Murgia from the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency, and Tomasz Stefanicki from the Economic Development Office of the Wroclaw Municipality. If you are planning to refurbish your house and you would like to do it in an environmentally friendly way, you can go to tomorrow’s panel discussion in the Design Gallery on Swidnicka Street to find out what materials are ecological and worth the financial investment. Listen also to Tomasz talk about the workshops that are still planned for May.

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Jarboe is currently considered to be one of the most inspiring divas of industrial metal. She started her career with a band called Swans and collaborated with such bands as Neurosis. Last Friday she played a concert in Firlej. Before the concert, Janek Błaszczak, Sound Fabrics master, spoke with Jarboe about music, history and passion. Listen to the conversation.

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Janek Błaszczak from Sound Fabrics tells us about the moment he found out about the tragedy in Smolensk and informs Piotr Klimowicz about his own peculiar way of soothing the pain with the new Erykah Badu record.

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In the run-up to Magnetic Fields’ marvellous concert at the Berlin Babylon, our reporter Jan Błaszczak had had an opportunity to talk with Stephin Merritt – the band’s leader. In this interview, one of the world’s greatest lyricists talks about their “no-synths” trilogy, a musical based on Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” and the “Strange Powers” documentary about Magnetic Fields that has been just made.

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It was a mixture of ska, Balkan music, pop, traditional chansons and it was an explosive mixture indeed. Babylon Circus gripped the audience and made them dance, jump, whistle and sing along. Spontaneity and craziness as taken from Kusturica’s movies. The one to blame (or actually to praise) is David Baruchel – the band’s leader who was interviewed just after spectacular gig at WZ by our reporter Janek Błaszczak.

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Sydney-born singer-songwriter Inga Liljestrom top of the bill for the third day of Stage Song Review. Shortly after her concert in the Impart Arts Centre, where she played with her French band, she was interviewed by our reporter Jan Błaszczak. During this, Inga told us about her background and her experiences in the field of cinema, as well as sharing her feelings about performing whilst four months pregnant.

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Just before her show in Capitol, there was a short meeting with Amanda Palmer held with journalists and fans. She was asked about her latest solo album, German inspirations, and upcoming record. Janek Blaszczak was there and asked insightful questions.

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Janek Błaszczak talks to Tymon Smektała, a man of many talents, which go way beyond the realm of music. Find out what Tymon thinks is special about hip-hop coming from Wrocław and about the long path of development that this genre has gone through since he appeared on stage for the first time in 1999.

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The world of music suffers yet another loss in the form of the Sparklehorse singer/songwriter Mark Linkous, who committed suicide last Saturday. Listen to Piotr Klimowicz talking to Janek Błaszczak from RWC Fabrics about the life and achievements, as well as tribes and tribulations experienced by the departed Mark Linkous.

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Just before his DJ set last week at Bezsenność club, Matt found time for a chat with our reporter, Jan Błaszczak.  Matt Didemus is a Canadian musician, producer and DJ. He’s best known for being the man behind some  of the great beats heard on the Junior Boys’ albums. With his colleague, Jeremy Greenspan, he was a headline act at the Era New Horizons Festival. Recently, he has been touring in Poland, playing as a DJ. Listen to this interview and learn more about the humble beginnings of Junior Boys, Didemus’ move to Berlin and his plans for future.

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Human tastes…How unpredictable they are! Who could have predicted that 12 inch recordings would become so popular again? The sale of vinyl records in 2009 has exceeded 2 million copies. That means the amount has increased by 37% – the highest rate since 2001. In times when CD sales are declining, the resurgence of interest in vinyl records  might actually  save some labels from going bankrupt. By Janek Błaszczak

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Music Blog by Janek Błaszczak

Elevator is a new RWL Blog destined for all of you who love music but still aren’t into the contemporary Polish scene. With “Elevator” we will try to bring both the history of Polish music and current releases closer to you. No matter whether it’s hip-hop, rock or electronics – we’re here, just to pick some good tunes and elevate them a bit.

Let’s begin with probably the best Polish hip-hop album of the year – “Lavorama” of Ortega Cartel.  The band was founded in 2003,and their first official album has been released this year. Nevertheless the duo, consisting of Patr00 (producer) and Piter (rapper), has got some acclaim with underground releases and supporting the Canadian-based rapper – Jesse Maxwell – with  outstanding beats (better check “Season One” by The Jonesz). But honestly, even with these facts no one could have predicted that “Lavorama” would be such a success.

One of the strongest points of “Lavorama” it’s its spontaneity and sincerity. Every single track proves that Piter and Patr00 have a passion for hip-hop and recording of this album was an enormous pleasure for them. Even without understanding the lyrics you might get the impression of absolute joy that made them not bother with commercial standards (e.g. duration – the album lasts nearly 80 minutes!). The second feature of “Lavorama” that makes it one of the best hip-hop album of the year are beats. Undoubtedly, within a year or two Patr00 has become the most respected producer in this country. In fact, “Lavorama”’s backing-tracks are not the “backing” ones, as they sometimes play a role of equal importance as the rhyming. Patr00’s beats are on the one hand warm and upbeat, on the other precise and multidimensional, often sampling great jazz or soul tunes (like an opener “Miami Vice”).

In order to complete this epic (more than 30 songs) album, Piter and Patr00 asked a number of their hip-hop colleagues for support. As a result, about a half of the tracks features guests connected with both underground and mainstream stage. What is more, some of the songs were written by Ortega’s mates from Canada (both Piter and Patr00 have been living there for a few years), including Jesse Maxwell – known from The Jonesz. If you still have some reservations, brought about by the idea of hip-hop being only about the lyrics, forget about them to find out that the only language that matters is an affectation for rap. And that’s pretty international.

Recommended if you like: hip-hop, Jay Dilla, Pharcyde, Blackalicious

The Czech band Plastic People of the Universe has been on stage for over 40 years. Their music is compared to Velvet Underground or Frank Zappa and among their fans they have Vaclav Havel. In a conversation wit Jan Błaszczak, they talk about doing time in prison, playing ‘underground’ music in the difficult times of the communist regime, and reuniting after 10 years.

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On myspace all you’ll read about the music band Woody Alien is that they play indie, garage and experimental music and that “they are not our friends, remember”. Listen to Janek Błaszczak tell something more about the two member group that played on Tuesday at the Niskie Łąki club

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They’ve played on saws, drills, buckets and iron sheets, sometimes bleeding profusely. They have conquered Polish talent shows. They will play a gig during the Wrocławski Sound Festival. They’re called All Sounds Allowed. And that’s no joke. Listen to Janek Błaszczak interviewing them in our studio.

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