Polish Coldwave · Zimna Fala 2

After my first article about Polish coldwave/zimna fala (One Million Bulgarians, Psychoformalina, Made in Poland, Madame) I got a lot of positive feedback from you. At this point I would like to express my gratitude for that. I was also reminded that I forgot some of the important coldwave bands from Poland, which is true.

As a non-native speaker of Polish language (it is said to be one of the most difficult to learn, I can confirm that) it is not always easy to understand, what’s written about those great bands, and even harder to find the ‘insider’ music, but with the help of some of my readers from Poland I found out about three bands I want to write about in the following: Wieże Fabryk, Joanna Makabresku and Aya Rl.

Wieże Fabryk

Wieże Fabryk (engl.: Factory Towers) is a second generation coldwave band, which makes music since 2000. The band is based in the Polish city of Łódź, in the heart of the country. Łódź is a highly industrialised place, where the name and the sound of Wieże Fabryk is perfectly fitting.

They already released a series of records. The following song, ‘Kosmos’, is from their 2010 album Dym (engl.: Smoke). Wieże Fabryk certainly continue the spirit of the original zimna fala condignly.

Joanna Makabresku

Joanna Makabresku are a good example that polish coldwave hasn’t died yet. The band from the Warszaw-quarter Wola formed in 1986. In their short period of existence they released a couple of influencing songs and eventually disbanded in 1990. Although mostly associated with Polish coldwave, almost all of their live appearances were organized by the punk/hardcore movement. Still, their sound is a lot more reminiscent of coldwave than of punk.

Joanna Makabresku reunited a few years ago with the original members Mariusz Filar, Marek Karcerowicz, Miachał Radzikowski and Adaśko Wasilkowski. The following song, ‘Nowa praca’ (engl.: new work/job), serves as a fine example of their sound.

Aya RL

Aya RL (Red Love) is rather a post-punk than a coldwave band, but I was so impressed by their music that I want to mention them also here.

Aya RL was founded in 1983 by Igor Czerniawski, Paweł Kukiz and Jarosław Lach. In the same year they gained popularity with a live performance at the Jarocin festival. In 1985 they released their first, now legendary, album simply named ‘Aya RL‘, later to be known as ‘The Red album’ (czerwona płyta). Their second studio album, also named ‘Aya RL‘ (niebieska, the blue album) came out in 1989. Since the third album, Nomadeus, they changed their musical direction towards world music.

The song to be presented here is called ‘Ulica’ (engl.: street), which was released on the red album 1985. This is maybe the best song from Poland I have listened to so far.

Dear readers from Poland, if you know good Polish coldwave bands, please, feel free to post their names and music to the comments below. Dziękuję bardzo!