Search - Marek Grechuta :: Magia Oblokow

The Magic of The Magic of the Clouds

Jiri Schwarz | Prague, Czechia | 12/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have known Grechuta's songs for some 30 years. Together with Czeslaw Niemen, he is probably the biggest personality of Polish rock of the 70's. He has influenced even the Czechoslovak scene of that time. Although I do not know all of his albums, this one is a real masterpiece. I do not understand Polish very well, but I think the name of the album is Magic of the Clouds. Marek, the singer, has written all the music. The lyrics (as far as I understand beautiful) was delivered various artists. Marek's music does not fit in any of the categories of rock or pop. The band is basically rocky (however, the violin plays also a major role), but the sound is very genuine, and the music is time-to-time influenced by Polish folk music, time-to-time by the French expressive chanson. The (instrumentally outstanding) band was: Jan A. Cichy - bg; Kazimierz Jonkisz - perc; Antoni Krupa - el-g, Piotr Michera - el-v, ac-g; Eugeniusz Obarski - p, perc; Marek Grechuta - voc, p.



The original vinyl LP was issued in 1974 by Polskie Nagrania. The technical quality of all vinyl records by this company was poor, the sound being flat, with bulky hiss in the background. The more I am happy by this CD release in 2000 (by Pomaton / EMI), which is surprisingly clear and beautiful in sound. There are 19 tracks on this CD, 9 of them are complimentary pieces - some of them are interesting alternative versions of the stuff on Magia oblokow (although not superior to the originally issued versions). Tracks 6-9 were originally film music (movie Jastrun). These were united on the LP into the suite Spotkania w casie (Meetings within time), the first 3 of them being instrumental. Marek's songs are highly introspective, maybe his observations from everyday life may address even some philosophical issues. His singing is superficially decent, informal and peaceful (his vocal is not a big one), but you need not understand Polish to see that it is very appealing below the surface (it came to my mind: in a similar way as Leonard Cohen). The tunes of the songs are incredible. Melancholic, romantic, you probably cannot hear the progression of chords elsewhere in the world. The excitement of his music also comes from the repetitive figures a rhythms, which may have a hypnotic effect. To exaggerate a bit: imagine something in between Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, performed by an heir of Chopin.



For me, one the most valuable CD treasures I keep at home (naturally 5 stars) , although it was not easy to obtain it, as this item could not be delivered by Amazon.com into my country (perhaps due to its import status?). Hope that at least in the US you can get it. I guarantee you will not be dissapointed."