Ireneusz Socha

“Polin” is a continuation of “Sztetlach”. “Polin” sees Socha develop his artistic method, consistently building on his earlier music and literary peregrinations. “Polin” is a composition representing the genre of audio-collage – it was created with the use of samplers, sequencers and through studio editing. The electronic layers are supplemented with vocals, drums and button accordion. The piece has a clear core and consists of 9 sections that seamlessly follow one another: Coming (“Przyjście”), Hate Speech (“Mowa nienawiści”), Paradise in Biłgoraj (“Biłgoraj, czyli raj”), What Remains (“To, co zostało”), Haunted Fields (“Nawiedzone pola”), Champagne, Girls and Cabaret (“Szampan, dziewczyny i kabaret”), Eternal Question (“Odwieczne pytanie”), Won’t Sleep Tonight (“Dziś nie zasnę”)and Going (“Wyjście”). These sections create a non-chronological surrealist narrative loosely woven on the basis of history of Jews in Poland. The album is a musical essay, whose author willingly and generously employs audio quotes, including samples from pieces by Szymon Laks and Marian Hemar as well as speeches by First Party Secretary Władysław Gomułka from 1968.

These are edited in such a way that putting them in unexpected contexts lends them new meanings. The composition for the album was developed between 2004 and 2011, first as an electronic outline for Jacek Podsiadło’s group Najduchy. One of the sections of the composition – entitled March Demons – was included in “Radio Świetlicki” mixtape accompanying “Lampa” periodical no.2/2004. The piece was first performed in its proper form together with Cracow Klezmer Band in Alchemia club on June 24, 2005, during the 15th Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow. An alternative version was composed upon Raphael Roginski’s request for his audio installation “Memory of the Tenements” at Próżna Street during the 5th “Singer’s Warsaw” Jewish Culture Festival in Warsaw in 2008.