rvss.eel
Damn do these tracks slam! Damn are they sick! Or actually... they szlam! And they are ścieki! Okay sorry, I don't speak the language, it's just that these inspire me to move and dance and to have a good time. This is like Kwasy I Zasady - more electronic and beat focused than jazzy - but polished up, amped up, and basically taken to a whole other level all around. A full album like this would be an absolute beast. I just can't get over that groove in Ścieki. Damn is it filthy!
Favorite track: Szlam.
A lot of water has flown under the bridge since Błoto released their last album. Sadly, in Polish rivers it wasn't just water flowing, but also all sorts of sewage of unknown origin, which destroyed the condition of these once vibrant bodies of water; it eventually led to a real catastrophe on the Odra River, which, after all, surrounds the entire city of Wroclaw, the band's birthplace. It is time for a decisive response. Błoto is making a comeback with a seven-inch vinyl and their first singles in over two years - "Szlam" and "Ścieki".
Climate change had already led to a permanent hydrological drought, which was echoed on Erozje LP. Today, as many as 91.5 percent of Poland's rivers are in very poor condition. It is not only drought that threatens rivers, but also excessive salinity. This is precisely the kind of disaster that happened on the Odra river. It resulted in 360 tonnes of dead fish and death of the river along a stretch of almost 500 km, and the reason for that was short-sighted human activity that could have been avoided. Still, the decision was made to turn the river into a cesspool.
Two years of hiatus is far too long. During this time, reality has not let up for a moment, providing new inspiration. Szlam (eng. sludge) is the sediment that forms on the river bed and sometimes the river banks. The Polish word derives from German (Schlamm), which means swamp - or mud. Szlam is therefore a sticky and unsettling remorse that rests somewhere at the bottom of the human consciousness.
In "Szlam" and "Ścieki" tracks, you will not only hear references to Erozje, but also to Kwasy i Zasady LP. For it is also a metaphor for everything that pours out of the media, smartphones, and then flows into one's head. The constant bickering, conflicts and dirty play in political campaigns, scandals to which we are already numb. On top of this, hate speech, low-quality stupefying influencer content, resulting in an ever-decreasing cultural capital of a society that breeds conformists, individualistically-minded egoists and mindless consumers. This state of affairs spawns a society of egoists, incapable of critical reflection, questioning and rebelling against reality.
The sound and genres explored by the band are, as usual, difficult to pigeonhole. These two musical miniatures contain a lot of anxious and neurotic sounds, as well as synth glitches evoking emotions such as fear, anger, sadness and guilt. The quartet consisting of Wuja HZG, OlafSaxx, Cancer G and Latarnik managed to distill this mental state by encapsulating it in shades of breakbeat ("Szlam"), and broadly defined house music ("Ścieki").
The 7" vinyl will be released on December 22, 2023 by Astigmatic Records. A limited edition of the vinyl single, limited to 600 copies, will be available for pre-order from December 1, 2023 on Bandcamp. Mixing and mastering was done by the ever reliable Kwazar, and Niebieski Robi Kreski is behind the wacky cover art. What's more, the long-awaited repress of Błoto's debut album, Erozje, will be available for sale at the same time.
credits
released December 22, 2023
CREDITS:
Wuja HZG - synth, bg
Latarnik - synth, p
OlafSaxx - synth, as
Cancer G - dr, dr mach
Recorded at Studio Pasterka in Warsaw, 29-31.01.2023.
Recording Engineer: Piotr Zabrodzki
Mix / Mastering: Marcin Kwazar
Executive Producer, A&R, Manager: Sebastian Jóźwiak
Graphic Designer: Animisiewasz
Illustration: Niebieski Robi Kreski
www.astigmaticrecords.com
Błoto is a band that came to being accidentally, yet naturally, like a puddle after a rainy day. It all started in the
summer of 2018 when the Wrocław-based EABS sextet had a day off between the concerts in Brzeg Dolny, Łódź and Sopot.
The music is deeply rooted in brutal hip-hop grooves, referring quite loosely to the sound of the 90s....more
supported by 138 fans who also own “Szlam / Ścieki”
yes yes yes!!! After transcendant Erozje by Błoto... here you are boys... so so eclectic, now able to reach even the youngest generation, I love U boys as always!!!!
... kikanina
supported by 113 fans who also own “Szlam / Ścieki”
Always been a big fan of songs that have that 'retro-futurism' tone. The audio commentary feature sounds really good and honestly it just sets up the perfect vibe for getting into the rest of the album. revenantbruiser