The Music Scene in Poland:
​Polish Hip-Hop and More
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As Poland takes in more and more Ukrainian refugees, I find myself wanting to learn more about contemporary Polish culture, including its music scene. I want to know what Poles listen to. In the interfaith spiritual alphabet, "H" is for hospitality. Listening to the music of others is one form of hospitality and, for some, a form of prayer. When we listen we partake of a Listening that includes and embraces the whole universe, taking in the voices of each and all: no matter how abrasive or melodic, pleasant or painful. This Listening is what process theologians call the "consequent nature of God." We cannot listen as deeply as God, but we can listen as best we can.  We, too, can be, in Whitehead's words, "fellow sufferers who understand."  We respond to what we hear with action aimed at building a better world, compassionate communities where no voice is left behind. This is the vision that challenges dictators and totalitarian rulers, East and West. They fear the many voices. They fear Polish hip-hop.

- Jay McDaniel, 3/7/2022
 


​Taco Hemingway
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​Polish Hip Hop

Picture
NY Times

​Filip Tadeusz Szcześniak (born July 29, 1990), better known by the stage name Taco Hemingway (earlier FV), is a Polish rapper, songwriter, and musician...more
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Fifty Famous Polish Songs
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snippets


A Sample
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New Music from Poland

from New Sounds
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'Listen to new music from Poland, including traditional and non-traditional sounds, like electroacoustic music and hardcore, centuries old rural Polish punk, along with experimental-folk kitchen music. Hear music by Sutari, who are a trio of women who sing and play everyday kitchen gadgets (blender, grater, or kitchen board) as percussion. Their work is generally based on folk songs from Poland, or Lithuanian sutartines songs – those sung only by women, in perfect harmony.

There’s also music by the Warsaw Village Band, in collaboration with Galician multi-instrumentalist and experimental artist Mercedes Peón, along with music by R.U.T.A., a band who use Middle Eastern lutes, archaic fiddles and a battery of percussion to make their hardcore punk. Then, listen to Polish post-jazz from bass player/composer/instrument inventor Odo Walicki based on the Albanian poetry of Luljeta Lleshanaku. Sample music by Polish cellist/singerduo Tara Fuki who live in Czech Republic, but sing mainly in Polish.
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Hear the folk/world music of Dikanda, a six-piece band led by vocalist/accordionist Anna Witczak. Dikanda mixes together the sounds of Macedonian, Bulgarian and Rajasthani folk music, sometimes coupled with African rhythms, but all rooted in the traditional Polish folk songs that her grandmother used to sing. Plus, electroacoustic music from Jacaszek inspired by Olivier Messiaen's' bird songs.  The soundscapes began as acoustic sounds from the Kwartludium ensemble’s  piano, clarinets, violin and percussion parts. Those parts were sampled and electronically processed, turned into, as the composer writes, “forgotten songs performed secretly by my beloved trees."

- John Schaefer, New Sounds
Open Horizons