Rajkowski, Miroslaw – “Reference One” – [Nd]

abacus   6/5/2013   A Library, Cassette

Polish tripper turned Eastern monk active in the 80s and 90s. He is a master of overtone singing, having practiced since 1985 when he was at Wroclaw University (where he now teaches). Meditative droning vocal experimentation with a focus on far Eastern styles of voice, but with Western classical influence and some more impovisational extended techniques. Tracks 1 and 4 incorporate his homemade Tambura to space out along with while track 2 features him on voice alone. Track 5 is set amidst raw, lo-fi field recordings of a local park, making for a much more immersive experience. Tracks 3 and 6 are snippets from radio interviews in Polish that serve well as mixing fodder or to just play alone and confuse listeners. A valuable historical document of an interesting lesser known character.