Myslovitz
Encyclopedia
Myslovitz is a Polish
rock
band, whose music incorporates elements of college rock
, shoegazing
, and, arguably, Britpop
. Since 2003, EMI Group
has been attempting to establish them internationally, with considerable support from MTV Europe
. The band take their name from their industrial hometown of Mysłowice in Upper Silesia
(Southern Poland).
started the band in 1992 as "The Freshmen", taking the initial name from the 1990 film The Freshman
, starring Marlon Brando
and Matthew Broderick
—which indicates a fascination with cinema that would become a characteristic feature throughout the band's career. In 1994 they changed their name to Myslovitz after their hometown of Mysłowice. The band's early phase was characterised by a somewhat debonair punk
attitude, as Rojek admits:
Even so, they soon caught the media's attention, winning several important competitions for young musicians; this enabled them to make their first professional recordings in the studio of Radio Lodz. In 1994, Myslovitz were signed by MJM Music Pl and recorded their self-titled debut album with British producer Ian Harris, who had previously worked for, amongst others, Joy Division
, New Order
, and The Exploited
. Upon its release in 1995, the album received euphoric reviews and was declared "Debut of the Year" by several music magazines. Some critics compared it to Oasis
, who were at the peak of their popularity at that time.
In 1996, Myslovitz were joined by a third guitarist and keyboarder, Przemek Myszor, and released the second album Sun Machine on Sony Music Polska. The album spawned two somewhat beatlesque airplay hits - Z twarzą Marilyn Monroe ("With a Face Like...") and Peggy Brown, the latter being a cover version of a fellow Mysłowice rock band, with lyrics originally by the Irish "national bard" Turlough O'Carolan
(in a translation by the Polish lyricist and translator Ernest Bryll).
The following year, the third album Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu ("From meditations over breakfast") was released, displaying a tendency towards a more "polished" sound and more introspective lyrics. Also, Myslovitz's now typical fascination with cinema began to take centre stage with numerous allusions and hints in the lyrics and track titles, and a certain "cinematic" atmosphere in the music itself.
The band's interest in cinema also showed in their contributions to soundtracks. In 1998, they recorded the unconventional track To nie był film ("That was no film") for the Polish movie Młode wilki ½ ("Young Wolves ½"). The lyrics referred to a wave of violent crimes committed by juvenile delinquents, which was controversially discussed in Polish mass media in the mid-1990s. The explicit depiction of violence in the lyrics and the accompanying video clip
(which later won a Fryderyk
award as "Video of the Year") caused further controversy and led Polish broadcasting networks to boycott both the song and the clip.
Also in 1998, Myslovitz had their first appearances abroad with shows in Sweden
, Germany
, and the United States
.
The final breakthrough for the band came in 1999]with their fourth album entitled Miłość w czasach popkultury ("Love in The Time of Pop Culture"), which went platinum (i.e. 150,000 copies sold) soon and has by now achieved "double platinum" status in Poland. The single Długość dzwięku samotności ("[The Length of the] Sound of Solitude") became the biggest hit for the band so far.
In 2000 Myslovitz again contributed to soundtracks, writing and recording the song Polowanie na wielbłąda ("Camel Hunting") for the movie The Big Animal (Duże zwierzę) by the legendary Polish actor and director Jerzy Stuhr
, and the single plus another two (previously unreleased) tracks to director Waldemar Szarek's movie "That's Us" (To my). In 2003 Myslovitz continued their cooperation with Stuhr, creating not only the title song for his movie "Tomorrow's Weather", but also appearing in walk-on roles - as neophyte monks.
In 2002, the follow-up to Miłość..., entitled Korova Milky Bar appeared; the title being an allusion to Stanley Kubrick
's classic screen version of Anthony Burgess
's A Clockwork Orange
. Strikingly, the melancholic elements took over almost completely, with both music and (sometimes sarcastic) lyrics creating an almost depressive overall mood. Nonetheless, the album sold even more copies than its predecessor had in the same time, with the singles Acidland and Sprzedawcy marzeń ("Dreamsellers") repeating the success of Długość... three years earlier.
The reason for the new material's popularity, as some critics surmised, was that its atmosphere closely conformed to a presumed resignative-recessive mood within Polish society at large - which guitarist Przemek Myszor seemed to confirm in an interview for the Montreal Mirror: "For us, the Korova Milky Bar [from Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'] is a place where something different may happen to your mind. It's a place like today's Poland. You know, Poland is a place where very strange things happen to your mind. It's a country full of crisis and everything around you is very sad, very dark, very fucked. There is an economic crisis here. People don't have money, politics are fucked. The lyrics on our record are sad because of this. We sing a lot about being in a strange state of mind" http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/112802/music2.html.
With Korova Milky Bar, Myslovitz appeared at several festivals throughout Europe, including the big, traditional German festival for Alternative acts (Bizarre) and the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival
. Also, they supported Iggy Pop
and the Simple Minds
on their European tours that year. Also, they received an MTV Europe Music Awards
in Barcelona
for Best Polish Act, having been nominated twice in previous years.
In November 2002 Myslovitz signed a new contract with EMI
's Polish outlet Pomaton. The first album to be released on the new label was an English-language re-recording of Korova Milky Bar, which was released in 27 countries (including Germany, the Netherlands
, Belgium
, Switzerland
, France
, Spain
, Russia
, Turkey
and South Africa
). In addition to the Korova... material, this version also included English versions of older tracks.
"Długość dzwięku samotności" now became a single as "The Sound of Solitude"' (an earlier English version, somewhat awkwardly but more correctly entitled "The Length of The Solitude Sound", had been a Polish b-side). A video clip for this song was directed Janusz Kamiński
, the Polish Hollywood cinematographer who had won Academy Awards
for Best Cinematography
with Schindler's List
and Saving Private Ryan
, and had declined an offer from Martin Scorsese
in order to work with Myslovitz. Kaminski declares himself a "fan" of Myslovitz, saying "I only work for Spielberg
and Myslovitz [...] Money is not a factor in this. What one doesn't do for one's idols!" http://myslovitz.xon.pl/a119.htm The clip got frequent plays on MTV Europe and the album received positive reviews in the European music press, particularly in Germany. However, radio airplay was sporadic and largely limited to Alternative programmes (such as John Peel
in the UK
), as a consequence, Myslovitz so far failed to enter the upper reaches of the charts outside Poland.
Also in 2003, Myslovitz performed with Travis
and Skin (of Skunk Anansie
fame) on The Road to Edinburgh
, where they received another MTV Europe Music Award for Best Polish Act.
The same year, Sony Music domestically released an obligatory end-of-contract compilation album, entitled The Best of. The lead single Kraków was an older song re-recorded with 1970s Polish folk rock
stars Marek Grechuta
and Anawa.
In the summer of 2004 Myslovitz were touring Europe again, starting with a concert for the German public radio and television broadcaster WDR on the eve of EU enlargement
. Apart from headlining smaller venues and playing festival slots (including the largest Swiss open air event in St. Gallen
, they again opened for Iggy Pop
& The Stooges
on their European dates, as well as for The Corrs
in the UK and mainland Europe.
In December 2004, EMI released Myslovitz's most recent album entitled Skalary, mieczyki, neonki ("Angelfish, swordtails, neon tetras") - an out-of-schedule release with outtakes from the Korova Milky Bar recording sessions; longish, psychedelic-experimental and mostly instrumental soundscapes with an utterly melancholic mood to them. On Skalary..., Myslovitz appear about as close to the Radiohead reference as they are likely to get; there are also some tangible similarities with Pink Floyd
.
At the time, the band had finished recording of their new album Happiness Is Easy
; it was released in May 2006.
Myslovitz's success arguably contributed to a revitalisation of the Polish alternative rock scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which spawned bands such as eM, Kombajn do zbierania kur po wioskach, and Lili Marlene.
or Boston
. When choosing their name, the band seemed to be inspired by an ambiguous relationship towards their hometown which they felt to be rather provincial. In a review of The Best of..., the liberal Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny
stated that "coming from Mysłowice, the band entered the new, wonderful world of show business with a small-town complex"http://muzyka.onet.pl/mr,23699,1,recenzje.html. In an interview with the Montreal Mirror (see above), Guitarist Przemek Myszor called Mysłowice "depressing" [...] like all small towns are. In Poland there are few big towns. And by big town I mean where there is culture. You know, towns that have big clubs. We still live in Mysłowice, but this is a city to die in, not to live. Our region of Poland, in the south, is very industrial, coal mining, hard industry" http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/112802/music2.html.
For statements like these, Myslovitz were sometimes chided for fouling their own nest; paradoxically, however, they even helped to sanitize the city's image. Says the music journalist Leszek Gnoiński (author of the "standard work" Encyklopedia Polskiego Rocka): "Mysłowice is a city of some 100,000 people. Until the early 90s, it was known, at best, for its coalmines - until these five guys with guitars turned the mining town into a place that could be located on any map of Poland." Myslovitz's impact was one factor which stimulated the development of a local music scene. By now, with bands such as Negatyw and Supermusic, a lively Alternative rock and hip hop culture is flourishing in Mysłowice. Far away from Warsaw
as the centre of the commercial Polish entertainment industry, it even benefits from its image as being peripheral, obscure, and non-commercial - not totally unlike the British Madchester
phenomenon in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band, whose music incorporates elements of college rock
College rock
College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...
, shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
, and, arguably, Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
. Since 2003, EMI Group
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
has been attempting to establish them internationally, with considerable support from MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
. The band take their name from their industrial hometown of Mysłowice in Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
(Southern Poland).
Lineup
- Artur Rojek - lead vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Wojciech (Wojtek) Powaga - guitar
- Przemysław (Przemek) Myszor - guitar, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Jacek Kuderski - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Wojciech (Wojtek, "Lala") Kuderski - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Band history
Guitarist and vocalist Artur RojekArtur Rojek
Artur Rojek is the guitarist and lead singer of the Polish alternative rock group Myslovitz. He and the lead guitarist Wojciech Powaga founded the Mysłowice-based group in 1992...
started the band in 1992 as "The Freshmen", taking the initial name from the 1990 film The Freshman
The Freshman (1990 film)
The Freshman is a 1990 American crime comedy film starring Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick, in which Brando parodies his portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather....
, starring Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
and Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
—which indicates a fascination with cinema that would become a characteristic feature throughout the band's career. In 1994 they changed their name to Myslovitz after their hometown of Mysłowice. The band's early phase was characterised by a somewhat debonair punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
attitude, as Rojek admits:
- "I started Myslovitz in 1992. I was twenty then and I had no idea how to make good music. Surely, I was a big fan of a few British groups (RideRide (band)Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
, Stone RosesThe Stone RosesThe Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, My Bloody Valentine, Housemartins) but I couldn't play the guitar at all. After several months of rehearsals […] I decided that I should cover the holes in my musical education by […] chaos (the bigger the better)." http://www.myslovitz.pl/fankluby_ang.php
Even so, they soon caught the media's attention, winning several important competitions for young musicians; this enabled them to make their first professional recordings in the studio of Radio Lodz. In 1994, Myslovitz were signed by MJM Music Pl and recorded their self-titled debut album with British producer Ian Harris, who had previously worked for, amongst others, Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, and The Exploited
The Exploited
The Exploited are a Scottish punk band from the second wave of UK punk, formed in 1979. Originally a street punk band, they transformed into a faster hardcore punk band with a heavy political influence. From about 1987 on they changed into a crossover thrash band...
. Upon its release in 1995, the album received euphoric reviews and was declared "Debut of the Year" by several music magazines. Some critics compared it to Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, who were at the peak of their popularity at that time.
In 1996, Myslovitz were joined by a third guitarist and keyboarder, Przemek Myszor, and released the second album Sun Machine on Sony Music Polska. The album spawned two somewhat beatlesque airplay hits - Z twarzą Marilyn Monroe ("With a Face Like...") and Peggy Brown, the latter being a cover version of a fellow Mysłowice rock band, with lyrics originally by the Irish "national bard" Turlough O'Carolan
Turlough O'Carolan
Turlough Carolan, also known as Turlough O'Carolan, was a blind, early Irish harper, composer and singer whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. He was the last great Irish harper-composer and is considered by many to be Ireland's national composer...
(in a translation by the Polish lyricist and translator Ernest Bryll).
The following year, the third album Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu ("From meditations over breakfast") was released, displaying a tendency towards a more "polished" sound and more introspective lyrics. Also, Myslovitz's now typical fascination with cinema began to take centre stage with numerous allusions and hints in the lyrics and track titles, and a certain "cinematic" atmosphere in the music itself.
The band's interest in cinema also showed in their contributions to soundtracks. In 1998, they recorded the unconventional track To nie był film ("That was no film") for the Polish movie Młode wilki ½ ("Young Wolves ½"). The lyrics referred to a wave of violent crimes committed by juvenile delinquents, which was controversially discussed in Polish mass media in the mid-1990s. The explicit depiction of violence in the lyrics and the accompanying video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
(which later won a Fryderyk
Fryderyk
The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name...
award as "Video of the Year") caused further controversy and led Polish broadcasting networks to boycott both the song and the clip.
Also in 1998, Myslovitz had their first appearances abroad with shows in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The final breakthrough for the band came in 1999]with their fourth album entitled Miłość w czasach popkultury ("Love in The Time of Pop Culture"), which went platinum (i.e. 150,000 copies sold) soon and has by now achieved "double platinum" status in Poland. The single Długość dzwięku samotności ("[The Length of the] Sound of Solitude") became the biggest hit for the band so far.
Jerzy Stuhr
Jerzy Stuhr is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a screenwriter, film director and drama professor...
, and the single plus another two (previously unreleased) tracks to director Waldemar Szarek's movie "That's Us" (To my). In 2003 Myslovitz continued their cooperation with Stuhr, creating not only the title song for his movie "Tomorrow's Weather", but also appearing in walk-on roles - as neophyte monks.
In 2002, the follow-up to Miłość..., entitled Korova Milky Bar appeared; the title being an allusion to Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's classic screen version of Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
's A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
. Strikingly, the melancholic elements took over almost completely, with both music and (sometimes sarcastic) lyrics creating an almost depressive overall mood. Nonetheless, the album sold even more copies than its predecessor had in the same time, with the singles Acidland and Sprzedawcy marzeń ("Dreamsellers") repeating the success of Długość... three years earlier.
The reason for the new material's popularity, as some critics surmised, was that its atmosphere closely conformed to a presumed resignative-recessive mood within Polish society at large - which guitarist Przemek Myszor seemed to confirm in an interview for the Montreal Mirror: "For us, the Korova Milky Bar [from Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'] is a place where something different may happen to your mind. It's a place like today's Poland. You know, Poland is a place where very strange things happen to your mind. It's a country full of crisis and everything around you is very sad, very dark, very fucked. There is an economic crisis here. People don't have money, politics are fucked. The lyrics on our record are sad because of this. We sing a lot about being in a strange state of mind" http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/112802/music2.html.
With Korova Milky Bar, Myslovitz appeared at several festivals throughout Europe, including the big, traditional German festival for Alternative acts (Bizarre) and the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
. Also, they supported Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
and the Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
on their European tours that year. Also, they received an MTV Europe Music Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
for Best Polish Act, having been nominated twice in previous years.
In November 2002 Myslovitz signed a new contract with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
's Polish outlet Pomaton. The first album to be released on the new label was an English-language re-recording of Korova Milky Bar, which was released in 27 countries (including Germany, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
). In addition to the Korova... material, this version also included English versions of older tracks.
"Długość dzwięku samotności" now became a single as "The Sound of Solitude"' (an earlier English version, somewhat awkwardly but more correctly entitled "The Length of The Solitude Sound", had been a Polish b-side). A video clip for this song was directed Janusz Kamiński
Janusz Kaminski
Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has photographed all of Steven Spielberg's films since 1993's Schindler's List.-Life and career:...
, the Polish Hollywood cinematographer who had won Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
with Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
and Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....
, and had declined an offer from Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
in order to work with Myslovitz. Kaminski declares himself a "fan" of Myslovitz, saying "I only work for Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and Myslovitz [...] Money is not a factor in this. What one doesn't do for one's idols!" http://myslovitz.xon.pl/a119.htm The clip got frequent plays on MTV Europe and the album received positive reviews in the European music press, particularly in Germany. However, radio airplay was sporadic and largely limited to Alternative programmes (such as John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), as a consequence, Myslovitz so far failed to enter the upper reaches of the charts outside Poland.
Also in 2003, Myslovitz performed with Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
and Skin (of Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...
fame) on The Road to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where they received another MTV Europe Music Award for Best Polish Act.
The same year, Sony Music domestically released an obligatory end-of-contract compilation album, entitled The Best of. The lead single Kraków was an older song re-recorded with 1970s Polish folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
stars Marek Grechuta
Marek Grechuta
Marek Grechuta was a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
and Anawa.
In the summer of 2004 Myslovitz were touring Europe again, starting with a concert for the German public radio and television broadcaster WDR on the eve of EU enlargement
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
. Apart from headlining smaller venues and playing festival slots (including the largest Swiss open air event in St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...
, they again opened for Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
& The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
on their European dates, as well as for The Corrs
Borrowed Heaven tour
-Additional notes:"Borrowed Heaven" had a release date of June 1 in Canada and June 8 release date for the US. "Borrowed Heaven" is the first studio album the group has released since their platinum certified album "In Blue"...
in the UK and mainland Europe.
In December 2004, EMI released Myslovitz's most recent album entitled Skalary, mieczyki, neonki ("Angelfish, swordtails, neon tetras") - an out-of-schedule release with outtakes from the Korova Milky Bar recording sessions; longish, psychedelic-experimental and mostly instrumental soundscapes with an utterly melancholic mood to them. On Skalary..., Myslovitz appear about as close to the Radiohead reference as they are likely to get; there are also some tangible similarities with Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
.
At the time, the band had finished recording of their new album Happiness Is Easy
Happiness Is Easy
Happiness Is Easy is the eighth studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. The album overlooks Skalary, mieczyki, neonkis psychedelic soundscapes and returns to sounds of 1999's Miłość w czasach popkultury and 2002's Korova Milky Bar in the first and second half of the album...
; it was released in May 2006.
Myslovitz's success arguably contributed to a revitalisation of the Polish alternative rock scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which spawned bands such as eM, Kombajn do zbierania kur po wioskach, and Lili Marlene.
Myslovitz and Mysłowice
Myslovitz follow the tradition of 1970s American rock acts who took their names from their places of origin, such as ChicagoChicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
or Boston
Boston (band)
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...
. When choosing their name, the band seemed to be inspired by an ambiguous relationship towards their hometown which they felt to be rather provincial. In a review of The Best of..., the liberal Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, focusing on social and cultural issues. Established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, Jerzy Turowicz was its editor-in-chief until his death in 1999. He was succeeded by priest Adam Boniecki.-History:The...
stated that "coming from Mysłowice, the band entered the new, wonderful world of show business with a small-town complex"http://muzyka.onet.pl/mr,23699,1,recenzje.html. In an interview with the Montreal Mirror (see above), Guitarist Przemek Myszor called Mysłowice "depressing" [...] like all small towns are. In Poland there are few big towns. And by big town I mean where there is culture. You know, towns that have big clubs. We still live in Mysłowice, but this is a city to die in, not to live. Our region of Poland, in the south, is very industrial, coal mining, hard industry" http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/112802/music2.html.
For statements like these, Myslovitz were sometimes chided for fouling their own nest; paradoxically, however, they even helped to sanitize the city's image. Says the music journalist Leszek Gnoiński (author of the "standard work" Encyklopedia Polskiego Rocka): "Mysłowice is a city of some 100,000 people. Until the early 90s, it was known, at best, for its coalmines - until these five guys with guitars turned the mining town into a place that could be located on any map of Poland." Myslovitz's impact was one factor which stimulated the development of a local music scene. By now, with bands such as Negatyw and Supermusic, a lively Alternative rock and hip hop culture is flourishing in Mysłowice. Far away from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
as the centre of the commercial Polish entertainment industry, it even benefits from its image as being peripheral, obscure, and non-commercial - not totally unlike the British Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...
phenomenon in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Awards
- Apart from numerous accolades awarded by Polish music magazines and radio stations, Myslovitz received the weekly PolitykaPolitykaPolityka is a centre-left weekly newsmagazine in Poland. With a circulation of 170,000 it is the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of Newsweek's Polish edition and Wprost. Today, the magazine has a slightly intellectual, social liberal profile, setting it apart from the more conservative...
s prestigious Paszport in the category "Pop/Rock/Entertainment" in 1999; in 2000 the Polish PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
declared Długość Dzwięku Samotności and Myslovitz "Song of The Year" and "Band of The Year" respectively, whereas the Polish issue of ElleElle (magazine)Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
declared them the "most stylish stars in music". - Myslovitz were frequently nominated for FryderykFryderykThe Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name...
s (the Polish equivalent of the BRIT AwardBrit AwardsThe Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
or the Grammy) in various categories. In total, they received seven Fryderyk awards - in 1998 for "Music Video of The Year" (for To nie był film/"It wasn't a movie" - see above), in 1999 for "Band of The Year" and "Rock Album of The Year" (for Długość Dzwięku Samotności/"Length of the sound of solitude"), in 2000 for "Song of The Year" (for Chłopcy/"(Town) Boys") and "Video of The Year" (for Dla Ciebie/"For You"), and in 2003 for "Album of The Year (for Korova Milky Bar). - After two nominations in previous years, Myslovitz were declared Best Polish Act at the MTV Europe Music AwardsMTV Europe Music AwardsThe MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
in 2002 and again in 2003. - On January 23, 2005, as part of the European CommissionEuropean CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
's Border Breakers award ceremony held at MIDEMMidem-MIDEM:Short for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, MIDEM is the world's largest music industry trade fair, which has been held annually at and around the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, since 1967...
2005 in CannesCannesCannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Myslovitz received the European Breakthrough award for Korova Milky Bar as the best-selling album out of the ten new EUEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member states.
Studio albums
- MyslovitzMyslovitz (album)Myslovitz is a debut studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz, released in 1995. It contains 11 tracks. The album is clearly divided into two parts. The first 6 tracks are melodious pop-rock compositions, the next are mostly psychedelic ballads. In many moments the vocal is two-part...
(1995) - Sun MachineSun MachineSun Machine is the second album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. The album spawned two somewhat beatlesque airplay hits - Z twarzą Marilyn Monroe and Peggy Brown, the latter being a cover version of a fellow Mysłowice rock band, with lyrics originally by the Irish "national bard"...
(1996) - Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniuZ rozmyslan przy sniadaniuZ rozmyślań przy śniadaniu is the third album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. The album displays a tendency towards a more "polished" sound and more introspective lyrics....
(1997) - Miłość w czasach popkultury (1999)
- Korova Milky BarKorova Milky BarKorova Milky Bar is the fifth studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. It was released in 2002, and followed in 2003 by a release of the English version, which in fact included four songs from the band's previous album, Miłość w czasach popkultury...
(2002) - The Best OfThe Best Of (Myslovitz album)Myslovitz - The Best Of is a greatest hits album by Polish alternative rock group Myslovitz released in 2003.- Track listing :Side 1# "Scenariusz dla moich sąsiadów" - 3:12# "Sprzedawcy marzeń" - 3:47# "Kraków - Grechuta" - 3:28...
(2003) - Korova Milky BarKorova Milky BarKorova Milky Bar is the fifth studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. It was released in 2002, and followed in 2003 by a release of the English version, which in fact included four songs from the band's previous album, Miłość w czasach popkultury...
(English version) (2003) - Skalary, mieczyki, neonkiSkalary, mieczyki, neonkiSkalary, mieczyki, neonki is the seventh studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. It was released out-of-schedule on December 4, 2004. The album is startlingly different from Myslovitz's other albums, abandoning the usual alt-rock sound in favour of psychedelic soundscapes and...
(2004) - Happiness Is EasyHappiness Is EasyHappiness Is Easy is the eighth studio album by Polish alternative rock band Myslovitz. The album overlooks Skalary, mieczyki, neonkis psychedelic soundscapes and returns to sounds of 1999's Miłość w czasach popkultury and 2002's Korova Milky Bar in the first and second half of the album...
(2006) - Nieważne jak wysoko jesteśmy... (2011)
Singles
- 1995 "Myslovitz"
- 1995 "Zgon" (Demise)
- 1995 "Krótka piosenka o miłości" (A Short Song About Love)
- 1996 "Maj" (May)
- 1996 "Z twarzą Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
" (With Marilyn Monroe's Face) - 1996 "Historia jednej znajomości" (The Story of an Acquaintance)
- 1996 "Peggy Brown"
- 1997 "Blue Velvet"
- 1997 "Scenariusz dla moich sąsiadów" (A Script for My Neighbours)
- 1997 "Margaret"
- 1998 "To nie był film" (That Was Not a Film)
- 1998 "Zwykły dzień" (Common Day)
- 1999 "Długość dźwięku samotności" (The Length of the Sound of Solitude)
- 2000 "My" (Us)
- 2000 "Chłopcy" (Boys)
- 2000 " Polowanie na wielbłąda" (Camel-Hunting)
- 2000 "Dla Ciebie" (For You)
- 2002 "Acidland "
- 2002 "Sprzedawcy marzeń" (Dreamsellers)
- 2003 "Chciałbym umrzeć z miłości" (I'd Like to Die of Love)
- 2003 "Kraków" (Myslovitz vs. Marek GrechutaMarek GrechutaMarek Grechuta was a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
& Anawa) (Cracow) - 2003 "Behind Closed Eyes"
- 2003 "Acidland" (English version)
- 2003 "Sound of Solitude"
- 2004 "Życie to surfing" (Life is surfing)
- 2006 "Mieć czy być" (Have or be)
- 2006 "Nocnym pociągiem aż do końca świata" (By the Night Train to the End of the World)
- 2007 "W deszczu maleńkich żółtych kwiatów" (In the Rain of Tiny, Yellow Flowers)
- 2011 "Ukryte" (Hidden)
- 2011 "Art Brut"
DVD
- 2003 O sobie 1995-2001 (Sony Music Polska) [About themselves]
- 2004 Życie to surfing (Capitol/EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Pomaton) [Life is surfing] - 2006 Happiness is easy live
External links
- www.myslovitz.pl - Official site (English version)
- www.myslovitz.us - Myslovitz USA - The comprehensive American fan-site
- www.myslofans.com - the mysloFans project - A place where the fans can send photos and messages to the band
- www.myslovitz.com.br - Comprehensive Brazilian Website (in English and Portuguese) - Includes mp3 and videos
- www.myslovitz.bimber.pl - Comprehensive Polish unofficial site - includes photo gallery and guitar tabs