TRAVELERT: Krakow Concert and Event Alerts

photo from Brian Ground on Flickr

If you’re going out Monday evening you should really take the time to visit Cementarz Rakowicki, Kraków’s largest cemetary, to experience a little of the unique atmosphere of All Saints’ Day in Poland. Traditionally, when they’re not devouring vast assortments of meats at home with their families, people use this day to pay respects to the dead. In Rakowicki, you get the impression that no grave is lonely (votive candles cover every surface) and there’s a sense of peace and comfort that one might not usually associate with graveyards after dark. On the way to the cemetery you’ll have lots of opportunities to buy votive candles (in case you’ve neglected to pack them on your travels) and also interesting baked and sugary treats. Take Tram no. 11 from the Starowiślna stop.

Many October Greetings to You,

We invite you to a special Halloween Party with Eluktrick and an up and coming British band called The Control.  Why is it special you might ask…? It is because first of all it will be an intimate concert (invitation only) in one of Krakow’s creepiest clubs – Kawiarnia Naukowa.  We will provide snacks, tricks, candy, music, treats, reaping and the atmospherics. All you have to do is bring yourself down to Kazimierz… IN COSTUME! (sailor, indian, cowboy, ghost, Smok Wawelsky, a Kaczynksi brother, Adam Malys etc.).      We know that Halloween still hasn’t quite taken Poland by storm so if dressing up isn’t your thing, don’t let that stop you. We still hope you’ll join us… BUT…. As per usual, it pays to join the Party…

Hope to see you (or someone who likes like you wearing a wig) on Saturday! pozdrooooooooh,

-ELUKTRICK

If you’re tired of lying still on your bunk staring at the ceiling, drag your butt out of the hostel and find your way through the fog to Drukarnia (located in Podgórze, Nadwiślanska number 1) to hear the lovely and stimulating guitar feedback of The Control,(direct from the UK!) and like-minded Polish bands SuperXiu and White Rabbit’s Trip (who like to sing about TV’s supremacy over the internet, the wonders of dental hygene and their addiciton to mobile phones.)  Praising (and hoping to emulate) such bands as The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Nirvana, Modest Mouse (and wouldn’t we all like to emulate these bands?) these guys’ goal will not be to lull you to sleep over your beer.  Entrance should be around 20 PLN and the show, like seemingly all shows, should start at 20.00.  What are you waiting for?

What can you buy with between 60 and 70 Złoty? You could head down to Hala Targowa on a Sunday morning and pick up a German typewriter or a stack of Russian cameras. Or you could feed 4 or 5 friends a pretty nice meal at the Indian restaurant Indus on Sławkowska. Or you could check out the fruits of several years’ collaboration among the 9 greatest known living jazz improvisers. Lead by American Ken Vandermark, these guys have been at work on their record ever since they first met in Kraków’s own Alchemia. Among them you’ll find musicians from Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Germany, Italy , Poland and Sweden. Their new record shares the name of their project, Resonance. Hear them live at the first release of the record in Manggha, 21 October, at 20.00. Admission, depending on when you get there and where you sit, is between 60 and 70 Złoty.

Where to begin? On Monday 19 October the 2009 Unsound music festival kicks off with it’s first event at the Manggha center. The opening concert will feature the legendary Jacaszek’s unmistakable electronic / classical music. And that’s just the beginning. For the next 7 days the city will be treated to an amazingly eclectic array of events in an imaginative assortment of venues including churches, musems, pubs and factories. Expect heaps of concerts, of course, but also screenings of films, unexpected mixed media colaborations and other assorted happenings. Check out the Unsound website for the full listing of events — there are a lot of them, and a good number are free. The ones that aren’t free you can pay for at the door, or pick up a full Unsound pass for 180 Złoty which, at not much more than 40 Euro is a pretty fantastic deal when you think about it.

On Saturday  (17 oct) part chimp will play at Re.
Guys from part chimp have enough stamina to excel in noisy noise rock. Their last album “Thriller” seems to be very noisy, dense and heavy

http://www.myspace.com/partchimp

Re, Św Krzyża 4, 20:00

Łąki Łan are crazy like march hare or hatter-

Not very long ago, under strawberry leaf there has been meeting of five very unusual epicures of pollen and nectar.
Weedhopper – famous of his retorts, Utoward Bumble-bee – distiguished pundit of tastes and scents, fast and furious Megapupa, H@re HoppinDroppin and little gnome named Fernfather, brewing concoctions in unending endeavour to improve insects family.
http://www.myspace.com/lakilan
klub Kwadrat, Skarżyńskiego 1, 16oct friday, 20:00

Parov’s music is collaboration fo trip-hop (evolving towards nu-jazz)lounge and downtempo with some stylish electronic tunes based on trumpet, piano or double bass sound
Parov arives with whole band to promote latest album COCO

http://www.myspace.com/stelar1

Rotunda club, friday 16th oct,Oleandry 1, start at 20:00
tickets 99pln

Voo Voo has many faces and had many phases during its very existence from 1885. Voo voo could be rock and folk and drum&bass and hip-hop and nu-jazz. one thing is sure it is uncanny, energetic and seducing.
http://www.myspace.com/voovooo
Lizard king, Św tomasza St 11a, 20:00
thursday, 15th oct
tickets 40 pln.

All fans of old, good trip-hop should rush to klub studio to grt some Archive. Or maybe i should say amateurs of progrock, since the band departed form trip-hop some time ago. Or simply- all fans of Archive go to klub studio, this thursday, 15th oct at 19:00
klub studio, budryka 4 (students town)
tickets 110pln

If you weren’t here for the March of the Dachshunds in September, you’ll want to be sure not to miss the March of Athiests and Agnostics on 10 October.  At 14.00 marchers will gather in the square in front of Collegium Novum (located on Gołębia street number 24).  The organizers of the march discribe themselves as “young freethinkers.”  After the march there will be a panel discussion on morality at 18.00 at Rynek Głowny #8.  The title of the talk will be “Can non-believers love their neighbors?” and will be attended by Professor Jan Woleński and others.  And, earlier that day, you can catch a screening of the Czech film Jesus Is Normal at the sponsoring group’s micro cinema.  For more information visit MAIA’s website, where you can also find advice about where to stay in the city if you’re here just for the march.  There will probably be a lot of foreigners, since Kraków almost certainly has more dachshunds than it has atheists.

Walk in to the bar Drukarnia in Kraków’s Podgórze district (Nadwiślanska st no. 1)  on Thursday night (the show starts at 20.00) and plop your brain into a glimmering sea of noise.  Let the heavy chords lift you up with their fat competent fingers.  Close your eyes.  Think about the choices you’ve made to this point in your life.  The band California Stories Uncovered identify themselves as ambient / soul / shoegazer.  Their music roils and gleams at you, held up by it’s heavier foundation.  It’s relaxing in a cathartic way.

What motivates the band Psychocukier?  According to their manifesto, they have never heard of the bands Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground or Can.  Why are they listing them if they’ve never heard of them?  No Matter.   They go on to say that they never liked Can and that that Sonic Youth “never broke the schemes of rock.”  They’re from Łódź, which seems to be where bands like this come from (anyone remember Dick4Dick?).  Their motto:  MAKE LOVE NOT METAL — GOTHIC ROCK!  Whatever that means.  They also like to march under the banner of NO MORE WORK.  As for the music, expect an evening of danceable rhythms and a healthy sense of Id (they have a song called “The Holy Hole,” for example).  See them at w Łódź Kaliska on Floriańska street number 15 on Thursday, 8 October.  The show starts at 21.30.

Alchemia can’t seem to keep jazz musicians out of their basement.  Head down those dark stone steps any night of the week (be careful! don’t trip!) and more likely than not you’ll find young jazzmen bent over the tools of their art.  And this Sunday will be no different — Berlin’s Gebhard Ullmann and his cohorts will be conducting some aptly named “Basement Research” starting at 20.00.  Expect a tight but emotional set from a group of performers who have a long history of collaboration.

Basement Research
4 oct, Alchemia
Estery 5

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=2715835

Tickets – 35Zł.

Washing machines aren’t just for band t-shirts anymore — they’re also for band names.  Take in some alternatly glimmering and crunchy guitar riffs (the kids can’t get enough of their guitars) and surprisingly non-polish inflected vocals at Pod Jaszczurami this Sunday.  Yes, hailing from Łódź it’s The Washing Machine.  Dance! Dance to the beat!  Or just nod your head enthusiastically and hop up and down — either way it should be a fun night out.  Also dig their stylish haircuts at no extra charge.

The Washing Machine
Pod Jaszczurami
Rynek Główny 8
4 October 2009  o 20:00

http://www.myspace.com/washingband

Don’t Ask Smingus
Harris Piano Jazz Bar

Friday, October 2nd @ 21:30!

We like this place and know you will too. We’ll have CD’s for sale and of course lots of Music and revelry to be had by all. Bring a friend and a hat…

** And if you aren’t a fan of standing, reserve your tables early!

Bilety: 10-15 PLN

Yee Ha!

Smingusi