Subtitled "Music To A Non-Existent Movie", this is an excellent debut album by Polish Prog group Lebowski, which consists of guitarist / composer Marcin Grzegorczyk, keyboardist / composer Marcin Luczaj, bassist Marek Zak and drummer Krzysztof Pakula. Vocalist / violinist Katarzyna Dziubak guests on two tracks. As the group´s name ("The Big Lebowski" – Joel Coen´s 1998 brilliant movie – a non-confirmed guess?) and the album´s title / subtitle suggest, the band is deeply involved with cinematography and indeed the album´s Prog / Ambient vistas should be ideal as soundtracks, but they do hold their ground as a great stand-alone instrumental album.
The music is beautifully melodic and rich, with layers upon layers of instrumental sound placed one of top of another, creating a full-body sound. The usage of various keyboards is tasteful and manages to avoid "overdoing", which usually plagues most keyboard-oriented albums. The guitar plays most of the leads, changing its sound from delicately acoustic to heavy-metal, but never being obtrusive. Bass and drums keep the massive sound together beautifully, gluing everything to perfection. The musical themes are diverse and present a wide spectrum of harmonic approaches and rhythmic subtleties, keeping the listener on his toes for the entire duration of the album. The various tracks are "spiced" with dialog samples from Polish and International movies, paying a loving homage to the "industry of dreams". As to the "Polish angle", although not mentioned anywhere on the album´s liner notes, I could sense the spirit the great Krzysztof Komeda hovering all over the music, especially a slight déjà-vu of his divine "Rosemary´s Baby" soundtrack. In spite of the fact that they are separated by time and circumstance, somehow my mind made a connection there. But sentiments aside, this is an absolutely formidable album, which should delight every serious music lover, even those who usually don´t listen to Prog, as this music crosses-over any genre limits. Satisfaction guaranteed!
ADAM BARUCH
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