MENT Ljubljana, along with Tallinn Music Week, has become the second most important showcase-networking event in the region. It is essential that Polish artists and professionals be there to build connections with delegates and musicians from the region. Three Polish bands are attending this year’s edition of the showcase festival thanks to the support of the Don’t Panic We’re from Poland project.
Eric Shoves Them In His Pockets
With their original and catchy melodies, inspired by north-western U.S. indie rock and combined with their Eastern European surroundings, and their energetic live shows, Eric Shoves Them In His Pockets have become one of the most exciting young bands on the increasingly vibrant Polish scene. Their second album With Love was released in April 2017, with the 1990’s American indie vibe still very much present in their sound, though also featuring stylistic diversity – the garage is still there, now accompanied by hip-hop and slacker rock influences.
The music website Drowned in Sound praised Eric Shoves Them In His Pockets:
Each track sounds like some lost indie classic; perfectly formed and beautifully realized. With Love should be the feel-good hit of the summer, and these guys should be your New Favourite Band; they really are that good.
Their performance is supported by INES – Innovation Network of European Showcases.
Maniucha i Ksawery
This vocal and double bass duo combine jazz improvisation with traditional songs from the Polesie region in Ukraine. They play spring songs, wedding songs, love songs and lullabies and piece them all together into stories mapping the cycles of nature and human life. Together, Maniucha and Ksawery narrate tales from different times and musical genres, drawing on their visits to Ukrainian village singers, as well as the artists’ own musical imagination. Thanks to receiving the Polish National Radio Award and fans’ support, they released their first album Oj Borom, Borom in March 2017.
Olo Walicki, Polish jazz musician, composer & producer, said:
A vocal and bass duet is a rare combination. It is very courageous and brave to come up with concert material based on such a small band. These two musicians succeeded thanks to their maturity, disciplined minimalism and unbelievable precision.
The duo will perform on the beehype stage at the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum alongside Katja Šulc from Slovenia and Antropoloops from Spain.
Their performance is supported by INES – Innovation Network of European Showcases.
Niemoc
A living, pulsating blend of shoegaze, post-punk and dance music, this instrumental trio has released a string of EPs in the first three years of its existence, but it’s fair to say that Niemoc is mostly known for their live shows. The band’s cinematic, yet dancefloor-ready sound comes into its own in concerts, which opened the doors to their performances at Sziget, Open’er, OFF and Tauron Nowa Muzyka festivals, recording a Boiler Room session and opening for M83. At the moment, Niemoc is in the process of recording their debut LP, which will see the light of day in 2018.
The beehype website, which presents the best music from around the world, wrote:
They started their year as almost anonymous newcomers, only to finish it as one of Poland’s most promising alternative bands.
Their performance is supported by INES – Innovation Network of European Showcases.
Source: press materials, compiled by NR, 29 Jan 2018