Published:
October 7, 2016
Resina is the alias of Karolina Rec, a cellist/composer based in Warsaw. A very accomplished performer with a background in Polish underground music, this eponymous album is her solo debut and sees a rich, atmospheric re-imagining of a Polish music rooted in a feeling for indigenous nature / landscape and realised via an intuitive, experimental approach to playing.
Born 1982, Karolina graduated from Music Academy in Gdansk, and was active in Poland’s independent music scene since the late ’00s, co-founding and collaborating with some of Poland’s most influential alternative bands. She featured on many albums and soundtracks (including the Oscar-nominated ‘Rabbit a la Berlin’), and wrote music for numerous theatre productions.
A reference point might be found in Werner Herzog’s musician of choice, Ernst Reijseger, whose powerful cello playing is grounded in a jazz-wise investigation of non-traditional/ non-academic techniques. Likewise, ‘Resina’ is a result of experiments with cello and simple electronic tools – sometimes verging close to the form of song; sometimes based more on powerful, intuitive impressions, but always marked by the desire to explore non-obvious characteristics of the instrument.
The album was rooted in the clear compositional idea of crossing beyond comfort zones, breaking free from academic instruction and challenging herself to find other ways of expression in the instrument. “When I left all thinking about classical playing then I finally felt free and really close to the instrument’s fuller possibilities and it’s wooden, organic nature.”
The album was produced by Maciej Cieslak, a legendary, uncompromising Polish musician and producer who played in Kings Of Caramel, the first band Karolina was involved with back in 2007, and who she cooperated with on numerous projects (Cieslak composed the music on the Oscar-nominated Polish documentary ”Rabbit a la Berlin”, on which she played).
Recorded in the last week of October 2014 at Cieslak’s Warsaw studio, the album was recorded almost entirely live, with only very minimal post-production (tape delay, reverb plate). Karolina had been working on the album irregularly for a couple of years, with no strong motivation and with many long breaks, until an accident helped force the issue.
Tracklist:
01. Tatry I
02. Flock
03. Tatry II
04. Nightjar
05. Dark Sky White Water
06. Afterimage
07. Not Here