L.Stadt and Pustki ROCK Canadian Music Week

Pustki Live in Toronto @ Bellwood Photo By Peter Calak / GravityBureau.com

They came. They played. And now they’re enjoying the Austin bedlam.

From March 13 to 19 over 350 bands from across the planet played in all kinds of concert venues across the city as part of Canadian Music Week (CMW) festivities.

CMW which is labeled as “Canada’s International Music Convention and Film Festival” is a showcase of all things music and every year it attracts a multitude of aspiring domestic and international acts looking to make waves on the music scene.

Among all the artists were two Polish bands L.Stadt and Pustki.

Both played a series of official CMW gigs in venues such as famed eatery Czehostki’s and Hard Luck but also added a small surprise to the mix.

L.Sadt Live in Toronto @ Hard Luck Photo By Peter Calak / GravityBureau.com

On Friday, March 11 L.Stadt and Pustki with the help of former Polish-Canadian music exec Stephen Klus organized a last minute free concert at the Bellwood Bar & Grill.

The venue, although not ideal for a concert, provided a fitting background for the gritty rock n’ roll vibe resonating in the rest of the city.

Pustki Live in Toronto @ Bellwood Photo By Peter Calak / GravityBureau.com

Both bands sounded really great live and proved to be just as interesting and engaging in person. Part of making it out to small shows like this is that you really get a great opportunity to connect with the artists. And it was a pleasure to meet all of them.

One point of interest – among the audience was Basia Bulat who was recently nominated for a New Artist of the Year Juno and will perform during the March 21-29 Juno Week festivities.

Juno Nominated Basia Bulat with Radek Łukasiewicz of Pustki Photo By Peter Calak / GravityBureau.com

And as for L.Stadt and Pustki – after their gigs in Toronto both bands packed up and headed down to the famed SXSW (South by SouthWest) music and interactive conference and festival taking place in Austin, Texas.

Check out these great photos courtesy of Peter Calak from GravityBureau.com from the performances at Bellwood and Hard Luck.

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And have a look at these videos – hope they give you a bit of a taste of the energy that these two great bands deliver. ft

L.Stadt

Pustki Live in Toronto @ Bellwood

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Exclusive Chance to See Polish Bands TOGETHER @ CMW

L.Stadt photo by Rafal Maslow

Polish bands L.Stadt and Pustki,which are currently in Toronto to participate in Canadian Music Week, will play a just announced concert TONIGHT (Friday, March 11 @ 9PM) at the Bellwood Bar & Grill (756 Queen Street West).

The concert is free. There is no wrist band required or cover charge.

Pustki photo by Antek Opolski

This is your one and only chance to see these two Polish bands play together before they depart for Austin, Texas to take part in the famed South by South West music festival.

L.Stadt – “Mumms Attack” MUSIC VIDEO:

Pustki – “Parzydelko” MUSIC VIDEO

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Chopin Stirs Controversy

By Izabela Stabinska

Chopin, accompanied by a companion, arrives at a modern-day prison to perform a concert. This is how the story begins.

A new comic book about Chopin has been produced by Kultura Gniewu (a comic book publisher) for the Polish Embassy in Berlin with support from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Year of Chopin celebrations that officially ended in February.

Chopin: New Romantic  is a 148-page graphic novel which consists of eight stories created by a collaboration of eleven Polish and German artists who wrote variations on Chopin’s life. Some of these stories focus exclusively on Chopin while others use him as a gateway to showcase Poland’s pop culture.

Issued in both Polish and German, this innovative idea of setting romantic and mellow Chopin in contemporary pop-culture was supposed to promote the famous Polish composer among young Germans. However, turmoil erupted when it was discovered that the supposedly innocent book for teenagers included some nasty vulgarities. 

The author of the controversial segment, Krzysztof Ostrowski, explained that this particular story takes place in prison, hence the inappropriate language, but MSZ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) ordered all copies of the book to be destroyed.

In protest, Kultura Gniewu and comic book enthusiasts across Europe quickly created a Facebook page titled: “Ochronić nakład “Chopin New Romantic” (Protect the edition of Chopin: New Romantic). Thus far it has over 2,500 fans. And within days, copies of the infamous comic book showed up on Allegro, the Polish eBay.

The latest word is that MSZ decided it will not shred the book; however, the Polish emblem will be removed and the book will be distributed only to Polish and German cultural institutions and not public schools.

Do you agree with their decision?

I’m a book fanatic myself and the idea of burning 2,000 books truly gives me shivers.

Izabela Stabinska

Izabela is Toronto based fashion designer who studied fashion in California. After receiving the Best Graduation Collection award, she traveled all over Europe where she collaborated on art projects, fashion shows and photo shoots. In Toronto, she is freelancing in fashion design and production. Currently, she is working with a local enterpreneur on a specialized sportswear line and is developing her first Canadian collection.

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“A Tribe Called Quest” Like You’ve Never Heard Them Before

Remember the 1990 A Tribe Called Quest classic “Can I Kick It?” (You sure can!) And, yes! It has been that long.

Well, get a load of this. It’s a live cover by Paula & Karol – the totally awesome little band from Warsaw.

We totally love it! But, is it better than the original? Let us know what you think.

And just a reminder:

Don’t miss Anna Piszczkiewicz‘s interview with Paula & Karol tonight (Saturday, Feb 19th) on Na Luzie (OMNI 1) starting at 7 pm. (Repeat Friday, Feb 25 at 2 pm).

And here is the original:

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“Na Luzie” Preview: Paula and Karol

Say hello to Paula & Karol – my new favourite band!

By Anna Piszczkiewicz

First off, many thanks to YouNxt for asking me to dust off old stories that I’ve done over the years; we’ll be releasing these on a regular basis starting next week. However, before I dig into the past work, I thought that an introduction to what’s coming up on Na Luzie (Laid Back) would be appropriate.

I’m constantly scouring the internet in order to seek out talent that’s somehow related to both the Great White North and the home country. That’s how I discovered Warsaw-based duo Paula i Karol (Paula & Karol) – a duo that’s making music unlike anything else in Poland’s capital.

Photo courtesy of Tomek Ratter

Their indie-folk sound is as warm and charming as your grandma’s kitchen.

And the kids, they love it!

Their debut album, Overshare, released just two months ago, disappeared instantly off Empik’s shelves. The pair did confess to printing only 3,500 albums but, hey, the store’s racks were emptied.

And some time before that, the twosome was nominated for the ‘Discovery of the Year’ prize by Pulp (a leading Polish music magazine).

Oh, and the Canadian connection?

Paula is a native of North Bay, Ontario.

See Paula & Karol, chatting from their cute kitchen (red and white checkered tablecloth included) Saturday, Feb 19 on Na Luzie (OMNI 1) starting at 7 pm. (Repeat Friday, Feb 25 at 2 pm).

Until then, sample some tunes by Paula & Karol.

Word of warning: you’ll fall for them.

I did.

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YouNxt Gets Laid Back

We’ve got some exciting news. YouNxt is teaming up with Na Luzie (Laid Back) – the Polish-Canadian television program airing on OMNI to bring you some of the most interesting and entertaining segments produced by Host and Reporter Anna Piszczkiewicz. We’ll also regularly provide previews of the show’s newest episodes.

So, stay tuned and enjoy…

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