Landmark albums of the Czech alternative music scene, Bingriwingri and Šero (Low Light) by Bratři Orffové (The Orff Brothers), have been remastered and were released on vinyl.

The original recordings have been carefully remastered by Matouš Godík (Floex, Hidden Orchestra)—former member of the band—and the original graphic design has been reworked by designer Jirka Libánský. The albums have been pressed on an audiophile 180-gram vinyl at Schallplattenfabrik Pallas in Germany.

Almost no other band resonates as much ten years after the release of their last album. And Bratři Orffové are not exactly generous with their live performances. Nonetheless, they are still gaining new fans and the story of Serža Vantóš is an interesting one for listeners across all generations.

“It would be very difficult to find a Czech band that could so naturally succeed in the international competition in their genre while being so relentless in their refusal to tour abroad. Bratři Orffové give the impression that even Prague is too big for them, and their aesthetics remains firmly rooted in their hometown of Krnov. Serža Vantóš, the hero of their songs, is a typical example of a small-town man: for one thing, he distrusts the world around him because he doesn’t understand it, and for another, he deals with life situations by putting them into a context that’s familiar to him,” wrote Dominik Zezula (post-hudba) in 2014 for the website Aktualne.cz.

The release of the group’s debut album Bingriwingri in 2005 was hailed as a significant event on the local alternative music scene, and this will be the first opportunity to enjoy the album on a classic black or amber 180-gram vinyl. It is not commonly known that several famous musicians from the Czechoslovak music scene collaborated on the album: Floex, Daniel Salontay (Longital), double bass player Petr Tichý, flutist and publicist Marian Jaslovský, guitarist Filip Míšek (Khoiba, Dikolson), and highly regarded pianist Jan Bartoš. Expres FM radio recently ranked Bingriwingri among the 50 best Czech albums.

Šero, the album released eight years after Bingriwingri, was no less groundbreaking. For the time being, it remains the final album by Bratři Orffové. It received both the Anděl Award and the Czech Critics’ Award Apollo for best album of 2013. Additionally, Bratři Orffové brought home the Anděl statuette for best band of the year. Šero was first released on vinyl in 2014 by the label Quazi Delict Records, but the current release is an excellent addition to the collection for owners of the first pressing. It is designed in classic black and smoky multicolour as a three-sided double LP on 180-gram vinyl for better sound quality. The core of Šero consists of lyrics by Ivan Gajdoš; the songs Sůl z Krnova (Salt from Krnov) and V záclonách (In Curtains) were written by Jakub König aka Kittchen and the text for Tunel (Tunnel) was by writer Jaroslav Rudiš.

Three years after the release of the EP Madhouse Session, the Czech-Belarusian project Zabelov Group has come up with new material. As with the previous records, the new single Dive is released on the Czech label Minority Records. Mastering was provided by the respected Matouš Godík (Floex, Hidden Orchestra, and others).

“On Dive, we tried to find some sort of an organic meter-rhythmical shape that would have the potential to sound infinite,” accordionist Roman Zabelov says.

The track is shaped by the element of trance that comes from repetitive processes that evoke a dive into unchartered depths to the musicians. It was, therefore, only a small step to name the whole composition after this feeling.

“It was our fascination with patterns that came to the fore again. I mean fascination with simple repetitive patterns that are placed into the context of a different pattern. It gives rise to a feeling of evolution, or a story unfolding between the tones. You’d say that this is nothing new after the last couple of decades, but there’s always something to explore,” the trumpet player and drummer Jan Šikl adds.

Zabelov Group was formed in 2012 by the eternal music seekers Roman Zabelov (accordion, vocals, synthesizers) and Jan Šikl (drums, trumpet, guitar). Their work combines strong-grooved jazz with both acoustic and electronic music creating a distinctively atmospheric and even a cinematic whole. They released a home recording called 40 000 km followed by a live album Secret Session. Their regular debut was the album Eg (2018). In 2020, they released another live recording called Madhouse Session. They performed in Poland (Spring Break, Warsaw, Poznan), Germany, Netherland (ESNS), Italy, Slovenia (Ment Ljubljana) and even in the UK (Rich Mix London).

Jan Šikl is the author of music for the films Rekonstrukce okupace (Reconstruction of Occupation) and Jak jsem se stala partyzánkou (How I Became a Partisan). As an arranger, he collaborates with Floex Ensemble or Glorchestra. He composed music for Laterna Magika, 420People, Spitfire Company, Losers Company or JEDL. He is behind the music for many radio plays and audiobooks.

Roman Zabelov is finishing his PhD studies at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts (HAMU), where he is focusing on the topic of acoustic and amplified accordion. He is a part of the project of Spitfire Company and Berg Orchestra called Tak tiše až.

Hidden Orchestra releases their new album Creaks: Bonus, Live & Remixes with their previously unreleased tracks, remixes and reworked compositions from the soundtrack to the award-winning platform game Creaks by the Amanita Design studio. The album is a follow-up to their record Creaks Soundtrack from 2020.

Hidden Orchestra is a project of the British composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Joe Acheson. He works with various musical influences and invites a diverse range of artists to join in the production, only to create his “hidden orchestra”.

“So much great music was made for Creaks that it all just couldn’t fit on the original record. Even the fans noticed that, after all, they were missing several tracks from the game on the original soundtrack. It was Joe himself who came up with the idea at the beginning of the year. Originally, it was supposed to have been a collection of bonus tracks, but gradually, the concept took on a life of its own and resulted in a bigger and more interesting record,” Jakub Dvorský, the founder of Amanita Design, says.

Creaks: Bonus, Live & Remixes brings seven previously unreleased tracks from the original Creaks Soundtrack, two extensive reworked versions for a live band and seven remixes from diverse artists such as Floex, Poppy Ackroyd, Ben Lukas Boysen or ZKA4T.

The live versions of the compositions Bridges and Three Islands were recorded in May 2022 in the Luxembourgish monastery space Neimënster with the current line-up of the Hidden Orchestra consisting of Joe Acheson on the bass and electronics, Jamie Graham on the drums, the clarinettist Jack McNeil and the cellist Rebecca Knight. The studio mix was created by the engineer Tim Southorn. In the newest incarnation of the Hidden Orchestra, the emphasis is moving from a precise replica of studio tracks to focus on energy and emotions of the given material.

The game Creaks received both the award Czech Game of 2020 and Czech Game of the Year in the Audiovisual Design category, the Anifilm 2021 award for the best visual art in a computer game, the CEEGA 2020 award for games from Central and Eastern Europe for the best visual design. Creaks was nominated for the prestigious Golden Joystick Awards for best independent game and it received two nominations at the Brazilian gaming festival BIG Festival for best visual design and best story.

The compositions from Creaks will also be played at the concert of Hidden Orchestra at the EFG London Jazz Festival in the London Queen Elizabeth Hall on November 20.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Pomahač releases his second solo album, Neviditelný (Invisible) today via Minority Records. Martin Hůla (aka Martin "Bonus" Tvrdý) serves double duty as the album’s co-writer and producer.

"The best things in life are invisible," notes Pomahač. "The air we breathe, the stories written between the lines, love itself. Even inspiration is drawn from some intangible realm. Indeed, sometimes I am invisible to myself - hard to read, unaware of my own motivations, oblivious to the signs - but then I recognize myself in the telling of other people's stories. Neviditelný is a means of processing these stimuli."

Neviditelný was born out of studio improvisation with renowned musician and innovator Martin Hůla. It signals a new approach to Pomahač’s songwriting, relying less on guitar figures.

"From our very first collaboration, back in the Kieslowski era, I have wanted to do more with Martin. He's a genius. So I went to his studio once a week, nothing was pre-determined, and we wrote and recorded the music for the whole record together. I recorded the bass guitar and added lap steel guitar, then only synths - we avoided guitars. We played, improvised, looked for weird sounds and kicked ideas around," says Pomahač.

This time, David Pomahač took a new approach to writing. He didn't look for stimuli from his personal life; the lyrics were mainly inspired by single sentences from H.G. Wells' novels, dystopian science fiction or the stories of people around him. David Pomahač wove tales of self-preservation and the will to survive.

The eight-track album Neviditelný is accompanied by a video clip of the song Klaun (Clown) from director David Mencl with actresses Klára Issová and Sarah Haváčová, and featuring - as in the song Dlouhý (Long) - the violin of Jenovéfa Boková and cello of Marie Dorazilová.

A numbered vinyl version of Neviditelný - limited to 100 pieces - includes a bonus dub version of the record from the workshop of Martin Hůla, Petr Klouček and Tomáš Karásek aka Gaex, as well as a unique instant photo inscribed with a personalised message from Pomahač himself. Digital versions of the album and CD include the bonus track Bez konce (Without End).

I live you life with everything you bring and take, what you contain - this seemingly simple idea inspired the sixth solo album of musician, singer and producer Beata Hlavenková through music released on her sixth solo album entitled Žijutě, which it out today on LP, CD and digitally.

The winner of two Anděl Awards and the Jantar Awards, Hlavenková is now fully focused on her solo creative work, writing lyrics, and singing, following the release of the album Sně and the soundtrack for the movie Zátopek. Listeners will have a hard time classifying her music in any of the established genres. Hlavenková has gone the way of intelligent pop, featuring electro beat and crossover elements, an approach that naturally reflects her musical personality. Hlavenková's work has instinctively evolved from dreamy poetry to a distinctive expression, even though her musicality remains submerged in impressionist soundscapes.

"I no longer want to remain immersed in dreamy reveries so much. I now want to use words and express ideas. I love singing and arranging, and I like contrasting elements. That makes me feel good and gives me self-confidence. Moreover, it is where I direct large amounts of energy and time, and where I focus my education. Each of the songs on Žijutě has precisely what is called for. In some cases, it means a different number of musicians. In contrast to Sně, Žijutě is much broader and packed with musical material in this regard. I spent long hours in the studio recording, overdubbing, trying different sounds and arrangements in striving to achieve the best possible result. It's only thanks to the deadline that I'm not still there," quips Hlavenková.

Out of the 11 compositions, nine feature lyrics in Czech and two in Slovak. They reflect the author's state of mind at the present time, important moments in her life, memories, and her continually growing passion for singing. The song Oka mih was created as part of OOO, an unfulfilled project during which Hlavenková began singing, while the composition Pořád je to tak was written together with lyricist and sound designer Lukáš Duchovič. Když padá sníh is based on a phrase coined by Hlavenková's favorite author, Eckhart Tolle, while Běžím reflects ideas expressed in the book Born To Run, and gives a nod to the composer's work on the Zátopek soundtrack. The composition 425 - Dobrý den, noci pays homage to Amherst, an American city where Hlavenková lived for three years. Zahrada tells a story about coping with the difficult time during the recent lockdowns.

The lyrics for the song Sovám were created in an impromptu fashion in the studio, in collaboration with vocal coach Pavla Fendrichová, singer songwriter Thom Artway, and singer Ota Klempíř. The composition Komíhání features a brand-new arrangement created by Hlavenková to underscore lyrics written by Václav Kvapil for the recently completed project Eternal Seekers.

Each of the songs features different guests – Tomáš Liška, Gabriela Vermelho, Pavla Fendrichová, Lukáš Duchovič, Vojta Nýdl, Rich Perry, Adam Koller, Thom Artway, Oto Klempíř, Tomáš Neuwerth, and David Stypka.

"The composition Píšu ti was originally written for the movie Dukla 61. I wrote it together with David, but it stayed on the back burner for a long time. It was only at last year's songwriting camp that David suggested that we finish it. Regrettably, we didn't have enough time to do that before he passed away, but I was at least able to use his singing on the demo. His genius shines through the music," adds Hlavenková regarding her collaboration with Stypka.

Hlavenková's principal music partners on the album and on stage are trumpet player and drummer Oskar Török, guitarist and co-producer Patrick Karpentski, and bassist Miloš Klápště. They also form the Dream Band, an ensemble capable of producing both big and chamber-like sounds, where all of the musicians play multiple instruments and sing backup vocals. The final mix was created by Slovak guitarist, musician, and sound designer Andrej Hruška, known for collaboration with Zuzana Mikulcová and Katarína Máliková. The album's visual design was prepared by Zuzana Lednická from Studio Najbrt, and images were supplied by a duo of photographers known as Shotby.us, the winners of the Czech Grand Design Award.