||ALA|MEDA|| (formerly known as Alameda 5) is a true gem in Polish independent music scene. Their work is difficult to classify, as it results from years of developing a unique and particular sound. It is centered around an ingenious fusion of traditional and modern rhythms of Global South (Africa and Latin America in particular) with ideas of European avant-garde and experimental music on the one hand, and contemporary club culture, on the other. ||ALA|MEDA|| is also a singular intergenerational project, which enfolds decades of experiences with creating new and expanding already existing musical languages.
Jacek Buhl (drums) is one of the originators of new wave/post-punk in Poland (Variété) and yass (an Eastern European response to jazz) with Trytony, as well as an established free improviser (Jachna/Mazurkiewicz/Buhl). Rafał Iwański (percussion) is known mostly for improvising groups HATI and Innercity Ensemble which combined post-industrial trance with ethnomusicological explorations of rhythms, scales and instruments from different parts of the world. Piotr Michalski (bass guitar) and Łukasz Jędrzejczak (electronics) became known as members of post-rock and post-hardcore bands specializing in complex, trance-like song structures (3moonboys, Javva, So Slow).
Awarded with prestigious Paszport Polityki in 2016 Jakub Ziołek is recognized for his blending of acoustic guitars and digital electronics in folk-inspired krautrock and post-minimalist compositions (Stara Rzeka, Zimpel/Ziołek). Thanks to the synthesis of these different practices and musical experiences, ||ALA|MEDA|| - a completely new quality - emerged on Polish alternative scene.
By far the band has released two acclaimed LPs: „Duch Tornada” (2015, Instant Classic, 2xLP / 2x CD) and „Eurodrome" (2019, Instant Classic, LP / CD) and is well-known for powerful and euphoric concerts which resulted in invitations to such festivals as Unsound Festival in Cracow, Positive Futures Festival in Innsbruck, Wine Nat White Heats Festival in Nantes/Paris, Sharpe Festival in Bratislava, Avant Art Festival in Wroclaw, and many more.
Source: press release
