Former Unsound co-curator Łukasz Warna-Wiesławski launches label with new EP from Avtomat

A new label called Tańce will kick off with an EP from Avtomat next month.

Tańce, which is polish for “the dances,” comes from former Unsound co-curator Łukasz Warna-Wiesławski. “My idea is to try to get producers to use samples of local instruments and drums or study folk dance rhythms,” Warna-Wiesławski says, “so that we add something completely new instead of pretending we’re from Berlin or London.”

Avtomat’s Gusła (Human Rites) is inspired by recent protest movements in Poland, specifically around LGBTQ+ rights and persecution. Just before Avtomat was due to perform a “healing ritual” with his Oramics crew in June, as part of a residency at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Warsaw, he was arrested during a protest. Both Avtomat and Oramics have been vocal critics of the ongoing situation in Poland, including hosting fundraisers and charity compilations.

Avtomat calls Gusła (Human Rites) a “collective scream of a community put up against a wall,” and it features four new tracks with rhythms inspired by Polish folk dances. It also has an updated version of last year’s “Ignorance Ha,” with an added sample of an anti-LGBQT+ speech by Przemysław Czarnek, who was just appointed as Poland’s Minister Of Education.

Listen to “Nieludzie (Ignorance Ha).”

Avtomat also appeared on a recent RA Exchange called Zone-Free Zone: Poland’s LGBTQ+ Community in the Arts and Activism in collaboration with Unsound.