Customer Reviews

Fire In The Mountains, Polish Mountain Fiddle Music, Vol. 1: The Karol Stoch Band, Classic Recordings From 1928-29

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How wonderful to have a collection of early recordings of
Goralski music from the Tatra mountains in southern Poland.
The wonderful singing (it's supposed to sound like shouting!), and fiddle and cello music makes me want to dance.
It's fun to hear songs we're familiar with, performed in their original form.

I first received this item as a gift, now I am buying it for other fans of Polish Highland music. ("Goalski muzyka").
Keep in mind that this is not exactly "Polish" folk music, but the music of the Tatra Mountains in the south of Poland. (the Podhale region), where people speak a different dialect, and the music is raw and earthy.
Not everyone enjoys this kind of music, but for those of us who do, it is addicting, especially if you have seen the intricate dance moves that are done to this folk music.
Fans of current Goralski bands like :
Trebunie Tutki, Andrzey Obrochty-Bartus, Jan Karpiel (Buleczka), Staszek Masniak, etc. and newer groups like Polaniorze, will certain love these old recordings of the most popular songs of the Polish Highlands.
This music was the favorite of the late Pope John Paul II, and was played for him whenever he visited his homeland.
Gorale is from the heart of Southern Poland. If you are interested in hearing music from other regions of Poland, then groups like "Mazowsze" and "Slask" are the ones to listen to. Also, there is a 20+ disc series of old recordings, called Muzyka Zrodel, with each disc featuring a differnt region.
But, if you can't get enough of Goralski music, than Fire In the Mountains Vol 1 is a wonderful addition to your library!!!!

well i guess u have to have rootsfrom the mountains, a highlander, (Golal), oops propaply spelled wrong. To me this sounds great, brings back child hood memories, of my parents bringing me to golalski dom in chicago, where the Polish highlander music was danced & played, & this is my background, i was born in us, but thats where my family come from, where this music is played, so to me not annoying at all, Actually this type of music soinds normal, & talking dialect, which other polish music & polish speacking that isnt i guess u could call not hillbilly , lol sounds weard to me, So i rate this A+

I've had this cd for about 2 years now. When I purchase a cd of a style of music that I am 100% unfamiliar with I usually wait a while before making any final decision about it, especially if I don't seem to like it upon first listens. After again listening to it a couple times in the last few days (something I've done off and on for the entire time I've owned it) I think I've finally decided to say that I am just never going to enjoy this music.

I don't know if it's this language, this particular style of Polish music, or just the voice of the lead singer on this disc, but the vocals are just incredibly bad. So bad that I was embarassed the couple times other people heard a moment of this cd as I was listening to it. Their reaction has always been "OH MY GOD, what are you listening to???".

I absolutely cannot listen to this cd in headphones, it just grates on my nerves unendingly. Here is where the positive note, if there is one, comes into play. For some reason I can sleep really well to this cd. Each song is very similar in rhythm and after a while they all just run together. Something about this rhythm and the constancy of it from song to song sort of creates an overall drone that I can sleep to quite well every so often.

I guess the bulk of this review comes down to this simple phrase... You Probably Won't Like It. My cousin married a woman of Polish ancestry and they have 2 very young children. That is the main reason I've decided not to sell this cd at the used cd store. I don't know what region of Poland her ancestors are from (and neither does she I don't think), but I figure if one day their kids want to hear some sort of Polish music I'll have this cd and they can check it out, plus it will spare them having to pay for it. I don't think they will like it, but at least they'll be able to hear it a couple times.