AYA RL - "AYA RL" (1989)

After a long hiatus, Aya RL finally released another album.
Originally titled "Aya RL", but reissued as "Aya RL II" (to discern it from the previous album), this second studio effort shows a mutation into the band's dynamics. Igor Czerniawski's keyboards and electronic sounds become dominant, while guitars and other instruments are relegated in the background. Even the voice of Pawel Kukiz is not as important as in their debut, considering the presence of tracks like "Waltera pamieci rapsod zalobny" (instrumental), "Fiji" (just some spoken words), and "Ten czlowiek z teczka" (nearly whispered). 

Songs are constructed upon repetitive electronic patterns and do not always fit Aya RL's old atmosphere (the single "Jak ze szkla i stali" is virtually a soul track: not that bad, but surely not what you want to hear from Aya RL).

Anyway, Kukiz regained his crown on the apocalyptic crescendo of "Za chlebem".

DOWNLOAD (kbps: 320)

AYA RL - "AYA RL" (1985)

Formed in 1983 by keyboardist Igor Czerniawski and singer Paweł Kukiz, Aya RL was one of the most important bands of Polish post-punk.
This is their debut album, a kinda bipolar work: it contains some epic pop tracks such as "Nie zostawię" and "Księżycowy krok" (with expanded guitar sounds and atmospheric keyboards), but also that terrifying elegy to city life titled "Ulice miasta" ("Here on my street, no one surprises anybody. Christ doesn't live here any more, and Satan has gone and left us to it. Here on my street, cold plays through the tenements, cold like cancer in living cells").
Aya RL released another album in 1989, but Kukiz left the band soon after, ending their adventure. In 1994 Czerniawski tried to use again the band's name and released three nonessential electronic albums.

P.S. The last three tracks were not part of the original album, but I included them because of their relevance: "Jazz" was their first single, "Oczy" was the b-side to "Księżycowy krok", and "Skóra" was their biggest hit, topping the Trójka chart for four weeks. It remains one of the most popular Polish rock songs of the 80s. The album was able to sell 90.000 copies in its first year of release, maybe a little under the expectations.

DOWNLOAD (kbps: 320)