Agnieszka Chylinska’s Toxic Voice
Agnieszka Chyli?ska is a Polish hard rock/metal singer. As one of the only outspoken, strong and aggressive female performers to emerge from Poland during the 90s, Chyli?ska was frequently criticized by the public and by the media during different phases of her career. What makes her stand out to me isn’t so much her music – it’s her screeching, vigorous vocal style.
My favorite song by Chyli?ska remains the song through which I discovered her, Nienawidze (I Hate). She recorded this song with her old band, O.N.A. The particular remix that I like isn’t popular among many of her fans due to its electronic treatment by Coptic Rain, but I much prefer it to her rock and nu-metal stylings. The video is eerie and reminds me of the Brothers Quay-directed Can’t Go Wrong Without You masterpiece, created for His Name is Alive. It’s just little things that give me that association, such as that bouncing water-filled ballon egg-creature. Watch:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/sOq9TKhqXjs" width="400" height="330" wmode="transparent" /]
Her voice just pulls everything together. Some more examples of Agnieszka’s unique singing style:
Most recently, Chyli?ska channeled Nina Hagen in her performance as The Evil Queen in a Polish film called 7 Dwarves. I have no idea what anyone is saying in this clip (other than the word “Pumpernickel”), but it is hilarious. I hope there’s a version with subtitles!
March 27th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Love the song…love the video… and the growl in her voice sends me to all kinds of funny places.
And I’ve gone completely cynical on just about everything recently.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:58 am
She can make those sounds because she has a CYBORG MOUTH. Or… wait. Oh, those’re braces. Cool.
I still get chills from “Can’t Go Wrong Without You”. Love for HNIA. Love for the Quays. And, influentially speaking, love for Svankmajer. Have you seen “Lunacy” yet?
March 27th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Very cool. In addition to the Brothers Quay influence, I can see echoes of Brakhage, Kubrick, and late-80’s Siouxsie and the Banshee videos too.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:20 am
So tempted to blast this throughout the work-zone right NOW. I especially dig the low-tech feel of the video and the varying textures of her voice. What a great find!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am
She has braces! Cool.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Zoe, you hit it with the low-tech appeal.
It reminds me of something I’d catch at 3:00 in the morning on cable back in the 80’s,
fall completly in love with, and never see again.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I’m glad you guys liked her. I want to like more of her music… if only she’d worked with Coptic Rain and the like more, instead of sticking just to guitars.
CYBORG MOUTH! You know, I watched this video maybe a dozen times before posting it here, and I NEVER noticed the braces. I thought there was something weird about her mouth and her teeth but I think I just subconsciously made the decision to believe it was some weird thing, and not braces. But I think she looks cute with them.
Paul, your description was dead-on.
March 29th, 2008 at 5:37 am
OMG, the braces..I remember all the fuss they made about it in Polish media back then.
She is one of the last Polish musicians who actually stick to heavy guitars, so even if I prefer the Coptic Rain to everthing else she did, I’d be a bit disappointed if she switched to electronics.
BTW, I suppose you know Kasia Nosowska’s music?
March 29th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Calluna: Interesting! Was it a good fuss or a bad fuss?
I have not heard Kasia Nosowska, but will look her up right now. V. Blame, I am going to look up Lunacy as well.