Krzysztof Marzec

*2022 stock.* The turn of decades, time of far-reaching social changes and of little, private dramas and joys. These key themes were picked by Paweł Karpiński and Wojciech Niżyński for the TV series which by some is now considered as iconic. Its soundtrack, with guitar and synthesizer sounds, is a perfect fit for the series vibe. One more reason to go into ‘the labyrinth of human issues’.

“W labiryncie” TV series, produced between 1988 and 1991, was the first Polish soap opera used as lenses to portray dynamic developments in the country. The twists and turns of Warsaw pharmacists who worked on Adoloran breakthrough medicine attracted millions of viewers to the screens, and today they are like an exciting postcard from the times when the West would more often look through our windows. You could hear the same in the soundtrack written by Krzysztof Marzec, with the assistance of the series director, Paweł Karpiński, Tadeusz Czechak and Grzegorz Markowski, who performed the title song. Electronic sounds of the late 1980s, drum machines and vivid, extremely colorful guitars create a landscape tuned to the interiors of apartments and lab facilities depicted in the series.

The music on the album has been remastered from the original recordings kept at Krzysztof Marzec’s archives. Some tracks had been written a bit earlier for Karpiński’s feature movie “Czarodziej z Harlemu”, and reused later in the series. The booklet features the stills from the series and two essays: Olga Drenda discusses the series itself and the hauntology of the transition time, and Krzysztof Marzec recounts trials and tribulations with equipment during the recording. The cover was designed by a regular New Yorker associate, Emiliano Ponzi.