top of page

Hello Friends,


Three batches later we are in the new year, celebrating one year of Okla. Still seems a bit surreal or maybe that's the lack of coffee speaking. If I (Bartosz) can briefly speak for myself then I'd like to thank Michał and Michał for their energy and hard work this year. A group effort makes running a label... real.


We are so proud that we could bring these seven records to your ears. Thank you for your patience, interest, streams, purchases, and likes. Huge shout-outs to our artists that have entrusted their works to us. We believe together we gave these records a fair fighting chance among the deluge of releases. We certainly love all of them and believe all will find their audience, sooner or later.

 

In tow, we would like to thank all of the journalists and media venues that has supported us through reviews, previews, interviews, and track placements. In alphabetic order, hit it Johnny.

A Closer Listen, Ambient Station, Anxious Magazine, Bandcamp Daily, Brzmi w Trzcinie, CITR, E-Lodie / Richard Heinemann, Eclectic Fantastic / Adventurous Music, Eternal Fusion Radio, Fringes of Sound, Front and Follow, Grey Clay Radio, Jakub Knera, Joyful Union Cassette Resource, KEXP / Pacific Notions, Na Obrzeżach ,Obscure Sound, Off Radio Kraków, Outside Noise, Paradise Ajar, Polityka / Polifonia, Radio Alhara, Radio Kapitał, Radio Kraków Kultura, Radio Luz, Santa Sangre Magazine, SilenceAndSound, Small Albums, Space Is the Place Radio Show, Spectrasonic Sound, Spirala Art Gallery, Święta Krowa, The Moderns, Tobira Records, Widoki.

As grassroots music journalism is getting gutted left and right, these outlets and individuals are keeping the beacons lit for music discovery. We salute you.


Speaking of grassroots, we cannot omit to include our first live seance which happened back in June in Święta Krowa. On the hot, hot Sunday it was a small dream-come-true to hear our Batch2 artists play live. Thank you again to the attendees. In 2025 we dream of organizing further seances, possibly in places other than Kraków.

 

Unfortunately, the past year has been rather unkind to independent music venues as we've heard about the closures of Święta Krowa, Krakowska34, Farby, Ignorantka, and Widoki. We cannot imagine the complexity of running such a place in the current climate so running out of energy for battle is understandable. We can only hope these places, that were so vital for small artists of all kinds, inspire others to gather, create, and dream.


We certainly don't expect to stop anytime soon. The releases for 2025 are being clarified as I type with the first ones to be unveiled shortly™.


Lastly, we are running a shelf-cleaning promo on our Bandcamp - order two cassettes and get one free! Just specify in the order comments and we'll get back to you shortly with a confirmation and BC codes. In the upcoming days we will also be posting some BC codes via the BC community so be sure to share and partake.


Thank you for a great first year. Onto another.


Love,

okla

 

Oh, you're still here? Everyone loves end-of-year lists so here are our favourites (not necessarily released in 2024).

Michał Wiśniowski

  • Scott Gailey - Polysensuality

  • Suzanne Ciani, Jinathan Firoussi - Golden Apples of the Sun

  • The Black Dog - Music For Photographers

  • Hania Rani, Dobrawa Choczer - Inner Symphonies

  • Domenique Dumot - People On Sunday

  • Terakke - Improvisational Loops

  • Sky H1 - Azure

  • Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Dark Eyes

  • Susumu Yakota - Sakura

  • Suso Saiz - Nothing Is Objective

  • V.A - Muscat X(Test Pressing II)

Michał Kęskiewicz

Bartosz Szturgiewicz


Hello.

We are finally ready to unveil what is coming next to okla.


The Central European experimental scene has been going strong for several years now, supported tirelessly by fantastic labels and audiences, and we want to help grow it as well.

We are presenting two new works from local artists - a map-charting adventure through an AI soundscape, and a modular flow state meditation to the centre of creativity and passion.


The albums will be released on the 7th of June 2024.

Pre-orders start on the 3rd of May via our Bandcamp profile.


But what ARE the albums, you ask? Well...

 
OA04

Janek Krukowski - Latent

An idiosyncratic soundscape, curated by Man and performed by Machine.

The latter might excel at finding thin through-lines connecting resembling items but The Man gives it power by listening.


Together, we can explore the latent space.


Utilising cutting edge sound generation models and through patient listening, grouping, and cataloguing, Janek Krukowski persistently mines an emergent microcosm of free-flowing sound collages where rhythm is a distant entity. In this space, dimensions contract and collapse within a manifold of sonic landscapes as the listener is enveloped in a peculiar world of sonics.


‘Latent’ is a hymn to the Latent space, a phenomenon understood as an abstract, multidimensional collection of data combined through the similar characteristics of objects contained therein. Harnessing the latest in academic neural network processing and machine mimicry, Janek generated hours of sounds and then went back to the algorithmic audio-processing well to cut, mangle, transpose, and otherwise process them. Combined with the recordings made by LOM Geofon and Basicucho, they are rendered here as five shuffling soundscapes, familiar yet distinctly alien.


Presented with a simple naming convention, they are free from context or emotive suggestion, inviting the listener to make their own.


Tracklist

A1 I 2:31

A2 II 3:12

A3 III 3:42

A4 IV 2:42

B5 V 17:07


About the Artist


Janek Krukowski is a musician and drummer based in Prague, Czech Republic.

His music consists of studio recordings, samples and field recordings. He is focused on incorporating AI-generated

sounds, rhythms and soundscapes into his music.

Previously, he was a member of Kolega Doriana and Bete Noire.





 

okla says:

‘Latent’ is super interesting to us, a sound-collage carefully designed by an artist utilizing the latest in academic sound generation - an organized glimpse into a hallucinating machine, if you will. It’s not exactly easy listening but it rewards patient listening with a landscape like no other.

 

OA05

Wojtek Kiwer - Disconnect

Cut the umbilical cord of toxic mindlessness.

Glimpse into the higher knowledge of life.


Wojtek Kiwer disregards established notions of songwriting to DISCONNECT. Instead, he taps into the primordial creative currents. He becomes one with the waves of intuition as his extensive producing experience propels him forward during the joyful exploration of the unknown.


DISCONNECT results from a conscious decision to develop a new mode of creation. Unbound from the shackles of unattainable perfection and free of fear of failure - he focuses on the here and now. Mindful of each moment, he pours from the unlimited chalice of inspiration and obtains a glimpse into the higher knowledge of life. Captured once and never to be recalled again, these six swirling modular improvisations are precious opportunities for the listeners to find their way to cut the umbilical cord of toxic mindlessness. As they rumble around us, they conjure a magical make space for thoughts, memories, moods, and connotations.


The moment passes and we move on, filled with new energy, riding the wave of life.


Tracklist

A1 PRISM 8:56

A2 BLACK GLITTER 7:30

A3 PARTICLES 6:32

B4 KOI 8:56

B5 DAY OFF 8:00

B6 ORCA 9:04


About the Artist


Wojtek Kiwer is a musician and promoter based in Kraków, Poland.

He creates sound installations, organizes sound walks and music workshops for children and adults, and authors soundtracks to theatre plays, audiobooks, exhibitions, and animated movies.

Currently, he is concentrating on exploring the live-set opportunities of modular synthesis.





 

okla says:

Kiwer’s latest is a glorious, almost-cinematic modular journey that feels like a breezy walk home at sundown for the mind (and soul). We keep hitting the play button again and again and we’re sure you will love this too.

 

Both albums will be released digitally and on pro-dubbed cassette via our Bandcamp profile. You can get them as a two-album batch as a special offer or, of course, individually. Additionally, we will also introduce a “Batch+” offer where, for an occasional price you will be able to get both albums plus one (chosen by you!) from Batch1.


I thiiiink that’s it? See you on Friday and tell a friend.


Thanks for your attention. We love you.

okla

Hello,


Thanks a lot for your support of our first batch of albums. As they say, if you love something - let it go, and for musicians this means feeding our works to the content-hungry mouths of CEO led streaming services.


The albums have now landed on most major services* and we hope they will spread their wings and reach new audiences. We would appreciate help with this, of course.

Tell a friend, wouldn’t you? We live and die by word of mouth.


*For whatever reason OA02 by Wound is not available on Apple Music, we are investigating.


You can find the streaming links and a quick update regarding the current cassette stock below. We have managed to do a quick re-press of Giacomo’s Music for Nothing so if you missed it the first time - don’t wait.


Adam Howse - Submarine 5 cassettes left




Wound - Plasticene 4 cassettes left




Giacomo Vanelli - Music for Nothing REPRESS ALERT




 

We are almost ready to unveil what comes next. Batch2 will consist of two albums from Central European artists which we are very proud to showcase. And, because you are a wise person and have subscribed to our newsletter, you will be one of the first to know.


PS. If you run a blog, a page, have a mix or a radio show and we weren’t in touch before - shoot us a mail please.


Thanks for your attention. We love you.

okla

2
  • Bandcamp
  • Black Instagram Icon
Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about our plans.

Thanks! You'll hear from us soon :)

bottom of page