Lines EP by meeting by chance

Meeting By Chance AKA Skalpel’s Marcin Cichy debuts on Apollo with a gorgeous EP of soulful atmospheric electronica, suffused with aching negative space, softly ticking rhythms and dulcet piano.

Classically trained on piano since his youth and one of the youngest Polish National TV music composers ever, Marcin quickly developed a taste for electronic music, composing soundtracks for some of Poland’s influential and pioneering video artists throughout the 80s and 90s.

But it was when he founded the acclaimed jazz duo Skalpel with Igor Pudło in 1998, that things really got going. over the course of their three albums and many EPs to date Scalpel have won huge acclaim, signing to Ninja Tune, and, winning Poland’s most prestigious cultural award Paszport POLITYKI as well as performing with Mira Calix, Clark, Kronos Quartet and AUKSO Orchestra among many others.

Following a serious skateboarding accident, Marcin backbone was broken in two places which meant a year spent between a bed and on a wheelchair. This period saw the beginning of his solo career as Meeting by Chance (the name inspired by a series of pictures by Duane Michals showing the reaction of two men crossing in an alley). 

In contrast to Skalpel’s more jazz infused upbeat vibe MBC finds Marcin exploring the combination of delicate textural sound design with enveloping billowy pads and ethereal piano chords. Cichy displays an introspective lightness of touch that is quite rare in today’s bombastic modern electronica which is most welcome and perfectly fits in with Apollo Records. 

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