Přítel člověka (2017)

The sixth record and it may be said breakthrough album of Traband band called “Přítel člověka“ makes its way to the fans. Traband has advised already for a long time that it will change its style after returning to the stage this year. People, who had the possibility to visit the concert of Traband, noticed the change at the mere sight, from the original six members of the last model of Traband a half remained, thus the three of them (Jarda Svoboda, Jana Modráčková, Václav Pohl). The total sound of Traband changed considerably and the known brass sound suddenly becomes the “home music“. Jarda Svoboda does not hesitate to explain this significant change. “The name “home music“ is not so much the definition of a style as rather the expression of opposition to what is called today the “world music“. All the music, which patches together carelessly everything it comes across, folk songs from anywhere, in the best way from the Balkans, adds to it the functioning rhythmic or something else, non-homogeneous, without internal relations and connections has been getting on my nerves recently… I realize that we contributed to this properly in the past and at one moment I started to find it quite disgusting. I love, when the things are authentic, when the inner matters can be felt from them. That is why we returned to the home music making, to home resources and traditions. It is like looking into your own wallet and saying to yourself: Well, so how much do I have?“

“Přítel člověka“ was recorded in Jámor studio under the sound and producer supervision of Ondřej Ježek. “Ondřej made it excellently.“ Jarda speaks highly of the cooperation. “He has the rare quality that for the period of working on the record he becomes the proper member of a band, he is emphatic, he can guess the intentions, he is able to think through the ideas, the musicians come with. In this sense he strongly affected the record.“ Traband will present the album in the new, more sober and quieter form, with the dominant sound of harmonium, trumpet and percussion. Music on the record is thus inspired by the Czech and Moravian folk music, (“….And you can find also the references to the folk church singing and children’s rhymes and so on. I simply have it encoded in me, whether I want or not.”) or church singing but also for example hip hop (“I listen to hip hop, but I am rather critical. I like the possibilities of message and expression, which it offers. There I looking for what I look for in folk songs and all other things: authenticity, personal view, poetic features, originality…..“), which dominates in several songs especially in the connection with great lyrics by Jarda Svoboda. As well as on all albums by Jarda Svoboda, also here the great lyrics dominate and they are the constant, which is not changed in the Traband production – Intelligent songs with catchy tunes and excellent lyrics. However, this time the themes of the lyrics are changed, when on the last record called Hyjé! they reflected more the surrounding state of things, now they turn more to the man’s inner feelings. “This was the intention. To stop, calm down, look into your own heart and look at the world more generally, I would say from the bird’s eye view.“

CD includes also the video clip to the song called Partyzán (Partysan), which was shot by the Belgrade director, animator and artist, Miloš Tomić.