Karel Vepřek 4CD BOX1.

A Generous Retrospective Of The Work Of The Singer Karel Vepřek Is Published On 8 CDs

The Indies Scope label follows the format that proved itself when mapping the work of Oldřich Janota and later Jakub Noha. This set is divided into two separate boxes of four CDs, containing archive recordings from 1986 to 2010. They present Karel Vepřek as a solo singer with a guitar or a heligonka accordion, in various occasional groups or with the bands Chudák paní Popelková and Lyrika Putyka. This is mostly material previously unavailable on official media. Here you will find recordings of concerts, home demos, but also later music recorded in the Czech Radio. All this compiled into a logical, coherent dramaturgy of individual albums. The sound has been carefully mastered, but the quality of the recordings corresponds to the circumstances of their origin. The primary intention was to capture the authentic atmosphere of Vepřek's songs and also to make available those songs that have so far remained secret even to loyal songwriters' fans.

CD1 Dialog s popelnicí (Dialogue With A Trash Can)

The series begins with home recordings made between 1987 and 1990. At that time, the author also recorded older songs on a tape recorder; he himself dates the beginning of his writing to 1976. We can easily imagine inspirations from Karel Kryl (Czech singer-song writer). In the lyrics we can hear, for example, the bitter smirk of the time over the (non) functioning of the so-called socialist society (Před naším domem), a sad historical parable about the invasion of the occupying forces or the forced emigration of the people uncomfortable to the regime (Zbytečnosti). Although it is an authentic testimony of the time, the poetics of the songs remain timeless and the message is generally valid.

CD2 Kutáleči penízků (Money Rollers)

The second album continues with the transcription of the cassette archive from 1987 to 1990. "When I listened to it after years, I was surprised how well I could play the guitar in my twenties and that I still have something to catch up with today in my sixties," the songwriter smiled. The atmosphere of the ballads is often evoked by well-thought-out instrumental introductions and complemented by beats. Vepřek occasionally accompanies himself with a harmonium and uses the wind accordion.

CD3 Písně ze dna křídového moře (Songs From The Bottom Of The Cretaceous Sea)

Through the songs Na dně křídových moří and Město plné gotických oblouků, we set out for Kutná Hora in 1986. The CD is complemented by recordings recorded on a Tascam tape recorder in Říčany in 1991. Karel Vepřek is accompanied by another musician on this album, for the first time on an eight-album project. Jiří Kovář enriches several songs with empathetic electric guitar colours.

CD4 Chechtáky (Smackers)

Sharp cut in the mood of the box set. The fourth CD contains recordings of Vepřek’s Bands Chudák paní Popelková and Lyrika Putyka, taken in various places between 1988 and 2003. Intimate testimonies are replaced by a thrilling band with drums by Vráta Kydlíček aka Antonín Korb, Jaroslav Šebesta's saxophone or Tomáš Vtípil's violin. However, the lyrics only seem light-hearted. The humor of verses in Budoucnost národa or the sarcastic tune in Pizizubka belongs to that chilling kind of fun.