"Dylanowskie Wino" | Nowy wiersz, 28.10.2024.

Cienka żółta linia
między głupotą a marazmem
została przekroczona
przez szaleńca
który pomylił ją z żółtym chodnikiem
i tanecznym krokiem
zagrał Dylana

łatwo grać Dylana, pomyślałem
trudniej nim być
ale po co?
można być sobą tak jak on nigdy nie był
i szukać chodników
po ciemnej stronie tęczy

zebraliśmy się tutaj aby...

Lawrence Ferlinghetti wiecznie żywy
ktoś beka w City Lights
i potyka się o kabel

dwóch gitarzystów wcześniej
mieliśmy tu niezłą jatkę

jeden szukał kogoś na piano, drugi na forte
obaj poszukiwani byli kobietami
ale tylko w nocy
za dnia zamieniali się w wilki
i tańczyli z innymi poetami

wczoraj postanowiliśmy cię zwolnić...

wszelkie obowiązki odeszły
na kulawy koślawy plan
dalszy rozwój sytuacji
wklepał mi tylko wąsy w twarz

przecież nie ma sensu być poetą
w świecie biznesmenów
spijających dylanowskie wino.

"Wyniesienie Giganta" (Nowy wiersz, 18.10.2024).

Jego ciało w majonezie wysp
dusza sam wie gdzie

dziecko - ziarnko piasku
starzec - wieczność
czy też było to odwrotnie?
a kogo to obchodzi?

ciułacz w kąpieli łapie drugie pranie
wzywa pokojówkę
dziś szybki numer
z paragonem za płaszcz

kolega powiedział, że woli być nikim
dość ma walki z administracją
czym jest administracja?
mlekiem? kawą? strzelcem?
kto pilnuje ofert?

dlaczego wczorajszy strzelec
wzywa pokojówkę
dziś szybki numer
z estetyką Jezusa pod krzyżem
Maria na nim
z majonezem

niczym prosty atrament nieba
lub dwadzieścia dawek kwasu

o mój boże, znów te same buty!
dzieci bawią się po prostu
w wyniesienie giganta.

Psychedelic Mayhem - "We Are Smoke" (Live 2023) | Video

"The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann", "Hippies Must Die", and the 2025 album.

"The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann" (October 19 2024).

10 years after the cult album "Stoned Gypsy Wanderer", the Polish poet and musician A.J. Kaufmann is back with a new album, "The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann". The album was recorded at the legendary Via Kosmische home studio. Its 10 tracks show all sides of A.J. Kaufmann's work - from freak folk, through noise rock, to kraut, psych, and space rock. The album is released on The Swamp Records, which brought us the "Bard's Woman in the Cool of the Summer Breeze" CD back in 2023. Digital premiere on TIBProd. Italy label on October 19 2024. Artwork by the talented young artist TheoEust.

Like any true artist, A.J. Kaufmann has a restless creative spirit. In a recent interview with The Third Eye, A.J. downplayed this, saying he’s just an “average guy” who has simply been making music for a long time. After covering his work for a few years, I’m not sure I believe that. Over the past two decades, A.J. has honed his craft, leaving us with a vast output of poetry and genre-bending musical oddities. The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann is a thesis statement for his work up to this point, offering an exceptional sampling of the noise, psych, kraut, and space rock he’s known for. “I Only See My House In The Morning” shows the psych-folk side of A.J.’s work. Notes waver and bend unexpectedly, giving a sense of freedom, like the song is growing organically, untamed. The blending of warm acoustic tones with cold, experimental edges invites the listener into a strange but inviting soundscape where nature and the surreal merge. The next hallucinogenic trip comes with “Madman in Atlantis,” where A.J.’s distorted vocals create a disjointed, dreamlike quality. Though it feels transcendent, it’s not trying to be overtly spiritual. It feels more like a spontaneous connection to something ancient. A.J. rocks harder on “Kosmische Kauflàuf,” and the chaotic experimental elements remain. The instrumental track is an astral fracture that plunges us into a swirling vortex of sound. “Ramzes Metamorfozis” features a wave of dense, distorted sonic elements that grind and howl like a cosmic storm. “Oczy na Przesterze” isn't the clean, polished psychedelia of the past—it's raw, primal, and unhinged, pushing toward the edge of noise rock without fully crossing over. “The Courier” offers beautifully psychedelic guitar playing, but the track is anchored by a relentless, hypnotic bassline that throbs like the universe's pulse. Like always, A.J. has tapped into some mysterious energies. “Dirty Mack” has a bluesy guitar, but the vocals stuck with me the most. Lost in a haze of reverb and fuzz, A.J.’s voice wavers between a distant chant and a half-sung, half-whispered incantation, as though he’s conjuring the spirits of both nature and the cosmos. “Electrifying Enemies” floats somewhere deep in A.J.’s mythic cosmology, perhaps the record’s purest psychedelic song because of the wah-wah guitar dripping with celestial energy. In “Germaniya,” we return to the deep, dark underground of A.J.’s freaky acid folk. Acoustic strumming emerges like a ghostly echo in the background, warped and fractured as if played through a broken tape machine, bringing a strange, earthy contrast to the cacophony. “Jungfrau” melds classic psych-rock guitar with noise rock’s experimental ethos. The tension between order and chaos, melody and noise, makes the track mesmerizing like so many on the record. In The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann, we find an artist who refuses to be confined by genre or expectation. Kaufmann’s ability to oscillate between raw, primal energy and cosmic exploration gives the record an otherworldly quality. There’s a deliberate unpredictability at play, as though each song is a doorway into a different dimension of his eccentric musical mind. While Kaufmann might humbly describe himself as "just an average guy," this album proves he’s anything but. He's a sonic alchemist, continually pushing the boundaries of sound and self. Enter The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann, where you may not see or hear the rest of the world in the same way after listening.
-- Liner notes by Nick (The Third Eye)



The songs are displayed like a collection of emotions and feelings that explore the complex map of the modern human psyche, encompassing the wide genre of influences in A.J Kaufmann's strange world. And it is his distinct, echoing voice that ties these songs together, like that inner monologue narrating your mental journey through the tapestry of life's experiences. There are songs that portray joy and sorrow, confusion and awe, paranoia and anticipation and even excitement and fear, all being kept from exploding into contradiction by the calm poetic ramblings of our host! Every disparate thread is held together under a psychedelic umbrella of swirling guitars and incessant drumming, that epitomises the trip that we can beautifully describe as "The Strange World Of A.J Kaufmann."
-- Andy of The Uncarved Block.

New fans to the music of AJ Kaufmann will find this to be the perfect entryway to his emotive and eclectic psychedelic style. And if you're already a fan, you'll dig this collection of new songs.
-- Fuzzy Cracklins of The Swamp Records.

A.J. Kaufmann's world is strange indeed, serving up a set of ten psychedelic oddities. We've got acoustic guitar and vocal driven psychedelic folk songs bathed in atmospherics, wigged out psycho-folk freakouts, acid drenched space-time distortion, grungy garage-blues, and a noisy instrumental that sounds like an unearthed Faust basement tape track. File under totally trippy!
-- Jerry Kranitz of Aural Innovations. 

Releases October 19, 2024!
Words and Music by Adam Majdecki-Janicki.
Artwork by TheoEust.

Adam Majdecki-Janicki - voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, drum machine, percussion, FX, recording.
Recorded by Adam Majdecki-Janicki at Via Kosmische, 2024.
Except "The Courier", 2014.
"Oczy na Przesterze", 2018.
"I Only See My House in the Morning", arranged and produced by Blessed Studio, Indonesia.
"The Courier" first released on "Bavarian Gypsy" (Father and Son Records and Tapes, Poland, 2020).

"Hippies Must Die" Album finished and ready for release after "The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann". Album Cover Reveal! Artwork by Justin Jackley.

First single from "Hippies Must Die" streaming now on SoundCloud!:

The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann · "Oh Ho" (from "Hippies Must Die", Coming Soon!).

And, for 2025 there's a brand new surprise album coming! Listen to "Cabaret Berlin" on SoundCloud and Bandcamp!

More on that in its time. Stay tuna.

10 Favorite Songs as selected by A.J. Kaufmann sometime in 2015, after the release of "Stoned Gypsy Wanderer".

Bulat Okudzhava - Pesenka Ob Arbate

I could swear I still got flashes from a period I was too young to remember, when I was about 2-3y/o and my mother was spinning her Bulat Okudzhava LPs on an old Polish turntable. Maybe I remember this right, as I still got those records. „Pesenka Ob Arbate” tells the tale of Arbat, which is a street in Moscow, where artists and academics used to live. Perhaps this song's subconscious influence on a Polish child shaped my entire viewpoint on life and music, the melancholy and simplicity, the truth and the humility I pursue. In the songs I write and record I go for a raw, primitive feeling, close to art brut and poetry, which is exactly what you can hear in Bulat's recordings, and this one, his most famous song perhaps, is also one of the most haunting. The human story, human voice, reality and the instrument is what really matters here, the small orchestra of hope.

Woody Guthrie – Struggle Blues

When I got interested in American folk music, I discovered Bob Dylan first. And Woody Guthrie thanks to Dylan's debut album. The first Woody Guthrie LP I bought was „Struggle”. When I dropped the needle on the record and heard this tune first I was immediately transported to America in the 1940s, the beautiful harmonica, the rhythm, and freedom of country roads and endless skies, small train stations, but also the struggle of working men, blood and the history – including the story I've read in the booklet, and everything about America then was captured forever on a piece of vinyl without singing a single word. And this was merely an introduction to the album. Imagine my amazement and growing respect for Mr. Guthrie when I got to know more of his music. No wonder not only Dylan, but also Donovan tried their best to copy him when they were starting their careers.

Hank Williams – Alone and Forsaken

Another true, honest song, with no gimmicks. I've got a sentiment for it mostly because, for me, it is the sonic equivalent of life in a Polish high-rise block, where I was raised, and a window into harsh reality I later learned from my own life, mistakes and relationships. Hank Williams doesn't have to do anything here, he simply has to be himself in front of a microphone with his guitar, and that's it. Despair, desperation, disappointment – it's all here. Nothing distracting the mood, the story Hank tells us, no other instruments, no orchestras, yet the tune tells more with one word than another orchestrated song about breaking up. If anybody would ask me to distill country music, it would all come down to this name: Hank Williams. The songs, the lifestyle, the story, it's all magical, but if you look closer, it's simply life, and nothing more. And life can indeed be magical in the right hands. Hank made his life a journey worth living for, and in that he taught me a lesson.

The Velvet Underground – European Son

I'm pretty sure this track is legendary to many sound artists/musicians, as is the album from which it's taken. For me, it's the first rock'n'roll I've consciously heard, and a perfect combination of cheeky, punk lyrics, art gallery sound, and maltreated decadent lead guitar that wouldn't sound out of place on a forward-thinking jazz album, or a no-wave album from the 80s. And to think the Velvets cut the Norman Dolph version of this back in 1966, makes me wonder about endless possibilities of sung or written words and electric guitars we have now, in the 21st century, thanks to people like Lou Reed. I was listening to this song and album while studying Polish philology, and writing my first lyrics which weren't love songs. „European Son” changed my life and approach to art, for better or worse, but I'm thankful it did. I dropped out of one university and went to another.

David Bowie – Moonage Daydream

Another classic. I first came upon Mr. Bowie's music when I started studying English philology, and realized I missed something big when I've heard „Space Oddity” on the radio. Reading the Rolling Stone interview with Burroughs and Bowie, knowing Burroughs' prose before, made me think very highly of Mr. Bowie. The instrumental section always reminds me of „Cabaret”, and the whole movie passes by before my eyes like an abstract painting, along with every note. The chorus has an enormously beautiful melody, and the lyrics are killer. Mr. Ronson's solo is particularly emotional and very strong, not to mention perfectly executed. Perfect arrangement too. Personally, I can't think of a bad Bowie song, but „Moonage Daydream” is the only one I can loop on my CD player and listen to it all day. And night. And another day. I was humming „Moonage Daydream” during my first professional photo shoot and I am a huge David Bowie fan.

Gil Scott-Heron – Lady Day and John Coltrane

I love both Lady Day and John Coltrane. And I love Gil Scott-Heron. His lyrics are genuine poetry, and this particular song is very soothing, makes you feel you're enjoying a warm sunny day, even in the middle of the coldest winter. It has a great flow, lyrics, emotional vocals delivering a delicate melody of hope and joy, and a bassline I'd love to hear on a „krautrock” record, in a different context, maybe I'm thinking Frankie Dymon Jr.? Gil indeed „washes your troubles away” with his melody, and comforts the ones living, or rather existing, beyond the „plastic people”s rat race. I first came upon his work thanks to a friend, a Protestant pastor, who recommended his debut album, and a book of his, „The Vulture”. His imagery, subject matter and delivery transcend obsolete concepts like race, nationality, or social status and reach deep into the most important subject we have – our humanity.

Hawkwind – Master of the Universe

The first track that got me hooked on space rock, and, for me, the definition of space music up to this day. My favorite version is one found on the „Space Ritual” double LP, although the studio creation from „In Search of Space” has the perfect sound and is the first one I've heard. Amazing Dave Brock riff, perfect Dave Anderson bassline, the phasing, and Nik Turner's vox - the main reason why I sometimes FX the vocals so much, and occasionally phase whole tracks. I also started playing bass inspired by this track. First listened to „Master” in Berlin, back in the winter of 2004. I was living in Zehlendorf at the time, reading lots of Joyce and modern Canadian poetry, found in my landlord's library, smoking and writing future songs and lyrics for Sauer Adler. My landlord was Mr. Johann Gottlob von Wrochem, so I had free piano concerts every morning. Of course, Hawkwind used to work with two of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy writers, Michael Moorcock and Robert Calvert.

Zager & Evans – In the Year 2525

Since I first watched Planet of the Apes in 1998 or 1999, I fell in love with early 60s/70s dystopian/sci-fi cinema, my favorite movies being Time Machine, Logan's Run, Fahrenheit 451, Soylent Green, The Omega Man... which are classics really, and lots of more obscure sci-fi flicks. And then this song comes creeping into my life. I've heard it first thanks to my then-girlfriend who used to come up with bizarre songs for me to include in live repertoire. It might be a funny folksy ditty from the perspective of 2014, but the message is powerful, if a bit naive, and the melancholy present in this recording often makes me think, seriously or lightly, of the direction and fate we are headed for as mankind. Hippie fables, really, but I always liked them too. Sonically this makes me think of a band of psychedelic mariachis conquering the limits of outer space on a flying saucer hanging from a, not really invisible, string.

Sonic Youth – She is Not Alone

With this song, I realized I don't have to make music like everybody else. I understood that your sound expresses your soul, and that you can make your own music completely on your own, and create your own scene outside of the „business”. There are many DIY home-recording artists out there, with whom you can feel, or not, a connection, or work with. After all, we are all really traveling waves on one endless tape called Earth, and we continuously record/erase our improvised parts, songs, loops, layers, add or remove tracks and cut-up the surface of our existence in a burroughsian fashion. The guitars on this track had a similar effect on me as the lead on VU's „European Son”. I am thankful for this alteration of perception, and even if I never really became a fan of Sonic Youth, this song, and the „NYC Ghosts & Flowers” album will always be close to my heart.

MC5 – Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)

Rob Tyner's opening line alone is worth putting in a museum of modern art, were it not for the fact that MC5 music is way too good to end up in any museum. I remember this one from crazy, and dangerous, parties in Neukölln,Berlin, where it was often played from the original LP along the likes of Magma, Hawkwind, Bang, Blue Cheer and many other classic bands from the psychedelic era. It's funny how close a poet and folk musician can get to good rock'n'roll when it comes to his lifestyle. So yes, „Rocket Reducer” is party music for me, but the raw aesthetic and power that MC5 present here and on their LP full blast is much more than just rock'n'roll entertainment. This here is the thinking woman's/man's entertainment, a bold artistic statement and kick ass music in one mighty package, that fuels both intellectual and sexual needs of any wild rock'n'roller.