There are 2 known bands called Masala: 1) Masala, a collective led by Max Cegielski (a popular young Polish traveller and a writer) and DJ Praczas who have invite their fellow DJs to the MASALA-parties. 2) Ambient/world music solo project of Riccardo Spaggiari, member of Ataraxia. 1 - MASALA blends tradition with the modern influences; they have paved the way for a wholly new and unknown music genre in Poland. The godfather and the producer of the album is Max Cegielski, a journalist and an author of two books - Apokalipso; and Masala; (from which the name of the collective has been derived). The co-producer and the author of the most of the songs is Praczas (Rafal Kolacinski), the headmaster DJ Masala Soundsystem and a head honcho behind a band Village Kollektiv. The rest of the producers are the members of a duo called Like Orient Sound System i.e.:Smoku (Jarek Smak; a highly respected person in the dub-master scene; formerly of Post Regiment) and Yama (Jacek Kaczmarek - a jourmalist of the Polish State Radio Station, co-author of a book on the war in Iraq called Noise of Azrael Wings also well-know as an independent music producer). Recorded in their home-studios the digital sounds would not defend their position if not for the live instruments used. Therefore on the album you will find contributions from the memebrs of a highly acclaimed Polish folk scene band Yerba Mater (the winners of the Polish Radio competition The New Tradition), Kapela Ze Wsi Warszawa (aka Warsaw Village Band - BBC's Newcomer of the Year prize) who perform the song 20th Century (a song by Dezerter a legend in the Polish punk-rock scene). On the album you can also find Djalaludin Rumis poetry read Polish and Persian - spoken alongside the guitar of Mehdi Gholami. Only few of the exotic sounds on the album are samples most of the mateial was recorded live, even the traditional throat singing form Tuva. The final result of the concept album is a fusion between world folk and drum&bass with some addition of dub. For the vocal side of the project are responsible young rappers and other music styles vocalists. On the radio single you will find Dillian Singh, a Penjabian living presently in Warsaw, a person well-known to the audience of Przystanek Woodstcok (the biggest open-air festival in Poland) as well as the memebrs of Cinq G (Pan Duże Pe and Mista Pita). In the process of recording and making the album there have been many important for the Polish independent scene musicians involved. Among them one should name the following bands and people: Gutek (Kailber 44, Indios Bravos), Frenchman, Globus (Wszystkie Wschody Słonca), Ziut Gralak (Tie-Break, RAP). The concept album has been filled with some field-recording done by Max Cegielski and Yama in Afganistan, Iraq and Pakistan. This way MASALA becomes a settlement above borders, generatiosn and divisions, a settlement so highly desired in the time of conflict... from www.masala.independent.pl