Related articles

Dan Bárta has performed with a host of Czech bands over the years, including the rock groups Alice and J.A.R., and Sexy Dancers, who were more in the funk field, while he has also appeared in musicals. But this programme mainly concentrates on the singer’s jazzy “solo” work over the last 13 years with Illustratosphere and the Robert Balzar Trio.

On our Easter Sunday Music show we profile Tomáš Kočko a truly versatile musician who combines folk, rock, ethno and jazz. Tomáš Kočko and Orchestra have 9 CDs to their name, including Hodovnice which draws on the way of life, traditions and legends of the inhabitants of the Beskydy Mountains.

Prague-based singer-songwriter, street performer and traveller known as Iamme Candlewick this month released her debut album entitled I Am You. The album, recorded with the help of several renowned musicians, combines Iamme’s distinct voice with an expressive guitar sound, electronica and other styles. Iamme’s music is inspired by (among other things) the author’s travels around the world.

The band Kryštof won two prizes at this year's Anděl music awards. Judges awarded the Band of the Year and Album of the Year prizes to the band, which was founded twenty years ago, at the Saturday evening ceremony in Prague. Aneta Langerová, who won the first season of the TV show Czech SuperStar in 2004, was selected as the best female singer of 2012, and Vojtěch Dyk of Nightwork as the best male singer. The folk-rock band ‪Zrní‬ was awarded the Best Newcomer of the year prize.

Martin Hůla, who has been active on Prague’s independent music scene for some years, was in his late 20s when he began rapping under the name Bonus. Following a couple of EPs, he released his debut LP under that moniker, the powerful, abrasive Konec civilizace (The End of Civilisation), in 2010. The following year he won plaudits (and the Apollo album of the year prize) for Náměstí Míru (Peace Square), which took a more song-based approach.

In this week’s Sunday Music Show we listen to the dark yet emotional tunes of Mikoláš Růžička, who came out with his first solo album called Piano just a couple of months ago. The complexity of sound, as well as Mikoláš’s signature introspective voice that listeners may know from the bands Republic of Two or Ghostmother, has impressed critics. The album has been a long time coming for Růžička, who carefully crafted each song, combining instrumental, vocal and electronics sounds.

The Matadors, one of the greatest Czech beat groups of the 1960s, only released one LP, their eponymous 1968 debut. Like many Prague bands of their era, they had a fluid membership, though the classic lineup is regarded as Radim Hladík on guitar, Viktor Sodoma on vocals, Jan “Farmer” Obermayer on electric organ, Otto Bezloja on bass and Tony Black (Miroslav Schwarz) on drums.

In this week’s Sunday Music Show we will introduce you to the popular band Nightwork, whose music can be described as satirical, absurdist or just plain silly. But the six-member all-male band is completely entertaining. We will hear the two songs that won them a serious following, some of the music they wrote for film soundtracks and you’ll learn a bit about the band’s history and what some of its members do beside making music.

In this edition of Sunday Music Show, we’ll play a new album by the up-and-coming band Zrní. The record Soundtrack to the End of the World, which mixes electronica with pop to produce a fragile yet energetic sound, has been hailed by Czech critics as one of the best Czech albums of 2012.

Umakart, who recently released their second LP after a gap of eight years, are a kind of Czech independent super group whose core consists of vocalist Jaromír Švejdík (Jaromír 99), a cartoonist and former member of Priessnitz, guitarist Dušan Neuwirth, a noted producer who’s also in Tata Bojs, and bassist Jan P. Muchow, the leader of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa and one of the country’s top composers of film scores.