ALBUM PREVIEW: soundcloud.com/shimmering-moods-records/tutti-harp-unfinished-patches-vol1-album-preview

I was watching an old Super 8mm film recently. Images from long ago, faded, blurry one minute then super-intensely saturated the next, much like my recollections of the events unfolding before me. I loved that pedal car, that cowboy outfit. Space-hoppers. Who the hell was that? What was my mother wearing? The film was damaged in places, rescued as it was from my parents’ garage, its cardboard box crumbling and at one time obviously damp. Black shapes boiled at the edges; scratches flickered across the frames. Occasionally time appeared to stop before jumping forward to catch up. Maybe even to get ahead of itself. Double images. To me these shaky vignettes were undeniably nostalgic, but what if I were to show the film out of context, to someone who didn’t know me, who had no interest at laughing at my flared, purple corduroys? Might they interpret it quite differently? Certainly the flickering and time distortions, the darkness that crowed out some images, the scratches and jumps, all would lend the film a completely different feel. Especially when contrasted to the domestic happiness of the subject matter.

What would we be watching? How to interpret it? Perhaps the anxieties and stresses of life were somehow caught by the process of filming. Or maybe something more sinister. Was it perhaps, given the late 1960s setting, a commentary on the strange, communal existential dread that permeated life at the height of the cold war, under the shadow of imminent nuclear destruction? Is that too much? Probably.

So, what about something created now, something that shares that same frayed around the edges aesthetic and yet is too, at its core, something that should sooth and comfort? There is much of this in “Unfinished Patches vol.1” by Tutti Harp. The melodies and instrumentation on this fine album have bittersweet, vaguely nostalgic melancholia to them, akin, say, to Boards of Canada, but not quite. Yet there is also a sense of unease, of something bubbling underneath that is not quite right. Something scratching, barely discernible but definitely there. Movement at the edges.

From the off, disembodied voices intrude, then become part of the ambience, never allowing it to lull, always snagging our attention. Then the tension rises, made manifest, only to suddenly drain away leaving instead an uneasy quiet. Melody returns, queasy and unsteady, not fully able to commit. It is a beautiful place, but also of one of unresolved distress.

Imminent nuclear destruction may not be what it was (although it is still alarmingly likely), but more than ever, more and more of us live in a state of unease, of disquiet, of a more personal existential dread. Maybe that’s what Tutti Harp is channelling. It might be.
You decide.

Words by Andrew Sherwell, November 2020


With Unfinished Patches vol.1 Maks takes the listener on a abstract, modular journey. His unique sound reflects his mind, uncompromising and shaping detailed atmospheres. The follow up, Unfinished Patches vol.2, is released by the Polish label Pointless Geometry: pointless-geometry.bandcamp.com/album/tutti-harp-unfinished-patches-vol-2

Tutti Harp aka Garb - Maksymilian Wiśniewski - is a 26 yrs old producer and musician from Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland. Maks has been affiliated with Gorzów’s own Dym records since the very beginning of the label. As of yet the artist issued a total of 7 albums in various labels in Poland and Sweden. His music was also featured on numerous compilations. Tuttis signature sound incorporates dreamy, intangible ambience right next to harsh drones. These also tend to fuse smoothly with broken techno and dub.


He co-created the self proclaimed emo/techno duo Próżnia with Mef (Mateusz Puźniak). Próżnia issued a limited cassette called Zapaść (Collapse) on Swedish Purlieu Recordings.

Tutti spent the last two years learning modular systems through improvisation. The resultant recordings weren’t supposed to have any symbolic meaning. Maks says it was simply a process of “throwing up his demons, feelings and emotions”.

The artist has played many interesting festivals. At Dym festival he played along Micromelancolie, Lutto Lento, Poly Chain, Mchy I Porosty, FOQL, VTSS and others. At Drone Noise Ambient (DNA) in Kolonia Artystów (Gdańsk) he appeared among Emiter, Ellen Arkbro, Columbus Duo, DMNSZ, Mammoth Ulthana and We Will Fail. He also had the pleasure to play at a small festival by Plaża Zachodnia, where his music was joined by live visuals, Sowy Polskie and Mothertape. As a half of Próżnia he also played the Gorzów Splin Festiwal along Syny, Javva and Enchanted Hunters. In 2019 he was invited to the ambient stage at Garbicz Festival. Later he also opened the show in Wrocław for his friend and rapper Tonciu.

Tutti also appeared in major press and tv content. Estrada i Studio, an established polish music production magazine, commisioned him for an interview and a mini video gig. At the end of 2019 he also appeared in a national tv station TVP kultura in Antyfonie, a show that focuses on polish underground experimental music.

In 2019 Wiśniewski was awarded an artistic fellowship of the president of Gorzów Wielkopolski. In 2020 Mateusz Rosiński invited him for an artistic residency, where he joined forces with Robert Skrzyński (Micromelancolie). The duo conducted musical workshops together and composed new music, which they played live and issued on tape.