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Jul 20, 2015 By Laura Studarus Dog Whistle

On August 7, we’re headed to OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland. Excited to hear Patti Smith play Horses, have Iceage break our eardrums, and Susanne Sundfør break our hearts? Of course!

But as per tradition, we’re using our mixtape series to shine a light on some of the Polish bands that might not have made their way into your collection. Our first entry in the OFF Festival series comes from playful Warsaw pop duo Dog Whistle. Take a listen to their upbeat blend of tunes below. They call it Singing in Tongues. If you’re packing your bags for Poland, you can also check out all the festival info here.

Dog Whistle Mixtape (OFF Festival Edition) by Under The Radar Mag on Mixcloud

Dog Whistle: Singing in Tongues

1. Juana Molina: Salvese Quien Pueda (Spanish) - Lena: a gentle start to this mix, the Argentinian songstress is a role model in using loops, combining electronica and other genres, and also in maintaining an air of coolness, be it in acting or singing. After hearing this song in David Mackenzie’s 2007 Hallam Foe, it clicked with me instantly.

2. Gal Costa: Touareg (Portugese) - Ania: Gal Costa, a Brazilian singer, singing in Portuguese about nomadic Islamic tribes – the Tuaregs.

3. Dog Whiste: Mastom Mastom (Persian) - Lena: The first Persian song we decided to do. We got to know it in the Assyrian version (follows), and then figured out a way to play it so it felt right with us. Expect more songs in Persian, Dari, French in the OFF Festival set and on our next album.

4. Jarmain Tamraz: Shimokh Khilya (Assyrian/Arameic) - Ania: Assyrian singer Jarmain Tamraz covering Mastom Mastom- Shimokh Khilya, in a beautiful language of one of the most threatened minorities nowadays. Jarmain Tamraz was our first inspiration to cover Middle Eastern songs.

5. Erkin Koray: Cemalim (Turkish) - Ania: Erkin Koray, the king of Turkish psychedelic rock from the 60s and 70s. Funny how this guitar riff resembles Sonic Youth’s “Sunday,” or we should rather say funny how Sonic Youth resemble Erkin Koray!

6. Gruff Rhys: Epynt (Welsh) - Lena: Gruff Rhys is an obvious choice for a Welsh-language, Super Furries and all, also because he did so much for the language he should get awarded for this!

7. Dog Whistle: Girlfriend (English) - Lena: A song born out of a dream. Features guest appearance from acclaimed songwriter and our producer, Natalia Fiedorczuk of recent feature Nathalie and the Loners, table thumping.

8. Les Calamités: Toutes les Nuits (French) - Lena: I sent the Dog Whistle album draft to my friend Michał and he was like, “You should check these French ladies out”. So I did and of course, fell for them. They have the sincerity and the power. After the band split up in the 80s, they just returned to their studies. So do we – back on the day jobs after each concert ends. We never wanted it to be any different.

9. Dog Whistle: Chase (English) - Lena: A powerful 2 minutes of Ania’s songwriting. Plus my aspiring Frank Black screech, recorded in a wardrobe. Screaming in a tight closed space didn’t feel right.

10. ZOO: Na drzewie (Polish) - Lena: My dad played guitar and occasionally sang in this band in the 1980s, around the time my sister and I were born. Check out the quintessential sound of the time in this reggae-powered track. I wanted to honour Dad with a place here – he did so much for Dog Whistle. Thanks, Dad! He’s now playing in a rock combo The Plants.

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