Dziwny Jest Ten Swiat (67), Sukces (68), Czy Mnie Jeszcze Pamietasz (68), Enigmatic (69), Niemen Enigmatic (71), Niemen Vol. 1 (72), Nimen Vol. 2 (72), Strange is This World (72), Ode to Venus (73), Russiche Lieder (73), N.AE. (74), aka Niemen/Aerolit), Mourner's Rhapsody (75), Katharisis (75), Idee Fixe (76), Best of Niemen (78), '60s singles collection), Postscriptum (79), Przeprowadzka (82), Terra Deflorata (89)

A Polish singer who got very popular in Poland with Beatles-type of songs, but who evolved into a true searcher in experimental lands. Niemen Vol 1 for instance is avant-garde jazz. Katharsis is almost only synthesizers. Best of Niemen is 60s pop, Niemen Engimatic is one single and one double album of good jazz-soul-rock, Niemen Vol. 1 and Nimen Vol. 2 are both experimental and feature SBB, Niemen Aerolit is typical jazz-rock. 

Czeslaw Niemen started in the '60s as a singing organist, very much in the beat-pop mould. His early '70s output (from Vol. 1 through to Ode to Venus) is of paramount interest to prog collectors as they were recorded with the band that later became SBB. In 1974, Niemen formed his own prog rock band called Aerolit. He began playing synths extensively. The 1974 album, whatever you call it, is an interesting blend of fusion, electronics, and bluesy vocal wailing. Though credited to N.AE. (i.e.: Niemen and Aerolit), N.AE. and the very electronic Katharsis is virtually a solo album, a mainly instrumental tour-de-force in which Niemen plays all the instruments himself. Many, many layers of synth form the basic backdrop of sound, plus some Mellotron for added texture, bits of "musique concrete" and a touch of 12-string. Oh, and some impassioned vocals, which make this truly a sort of catharsis, as it's dedicated to a drummer friend of his who recently had died. Working with a band again, Idee Fixe is a real all-out production: a double LP which originally came with a 7-inch EP (which was missing from my copy). It's a kind of bridge between the fusiony style of N.AE. and the very electronic Katharsis. On it, Niemen works with a poet; the poetry is translated into English for all to enjoy. -- Mike Ohman 

"Audion" sez best is '72-'76, including a period of space fusion and the radical synth/mellotron work, Katharsis.