Lao Che

Named after a villain featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the genre-mixing band Lao Che formed from members of the defunct Polish rap band Koli. Launched in 1999, the new band still kept rap in the mix, but reggae, rock, dance, and other genres were all found on their debut effort, Gusla, released in 2002. Three years later, the politically minded concept album Powstanie Warszawskie became both their critical and commercial breakout. Gospel followed in 2008, and then Soundtrack -- a hypothetical soundtrack to a nonexistent film -- appeared in 2012. Another concept album, Dzieciom, landed in 2015, this time the topic being childhood and the experience of growing into an adult. ~ David Jeffries