For fans of Hannu Karjalainan, 2009 has been an aural bliss. First his giant EP “Harhailua” which clocks 31 minutes, then Hintergarten his second full-length, and what can we say, they’re both special releases. Hannu conjures intricate landscapes, not unlike the geographical landscapes of Finland, and fills them with sonic representations of human memories. Thinking of how to describe it in words was pretty hard, but I think I may have a slight point there. It’s definitely contemplating music, a music to sit by and defrag your memories to. In that sense it fits with the iconized image of Scandinavia I have in my mind, not that I’ve ever been there, but I’ve always felt Scandinavia was a place of silent pondering, loneliness and nature.

Quite like Xenis Emputae Travelling Band’s psychogeographical music, Hannu captures the feeling of a place or the mood of a memory, that’s why none of his songs resemble any other song, apart from the author’s signature. Therefore it is unique and authentic music, with stories I’m assured that only he can tell.

Both albums sound more clear and detailed compared to his debut Worms in my Piano , which was a solid effort but not up to par, his sound has matured and it’s more refined, Harhailua is more ambient and folky, Hintergarten is a bit more versatile and electronic, Lauttasaari sounds like it’s coming from a modern trip-hop album. BTW, He’s also an accomplished video artist and in times of continuous partial attention and total lack of productive hours I wonder how he manages this creative output. Must get both if you are into Xenis, Paavoharju, Bibio, the output of Ghost Box, Fonal or Miasmah (which Hannu’s main collaborator Simon Scott also releases for), or if you’re remotely interested in drone, ambient, folk, electronic or freak folk scenes.