finnish

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.

Started the last day of my thesis studies listening to Finnish electronic artist and another veteran of the netlabel and (possibly) demoscene Lackluster’s Yuki Yaki release Proof of Concept. I’ve been particularly drawn to the first two songs, some trademark oldschool IDM & Electronica for you to chew on.

Alamaailman Vasarat is known for their own breed of progressive folk music with accordeons, violins and a healthy dose of distorted guitars and macabre humour, and they’ve just released their 4th album Huuro Kolkko.

Finnish electronic music composer Lauri Saine makes genrebending electronic music without falling into the cheesy electronic tapestry category that so many trip-hop artists often do.

Debut EP from Finnish composer Bird from the Abyss is one of the most sinister & unholy ritual music you’ll be hearing these days. It’s released for free on archive.org but you can also buy a limited CDR from him for 5 bucks.

The blending of free-folk, noise and drone into seamless blocks of musical vista has taken it out of its 60’s context and built something new atop. Most of the new psychedelic music remains in the rock / folk tradition yet Finnish Shogun Kunitoki has managed to create its own brand of chaotic psychedelia.

A five song compilation made from 5 star material from my itunes.
+ The Alps a side project of Tarantel’s Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
+ French Zeuhl/Prog band Eskaton
+ Bibio and Reigns from UK
+ Finnish psychfolk from avant guitarist Keijo Virtanen.

From Jimi Tenor to Alamaailman Vasarat, the Fins have a monopoly on bizarre music. I’ve always wondered the reason to their connection with Sun-Ra’s cosmic vibes resulting in the maddest alchemy of orchestral jazz, noise and progressive rock.