[Shogun Kunitoki - Leivonen / 5:08]
Some people rave about spring in Tuscany or summer in Brittany. I for one would gladly give up primavera and été for a sprout of spring in Finland with its lush azure and its iridescent green studded with the zebra white of birch trees.
In this series, I'd like to invite you to a tour of my limited selection of music from Suomi.
First call: Shogun Kunitoki. Hailing from Helsinki, SK is an instrumentalist quartet founded in the late 1990s, basing their music on hypnotic loops and drones made on their Commodore 64.—Their name comes a game on this same computer. Those ever changing experiments came to fruition in 2006 with their début album "Tasankokaiku."
Their music is a kaleidoscopic assemblage of electronic phrases, psychedelic influences and minimalistic extrapolations. The album itself contains 7 tracks intricately making up a fractal soundscape which recalls both Terry Riley and Steve Reich. There is also an orchestral sense for the atmospheric reminiscent of the Finn par excellence, Sibelius. Each piece presents a perfect demonstration of their credo: To make electronic organic.
Above for your aural consideration a first track—which to me sounds like small buds bursting with the new sap. A second track will be found in the comments.
More info here and here
A professional review of "Tasankokaiku" can be found here
My Trusted MOGs
[Shogun Kunitoki - Montezuma / 4:52]
This is the album opener—organ notes darting out from a wood somewhere near Turku?
PS: If you're in Paris, SK will be playing at La Flèche d'Or on 21st May. Their live shows include stage installations, video and super 8 projection and photography and painting. So I've been told.
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Cool. I'm one quarter Finnish and it's definitely on my list of places to visit. This is kinda reminiscent of "Clinic" to me. I like it.
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On first listen...I found it simplistic...on second listen, quite complex. This is very interesting.
Glad I was wearing my cans.
Unfortunately, I will not be near Paris any time soon....Boo Hoo!
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Wow Michael, this is some incredible sonic sound. Toronno is right, they do sound kind of like Clinic w/the use of the organ on the first song but also a bit like The Doors w/o Jim.
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I would love to be in Finland for springtime. Not only to experience the natural beauty, but to celebrate "Vappu" with the locals -- I hear things get pretty festive around April 30th/May 1st.
Trippy music. The second one kind of makes me feel like I'm being abducted by aliens and taken on a grand adventure through space and time...
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Beautifully austere. I'd like to hear a lot more of this.
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that was some unique/interesting stuff.
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that was some unique/interesting stuff.
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The further I venture into this field of birch trees - the more I like the soundtrack guiding me !!! Good call Michael !!!
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The further I venture into this field of birch trees - the more I like the soundtrack guiding me !!! Good call Michael !!!
My Trusted MOGs
Odd. I was listening to this before reading the post, and the first thing that came to mind was, "This sounds like an organic version of Kraftwerk." Then I read your comments and discover that this was very close to their precise intention. I don't think it's a tribute to my brainpower. (Mrs. Ivylander would certainly concur.) But it is a tribute to Shogun Kunitoki's clarity of vision....
My Trusted MOGs
Odd. I was listening to this before reading the post, and the first thing that came to mind was, "This sounds like an organic version of Kraftwerk." Then I read your comments and discover that this was very close to their precise intention. I don't think it's a tribute to my brainpower. (Mrs. Ivylander would certainly concur.) But it is a tribute to Shogun Kunitoki's clarity of vision....