Various Artists - "Tässä me uimme, tätä me juomme" Tulva-kokoelma 2" (Tulva 2002, TLV-4)
Various Artists - "Tässä me uimme, tätä me juomme"
Tulva-kokoelma 2" (Tulva 2002, TLV-4)
From Aural Innovations #24 (July 2003)
Tulva is a zine and club based in Pori, Finland and this, their second compilation, features 5 excellent and adventurous artists from the region (2 tracks each). Here's the rundown...
Verde is a solo project from Mika Rintala who we have covered often in Aural Innovations (see the review of his new Huge CD in this issue). "Lähiöilmaa" is much more "musical" than much of Mika's sound explorations and may even have worked well with vocals. The music has multiple spacey layers of synths... kind of a robotic Kraftwerk sound, but in Mika's trademark style. And speaking of vocals, the second Verde track on the CD, "Avaruusaluksia Paleltaa", is indeed a song with vocals, and is a band effort with the help of current and former Circle members Juha Ahtiainen, Jyrki Laiho, and Mika Rättö. It's an excellent song with that trademark pounding Circle sound, Mika Rättö's intense haunting vocals, and a tripped out vibe. Dig that sitar! Visit the Verde web site at http://www.phinnweb.com/circle/verde.
Magyar Posse's two tracks are a little different from one another. "Sports" is an intense brain blasting power rocker... WOW! The bass is absolutely crushing, and along with the frenzied but whimsical synths makes for a unique combination. It's barely 3 minutes long but a killer track. "Combat Shock" is another instrumental. It's much more subdued, but also seeks to develop it's theme more, which it does an impressive job of in less than 5 minutes. Kind of a cross between heavy post-rock and progressive rock. Visit the Magyar Posse web site at http://www.verdurarecords.com/magyarposse.
Kroko is the duo of Pentti Dassum on guitar and Petri Hissa on drums and bass. "Burn, Stadi, Burn!" is an exploratory piece that features whining Frippoid guitar licks, chest rumbling Stoner bass blasts, and drums, the whole track coming across as an extended intro piece. I like it a lot but it would have worked better if it had ultimately launched into something larger. "Burning Soul" is very different, being a much lighter, melodic, atmospheric jazzy piece. Beautiful guitar work. Visit the Kroko web site at http://www.deepturtle.net/zerga/kroko1.htm.
Janne Laurila is the leader of band called Office Building, which I'm unfamiliar with. According to the promo sheet his two tracks were composed for theater plays. On "Mästaren och Margarita", piano, violin and cello combine to create a somber chamber styled narrative piece, while "Piano Piece 1" is similar but with solo piano. Visit the Janne Laurila web site at http://listen.to/ob.
Being from Sweden, Seamonster1 is the only non-Finnish entry on the compilation. "Aterial 167.321/535.78" is a dark, slow paced, spacey droney guitar driven piece with a slight metallic vibe and cool looped and swirling effects. Very interesting but definitely needs room to stretch out and develop beyond its 5 minutes length. "06:24/Molnskap" is similar but the guitars are more floating and atmospheric. Serenity instead of heaviness. Really quite beautiful. Visit the Seamonster1 web site at http://hem.passagen.se/seamonster1/?noframe.
In summary, this is an excellent compilation, though only a teaser to arouse interest in the artists. The Tulva site is all in Finnish but I poked around anyway and it looks like they are highly active in making live performances happen. I continue to be bowled over by the talent and creativity coming from the Scandinavian region and this comp only further supports that.
For more information you can visit the Tulva web site at: http://go.to/tulva.
Contact via snail mail at: Tulva; c/o Jere Laiho; Niittäjänkatu 11 / 2; 28120 Pori; Finland.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz