Musti Laiton - "Megacity Chillout"
(Temmikongi 2007, 005)
Musti Laiton - "Megacity Chillout"
(Temmikongi 2007, 005)
From Aural Innovations #40 (September 2008)
"We have built this album on urban life…" says Roope Seppäla, one of the members of Finnish group Musti Laiton whose Megacity Chillout sounds remarkably un-Finnish. The Finnish usually have an affinity for jazz, jazz fusion, progressive rock and, more recently, psychedelia. Musti Laiton however seems far more influenced by ambient music, industrial and noise rock. "Expanding Fintelligent Design" is merely a conventional electronic soundscape whose minimalism becomes tedious over the course of its 14 minutes. More interesting are songs like "Crazy Snake" and "Megacity Nights" whose abrasiveness seems more in keeping with the group's intentions and ambitions. Still, they never really seem to break entirely free from their influences; consequently, most of Megacity Chillout, while not altogether lacking in interest, seems tentative and not fully realized. "Now Gimme Vocals" and the title track may, however, point the way toward the future with their nearly Kraftwerkian sense of simply melody and locomotive electro-drive. Musti Laiton seems to go in about three or four directions on Megacity Chillout-and sometimes even in the same song. If they can consolidate their influences and narrow their focus to a sound that is less amorphous, they may produce an album that's consistently satisfying on its own merits.
For more information you can visit the Musti Laiton web site at: http://www.mustilaiton.net.
Email at: mustilaiton@gmail.com or rseppala@welho.com.
Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree