- Audio CD (20 Sep 2010)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Fonal
- ASIN: B0016QC9ME
- Other Editions: Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 162,071 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
CD Description
Just under three years ago, a close-knit group of born-again Christians from Savonlinna, Finland quietly released their debut album on the Fonal label, where some band members had originally released other projects under different guises. Little did they know that within a year, their name would be on the lips of everyone from record store assistants to broadsheet journalists. Yha Hamaraa came from nowhere and instantly demanded people take notice of this strange, inexplicable type of music. Time has now past since that pivotal moment, but Yha Hamaraa remains as fascinating as ever. So it is understandable that the band s second album may be met with some trepidation. The key appeal of the first was that it sounding like nothing else around, so by default Paavoharju couldn t simply recreate old songs, throw them together and casually hope it does well. It had to be special - it had to be unique. Luckily for us, they didn t disappoint. Laulu Laakson Kukista is just as unexpected, beautiful and occasionally downright weird as you could ever hope. From the delicate piano and almost trip-hop like beats of Ursulan to the degraded and surreal disco of Kevätrumpu , diversity is the key here as if you didn t already know that. On Laulu Laakson Kukista , the sounds of a run-out groove take just as much priority as an acoustic guitar or cheap-sounding drum beat, the tape hiss of some tracks adding as much as a vocal part or piano melody. There is often a lot of hyperbole about bands that they are unclassifiable or in a genre of their own', but Paavoharju go beyond this into a world where genre no longer exists, and every sound or style is treated with the utmost importance. This is truly special music, and something we are very proud to be able to present to you in all its glory. If Yha Hamaraa set the world on fire, Laulu Laakson Kukista is ready to douse the remains in lighter fluid and light the match that will instigate something truly important and extraordinary.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Headphone Commute Review
30 Nov 2008
Format:Audio CD
I'll admit - it took me more than a few listens to get into Paavoharju. I almost dismissed the album completely, but my readers kept insisting that I give it another whirl. And here it is, Laulu Laakson Kukista, opening its intricate secrets after careful observation. The crackles, the noises, the lo-fi magnetic tape manipulations dispel, and the inner beauty of modern classical marriage to neo-folk emerges. So how do I begin describing something that is indescribable. An assembly of illusions scratching at deep rooted memories of childhood, a collection of conflicting elements settling into a unique pattern of a snowflake, a kaleidoscope of loose material patched together into a summer dress that is being hung up to dry in a sunlight by a humming villager. Between the digital artifacts and purely organic ambient hymns you find something... spiritual... revived through simplicity of a pure song. And after a few listens it is that song that draws you closer towards Paavoharju's mystical sound. Laulu Laakson Kukista is the second LP from a collective of Finnish born-again Christians (!) initially organized by brothers Lauri and Olli Ainala. Their first LP, titled, Yhä Hämärää, came out on the same label, Fonal Records, in 2005. The group is not a stranger to the scene, and since their debut, Paavoharju landed an EP on Miasmah as well as a 7" on Type Records. It's nearly impossible to draw a comparison between Paavoharju and any other artist, but if I was pressed, I'd perhaps point towards the abstract experimental and psych-folk work from Boards of Canada.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
worth it
24 Jan 2009
I am amazed that such venturous and utterly experimental music can make it into the mainstream releases with such high quality of production! Surely, there is a lot of electronic tricks involved but the effect is that of a music reaching you in atmospheric waves through the silvery spider webs and falling leaves or whatever other obstacles one finds in a magical forest. An emotional equivalent of Nocturnes of Chopin played in the park after dark, times ever so annoying beats of a club house across the river... The sound effects and quality remind me most of Amon Tobin. Melodies could easily be Renaissance or psychedelic if you wish. A very close band but in a more regular structure and with rockish rather than electronic overtones would be Espers (II).
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
This is a great record
30 Aug 2008
Format:Audio CD
Wow. I just got it today. It is really good. This is Finnish psych-folk-pop put out by a group of ascetic christians on Sami Sänpäkkilä's Fonal records. This is a lot of electronica with some fun dance songs. Definitley worth it.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
