(Boing Being 2004)
I admit becoming overwhelmed at some point a couple years ago by the wave of Finnish releases which were all pretty good. But this one flipped my wig as an instant classic and it’s rather different from nearly everything else that crosses my radar via the usual channels.
From the label listing: “I only compose music that makes me feel home” says Kusti and yes, that is exactly how this record will make you feel. Being around for eigth years, we finally proudly present the band’s debut album. By sounding nothing but themselves they perform gentle free improvised jazz with folk influences - three calm horns with occasional outbursts wander above hypnotic five-piece rhyhtm section.”
To me, it sounds like something you’d hear in a Casablancan beer hall where Sun Ra got up and conducted the house band while listening to Jamaican radio on his portable headphones. As alluded to above, the band’s instruments include trombone, accordian, clarinet, alto sax, two double basses, and three percussionists. In case it isn’t clear, there are no flutes, no guitars, no computers, no keyboards (unless you count the accordian which shows up very rarely and just when you want it to), no drum solos, no “free form improvisation” and no vocalizing on this record. In other words: it’s something quite different from most of the freak stuff going around the block these days but that doesn’t mean it ain’t weird.
The album artwork is fantastic: an ornate, shiny gold screen printing on a thick, fibrous forest-green cardstock, depicting a floating castle. The image perfectly matches the music and will also match your mood while you listen to the record and drink a bottle of apple brandy while carving a lifesize bear from an old redwood trunk.
Last time I checked, Boing Being still had this on their website for $20, not including shipping from Finland). It won't be around forever.
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