The Insane Birds: Pyhitetty kääntöpiiri

lvjcdr024
cd-r

34:41

July 2011

Thee Blind Rice (1:22)

Can't Get You Out of My Head (1:01)

Fourth Eye Overimagination Blues (5:32)

Striped Light (8:42)

Occult Dynamite (9:49)

Three-Bear Dance (4:58)

Science Is What You Forget (3:17)

Minimalistic sounds and churning drones for a shattered mind

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REVIEW

"Patient listeners will find a lot to like on this release, which breaks down noise and ambient sound into dense, minimalistic mental imagery in a compelling way. There is an enjoyable feel to the music that comes through its creator’s strong attention to detail, and an ability to immerse the listener in a field of sound.

"The strength of each piece usually comes through the degree to which this small-scale form of emotional expression succeeds, which in this instance is more often than not. On a track such as “Striped Light,” for example, one of the CD’s strongest, small drones that are barely whistles or hums appear among a canvas of quiet static and murky chimes. Moments like these can make you feel as though you are overlooking an empty landscape on a summer evening (that something like this can be conveyed through music is a good thing), and they run consistently through the album.

"But there is also a fleeting quality here that makes the whole collection feel somewhat minor, as though a further conceptual leap would be needed to make the tracks take on another dimension. There isn’t enough, in other words, for the audience to reflect themselves within the work; hopefully, however, the project will continue to release more albums such as this, because the efforts here are worthwhile." (Jordan Anderson / Foxy Digitalis)

Kospel Zeithorn: Tunneli

lvjcdr023
cd-r

62:12

July 2011

Smoking Altar Figures (21:24)

Foggy Tunnel Route (32:34)

Return of The Smoking Altar Figures (8:14)

Recorded during few winter evening sessions in January 2010

Urban ambient landscapes and cosmic jazz

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REVIEWS

"Kospel Zeithorn’s Tunneli explores a sort of “industrial ambiance,” similar to eerie film scores/scenes from Blue Velvet or A Clockwork Orange. Issued by Finnish experimentalist label Luovaja, Tunneli‘s extended improvisations heavily utilize echo and reverb to drape a blurry fog over hesitant piano, strings, and vocals. “Smoking Altar Figures” sounds like a stumbling walk home from an opium den, addled by psychotic visions and jumbled coordination. Every melody wavers along unsteadily, making the 22-minute piece an enduring listen. It’s a bold statement that holds true to itself, sorting out its process barely a step ahead of the listener following its aimless trail. “Foggy Tunnel Route” outlasts both of the other tracks on the disc, and permeates a brighter albeit equally demented space. An amorphous jumble of imbalanced yet harmless sound effects set the scene until a clean jazz tune comes in out of nowhere, as though an amplifier picked up a midnight jazz show broadcast by a nearby AM station. The subtle, cosmic jazz plays on while low-end tones drone on underneath. Fringe music in the literal sense, the drones are barely heard but play off of the front-and-center jazz piece and add a dark aura to the scene. These drones only give up the spotlight for a limited amount of time before eventually overtaking everything and dissolve back into a formless mass of electronic keys, detuned guitar, and static." 7/10 (Bobby Power / Foxy Digitalis)

*

"Lauri Väinölä on noin puolen vuosikymmenen ajan ehtinyt julkaista vinon pinollisen verran musiikkia Kospel Zeithorn -nimikkeen alla. Tyylillisesti levyt ajelehtivat melko vapaamuotoisesti eri genrejen välimaastoissa.

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"Zeithornin Tunneli (Luovaja, 2011, CD-R) on albumikokonaisuuden kannalta huomattavasti onnistuneempi teos. Levy lipuu hitaasti eteenpäin tummasävyisen ambienssin merkeissä, olematta kuitenkaan liian raskasta tai puuduttavaa kuunneltavaa, yli tunnin mittaisesta kestostaan huolimatta. Tunnelin keskivaiheilla huminoiva ambient muuttuu kuin huomaamatta kevyesti groovaavaksi sähköpianojazziksi ja vaikutelma on melko lumoava. Tätä kehtaa suositella tutustumiskohteeksi niille, joille Kospel Zeithorn ei vielä ole tuttu." (Ville Forss / Huuhkaja päivänvalossa)