Palaa Aurinkoon
Islaja
| Available Formats | No. of Tracks | Price | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download Album (mp3) | 11 tracks | £5.99 | ||
| Download Album (flac) | 11 tracks | £6.99 | ||
| Download Album (wav) | 11 tracks | £6.99 | ||
| Download individual tracks | N/A | from £0.75 |
Islaja - Palaa Aurinkoon
Islaja masters the elements of our universe one by one
or maybe the sea and the sun are embracing Islaja, it
must go both ways but there, where all this happens,
the listener is received with clattering sounds of
paradise and drowned by surprise in a swell that
stretches all the way to the dark rock bottom. What's
down there? Fight the rotten faith so it'll wither
until it hardly exists, believe it! Islaja shows the
way of rhythm, no it isn't a straight one, the way of
chant, it can't be foreseen. Textures evolve into new
ones. Scabby rhythms spin socks on feet, skin burns
into ashes in the attacking heat. Senile wine glasses
wail of happiness. Fallen off beard hair are woven
into a scarf that lets the wind blow fast right
through it. If only life would be like this more than
just an hour at a time! After everything the sun
blesses the way with Islaja's words, it spits out of
its system the wet and transformed listener, who longs
for the light again.
Lau Naukkarinen
Reviews
Tiny Mix Tapes
With all of the different scenes and sounds in this experimental music scene, it is good to have a unifying faction, and Finland's Islaja is just that. Islaja blends everything from peers Avarus' penchant for using toy instruments to Jandek's sparse/disjointed guitar to Fursaxa's ethereal female vocal stylings into a wholly original sound that is both haunting and utterly beautiful. Palaa Aurinkoon is the band's second release and one of the foremost documents of the budding Finnish experimental music scene. Virtually no track on the 11-song collection sounds like another in form or style, but the album works as a whole. The British folk clang of "Uni Pöllönä Olemisesta," with its dual, meandering vocal layers, leads into the dreary, piano-led space chantey "Palaa Aurinkoon," all the while never sounding chopping or sacrificing the pace of the album. The band even manages to sneak the gothic "Senjun Tanssitaan" into the mix.
One of the most striking things about Palaa Aurinkoon is band leader Merja's vocals. Merja's voice acts as the perfect compliment to the sparse instrumentation, lending melodies that tug the listener along without getting lost in their minimalist approach. For example, the repetition of a rough-hewn guitar sound on the song "Rohkaisulaulu" sounds like a Jandek reinterpretation of classic Spanish guitar, but as soon as Mejara's voice chimes in, the guitar takes on the duty of a percussion instrument to Mejara's whispery piping. Everything about Palaa Aurinkoon is beautifully strange, from the Finnish vocals to the sparse and inventive instrumentation. It is, however, highly accessible and -- to quote another scene unifier, Ed from Eclipse Records -- highly recommended. 5/5
reviewer: s. kobak
Tracklisting
Download Album (FR-36)
- Islaja - Laivat saapuu
- Islaja - Rohkaisulaulu
- Islaja - Uni pöllönä olemisesta
- Islaja - Palaa aurinkoon
- Islaja - Haaveilija
- Islaja - Senkun tanssitaan
- Islaja - Sateen tullessa
- Islaja - Rukki
- Islaja - Tule puutarhaan
- Islaja - Vaeltajan laulu
- Islaja - Rukous
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