Ukkonen / The Isolated Rhythms Of…
Vinyl / Digital
Unchartered Audio / Released May 2012
What does it sound like?
You know things are serious when an album arrives on limited edition vinyl complete with painted sleeves, comprising not tunes so much as overtures consisting of a minimum eight, maximum 17 minutes each. Plenty of posturing, the actual substance is, thankfully, up to the mark here too.
Though what exactly to call that substance is anyone’s guess. And whilst that may be becoming something of a cliche in the dance music world post post-dubstep and the fracturing of genre boundaries, in this instance it’s not just another case of a producer making those familiar but difficult to define tracks- the contents really are rather varied. Tellervo, for example, would belong somewhere close to the new school, with its broken futurism and analogue melody.
But then Haukivesi Spirit is more along the lines of WALLS’ recent Coracle outing for Kompakt. So then, space age beats and pieces married to dub techno? Well, not quite, as the strange Humans Knew In The Forest kicks in with its hypnotic, filtered chimes and staccato hip-hop electro kicks (albeit arranged in a thoroughly confusing way). Better yet, things then transform into an upbeat (though no faster tempo’d) outing filled with high arpeggios and soft snares. All in all, it’s interesting stuff indeed.
What highlights can I expect to hear?
After explaining the way in which the tracks appear it should go without saying this isn’t one for picking particular points of glory. The aforementioned Humans is great though, as is the way in which closer Seventy Three Days of Radiance moves from low-end heavy (bass-bin rumbling) moody, patient, Lawrence or Substance-esque fare into suitably uplifting but stripped vibes made all the more enjoyable by what sounds like a phone ringing.
Where can I buy it?
