KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT: Ullakkopalo (Fonal Records)

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Posted on Oct 14th 2010 01:07 am

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Kemialliset Ystävät: Ullakkopalo

KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT
Ullakkopalo
FR69
Fonal Records 2010
14 Tracks. 42mins04secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP | DLD iTunes: DLD

Between broken folk, awkwardly oblique electronica and distorted pop, the weird and wonderful world of Fonal Records has provided a safe haven for Finland’s misfits for nearly fifteen years, who have in return distilled some of the oddest and most fascinating music around. Already responsible for quite a considerable number of releases in all sorts of formats across a wide spectrum of record labels, one of these misfits, variable collective Kemialliset Ystävät, which translates roughly as Chemical Friends, return to Fonal with their fifth album for the label.

Led by Jan Anderzén, Ullakkopalo was recorded with a fifteen-strong formation of musicians, and often sounds like an orchestra on the loose. It is quite difficult to tell exactly what is happening at any one time, such is the intensity of the sonic assault confronting the listener. Who does what, with what instrument, and to what purpose remains a mystery for the whole record, but it is in this case an endearing quality. Indeed, how this is produced doesn’t quite matter when a gentle melody peeks out of a deluge of distorted noises, painstakingly assembled into a precariously busy patchwork, or when the beautifully clear motifs of an acoustic instrument suddenly makes perfect sense surrounded by electronic washes or unidentified environmental sounds, like it does so effectively on the dying moments of Lyön Häntäni Vetoa, Täällä Oli Äsken Joku, which closes the album.

A bit like label mates Paavoharju, another collective with no clearly defined geometry, KY’s music is, at best, totally unpredictable, and follows no rules but its own. Out of the chaos emerge all sorts of wonderful things, from the chirpy fuzz guitar of Kajastusmuseo, vocal sparkles of Kivikasan Rauhassa and otherworldly psychedelia of Surullinen Kohta Seinässä or Älä Koske Lintuja, which echo the richly ornate allure of the Broadcast/The Focus Group collaboration, to the amateur sci-fi sound effects and disarmingly simple melody of Ystävälliset Miekat to the hazy angular pop of Palava Puolukka. KY never settle for any particular setting for very long, cramming instead as much as humanely possible into the shortest period of time, this way avoiding dead moments and spreading the density of the music across a wide surface.

While all this could ultimately sound too much to even make an impact, this is quite the opposite which happens here. Not only this boisterous collection never ceases to captivate the mind, but there is something utterly compulsive about the whole record. One may at first hesitate to step in, but once in, the only incline is to explore this wonderland again and again.

4.3/5

Kemialliset Ystävät | Kemialliset Ystävät (MySpace) | Fonal Records
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP | DLD iTunes: DLD

KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT

Ullakkopalo

FR69

Fonal Records 2010

14 Tracks. 42mins04secs

Filed in Albums | Tags: ,
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