PIHKASILMÄ KAARNAKORVA

While still in Wigwam, Pohjola decided to make this jazzy solo album. In some ways the compositions are similar to Wigwam, after all Pohjola contributed a good deal to 3 of their proggiest albums. The main difference between this and Wigwam is the lack of any poppy hooks. Jukka Gustavson even contributed keyboards so that essentially makes it instrumental Wigwam. The first track has a typical Pohjola theme, but more than half of it is taken up by an overlong jam which if nothing else, shows just how good a bassist Pohjola already was at the age of 20! The next few tunes have that typical joyful feeling. "Armoton idylli" is a very bouncy humppa (popular Finnish style of the early 20th century) tune, and here we already hear Pohjola's skill at arranging winds, although he would take that to another level on his next album. This is a great album of quirky fusion, with no perfect comparison to a better known artist, but the closest I can think of is Zappa's Waka/Jawaka. In some ways this one and "Harakka Bialoipokku" have a more immature sound than the rest of his catalogue, but that's a big part of their charm.