PIHKASILMÄ KAARNAKORVA

1. "Metsonpeliä - Capercaillie Games" (10:33) almost a big band sound, innocuous and friendly with very tight performances from the full band, with an exciting ten-seconds of sample bass virtuosity around 1:30 and then a full exposition (solo) filling the sixth minute. Pekka and drummer Reino Laine obviously have a great rapport as their tandem playing off one another seems very tight, almost scripted (though that seems unlikely when taking the speed of each performers' note-playing). The trouble is that it's a bit long. The whole band is conscripted to go back into the opening theme for the final 2:15. That means over five minutes were spent on masturbatory interplay with your drummer boyfriend! (The sign of youth?) Okay, so now you've shown me that you and your boys have chops. And you've shown me that you can compose complex music and make it listenable--even pretty! Now you've got to show me that you can do both of those things all at once, over the length of a song and an album, start to finish. (17.75/20)

2. "Virtojen Kiharat - Curls of Streams" (5:28) the presence of organ and flute in this neo-baroque song takes away some of the mediævalness of the folk themes used in the song, but there remains a whole lot of themes and motifs injected and overlapped into this one stuffed song. As impressive as any FOCUS song though perhaps not as smoothed out! (9.75/10)

3. "Armoton Idylli - Merciless Idyll" (3:47) another song rife with folk-like themes, the lightness and melodic "oompah" sense conveyed by the foundational rhythm corps is perhaps the most notable thing--something that allows the clarinet, violin, and sax shine like a Woody Allen New Orleans jazz song. (9.25/10)

4. "Nipistys - Pinch" (3:32) a little classically-oriented yet also more cinematic despite its thick multi-layered complexity. Again Pekka's bass and Reino's drums seem to propel the song almost effortlessly. (9/10)

5. "Valittaja - Complainer" (10:22) Pekka's near-classical piano opens this one, at first just showing off his Scott Joplin- like chops before shifting (quite suddenly--as if by splice) in the second minute into a more melodic two-chord pattern in order to support an extended funky bass solo--one that goes on for the next six minutes (again!). Despite his proclivity to want to show off his skills--especially on the bass--Pekka shows here that he is able to manage to set up a very emotionally-engaging song, albeit with a two-chord base: those two chords and all of their subtle variations and nuances injected by the other instrumentalists (who are mostly himself plus Reino) really kept me groovin'. (I love the intensity of the sixth and seventh minutes!) The shift at the end of the ninth minute to a THIJS VAN LIER-like baroque organ solo is really quite bizarre. (Another splice job?) Despite my complaints of the Complainer, I actually quite like this song. The skills are all there: musicianship, multi-instrumentality, and compositionally! Now to pull it all together for a whole album! (18.25/20)

Total Time 33:42

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of youthful talent and skill--and confidence!-brandishing

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