PIIRPAUKE

This Finnish band has released over 20 studio albums and counting and this is their debut from 1975. Quite an impressive run I must say. This record is more Folk than anything but there is a Jazz flavour for sure. We get sax on a couple of tracks and some guest french horn on the closer. Flute on the three middle tracks which is the bulk of the album. Flute is one of the more prominent instruments on here. A four piece band of bass, drums and guitar with the bass player adding harmonum. The fourth member adds the horns, flute, piano and some steel drums on one track. Two guests adding that french horn on one track I mentioned earlier and synths on three tunes.

The opener is pretty much piano and soprano sax throughout. It's okay. "Lelong" is very much flute led and the flute gets a little crazy around 2 1/2 minutes. Bass only comes out of a calm then some distant spoken words can be heard. Percussion only 5 minutes in and it goes on for far too long ending well after 8 minutes. It comes alive again late with flute and more. "Cybele" opens with harmonium and sax and eventually the soprano sax starts to solo over the harmonium. A change 4 1/2 minutes in as piano, synths and percussion take over. Guitar around 6 minutes. The closer is my favourite. It opens with the wind blowing as piano joins in. The wind dies down and guitar arrives around 1 1/2 minutes in. Guitar will lead as other sounds join in. French horn around 3 1/2 minutes and it leaves after 4 minutes as the piano leads again late.

Folk music is one of my least favourite sub genres and even though this is well done and also quite different at times in a good way, in my musical world I just can't go higher than 3 stars.