SUPERMARKET

The Finnish group SIINAI go wherever they want, and despite having a distinctive own sound, no one can predict what kind of an album will they do next. The instrumental debut Olympic Games (2011) earned them a place in PA's Krautrock section. Then they collaborated with the Canadian artist Moonface (Spencer Krug) on a fresh, vocal-oriented art rock album Heartbreaking Bravery (2012). Supermarket marks a return to instrumental music and is in my opinion notably more enjoyable and inspired than the debut. One could describe it as electronic music with a rock extension, for including also full use of guitar, bass and drums. There's a hypnotic electronic groove comparable to the likes of JEAN MICHEL JARRE and TANGERINE DREAM, as well as to the modern generation of Trance / Techno / Chill-Out. The production by the band is awesome, I wonder if even BRIAN ENO could have made it much better.

It's interesting to think how the four musicians have been hanging on in the alienating micro-universe of supermarkets, those modern temples of our everyday consumer's life, with all senses wide open to experience it all on unconventionable levels of consciousness. You know, like visionary film directors can make one see straight beyond the veils of the "familiar" and turn the whole idea upside down, to reveal something unspoken and universal. Indeed, someone could make an impressive silent film about supermarkets with this album as its soundtrack. On the other hand, each listener takes the director's seat and visualizes a new inner movie with each subsequent listening.

The 48-minute album flows in perfect balance, shifting between more rhythmic and solid stuff of tighter tracks, and deeply meditative atmosphere of the longer tracks. Sometimes the introspective side of VANGELIS comes to my mind. It's highly unusual for a democratic group to make an album of such singular vision. Strong four stars!

Krautrock from Finland eh? Want to hear something else that's rather strange? This is a concept album about shopping in a supermarket. Or as the band puts it... "A soundtrack for the supermarket nations". Haha, okay i'll bite. This is my first taste of this band and I was left with a lot of positive impressions. The music reminded me at times of LA DUSSELDORF, HARMONIA and NEU! and at other times we get a lot of electronic beats mixed in with some heavy atmospheric sections. A pretty cool album overall.

"En-Trance" makes me laugh because how many of you have walked into a supermarket with all of those bright lights while being arm in arm with Buddha, yeah me too. And the title suggests that to me as we begin our shopping experience. What an opening sound as we get these powerful, dark and pulsating electronic waves as other spacey sounds join in. From the sounds of this i'm guessing we are very paranoid and stoned as we enter our destination. "Shopping Trance" has these pulsating electronic sounds with drums and bass as spacey sounds explode over top throughout. A change after 6 1/2 minutes as the beats stop briefly but then it kicks back in quickly. A strange trumpet experience is next before 7 1/2 minutes then it winds down to the end. "AEIOUYAO" sounds like a normal song almost including male vocals in the background. This one reminds me of the German bands I mentioned in the intro. Female vocals before 2 minutes and it's very uplifting before 3 minutes.

"Jonotus/Queue" has atmosphere to it that is so powerful I feel like I need to hang on to something tight. Like a thousand mellotron choirs flooding the soundscape. And it stays this way throughout! Clearly we are having one of those freaky moments in the supermarket. "Prisma" has this deep atmosphere to it that pulses as a relaxed beat joins in and this swirling sound. "Smiling Cashier" means we are near the end of our shopping experience. Deep drum and bass sounds with background synths to start and this strange sound like a dog barking but it's processed and in slow motion. What was that? It's back again after 2 1/2 minutes. Hey maybe it's the cashier talking to us and this is what we are hearing 'cause we are ripped. Spacey synths dominate later, some piano on this one as well. "Vasikka" has these swelling synths, an electronic beat, drums and more in this fairly energetic piece. So much going on here. "Exit" says it all doesn't it? The synths bring HARMONIA, NEU! and La DUSSELDORF to mind as we get a plodding beat and even female vocal melodies at one point.

I really enjoyed this record, these guys are clearly influenced by the Krautrock scene and i'll be checking out at least one of their earlier albums if not both in the future. Great album!

Fun but not funny, intense but not melodramatic, clean but not sterile, groundbreaking by enhancing what everybody else overlooked of the synth wave sound and renewing its natural thrill without rippin´ off no one.

Poetic without a single word spoken nor pastorale cliches, focused yet free flowing, retro yet modern, intelligent without bragging, heartfelt yet detached, varied without expendable tracks nor fillers & straight forward but non stop creative..

Siinai´s Supermarket (2014) an 8 track album, is the kind of 4 stars work that will be discovered 10 years from now and people might wonder why was it not praised enough in its time. The answer is simple, it is not pompous nor fashionable less unaccessible yet it is quiet far from the mainstream, (even the Prog one), market, which it silently mocks by the way.

It goes deep into an adventurous ride on each of its tracks with no kind of buffers or over the top solutions and it turns out quiet inviting and emotionally contagious

****