PLANETAARISET ILMANPAINEVYÖHYKKEET

The debut album of TAIPUVA LUOTISUORA, translated into Planetary Atmospheric Pressure Zones (a very representative title for the music), is a pleasant surprise. This relatively unknown band from Finland has produced a solid outcome, mixing a number of different elements in their music. Although this is my only experience with the band, I have the feeling that their latter albums must be even more interesting than this one... The debut shows high potential, good musicianship and a mixture of characteristics that you hardly find in recent albums.

The term ''psychedelic, space rock'' does not fully describe the situation in this album. The (indeed progressive) sound clearly borrows elements of electronic and folk music while the atmosphere created by the spacey keyboards and the intelligent use of the violin will definitely catch your attention. At many points throughout the album, the influence from bands like OZRIC TENTACLES is evident but this does not deteriorate the efforts to produce a respectable record. The overall length of the album is relatively short (might be considered as an EP...) but does not affect the quality by all means.

The trilogy of Sopimaton Jalkine is clearly the highlight, blending successfully a melodic acoustic guitar opening, a powerful violin/folk-oriented middle part and an electronic space/chill-out ending that concludes in the best possible way. The few drawbacks of this record refer to some repetitive musical arrangements and parts of unclear structure. Overall, this is a highly promising debut from a band that deserves attention, particularly from the fans of folk/space/psychedelic rock.