Uusitalo is yet another alias of Finnish musician Sasu Ripatti (better known as Vladislav Delay), and Karhunainen is his third album under this name. It’s a peculiar album – entirely instrumental – ten tracks of dubbed out, moody, Nordic techno. The album is bookended by two shimmering ambient pieces – final track ‘Puut Juuriltaan’ even sounds like early 80’s Tangerine Dream. But these tracks are atypical – the rest of the album consists of moody House tracks – but that’s House as in disused, deserted Warehouse with smashed locks and broken windows, lit by arc lights, temperature 20 degrees below zero. ‘Korpikansa’ sets the template for what will follow – four on the floor bass drum, deep, spongy basslines, massive reverb on the snare drum, and industrial clunks and bangs spinning in at odd angles. There’s a clear dub influence here – most of the melodic content comes from the bassline, and the rhythm is all. The formula varies slightly on ‘Konevitsa’, where Ripatti plays very subtly with time and feel, and the track starts to feel a little out-of-kilter. This is continued on ‘Sikojen Juhla’ where a weird triplet feel makes the bass drum beats feel oddly disjointed.
There’s a real depth and spaciousness to the production, and Ripatti’s clearly a clever chap, and yet at the end of the album, I couldn’t help wondering, what exactly is this music for? It’s too moody and unfriendly for clubs – but if you were going to put this on at home, there’s a not a great deal to stimulate the imagination, unless you’re the sort of person who gets excited by the different permutations of digital delays and reverbs. (And if you are such a person – well, there’s nothing wrong with that – after all, one man’s meat, it takes all kinds, you pays yer money and makes yer choice, etc etc.)
For MP3 previews click here.
Ewan Burke
