Sateenkaarisuudelma

Album Review

Originally released in 2005 as a vinyl set and then in 2008 on CD, the fourth album by Fonal's founding figure Sami Sanpakkila (aka Es) at once fits the general impression of early 21st century Finland's psych/folk/art/whatever one wants to call it scene and finds its own meditative niche within, covering everything from gentle harmony-vocal-only songs to open-ended explorations. Sateenkaarisuudelma, taking its name from the first three songs, acts less as a unified work than as a catch-all, explained by Es in the liner notes with reference to radio sessions, final versions of long-thought-over pieces, and earlier tracks given a formal release context. Its somewhat jumbled nature is easily part of the appeal, however — if much of the Fonal label's work and those associated with it has covered open-ended and free-flowing compositions, half improvisation and half understated mantra, then this album is often representational. The slow, flowing chill of songs like "Sateenkaarisuudelma III," very reminiscent of late-'70s side-long solo electronic compositions but spiked with energetic bursts of sound, are quite entrancing, while the saxophone on "Harmonia, Rakkautta" in combination with the almost childlike piano — not quite Satie but not quite anything else — is equally compelling. Jeffrey Alexander and Miriam Goldberg of Black Forest/Black Sea appear on three of the tracks, perhaps most entrancingly on "Maailmankaari II," their guitar and cello contributions adding an increasing amount of chaotic overlay to the slow, serene arrangement still flowing beneath it, even as the squawks and scrapes of feedback and strings increase.