Phone Calls from the Future

Remarkable item from Helsinki – Taas Kerran, Äkkiä (BAFE’S FACTORY MBA054) is credited to Hannu Saha and Pakasteet, the latter an electronic duo comprised of my two fave experimenting Finns, Jussi Lehtisalo and Mika Taanila.

Mika Taanila for me never quite surpassed his wild early cassette work as Musiikkivyöry, but his more recent items for Ruton Music are still exceptional. Jussi Lehtisalo has scored numerous plaudits in “rock” type bands Circle and Pharaoh Overlord, but here’s your chance to hear him shine on the synths and drum machines instead of the electric guitar. The secret weapon on this record is Hannu Saha, playing the five-stringed kanteles, a traditional Finnish instrument associated with folk music and a distant relative of the zither family. Saha is known for his traditional folk music work, sometimes performing in groups like Salamakannel, Mahti, and Mummi Kutoo. He may also have brought a sense of history to this project too, as there’s a lovely photo (from 1917) of the musician Fedja Happo towards the end of his life aged 76, and a quote from his sage wisdom has informed at least one track here, with its suggestion of an eternal “universal music”, one which Happo was able to tap into with his very open-ended, near-mystical philosophy of music.

As it happens Jussi Lehtisalo is also zithering it up on this record, but doing it in a very “prepared” manner (nuts & screws) and putting it through pedals also. Mika Taanila we might note is not just playing synth, but also repurposing his old answering machine messages (from his landline telephone!) which end up as voice samples in the performances. This isn’t just another texture in the mix, it’s intended to add meaning to the whole set – it’s about “the union of futuristic and historical thinking” – if they can bring together modern and traditional instruments into the same space, the telephone messages are cementing it into a pleasing whole, bringing the trio closer to their stated aim of “200 year-old futurism”. Wasn’t that also the supposed hidden message behind the gatefold cover of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album – the old man with his bundle of sticks being pushed aside by the modern brutalist architecture? Well maybe, but that remark doesn’t quite prepare you for the dazzling invention and unusual music on offer here.

Much more than simply setting a traditional instrument in a contemporary setting with amplification, I think the whole project is a genuine attempt to rethink a lot of our assumptions about music, history, sound, and performance, and through their efforts, this ultra-talented trio create something quite new. Wonderful. From 18th August 2023.

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