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Tatu & Tutkimusmatkailijat — Vasta Alkusoittoa
(Eclipse Music ECD-2023203, 2024, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-06-26

Vasta Alkusoittoa Cover art

I first encountered bassist Tatu Back in the band Rantama, which plays creative and imaginative music that doesn’t adhere to genre boundaries. He also leads the instrumental band Tatu & Tutkimusmatkailijat, or “Tatu and the Explorers.” Vasta Alkusoittoa is their second album, and it also exhibits a range of styles rather than sticking to one sound. Back’s bass is combined with the guitar of Markus Venehsalo and the drums of Jaakko Pöyhönen, along with guests providing keyboards, additional guitar, percussion, and accordion. The album starts with “Melkoinen häikästys” and some lovely acoustic sounds before working into a nice easy groove with tasty guitar licks, but then they dive into “Homo Ludens,” which has a distinct Pink Floyd vibe - think of those funky instrumental sections in “Dogs,” or even going back to “Echoes.” The album’s longest track is “Juhannusyönä kukkiva Taigasananjalka,” nearly eleven minutes of musical goodness that goes through several sections and touches on progressive rock stylistically. Venehsalo really shines, ranging from expressive Jeff Beck tones to some impressively fast picking, with some really imaginative wild bent strings. Then, to lighten things up, “Löylyn henki” builds off some old-school surf-rock twang to more impressive guitar work. At other places, they also venture into folk-rock territory with the guest accordion. All in all, this album is hard to pin down in the very best way. It’s full of variety while remaining coherent and expressing the musical identities of the players, and it’s also highly enjoyable.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Tatu & Tutkimusmatkailijat

More info
http://tatututkimusmatkailijat.bandcamp.com/album/vasta-alkusoittoa

 

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