RAH Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Artist: Salakavala Album: Fractal Fishing Label: Faerie Dragon CAT: FDREC03 Sonic-energy.net: http://www.sonic-energy.net/core/content/view/286/2/ 01. LE Trick [138] 02. Rubber Bum [139] 03. Fractal Fishing [139] 04. Punis [140] 05. Formula 6000 [143] 06. Italosport [143] 07. Undercover Attack (Remix) [147] 08. Supersoaker [145] 09. Mould Evolution [145] 10. Juhannes [144] Salakavala has been previously featured either on Antiscarp records, peddling free tunes to the underground of army of Suomi followers that got too cool for p2p, or in Exogenic records maintaining the status quo. Count them as Tommy Lauhiala - also involved in LPC- with Ville Ruoho. Ville releases solo as Calamari Audio and is currently involved in Antiscarp Warriors and F-Virus. The third tricycle wheel is Tony Sorsa, which occasionally sees fit to dab solo tunes as Igor Swamp. Their promotion strategy is great example of how the times are changing. Want to release an album? Start by giving away some of your music on a free basis and let the people get a good taste of what is you have to offer. The deceptively simple theory is what keeps Antiscarp Records running since 2001, in hopes of capturing worldwide attention and hopefully a few gigs to help support the Cubase addiction. It did take five years before the hydra label Sonic Dragon, decided the Finish crew was established enough to devote a whole branch to the genre, but the mission was accomplished. As for Salakavala, it wasn’t long before they agreed to release a full album containing their best material to date. So what’s inside then? All the goodness you have come to expect from Salakavala, a compound with three bodies and one brain, complementing each other dynamically in their musical creations. A funky backwash of danceable influences, grinding on Goa, Atari music, lounge and god-knows-what else, in the prototypical Suomi flair that has characterized the genre for sometime now. At the same time, some of the material feels slightly uneven on the quality levels. I would attribute it to the fact Ville Ruoho’s goes AWOL on a few chapters and his absence is felt. “Le Trick ” Sounds good, but sounds a little dated in comparison to other works here. It's still a good cracker to get he party started. “Rubber Bum ” (does that mean it bounces?) has all of the right people present, aiming more at the progressive circles in the actual structure & pace. It could have used the extra touch of harmonic strands that makes them shine so prominently elsewhere though. Prime example of where they are right now is “Fractal Fishing ” since, it is the album name after all. The track unleashes all of the melodic aspects that had gone missing so far to plaster a grunge lead a-la Nirvana, with strong hints of Goa and layers upon layers of cohesive sound-chuckles. “Punis ” (with Francoise Squearemeat) is a cute attempt at confusing things with a tribadelic introduction and more delayed onslaught as the timeline runs its course. Before things get too thick and slimy for everyone’s sake, acoustic guitars in a jazzy fashion, break stereotypes left and right. “Formula 6000 ” takes things deeper with the token ‘hindu-vibe’ track of the album. Fortunately, the mix and match arrangement with liquid synth treatments and upbeat rhythms, saves it from turning into another cliché. “Italosport ” Has a mean old bass touching on more notes I care to count while the real Salakavala seasoning becomes apparent. The groove is nearly lounge-esque at times (especially by the middle) and the female vocals reinforce that impression. Nothing else seems out of the ordinary within the funky department. “Undercover Attack (Rmx) ” is more of a polishing job than an actual remix of the original version, previously heard on V/A – Squeech. In general, not a lot of important changes inside, more of an improvement after playing out it out, getting crowd reactions, fine tuning the things that worked well and scratching the rest off. If you were lucky enough to own a “Supersoaker ” at some point in your life, you know those plastic water cannons are the equivalent of rocket launchers in any self-respecting water war. I was lucky enough own the first 100 model in my block, at a time when the water brawls generally included such devises as large syringes. I soaked more bodies than my soul cares to remember before someone broke it. It was a tragedy. the h20slinger of the block had gone down for good. My life was never the same again. As for the track, Ville is still missing, so the feel is slightly more progressive -or at least devoid of high pitched tones- turning strangely comforting for an eighth chapters. “Mould Evolution ” Does not sit well with me. The notes seem to hit all of wrong elements, using some of that old school euro-trance intonation, combined with Atari music and I cannot stand it. “Juhannes ” brings back the trio for closing-time on the land of transient beats, ricketing a leapfrog structure that jumps back and forth on different ideas, but never really makes an effort to combine them all under one bag. The result is a steamy, peak of the night tune with all the relentlessness it should convey in its climax. Sweat inducing, jolting material for the manic-depressives in the high-time of the trip, including a fair bit of introspection. Fractal Fishing is a good example of where Suomi is heading right now and Faerie Dragon has taken the job seriously to deliver fresh material. In my book, these cats have quickly started threatening morning full on with equally melodic content and daring ideas without crossing too far into alien panoramas. The crystal clear production of world-renowned producers is not there yet, but they are getting closer and the content is certainly more appealing. Whether in progressive numbers or morning sets, the stuff is there to be plugged and chucked with relative ease, and that is their greatest strength. My only real qualm might be the oppressively gleeful atmosphere throughout most of its chapter. If you are part of the of Suomi clan, or perhaps an old Goa fan jaded with modern ‘psy’, I suggest you take a fishing rod and try your luck on this side of the pond. http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5967 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I had really high hopes for this album, but I was kinda dissapointed. It's not that it's a bad album no,no! It's actually pretty good but just that, no more. The problem is that Fractal Fishing is 100% Suomi style. That means that has all the good and the bad points of Suomi Psy. The good things are the madness, the different characters of each track, the melodies, the live organs and all these weirdo elements that make us love Suomi artists. Unfortunately, all the ''problems'' of Suomi Psy are here too. First of all: All the tracks are damn short! I can't understand why most of the Finnish tracks out there are less than 7 minutes! Next is the bass. Some tracks here have very good basslines, but some have a bit annoying bass. Also the percussion. Just like many others Finnish artists they use a lot of hats, toms, tribal drumming etc. but still there's no energy. The melodies are not anything superb (except the Undercover Attack) and not that many. But the most important is that all the tracks are madness from the first to the last second. I like that actually in dark psy, but when it's about morning, melodic stuff I want to hear some climaxes or a break etc. But like I said it's good, but not the masterpiece I was expecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Oh believe me this album has energy I really like suomi and i can surely say this is one of the best suomisaundi albums of the previous years. Endless number of sounds, effects and different kinds of drums. And i don't care if the tracks are shorter or longer - that doesn't matter at all. The Artwork is Fantastic, too/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lepton Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 very nice debut album ... Typical salakavala style, groovy uplifting feel good 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Heh, I got this album ages ago, and was gonna review it properly, but then I forgot about it Yeah, a decent piece of work with some very good songs on it, Rubber Bum, Punis and Juhannes in particular. It doesn´t re-invent the wheel or anything so to speak but it`s a solid title. Sorta busy atm so I won´t attempt to make any kind of more detailed assessment of it. 8 1/2 out of 10 imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 very nice debut album ... Typical salakavala style, groovy uplifting feel good 8/10 I like it too, good finnish stuff, not too crazy or anything, just plain fun and groovy :posford: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopie Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Not too good, pales compared to, let's say Outolintu or Haltya deputs. There are too many uninspired moments on the album, where they repeat the same structure over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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