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LP
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KDS 007LP
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Kingdoms welcomes Finnish composer, producer, visual artist and filmmaker Hannu Karjalainen for Drift. His recording career now spans over a decade, beginning under the pseudonym Hannu and later under his full name for A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert (KK 101CD/LP, 2017) on Karaoke Kalk. Now, this seven-track mini album on Francis Harris' Kingdoms sees Karjalainen continues his explorations in new directions -- touching on field recordings, soundscapes and esoteric instrumentation to build a truly meditative and moving record. Drift begins with "Sermon To The Birds", featuring beautiful plucked strings and ambient atmospheres, before "Carnivorous Flower" casts one into enormous otherworldly dronescapes. "Untitled #34" brings about a beat of sorts, but deeply deconstructed to a crawl, allowing acres of space between the hits and sub bass pulses. "Sunless" is, conversely, a ray of light -- bright, weightless pads provide the feeling of being completely cut adrift. Segueing into "Nightfall", the tones become a little duskier and more intense, building throughout the track. "That Obscure Object" is another trip into the space, as white noise and fragments of melody intersect. The album ends with "The Nile"; a treated piano plays a haunting melodic sequence, seemingly suspended in air. It's a beautiful, emotional conclusion to an album that encourages the listener to take the time to experience its many pleasures.
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LP
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KK 101LP
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LP version. Includes printed inner sleeve; Includes download code. Finnish visual artist and filmmaker Hannu Karjalainen's music draws inspiration from ambient, drone, modern classical, and dream pop. His first album Worms In My Piano was released in 2007 on Osaka Records and the second album, Hintergarten in 2009 on Simon Scott's Kesh Recordings. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert, his third album, and the first under his full given name, arriving after a prolonged break. Hannu Karjalainen's association with Karaoke Kalk started with his remix of Dakota Suite's "The End Of Trying Part III" on The Night Just Keeps Coming In (KK 051CD, 2009). A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert opens with the track "Angel" which is a truly heavenly composition reminiscent of Boards Of Canada's finest work. "The Emigrant" makes effective use of sinister synth-lines and delicate glockenspiel patterns to invoke a kind of science-fiction soundtrack atmosphere. Throughout the record, the listener's ears are graced with truly sublime soundscapes and transcendent textures. The title track is actually the shortest tune on the album, but in no way less evocative. Its looped piano melodies are comparable with Susumo Yokota's later recordings in their minimalism and poise. "A Year In A Day" continues to walk the fine line between ambient and electronica, which is one of the albums great virtues: it shows how lively and eventful ambient music can be. Certainly ambient music benefits from having a strong pulse which Karjalainen demonstrates in various tracks on the album. The song "Love Is A Black Lion" features a sample from the afore mentioned Dakota Suite tune The End Of Trying Part III, and therefore somehow closes a circle. This powerfully contemplative album comes to a controlled landing with the majestic "Breaks My Heart She Aria"; another in a long line of mesmerizing drifts, with a floating choral voice delicately enveloped in strings and pitched percussion. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert is instantly captivating and for lovers of ambient music, it is dream listening. As an artist who trained in photography and is mostly active in the world of visual art, Hannu Karjalainen clearly enjoys a great deal of creative freedom in his music. This is the kind of desert you won't mind getting lost in and you will even take pleasure in roaming through the expansive sonic landscapes and horizons it embodies.
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CD
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KK 101CD
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Finnish visual artist and filmmaker Hannu Karjalainen's music draws inspiration from ambient, drone, modern classical, and dream pop. His first album Worms In My Piano was released in 2007 on Osaka Records and the second album, Hintergarten in 2009 on Simon Scott's Kesh Recordings. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert, his third album, and the first under his full given name, arriving after a prolonged break. Hannu Karjalainen's association with Karaoke Kalk started with his remix of Dakota Suite's "The End Of Trying Part III" on The Night Just Keeps Coming In (KK 051CD, 2009). A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert opens with the track "Angel" which is a truly heavenly composition reminiscent of Boards Of Canada's finest work. "The Emigrant" makes effective use of sinister synth-lines and delicate glockenspiel patterns to invoke a kind of science-fiction soundtrack atmosphere. Throughout the record, the listener's ears are graced with truly sublime soundscapes and transcendent textures. The title track is actually the shortest tune on the album, but in no way less evocative. Its looped piano melodies are comparable with Susumo Yokota's later recordings in their minimalism and poise. "A Year In A Day" continues to walk the fine line between ambient and electronica, which is one of the albums great virtues: it shows how lively and eventful ambient music can be. Certainly ambient music benefits from having a strong pulse which Karjalainen demonstrates in various tracks on the album. The song "Love Is A Black Lion" features a sample from the afore mentioned Dakota Suite tune The End Of Trying Part III, and therefore somehow closes a circle. This powerfully contemplative album comes to a controlled landing with the majestic "Breaks My Heart She Aria"; another in a long line of mesmerizing drifts, with a floating choral voice delicately enveloped in strings and pitched percussion. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert is instantly captivating and for lovers of ambient music, it is dream listening. As an artist who trained in photography and is mostly active in the world of visual art, Hannu Karjalainen clearly enjoys a great deal of creative freedom in his music. This is the kind of desert you won't mind getting lost in and you will even take pleasure in roaming through the expansive sonic landscapes and horizons it embodies.
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