Locust Music
Nalle : The Sirens Waves (UK,rec.2007,pub.2008)***°
Nalle is a Scottish trio consisting firstly of Hanna Tuulikki, on vocals, kantele, guitar, recorder, flute, harmonium, water, oscillator, moog, jaw harp, shruti box, singng bowl and birds. She has I asume (name) Finnish origins, and a singing which has something of Björk on meditation, but also produces weird effects borrowing elements with Japanese fantasies, or elsewhere vibrates her voice with sometimes weird sounds of (positively and only descriptively meant) sheep-like vibrations. Outside her song and theatrical expressiveness, she also brings with her, in mind, the better groups of intuitive folk of Finland. Second member Chris Hladowski also has a group called The Family Elan, and he plays bouzouki, big muff, clarinet, gimbri, oud, percussion, oscillator, shruti box, mbira, harmonium, hammered dulcimer, faw harp, singing bowl, phonograph. He brings the group easily to more Middle and Near Eastern flavours (amongst the already mentioned far-eastern, semi-Japanese fantasies). Third and last member, Aby Vulliamy, plays accordion, cello and viola. She provides with her instruments either a chamber-effect, or adds the right pitched harmonies cooperating with the intuitive moods. All three members came from a more improvised group Scatter, while Chris and Aby also play in The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden, amongst other projects.
The first two tracks contain much highly flowing ethereal intuitive folk, while the lead voice of Chris Tuulikki leads them through these landscapes of exotic strings, while the third track, “Voi Nuusuni” sounds more Japanese. “Secret of The Seven Sirens” sounds more like a medieval-flavoured folk song with minstrel beauty, celebrative and with a dance part with handclap rhythms, but also is somewhat exotic, (imagine it also being mixed with a witches' dance), and has some dreamier parts. “First Eden Sank to Grief” with meditative plucks and bows and bass tones, has vocal harmonies singing to a far distance situation, as if having some Byzantine period in a dream state remembrance.
The album was produced by John Cavanagh (Electroscope,Phosphene).
The band has already a next project in mind : a collaboration with the One Ensemble which will be mixed by Hans Joachim Irmler of Faust fame. This was the band’s second album, besides a limited cdr which is also just released..(review of 1st album below->, and of live cdr further below->).
