In its unassuming way, however, this ambient darkhorse recorded with relative unknowns stands out due to its majestic demeanor and excellence of execution.
Outwardly the dourest land in Western Europe, Finland happens to have one of the liveliest “out” music scenes anywhere, with its singular spin on neo-folk psychedelia, a taste for sophisticated jazz and grim, wildly-popular domestic take on the tango. Irish guitarist Mark O’Leary, laptop tucked under his arm as well, made a special visit to Helsinki just to record this album with drummer Olavi Louhivuori and double bassist Teppa Hauta-aho, which they dedicated to the the revolutionary architecture of Alvar Aalto but by extension to the Finns as a whole, as the cover art collage featuring figures like nineteenth-century national poet Runeberg and military hero Mannerheim attest.
O’Leary left Ireland for a scholarship in California as a teenager and seems to have been on the move ever since. His remarkable resumé includes collaborations with Paul Bley, Bill Bruford, Cuong Vu, Uri Caine, Wayne Horvitz, sound artists Günther Müller and z’ev, Norwegian avant-folkie Nils Økland and two-thirds of the Ganelin Trio. In its unassuming way, however, this ambient darkhorse recorded with relative unknowns stands out due to its majestic demeanor and excellence of execution.
Opening track “Eksyksiin kalastus” is a luxurious drone through which blue-moon flute wafts and odd birds chirp. The genius of Astral Fishing lies in these small, judicious flecks of colour that light up otherwise consistently murky depths. On “For Alvar Aalto,” the ten-minute drone yawns and stretches languorously, except for a brief burst of programmed and real drumming that flashes by like a freight train passing through your dream. The maw of “Stocken Kello” gapes even wider, masticating vinyl, a theme extended to the closing track “Hevosenkengittäjä,” which curves and slopes with more dramatic sweep.
Astral Fishing is available on TIBProd. Buy at Amazon or iTunes.
