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Review by Bill Binkelman One of the more fascinating records of the last few years that has crossed my desk, this album is the work of six Finnish men whose group name, Tervakello, is taken from the Finnish word which is loosely translated as "tar bell." A tar bell is a wooden instrument played before lighting up a tar-burning pit, and is also used as an alarm during the burning process itself. Now, that's the extent of my knowledge about all this (gleaned from the liner notes). The group members play an assortment of acoustic instruments, centered around the udu drum, as well as birch bark flute, shaman drum, rain stick, recorder, contrabass, and something referred to as flute-udu. I also hear a didgeridoo as well as a kalimba (African thumb piano) but the instruments played by two guest artists are not detailed in the album notes, so those are guesses on my part. Okay, what makes this album unique are a couple of things. One, I think (and I'm fairly confident in this) it was performed underground. The liner notes state that the CD was recorded "at Tytyri mine museum in Lohja" but I don't know if that means above or below ground. There is the constant sound of dripping water, as if from the ceiling of a cavern onto the cave floor. The entire recording literally oozes with subterranean atmospheres, not to mention the echo/reverberations of the instruments. Also, now and then, it sounds like something crashes onto the cave floor and shatters. Second, while there are melodies present (via the wind instruments) the percussion plays the largest role here, especially the udu drums. To say this is an ethno-tribal album is a severe understatement. Imagine the recordings of Tuu or Steve Roach or Terra Ambient or anyone else similar and now strip out the electronics (there are none here that I can tell) and up the drumming a ton! You're getting warm once you've done that, but now you have to take into account the subterranean noises and the confluence of so many instruments sometimes playing at once. Strangely, though, no matter how "dark" you might think this music could be, it's not scary. Maybe a tad claustrophobic, but more than anything else, it's earthy and primal. I can't single out any of the artists because they all handle their respective instruments with skill and dexterity. While soloing occurs, no one person steps out in front for very long. This is a true ensemble effort (they refer to themselves in the liner notes as an orchestra, in fact). The track titles are all in a made-up language, per one of the members of the group who informed me of this in an email. Here is how he explained it: "We made up words in [a] made up language so that the listeners cannot have any expectations towards the music based on their language or cultural background, and plain track numbers would've been dull." Also, the type font even makes it a little difficult to read the song titles. Not that it matters much. The music is too cool for me to care that much about a middling detail like this. Track one reminded me of the more sultry rhythms on Soma, albeit a tad lighter in feel since no synthesizers are present. Track two features somber flute playing set against a more uptempo rhythm and may bring to mind Native American music to some. The third song is the one with didgeridoo and will probably draw the strongest comparison to traditional ethno-tribal ambient recordings. Song number four is low key and the combination of almost morose flute playing with slow tempo mournful drums might remind you of Tuu, except without that group's more ambient leanings. Track five picks up the pace and it's a lively rhythm fest with the largest number of percussion elements playing at one time of any one track on the album. The last cut is one of the more atmospheric on the CD, with midtempo drums and assorted droning sounds made from one of the other instruments, along with kalimba and didgeridoo (or maybe it's contrabass; it's difficult to tell) and flute and/or recorder. You may think you've heard it all when it comes to ethno-tribal music, but until you've sampled Tervakello, you haven't heard everything, trust me. I strongly suggest playing this on the best speakers you can locate in a dark room to fully appreciate the subterranean elements and textures, as well as allowing your mind's eye to wander down whatever cave path your imagination takes you to, because that's how evocative this recording is. I recommend it as one of the more mesmerizing musical experiences of recent years, one hundred percent unique and individual. Tervakello is a one of a kind album if there ever was one. |
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