The Album Club: "Ulual Yyy" by Islaja

[Trollheart]

Moving on: the penultimate album before we go into round three. Discuss here.

[Zhanteimi]

.

[Neapolitan]

Recommender: MicShazam
Label: Fonal
Artist: Islaja (Merja Kokkonen)
Title: Ulual Yyy
Genre: (Acoustic) Experimental music
Year: 2007

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
I thought it was a Frownland pick.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
It set the tone of the album.

3. What did you think of the next track?
It was like experimental Jazz.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? (see note 1)
I don't mind her vocals.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not? (see note 2)
Somewhat.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
It stayed about the same.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
En puhu suomea.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts? (see note 3)
They were OK.

9. What did you think of the production?
meh

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
I never heard of her till now.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
No, not really.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
I didn't listen to it more than once. It has the possibility of improving its likability with repeat listening.

13. What would you class as your favourite track(s), if you have any?
N/A

14. And the one(s) you liked least?
N/A

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? (see note 4)
It's the third album.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
Maybe not.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Neutral to slightly positive.

18. Did the album end well?
It ended like hot summer's day with the sound of birds chirping away along with the sounds of other critters. The ending was even more low key than the beginning.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Not really. It is experimental endeavor, and meddling in it would only change the character of the album.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
I think it was consistent.

Rating: ★★★✯ (3 1/2)

[TechnicLePanther]

To be perfectly honest, this album didn't interest me that much. It reminded me a bit of Bjork, except obviously a bit more free-form. It was just kind of quiet and introspective, and stayed that way throughout. So, fine, it was good. I didn't love it, but it wasn't bad. It was just a lot of noodly instrumentation and deep vocals. Not much else to say. 7/10

On my list:

Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
Islaja - Ulual Yyy
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent

[innerspaceboy]

I'm fairly new to free/freak folk, and I definitely detect some Frownland influence at the outset. I'm only familiar with the more pop-oriented poster-children of the genre, like CocoRosie, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom, and am quite curious what's to come with this record.

There is an ominous, haunting quality about the music - a looming dreariness and surreal presence in both the vocals and in the instrumentation. The atmosphere is somber, heavy, and thoughtful in an abstract sort of way.

It was instantly refreshing to hear the artist exploring the sonic space freely without adhering to typical structural and melodic tropes of more traditional genres.

The lyrical content was mysterious as I've no prior exposure to the Finnish dialect. But that added to the abstract quality of the music which I enjoyed.

I also appreciated the balance the artist struck between sound and silence. This was particularly evident throughout the tracks at the middle portion of the album. It's a quality I admire from the ambient genre and from Stockhausen and his contemporaries, so I'm glad to see it employed so effectively here.

Toward the end of the record, I began to really appreciate the formless, unstructured properties of this album. No choruses, no refrains, just a slow unfolding - musical meandering with no particular destination or timeline in place. That works quite well in this context and was surprising as this is much "freer" than the music of the mainstays I mentioned above.

The closing selection would be very much at home on an ambient record. There is a wonderfully organic quality with elements of field recording and beatless wandering. And the autumnal vocals are a lovely touch. "Suru ei" is likely my favorite track on the album.

Thanks for a most enjoyable offering!

9/10

[RiPS]

Islaja - Ulual yyy

This album was weird in a good way.

It held itself together as a full album and it was quirky and cool.

Three and a half stars.

[OccultHawk]

First off

I'm on a great coctail of drugs and skipping work nuzzled in pillows both physical and chemical. Yeah...so I'm in a great state of mind for this record. It's like hiding in the back of a car just trying to a to b unnoticed and a riff comes in and like you think hey this could go on forever in a good way like a groove that's a-ok. Mystery driver has good taste. Vocals, uh oh. Are these going to harsh my mellow? Vocals like an instrument. I've seen this go wrong. Could it be a crash. Tension up but that's ok. Who ever said hiding and riding was easy on the nerves. Driver lights a joint. Passes it back to me, I take a hit. Some kind of intense medical strain. How long have you known I was back here? Longer than you've been back there. 4/5 stars.

[Psy-Fi]

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Björk on a weird acid trip.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
Same answer as number 1.

3. What did you think of the next track?
Same answer as number 1.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Not great or awful, just OK.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Some of it was OK and some of it not so much.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
It went back and forth.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
Couldn't understand a single word.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
See answer to number 5.

9. What did you think of the production?
Sounded OK.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Had heard of her but hadn't heard anything by her.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
Very rarely.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Listened twice. Liked some of it it a little bit more the second time but not enough for a third listen.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
"Suru Ei" because it had what sounded to me like sort of a Nordic/Japanese combination vibe which I found interesting.

14. And the one you liked least?
"Muusimaa" just sounded too unfocused and sloppy to me.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
N/A

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
Probably not. Overall, the music just didn't do much for me.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Had no idea what to expect so, no.

18. Did the album end well?
Yes, "Suru Ei" was my favorite song on the album.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Maybe leave "Muusimaa" off the album and replace it with another song?

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
I thought it hung together well.

5/10

[Trollheart]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I had expected to, given some of the less kind comments here. But there was nothing I didn't like; the atmospheres created were great, the foreign language didn't bother me in the least (like someone else said here, she uses her voice more like an instrument than a medium of communicating vocals) and the music, by and large, while a little formless or abstract, was also great. I'd quite likely listen to more by her. Good pick, Mic!

9/10

[MicShazam]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I'd quite likely listen to more by her. Good pick, Mic!

I'm glad you liked it. She's got 5 albums in total and they're all good, but the following are the best in my opinion:

Palaa Aurinkoon

Her 2nd album. Much in the vein of Ulual Yyy (which is the 3rd). Some of my favorite Islaja tracks are on this disc. The atmosphere of this album is incredible. It also exists with alternate cover artwork, but the one I have looks like the above.

Keraaminen Pää

It's her 4th album. Like the album she would do after, this one takes a more electronic, more accessible direction. The second track on this album is one of my favorite Islaja songs. The album is not as strange as her 5th album, but shows a very different side to her compared to the older albums. I like all her albums, but the follow up to this one might put people off her music and there was no way I was going to pick that one for the album club. This one and the one above were both considered.

On to the review of the current album club pick.

Islaja - Ulual Yyy


This is one of several Finnish artists that I've come to appreciate. I don't know how they raise their kids in Finland, but they all seem to grow up to have a talent for music.

I'm so used to hearing foreign languages in music that I'm not bothered by it at all. If anything, I think it really adds some personality to bands from different places in the world. I really like the way Finnish sounds when sung. It is a beautiful language, even if it looks really unpronouncable in writing.

I think that what attracts me to the music of Islaja is her sense of detail and her feel for the expressiveness of the sounds and instrumental backing that her tracks are build from. Listen to the track Pete P for example. That pulsating bass, skittering drums, that repetitive, almost bell-like keyboard pattern, combined with her slightly deep, slightly breathy and odd singing voice and those occasional chiming accordion like keyboard sounds and the saxophone. It's got this tense drive to it, but it's also lose and flowing at the same time. It was pretty much the track that convinced me to buy her albums. I got chills down my spine when I first heard it!

Pysãhtyneet Planeetat is another favorite of mine off this album. It sounds mournful, slightly eerie, slightly weird. Her careful vocal delivery in the beginning of the track, accompanied by that simple bass progression... then the violins come in and it's just perfect. I can't even describe it. There's some idiosyncratic qualities to her music that speak to on some deeper level.

Sometimes, the album takes a turn into relatively formless music that sounds very jammed and improvised. That kind of thing usually isn't what I will listen to, but there's something about the way those instruments play off each other that sounds really great to me. Plus I really like the way Islaja's odball singing meshes with the music. She makes the arrangements sound more planned than they perhaps were.

I can't decide if this is her best album, or if I would go with the one before this (Palaa Aurinkoon), but they're both great.

9/10