Description
Another Circle side project is Lehtisalofamily, which is just that… it’s Jussi Lehtisalo and two members of his family on guitars, bass, keyboards, and theremin, plus contributions from various Circle and Ektroverde members on guitar, saxophone, drums, and effects.
What Lehtisalofamily shares with Circle is the habit of laying down repeating patterns that remain prominent while the music develops around them. This is actually pretty spacey music, though the Circle influences abound. In fact, what makes this particularly interesting to me is the abundance of very freak spacey synth work along with Rock In Opposition styled guitar and percussion work on some tunes.
Some of the standout tracks include: The cosmic “Mallorra” sets the tone with a simplistic bass and drum pattern, but is made into a fuller work by the exploratory synths and acid guitar. “Safety Valve” is a spooky electronic piece that this time sets the trademark repeating pattern with an emotionless bleeping synth. But around this we have subtle Twilight Zone freakiness with a bit of an Indian feel. One synth sounds like a snake charmer in space. There’s actually quite a bit happening here though each instrument occupies such an individual spot, the song as a whole sounds more simplistic than it really is. “Karmida” is similar electronically but has a more composed and controlled feel. There is a vibrating synth that fades in and out along with other carefully place electronic patterns. A series of stringed and percussion instruments are banged and clanged throughout the song. The short “Paasta Ku Kontista” is like continuation of “Karmida” though we have a Fred Frith/Henry Kaiser sounding guitar at the forefront. “Aija” has even more of a spaced out RIO sound with clanging guitars and percussion along with bubbling shooting synths. And “Cosmic Baseball” is an excellent closing number as a saxophone jams away to the a wall of floating electronica.
(Aural Innovations)
