a r t i s t : Vladislav Delay
t i t l e : Tummaa
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Leaf
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Sep/2009
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 75,1 MB
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Finnish composer Sasu Ripatti returns in late summer with
Tummaa, his first album as Vladislav Delay since 2007Æs
Whistleblower. The new album marks a significant shift in
emphasis in this acclaimed musicianÆs work, reflecting a
renewed interest in jazz and acoustic performance: Tummaa is
far more organic and live-sounding than anything heÆs done
before.
Ripatti is considered a genuine musical maverick; the devotion
inspired by the depth, innovation and emotional volume of his
music is passionate in the extreme. While he has largely
shunned the limelight since emerging as a producer in Helsinki
in the late 90s, his prolific output (as Delay, Luomo and
Uusitalo, as well as collaborations with partner Antye Greie
(AGF)) speaks for itself.
His accomplishments include collaborations with a vast array
of musicians and singers such as Craig Armstrong, Black Dice,
Massive Attack, Towa Tei, Jake Shears, Robert Owens and
Ryuichi Sakamoto. Since returning to live in Finland in 2008
after seven years in Berlin, Sasu Ripatti has begun to emerge
more fully as the identity behind this decade of fascinating,
although somewhat clandestine endeavours, coinciding with a
return to RipattiÆs first love of performing as a
percussionist.
With a wide range of experience with record labels throughout
his career (from major labels with the Luomo project and the
cream of the underground via Mille Plateaux, Chain Reaction,
Force Tracks, and BPitch Control among many), Ripatti has for
the last five years released works on his own Huume label. So
itÆs with great pride that long-time admirers The Leaf Label
welcome Ripatti for his landmark latest release as Vladislav
Delay. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Sasu
Ripatti story.
ôI wanted to take a new direction with Vladislav Delay, with
more acoustic sound sources,ö he explains. ôI avoided as much
electronics as possible, wanting to bring myself closer to my
background as a drummer and percussionist.ö
Trained as a jazz drummer, Ripatti abandoned his instrument
ten years ago. ôI quit mainly because there wasnÆt really a
platform for me to do what I wanted and itÆs naturally very
rewarding to be able to do that now, coming at it from totally
different angle as my playing and concepts have been strongly
influenced by the electronic music as well as other urban
music styles.ö Outside of his work as a solo artist under
various nom de plumes, Ripatti has also begun performing live
as a drummer again, as a member of the Moritz von Oswald Trio
(with a forthcoming album on Honest JonÆs) and in his own band
the Vladislav Delay Quartet (featuring Mika æPan SonicÆ
Vainio, double bassist Derek Shipley and Lucio Capece), who
will record an album later this year.
ôThis was also a big part of me getting back to playing
percussion and drums,ö Ripatti says of the Moritz von Oswald
Trio. ôItÆs really inspiring and challenging what I can do
with the trio, bringing very unique sounds, metal sculptures
and handmade instruments and fusing them into what Max
Louderbauer and Moritz are doing with electronics. ItÆs just
my first love and strongest as well. I just love hitting
things... making sounds physically without needing a power
plug.ö
Tummaa essentially features a live trio û Ripatti on
percussion, Argentine musician Lucio Capece on clarinet and
saxophone, and acclaimed Scottish soundtrack composer and
arranger Craig Armstrong on piano and Rhodes (Ripatti
previously collaborated with Armstrong on the 1995 album The
Dolls, along with Ante Greie). Ripatti set the tone, recording
his drum parts and then inviting Capece to his studio to
improvise alongside the drums. Armstrong offered recordings of
pure solo piano playing he had made for the project. From
these two sound sources, Ripatti began composing and
arranging, and wrote a whole suite of music.
ôWith this project and these sounds I try not to let any
outside influence come through and just fully trust my
instincts to make the music I really need to bring out and
hear. I try not to think or analyze, I just go at the moment
and play as I feel. ItÆs the introverted and slightly darker
side of me, the anti-pop persona that comes out on this
project.ö
Created during the winter while Ripatti and his family were
living on a remote island in the Baltic Sea within the Arctic
Circle, he explains that ôTummaa means dark or darkness, which
reflects the music on the album somehow but also the fact that
I worked on the album during ækaamosÆ time of the year in
Finland. Kaamos time really gets dark from December to
February where you only have few hours of light per day. I
really liked that and the whole winter enormously.ö
The results are jaw-dropping. Venerated as a master of rhythm
and a true artisan of the studio (the photos of his immaculate
analogue studio from The WireÆs 2008 cover shoot had gear
hounds aquiver) capturing resonant, organic and acoustic
sounds and coercing them into unearthly cadences and foreign
textures that are unlike anything else û yet irresistibly
hypnotic. (His disclosed past as an enthusiast for mind
altering substances comes as no surprise). RipattiÆs love of
jazz is also never far from the surface.
ôJazz has been the most influential thing in my life without a
doubt. Musicianship, creativity, pushing the limits,
improvisationà I think no matter what type of music IÆm making
my jazz roots and appreciation of it plays a big role. There
are some exceptional things that happened during the 60s and
70s that are very important to me. What some of the greats did
shaped the future of music so strongly. Miles Davis, but also
John Coltrane, lots of drummers, Bill Evans and his trioàö
TummaaÆs compositions are engaging and engulfing, whole worlds
of sonic wonder and journeys into the deep that will leave you
gasping. The constant push for more honest and revealing
emotions abut against the same desire for absolute integrity
of the sonic qualities. ItÆs a heady combination.
ArmstrongÆs waterfall piano and Rhodes infuse æMelankoliaÆ
with sweeping emotion amid the tension and intensity of
RipattiÆs fractured, almost industrial percussive fragments,
anticipatory fizzes and low-end hums. In some ways, this is a
very gentle introduction to the incredible galaxy of sound
contained on æKuula (Kiitos)Æ (translated as æBullet (Thank
You)Æ), where glimmering piano bleeds into the fabric of
CapeceÆs strangled bass clarinet and muffled soprano sax,
entwined with a scattering of grainy beats.
By far the most immediately striking piece is the woody,
resounding animal honk of æMustelmiaÆ (meaning æBruisesÆ)
where a defiantly springy, bouncy array of volcanic beats and
liquid gulps and pops erupt in response to CapeceÆs eerie
tones and textures. While æMusta PlaneettaÆ (æBlack PlanetÆ)
is a more meditative play across the keyboard timbres, æToiveÆ
(æWishÆ) builds into a crescendo of throbbing, submarine
percussion, CapeceÆs horns like distant wildlife in a tropical
forest. æTummaaÆ has a cavernous dub sensibility, all
ricocheting percussion and the Rhodes distilled to stabs or
glistening feedback reverberations. æTunnelivisioÆ (æTunnel
VisionÆ) burrows even deeper into the echo chamber, lending a
psyche-cinematic drama to the albumÆs finale.
ItÆs not often you find yourself both dumbfounded and
emotionally spent by listening to an album, but Tummaa is a
feat of uncommon musical power and magnetic force. Once
introduced to Sasu RipattiÆs hypnotic world, you wonÆt ever
want to leave.
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01-Melankolia [10:58]
02-Kuula (Kiitos) [09:02]
03-Mustelmia [08:13]
04-Musta Planeetta [05:11]
05-Toive [11:09]
06-Tummaa [10:19]
07-Tunnelivisio [11:16]
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66:08 min