In my rush to trip over myself to get at the new Islaja album, I almost missed this very fine release from her labelmates and chemical friends, Kemialliset Ystävät.  Truth is I had never really been moved by their ramshackle charms until now.  Their new s/t record fills out the gaps between the home-constructed instruments and campfire chants with a much fuller and denser sound, enough to peg the tracks to the ground and prevent them flying away in the wind.  As a result, they’ve created a little place you can stay in for that bit longer than previously.

The communal krautrock elements (such as “Superhimmeli”) will inevitably bring to mind Faust, Popul Vuh, and whichever of the two Amon Duuls was the one which lived in a commune.  Continuing this geographical theme there are, aside from a load of infuriating Finnish typographical furniture, Indian sounding drones (“Merkkejä Iholla”), strings (“Tulinen Kiihdytys”) and horns (“Lentävät Sudet”).  The sound is fleshed out with all sorts of unidentifiable instrumentation, bashes, bonks, binks, burbles and the like, as well as half-buried choirs and occasional animal noises, to give a warm sounding improvisational album.  Odder than most, for sure, but this is a Fonal release.

Available from Boomkät.