Siinai - Sykli

Svart Records (SVART115)

Siinai is a Finnish electronic/ambient/space/trance/post/krautrock band that has previously released four albums, two of which in collaboration with Canadian Moonface. I wrote a review of the excellent Supermarket album three years ago. I have also been enjoying their rare live performances a lot (check out my live video at the end). Sykli is, once again, a sort of a theme album. It deals with the various cycles of life on Earth and in Space. It has a bit melancholic mood, probably due to the difficulties in life that the members have been experiencing. But I still feel it celebrates life itself with its subtle, gorgeous melodies, repetitive, hypnotic patterns and psychedelic vibes.

There are five long, instrumental pieces on the album. "Temppeli" starts off the ritual with smooth, pleasant sequencers and celestial synthesizers. Very ambient and uplifting, like Tangerine Dream for example. The melancholic "Mestari" brings in soft percussion and some ethnic vibe as well. I'm reminded of Popol Vuh and the like. The title track "Sykli" is based on Manuel Göttsching styled delay guitar work that I always love and the band has utilized before. Little by little the track grows into interstellar proportions, wow! The ultra hypnotic"Ananda" is the longest track on the album at 11:25 and the first one that really rocks out. It has a mechanic, hypnotic kraut beat á la NEU! or La Düsseldorf and pretty much stays exactly the same for the whole duration. Get entranced! The last track "Europa" begins with a bit noisy drone and slowly a motorik beat rises from the ashes. Later on the NEU! vibe gets even stronger, when we also get a simple chord progression. It really feels like it's '72-'75 in West-Germany and I'm loving it! What a great album as a whole. You can now pre-order the CD and two different, limited vinyl editions and that's what you should. The album will be out next week, and the release party will be celebrated at Kuudes Linja, Helsinki, on the 24th of November.

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