L. Don Ōkami - Judgement Day at Pyynikki

Hulina Records (hulina-019)

Judgement Day at Pyynikki is the first solo album by  L. Don Ōkami, a pseudo name for singer and banjo/bouzouki player Prof. Donald Lupo now living and working in Tampere, Finland. He's aided by many Finnish musician friends here and the music varies from happy bluegrass (the opener "Road Dust") to traditional folk and even experimental avant-garde with psychedelic touches. Most of the compositions are self-penned, but there is one traditional ("Wife of Ushers Well") and two are covers ("Riding" by Roy Montgomery and "Veins of Coal" by Richie Stearns).

Needless to say, I prefer the bit psychedelic numbers. The longest of these is "Crystalline Light" at 9:32, you might have already heard this hypnotic psych folk piece on my Astral Visions Mixcloud Show #84. Another highlight for me is the 8-minute Roy Montgomery cover that takes you to places and has a rather chaotic and heady ending. I also especially enjoy the bit mystical and psychy "Unikeko" as well as the last, experimental spoken-word piece "Jabberwocky Recital". The more standard folk pieces are okay too, so I'd like to recommend this CD release to all lovers of a bit more challenging and psychedelic folk music.

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