I’m going to cheat, and paste into my review some information
I found on the web describing the personnel on this DVD: “Accordionist
Kimmo Pohjonen is one of Finland’s most active and important
musicians and was nominated for BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards
and for the BBC Radio 3 Planet Award. Samuli Kosminen is one
of Finland’s top percussionists and sampling masters, working
with Jónsi from Sigur Rós, Emiliana Torrini and many more.”
To most of MusicWeb International’s readers, the names above
will mean little. While the Kronos Quartet is well known, the
two Finnish musicians on this DVD are not. Kosminen and Pohjonen
have toured as the duo Kluster. Kosminen is also a member of
Icelandic group Múm. Groups like Sigur Rós and Múm are known
to certain music fans. Their unique sound is certainly far from
the classical music that MusicWeb International generally presents.
Nevertheless, this live concert filmed with Pohjonen, Kosminen
and the Kronos Quartet is worth a notice. An accordionist with
a Mohawk, a percussionist and sampler, together with the American
string quartet that most champions contemporary music, is an
odd combination indeed. Combining electronic music with Eastern
sounds and rhythms, droning vocals with a string quartet, this
music is compelling, rhythmic, odd, intriguing ... and hard
to describe. As a meeting of different types of music, this
DVD is a gender-bender, but never ceases to be interesting.
This is a fusion of world music, minimalism and dance music.
The filming is creative and interesting, and the sound is excellent.
For those curious about new types of music, this DVD is worth
checking out. As for me, with that type of curiosity, I was
entranced for one hour while watching this performance. If you
like to discover new types of music, this DVD is for you.
It’s worth noting that the musicians recorded a CD in the studio,
and released on the Ondine label, which contains seven of the
ten tracks on this DVD.
Kirk McElhearn
Kirk McElhearn writes about more than just music on his
blog Kirkville.
Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, John Sherba (violin); Hank Duff (viola); Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)); Kimmo Pohjonen (accordion, voice); Samuli Kosminen (string and accordion samples, programming)
[82:00]
