KTU: 8 Armed Monkey
This review was originally written for ProjeKction.net. The original version, including embedded media can be found HERE.
KTU: 8 Armed Monkey
Above all elements in an effective piece of music stands conviction.
Without strong conviction music inevitably loses some of its potential. A music-form may be angelically beautiful, groundbreakingly original, virtuosic in its execution, or simply “your cup of tea”, but without a strong sense of conviction something will be weakened. For conviction plays from the heart, it is the best conduit available to the artist for preserving and conveying emotion.
KTU’s 8 Armed Monkey is conviction in extremis. Do not approach this CD lightly. If you want perfect-pitch and fully-realised song-forms you will surely be disappointed, for KTU do not hold back. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen have created a beast that cannot be held back. That isn’t to say that 8 Armed Monkey is all one flavour of extreme musical intensity. No, nothing could be further from the truth. Musically, KTU sample a very broad palette indeed. But it is that sense of conviction that is all-pervading & brutally unrestrained throughout.
Opening with the brooding, dark bastard that is Sumu, KTU work up the atmosphere of an impending maelstrom both quickly and gradually. It doesn’t take long for the listener to feel the power of this track, a few seconds will have you convinced that this isn’t going to be an easy ride, but the density of multi-layered textures and subtleties that are the crux of KTU’s modus operandi take a while to reach their peak. Modulating from Kimmo’s guttural growl to a gradual chord progression with rhythmic expression to a truly sublime Trey Gunn solo and back again, KTU establish themselves as contenders for the most innovative, yet always listenable, left-of-centre group in many, many years. Comparisons with Muir-era Crimson are completely appropriate and worthy.
Optikus (see the clip below), sets a very different pace altogether. Is it possible to remain still in one’s seat whilst listening to this track? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried. I don’t think Kimmo has either. This song is the monster of avant-groove. Pat sounds in his element here. Heck, you can almost HEAR him grinning. And when Kimmo starts singing with Trey simultaneously showing off his best funk chops I can’t help but grin myself. This track has all the hallmarks of an absolute masterpiece... just watch out for that accordion solo. Nasty stuff, and I mean that as a compliment.
Samuli’s accomplishments as a live, real-time manipulator of the sonic architecture come to the fore on Sineen, a track which I can only describe as having an element of subterfuge. This slow pace track is reminiscent of a soundtrack to some bizarre foreign b-grade spy film, the type of movie that you can’t switch off even though you cannot understand a word of the dialogue. Intriguing and captivating, and visually lyrical in its minimalism, KTU establish a mood of mystery that becomes even more apparent on repeated listening. But there is something more than mystery too; a hint of pathos, a fair dash of romance, this is an audio-play of epic proportions with Kimmo’s accordion (which this time actually sounds like an accordion) as the protagonist.
In an alternate reality King Crimson continued as a five piece sometime after Bill Bruford quit in the late 90s with pieces like Seizure and Heavy ConstruKction forming the basis of their new material. TU’s track Absinthe would have been perfectly suited to such a non-reality. KTU’s interpretation of the track takes it to a whole new level. This is how a ProjeKct should be; cutting, reaching and striving for new ground, and positively tribal at the same time. Kimmo’s performance here is extraordinary, especially given his absence of a composer’s credit. Vocally in fine form, he let’s all hell break lose from his throat in a rare, virtually accordionless solo. There’s a brief reprieve courtesy of some tuned metallophone samples from Pat (or is Samuli on his touch drum?), then straight back into the fire. Relentless. The second time around it’s Trey out the front shredding his touch guitar to pieces, over what I presume is a loop of his bass-line rumblings from the first stanza. But you never know, he could be playing both at once, such is his genius. The accordion comes out the front for third round, with Samuli working his processing units to a frenzy producing an aural demon from the sounds of what is usually considered a fairly benign instrument. Once more the Gamelan-like triggers are set in motion, with the main theme slowly building up underneath. And to finish, a magical moment where Kimmo percussively beats his bellows as if his very life depends on it. I wonder at this point just how many accordions he gets through a year. Surely they can only withstand so much maltreatment.
8 Armed Monkey closes (oh so soon!) with Keho, a piece which I will admit I had trouble understanding at first. Echoing the brooding darkness of Sumu, but in a much simpler, restrained fashion, the track starts off with a single pulse heart-beat and then slowly, VERY slowly, each player starts adding little nuances. Snippets of bottom-end touch guitar, a quiet Gregorian-like chant, percussive clicks and clatters, and a gradually thickening soup of sound eventually introduce (just over three minutes into the song) a solo from Trey that is very reminiscent of his work on King Crimson’s Deception of the Thrush. Hauntingly delicate, this small fragment of brilliance truly does send shivers down the spine. And still the textures continue to grow beneath it. At around 5:10 Kimmo joins Trey for a rare moment of shared soloing. Unfortunately it doesn’t last long with Trey fading his solo out in a matter of seconds. Pat then reintroduces the same metallophonic devices, before a heavily processed Trey resumes the spotlight. The ending, however, is what I did not quite understand at first. The last 90 seconds of the song are like a decaying kaleidoscope. Small particles of sound heard only as fragments of something greater are twisted and distorted until barely recognisable. Then, slowly, the lights are switched off. One by one the very essence of KTU collapses before your eyes… or rather, ears. It is truly beautiful in its simplicity. So simple that it may take a while to fully comprehend.
Superb. Simply put, this is the finest extra-crimsoid alumni CD yet. But that is not quite fair, for this group are a true band in their own right. I will never think of them as a (side)-project again. And with only one group composition on this CD, and KTU continuing to create new compositions and perform live, here’s hoping the next chapter in this band’s book is just around the corner.
1. Sumu (Pohjonen) 8:43
2. Optikus (Pohjonen) 8:37
3. Sineen (Pohjonen, Kosminen) 7:23
4. Absinthe (Gunn, Mastelotto) 8:21
5. Keho (KTU) 10:02
Westpark Music 87119 (licensed from Hoedown/Rockadillo)
http://www.westparkmusic.de or http://www.westparkmusic.com
KTU Links:
The official KTU site: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com/nav.php?url=KTU.html
Pat Mastelotto: http://www.patmastelotto.com
Trey Gunn: http://www.treygunn.com
Kimmo Pohjonen: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com
TU Live! (including KTU lIve):
(And a huge personal thank-you to the generous supplier of my copy of this CD! I’m still grinning.)
KTU: 8 Armed Monkey
Above all elements in an effective piece of music stands conviction.
Without strong conviction music inevitably loses some of its potential. A music-form may be angelically beautiful, groundbreakingly original, virtuosic in its execution, or simply “your cup of tea”, but without a strong sense of conviction something will be weakened. For conviction plays from the heart, it is the best conduit available to the artist for preserving and conveying emotion.
KTU’s 8 Armed Monkey is conviction in extremis. Do not approach this CD lightly. If you want perfect-pitch and fully-realised song-forms you will surely be disappointed, for KTU do not hold back. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen have created a beast that cannot be held back. That isn’t to say that 8 Armed Monkey is all one flavour of extreme musical intensity. No, nothing could be further from the truth. Musically, KTU sample a very broad palette indeed. But it is that sense of conviction that is all-pervading & brutally unrestrained throughout.
Opening with the brooding, dark bastard that is Sumu, KTU work up the atmosphere of an impending maelstrom both quickly and gradually. It doesn’t take long for the listener to feel the power of this track, a few seconds will have you convinced that this isn’t going to be an easy ride, but the density of multi-layered textures and subtleties that are the crux of KTU’s modus operandi take a while to reach their peak. Modulating from Kimmo’s guttural growl to a gradual chord progression with rhythmic expression to a truly sublime Trey Gunn solo and back again, KTU establish themselves as contenders for the most innovative, yet always listenable, left-of-centre group in many, many years. Comparisons with Muir-era Crimson are completely appropriate and worthy.
Optikus (see the clip below), sets a very different pace altogether. Is it possible to remain still in one’s seat whilst listening to this track? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried. I don’t think Kimmo has either. This song is the monster of avant-groove. Pat sounds in his element here. Heck, you can almost HEAR him grinning. And when Kimmo starts singing with Trey simultaneously showing off his best funk chops I can’t help but grin myself. This track has all the hallmarks of an absolute masterpiece... just watch out for that accordion solo. Nasty stuff, and I mean that as a compliment.
Samuli’s accomplishments as a live, real-time manipulator of the sonic architecture come to the fore on Sineen, a track which I can only describe as having an element of subterfuge. This slow pace track is reminiscent of a soundtrack to some bizarre foreign b-grade spy film, the type of movie that you can’t switch off even though you cannot understand a word of the dialogue. Intriguing and captivating, and visually lyrical in its minimalism, KTU establish a mood of mystery that becomes even more apparent on repeated listening. But there is something more than mystery too; a hint of pathos, a fair dash of romance, this is an audio-play of epic proportions with Kimmo’s accordion (which this time actually sounds like an accordion) as the protagonist.
In an alternate reality King Crimson continued as a five piece sometime after Bill Bruford quit in the late 90s with pieces like Seizure and Heavy ConstruKction forming the basis of their new material. TU’s track Absinthe would have been perfectly suited to such a non-reality. KTU’s interpretation of the track takes it to a whole new level. This is how a ProjeKct should be; cutting, reaching and striving for new ground, and positively tribal at the same time. Kimmo’s performance here is extraordinary, especially given his absence of a composer’s credit. Vocally in fine form, he let’s all hell break lose from his throat in a rare, virtually accordionless solo. There’s a brief reprieve courtesy of some tuned metallophone samples from Pat (or is Samuli on his touch drum?), then straight back into the fire. Relentless. The second time around it’s Trey out the front shredding his touch guitar to pieces, over what I presume is a loop of his bass-line rumblings from the first stanza. But you never know, he could be playing both at once, such is his genius. The accordion comes out the front for third round, with Samuli working his processing units to a frenzy producing an aural demon from the sounds of what is usually considered a fairly benign instrument. Once more the Gamelan-like triggers are set in motion, with the main theme slowly building up underneath. And to finish, a magical moment where Kimmo percussively beats his bellows as if his very life depends on it. I wonder at this point just how many accordions he gets through a year. Surely they can only withstand so much maltreatment.
8 Armed Monkey closes (oh so soon!) with Keho, a piece which I will admit I had trouble understanding at first. Echoing the brooding darkness of Sumu, but in a much simpler, restrained fashion, the track starts off with a single pulse heart-beat and then slowly, VERY slowly, each player starts adding little nuances. Snippets of bottom-end touch guitar, a quiet Gregorian-like chant, percussive clicks and clatters, and a gradually thickening soup of sound eventually introduce (just over three minutes into the song) a solo from Trey that is very reminiscent of his work on King Crimson’s Deception of the Thrush. Hauntingly delicate, this small fragment of brilliance truly does send shivers down the spine. And still the textures continue to grow beneath it. At around 5:10 Kimmo joins Trey for a rare moment of shared soloing. Unfortunately it doesn’t last long with Trey fading his solo out in a matter of seconds. Pat then reintroduces the same metallophonic devices, before a heavily processed Trey resumes the spotlight. The ending, however, is what I did not quite understand at first. The last 90 seconds of the song are like a decaying kaleidoscope. Small particles of sound heard only as fragments of something greater are twisted and distorted until barely recognisable. Then, slowly, the lights are switched off. One by one the very essence of KTU collapses before your eyes… or rather, ears. It is truly beautiful in its simplicity. So simple that it may take a while to fully comprehend.
Superb. Simply put, this is the finest extra-crimsoid alumni CD yet. But that is not quite fair, for this group are a true band in their own right. I will never think of them as a (side)-project again. And with only one group composition on this CD, and KTU continuing to create new compositions and perform live, here’s hoping the next chapter in this band’s book is just around the corner.
1. Sumu (Pohjonen) 8:43
2. Optikus (Pohjonen) 8:37
3. Sineen (Pohjonen, Kosminen) 7:23
4. Absinthe (Gunn, Mastelotto) 8:21
5. Keho (KTU) 10:02
Westpark Music 87119 (licensed from Hoedown/Rockadillo)
http://www.westparkmusic.de or http://www.westparkmusic.com
KTU Links:
The official KTU site: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com/nav.php?url=KTU.html
Pat Mastelotto: http://www.patmastelotto.com
Trey Gunn: http://www.treygunn.com
Kimmo Pohjonen: http://www.kimmopohjonen.com
TU Live! (including KTU lIve):
(And a huge personal thank-you to the generous supplier of my copy of this CD! I’m still grinning.)
posted by Owen at 6:49 PM
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