I'll admit - it took me more than a few listens to get into Paavoharju. I almost dismissed the album completely, but my readers kept insisting that I give it another whirl. And here it is, Laulu Laakson Kukista, opening its intricate secrets after careful observation. The crackles, the noises, the lo-fi magnetic tape manipulations dispel, and the inner beauty of modern classical marriage to neo-folk emerges. So how do I begin describing something that is indescribable. An assembly of illusions scratching at deep rooted memories of childhood, a collection of conflicting elements settling into a unique pattern of a snowflake, a kaleidoscope of loose material patched together into a summer dress that is being hung up to dry in a sunlight by a humming villager. Between the digital artifacts and purely organic ambient hymns you find something... spiritual... revived through simplicity of a pure song. And after a few listens it is that song that draws you closer towards Paavoharju's mystical sound. Laulu Laakson Kukista is the second LP from a collective of Finnish born-again Christians initially organized by brothers Lauri and Olli Ainala. Their first LP, titled, Yha Hamaraa, came out on the same label, Fonal Records, in 2005. The group is not a stranger to the scene, and since their debut, Paavoharju landed an EP on Miasmah as well as a 7-inch on Type Records. It's nearly impossible to draw a comparison between Paavoharju and any other artist, but if I was pressed, I'd perhaps point towards the abstract experimental and psych-folk work from Boards of Canada.
