Nuspirit Helsinki – Nuspirit Helsinki

Definitely one of those albums I got to forget when I moved and had to get rid of so many of my originals and then they have never been uploaded digitally, legally, anywhere. It is a strong example of "Future jazz" in the most academic variation, with the many musical instruments providing a background for lamenting singing voices. There is gentle uk garage, there are a lot of jazzanova like numbers, there is good production and mixing all around and this time the mix of approachable and well crafted works.

Completely forgotten as of 2022 though, even when it was a hit on those circles at the time.

Whole album has beutifull mood and perfect sound, excelent music from North!

Nuspirit Helsinki's debut full-length album fulfils the promise shown on the collective's earlier 12" releases for Guidance Recordings. Like those 12"s, this album offers a diverse selection of music that is as much jazz as it is dance music.

The group's core members are all DJs and producers, yet the countless guests they invite to join them are all musicians and vocalists. Often, having so many artists on one album can be disastrously inconsistent, but that definitely isn't the case here, though. Even with anywhere from five to ten different guests playing on every song, including a stable of vocalists, the group manages to craft an album that's distinctly Nuspirit Helsinki.

Much of this trademark sound should be credited to Tomi Malm, who contributes undeniably enveloping string arrangements. Of course, it helps that the group has so many vocalists to guest on the album, as these vocalists give each song its own distinct character, as do the individual musicians who contribute to each and every song here. It also helps that there are many brief interludes intermittently placed throughout the album, many of them showcases for Malm's absolutely beautiful strings. These interludes also help the album flow from one song to the next without a trace of monotony.

Really, you can't ask for anything more from this group of Finnish artists. Every song here is its own distinct work of art, and the many guest vocalists and musicians make the album as a whole play like a mix. Like the similar-minded electronic jazz collective Jazzanova (who coincidentally, on their "Honest (Jazzanova's Honestly Yours Remix)" take the Nuspirit original downtempo track to an altogether more extraordinary dance floor friendly place!), Nuspirit Helsinki is completely uncategorisable.

The collective knows no limits but its own creativity and ambition, and this album is definite, and wonderful, proof of that.

Entirely precious gem from 1 to 13. Just listen, an album that you must have on your collection. Proud to be from my hometown.

Though Nuspirit Helsinki's eponymous album begins as other nu-soul-jazz albums do -- R&B vocals, trip-hop rhythms -- it starts distinguishing itself quickly with the smooth groove of "Subzero." There’s plenty of deep soul tracks (“Trying,” “Silent Steps”) to keep even the most square dinner party hopping, but the instrumental tracks, such as the beautifully crystalline “Circular Motion,” stand out more prominently. But the real blow-away track when the first tones of “Orson” appear, followed by those inimitable strings. It’s a real stunner, layering sudden thrusts of bass with quick swirls of strings and some unobtrusive electronics. So to follow that with the middling “I Wonder (2:14 AM)” is a slight letdown, but the equally marvelous “Seis Por Ocho” redeems the album handily. A more horn-driven track, “Seis Por Ocho” thrums with energy amidst a complex wall of sound. A powerful album on the basis of those two tracks alone.