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Written in Folk Roots issue 139/140, 1995

PIRNALES
Best Before
Olarin OMCD 60 (1994)

Steaming in with Pekka Pentikäinen’s Krapulakatrilli (The Hangover Quadrille), following through with Sinikka Järvinen’s twisted, ever-modulating polska Spelmannens Rädsla För Dansen (Folkmusician’s Fear of Dancing) and the ingeniously trotting sottiisi Zot-Easy which borrows the phrase her computer printer chirrups at switch-on, a much-changed Pirnales goes on to deliver a whole set of tricky tunes played with style, grace and drive.
      Since the last album, Aquas, the band has grown to a 7-piece, and here moves away from that album’s innovative kantele-centred work more into the sound realm of fiddles, accordions, harmonium and bass occupied by Troka and JPP, while still featuring kantele and further widening the instrumentation to include harmonium-player Jouko Kyhälä’s harmonica.
      An important contributor to the new Finnish music though not often seen in live performance, Pirnales has always imparted a twist to its tunes. This change of sound shows the band linking up with and giving added weight to the gathering pace of developments in Finnish (and also here Swedish-Finnish) dance music, while not totally forsaking the style of Aquas, which is echoed in the stately, reflective Niemen Naiset.
      The material here is evidence of a healthy living tradition; older tunes and rich new compositions merge, and the whole has a feeling of intelligence and inquiry.


© 1995 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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