Shogun Kunitoki are a long way from the pastoral, atonal post-folk of Fonal labelmates like Islaja, but they're no less successful in their respective genre, the genre being progressive rock. Arpeggios and gloriously emotive descending bass lines shift and shuffle beneath the kind of melodies that remind you why life's worth living. It's like La Dusseldorf and Jean Michelle Jarre had mischievous Finnish offspring with a love for the lo-fidelity naughtiness of James Ferraro.

Finnish prog supremos Shogun Kunitoki exploded onto the scene back in '06 with Tasankokaiku and quickly established themselves as one of my favorite acts on the fabulous Fonal label. Of course it's Finnish so by default should slot well into the varied Fonal catalogue, but something this electronic, and this full-on? Shogun Kunitoki were a long way from the pastoral, atonal post-folk of Islaja and friends, but no less successful in their respective genre, the genre being progressive rock. Stripping the sound back to all that was needed -- synthesizers and percussion -- they produced an album which was less an exploration of the retro than a celebration of harmony, melody and analog sounds. It would be childish to compare their music to Goblin or any of the well-known instrumental electro-prog set any more as their sound has developed to sound simply like Shogun Kunitoki. Arpeggios and gloriously emotive descending bass lines shift and shuffle beneath the kind of melodies that remind you why life's worth living. It's like La Dusseldorf and Jean Michelle Jarre had mischievous Finnish offspring with a love for the lo-fidelity naughtiness of James Ferraro et al. Either way the results are terrifyingly jaunty -- at once as uplifting as early Mogwai or early Sigur Ros, but without the now putrid stench of post-rock in the air. By the time the album's carefully constructed early moments bind together for the joyous seven-minute "Holvikirkko," you should be left with no doubt that Shogun Kunitoki are one of the best things to happen to Finnish music since, well, Paavoharju. The track sounds as if Ulrich Schnauss and M83 ditched the computer controlled precision and decided to dub their records to tape instead, and in that the results are so much more lovely. When the sun sets on the album's final notes with the gorgeously haunting "Nebulus," you should have only one thing on your mind -- to press play once more. A clear highlight of 2009 so far -- life affirmingly good.

-John Twells (March 17, 2009)